William Bell, the man who wrote so many of the great hits, including “Born Under a Bad Sign” for Albert King, is in the midst of a career resurgence, having won at 76, his first Grammy for Best Americana Album for his 2016 This Is Where I Live (Stax/Concord Records). One Day Closer to Home (Wilbe Records), his fifteenth album, is its follow-up with Bell bringing his touring unit, The Total Package Band, replete on some tracks with a three-piece horn section and two backup vocalists, into the studio. Some tracks add strings, even a country-styled fiddle. but Bell’s superior writing and singing are always the focus.
Bell begins in funky style, letting us know that he still has plenty of youthful enthusiasm in “I Still Go To Parties,” still enjoying the mingling in though he’ll refrain from the usual party libations. The swaying, slow dancing “I Will Remember Tonight” is imbued by violin and a trimmed-down band. The aching, testifying ballad “In a Moment of Weakness” must date from a previous session as it features the Hodges Brothers, and a string quartet recorded in Memphis rather than the Georgia studio that hosted the other tracks. The snappy, joyous, hand-clapping “Brag About You” follows. The smaller band continues with the breezy “Human Touch,” enhanced by the backgrounds of Phyllis Smiley and Marsha Miller and flute from Alex Walke.
The full band joins for the stomping, declarative “I’ve Got Feet” and the ballad with a name that unfortunately borrows from a campaign many of us would rather forget in “Let’s Make Loving Great Again.” Nonetheless, we cannot fault its plea for unity. This, along with many of these tunes, are timeless, fitting as well on the ‘60s and ‘70s radio as now. Yet, as if that thought crossed his mind, he reminds us that “We Can Never Go Back,” a buoyant tune, with a made-for singalong chorus and bluesy guitar leads. Blues also infuses the poignant title track with Bell perhaps contemplating mortality, standing alone on the highway in the soaking rain.
The standout “When I Stop Loving You” (a co-write with Larry Campbell) has Bell predicting that the sun, moon, and stars would die out if his romance were to end. His vocals are among the most expressive in the set, with the backgrounds adding just the right sweet touch. Themes of unrequited love and heartbreak are the essence of soul music, with Bell marching on undetermined in the face of criticism in “Ain’t Gon’ Let It Bother Me.” Naturally, we get a symmetrical ending as Bell brings us out to dancefloor for the exuberant “Georgia Peach.”
One reaction may be that this is standard soul music that most of us have heard throughout our lives but think again because no one else does with the style, grace, and conviction of William Bell, one of the genre’s best writers then and now, sixty years on.
