Archie Bell and The Drells

Archie Bell and The Drells biography

Archie Bell & the Drells was an American R&B vocal group from Houston, Texas, and one of the main acts on Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records. The band's hits include "Tighten Up", "I Can't Stop Dancing" (both 1968), "There's Gonna Be A Showdown", "Girl You're Too Young" (1969), "Here I Go Again" (also a UK hit in 1972), "Soul City Walk" (1976), "Let's Groove", "Everybody Have A Good Time" (1977), and "Don't Let Love Get You Down" (1986).

Career

Early days

Archie Bell, who formed the group, is the older brother of world karate champion (and lead vocalist of Motown's Dazz Band), Jerry Bell, NFL player Ricky Bell (1955-1984), and Eugene Bell Sr. Bell moved to Houston as a young boy, and formed the group in 1966 with his friends James Wise, Willie Parnell and Billy Butler. They signed with the Houston-based record label, Ovide, in 1967 and recorded a number of songs, including "She's My Woman" and "Tighten Up", which was recorded in October 1967 at the first of several sessions in which the Drells were backed by the instrumental group the T.S.U. Toronadoes.

Bell's promoter, Skipper Lee Frazier, unsuccessfully began pushing the flip side of "Tighten Up", but at the recommendation of a friend gave the other side a try. "Tighten Up" was written by Archie Bell and Billy Butler, contained Archie Bell prodding listeners to dance to the funky musical jam developed by the T.S.U. Toronadoes, and it became a hit in Houston before it was picked up by Atlantic Records for distribution in April 1968. By the summer it topped both the Billboard R&B and pop charts. It also received a R.I.A.A. gold disc by selling 1 million copies. Bell had been shot in the leg while serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and was consigned to a military hospital bed at the time. The Army, however, began allowing him to tour later in the year, and discharged him on April 15, 1969. The introduction features Bell introducing himself and the Drells as being from Houston, Texas, and exclaims "We don't only sing, but we dance just as good as we want". According to the Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson, Bell heard a comment after the Kennedy assassination in Dallas that "nothing good ever came out of Texas." Bell wanted his listeners to know "we were from Texas and we were good."

The success of the single prompted the band to rush out an album, despite their incapacitated leader. In 1969 the group recorded their first full album with Gamble and Huff, I Can't Stop Dancing, which reached number 28 on the R&B album chart. By this time another of Archie's brothers, Lee Bell (born January 14, 1946, Houston), had replaced Butler, and became the band's choreographer.

Reid Farrell, who was from Houston, Texas, was the guitarist who traveled and played with the group.

Later career

After mediocre chart showings in the late 1970s, the group split in 1980. Archie Bell later released one solo album (I Never Had It So Good - 1981) on Beckett Records and continued to perform with The Drells for the next twenty years. During the 1990s the lineup also included Steve "Stevie G." Guettler (guitar, vocals), Jeff "JT" Strickler (bass guitar, vocals), Steve Farrell (guitar, vocals), Mike Wilson (keyboards, vocals) and Wes Armstrong (drums, vocals) of the Atlanta based group The Rockerz.

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