Vince Bell
Encyclopedia
Vince Bell is a Texas singer-songwriter
who has appeared on the PBS television program Austin City Limits
along with NPR
broadcasts such as Mountain Stage
, World Café
and Morning Edition
. His songs have been performed and recorded by Little Feat
, Lyle Lovett
and Nanci Griffith
.
Bell met and became friends with Townes Van Zandt
and Guy Clark
, both of whom he later called his mentors. On 21 December 1982 he almost died from head and other severe injuries received during a car wreck in Austin, Texas
. His recovery lasted more than six years. In 2004 Bell told an interviewer, "Learning the guitar the first time was a bitch. Learning the guitar the second time was cruel."
was produced by Bob Neuwirth
and released in 1994. The tracks were recorded in San Francisco with session musicians including Geoff Muldaur
, Fritz Richmond
, David Mansfield
, Mickey Raphael
and John Cale
. Lyle Lovett
and Victoria Williams
contributed background vocals. Rick Mitchell of the Houston Chronicle
praised the album, writing, "Phoenix adroitly mixes elements of folk, blues and country in an acoustic setting. But it's Bell's alternatingly oblique and soul-baring lyrics that make the album a captivating listen." In the New York Times, Neil Strauss
wrote that the lyrics "were filled with images of misshapen monsters and twisted metal, paralysis and victory, loneliness and introspection".
Bell's second album Texas Plates
was released by Paladin/Warner in 1999 but was not a commercial success. In 2001 Bell independently released Live in Texas
and in 2007 he released Recado
through SteadyBoy Records.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
who has appeared on the PBS television program Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
along with NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
broadcasts such as Mountain Stage
Mountain Stage
Mountain Stage is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by WV Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio and the Voice of America's satellite radio service. Hosted by Larry Groce, the program showcases diverse music, from the traditional to modern...
, World Café
World Cafe
World Cafe is a two-hour long, nationally syndicated music radio program that originates from WXPN, a non-commercial station licensed to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The program began in 1991 and was originally distributed by Public Radio...
and Morning Edition
Morning Edition
Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
. His songs have been performed and recorded by Little Feat
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....
, Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
and Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
.
Early career
During the mid 1970s at the Anderson Fair nightclub in Houston, TexasHouston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
Bell met and became friends with Townes Van Zandt
Townes Van Zandt
John Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...
and Guy Clark
Guy Clark
Guy Clark is an American Texas Country artist. In his career, he has released more than twenty albums, primarily on major labels. He has also written singles for other artists, including Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Rodney Crowell....
, both of whom he later called his mentors. On 21 December 1982 he almost died from head and other severe injuries received during a car wreck in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. His recovery lasted more than six years. In 2004 Bell told an interviewer, "Learning the guitar the first time was a bitch. Learning the guitar the second time was cruel."
Recordings
Bell's first album PhoenixPhoenix (Vince Bell album)
Phoenix is the first album by the singer-songwriter Vince Bell and was released on July 16, 1994, almost twelve years after Bell was broadsided by a drunk driver, leaving him with a severe traumatic head injury, broken ribs, multiple lacerations to his liver, and a mangled right forearm...
was produced by Bob Neuwirth
Bob Neuwirth
Bob Neuwirth is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and visual artist. A mainstay of the early 1960s Cambridge, Massachusetts, folk scene, he subsequently became a friend and associate of Bob Dylan alongside whom he appears in D.A...
and released in 1994. The tracks were recorded in San Francisco with session musicians including Geoff Muldaur
Geoff Muldaur
Geoff Muldaur is an American founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band of Cambridge, Massachusetts; a member of Paul Butterfield's Better Days; and an accomplished solo guitarist, singer, and songwriter....
, Fritz Richmond
Fritz Richmond
John B. "Fritz" Richmond was an American musician and recording engineer. Fritz Richmond was considered the foremost washtub bassist in the world, and was also the most successful professional jug player....
, David Mansfield
David Mansfield
David Mansfield is an American violinist, mandolin player, guitarist, pedal steel guitar player, and composer....
, Mickey Raphael
Mickey Raphael
Michael Siegfried "Mickey" Raphael is a professional harmonica player, best known for his work with Willie Nelson. He has recorded with Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Elton John, Mötley Crüe, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Chesney, U2 and Neil Young.Raphael's style is mostly second...
and John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
. Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
and Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams is an American singer-songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. She is noted for her descriptive songwriting talent, which she has used to immerse the listener of her songs into a...
contributed background vocals. Rick Mitchell of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
praised the album, writing, "Phoenix adroitly mixes elements of folk, blues and country in an acoustic setting. But it's Bell's alternatingly oblique and soul-baring lyrics that make the album a captivating listen." In the New York Times, Neil Strauss
Neil Strauss
Neil Darrow Strauss , also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American and Kittitian author, journalist and ghostwriter...
wrote that the lyrics "were filled with images of misshapen monsters and twisted metal, paralysis and victory, loneliness and introspection".
Bell's second album Texas Plates
Texas Plates
Texas Plates is the second album by the singer-songwriter Vince Bell. It was released on April 13, 1999 and found Bell comfortably ensconced in the upper echelon of the songwriting guild and signed to a major record label...
was released by Paladin/Warner in 1999 but was not a commercial success. In 2001 Bell independently released Live in Texas
Live in Texas (Vince Bell album)
Live in Texas is the third album by Vince Bell. It was released in October of 2001 on the singer-songwriter's own label, vincebell.com. As the title suggests, the album was recorded live at a Texas Nights North house concert in Dallas, Texas, on May 11, 2001...
and in 2007 he released Recado
Recado
Recado is the fourth album by singer-songwriter Vince Bell. It was released on May 8, 2007. According to Bell: "Recado is a collection of messages that wind like a long dirt road through the years of my writing. There's the first song I wrote after moving to Austin, written on a whore-house piano...
through SteadyBoy Records.
Discography
- PhoenixPhoenix (Vince Bell album)Phoenix is the first album by the singer-songwriter Vince Bell and was released on July 16, 1994, almost twelve years after Bell was broadsided by a drunk driver, leaving him with a severe traumatic head injury, broken ribs, multiple lacerations to his liver, and a mangled right forearm...
, Watermelon, 1994 - Texas PlatesTexas PlatesTexas Plates is the second album by the singer-songwriter Vince Bell. It was released on April 13, 1999 and found Bell comfortably ensconced in the upper echelon of the songwriting guild and signed to a major record label...
, Paladin, 1999, In Music We Trust 20, June 1999. - Live in TexasLive in Texas (Vince Bell album)Live in Texas is the third album by Vince Bell. It was released in October of 2001 on the singer-songwriter's own label, vincebell.com. As the title suggests, the album was recorded live at a Texas Nights North house concert in Dallas, Texas, on May 11, 2001...
, VinceBell.com, 2001 - RecadoRecadoRecado is the fourth album by singer-songwriter Vince Bell. It was released on May 8, 2007. According to Bell: "Recado is a collection of messages that wind like a long dirt road through the years of my writing. There's the first song I wrote after moving to Austin, written on a whore-house piano...
, SteadyBoy/VinceBell.com, 2007
External links
- Vince Bell official site
- Vince Bell's MySpace page
- Daryn Kagan profiles Vince Bell Requires Flash.
- Vince Bell's artist bio at the H.A.A.M. (Houston Association of Acoustic Musicians) website
- “Introducing the Vince Bell "Handmade Hardtop Acoustic Dreadnaught Line”: lutier Vince Pawless describes custom-making a guitar for Vince Bell