Thom Bell deserves a national award
The authorities and those with social capital, these hegemonic powerbrokers in Jamaica, have always amazed me. I refer to those in particular who select or nominate people in this country or abroad for the national awards.
In my opinion the selection committee seems blinded at times as to who is truly deserving of a national award as we have so many who have served this nation yet I have never heard their names called. One only has to look around at those who were community giants and are today bereft of such an award.
There is one more Jamaican who has been omitted from the list of beneficiaries. I am referring to international, distinguished cultural icon the late Thom Bell, co-creator of the Philadelphia soul music, composer, arranger, songwriter, singer, pianist, and producer, an important part of popular music and popular culture. Soul music would not have had the international impact on consumers of popular music if it were not for the involvement of Bell.
Whoever listened to the radio in the late 60s, 70s, and 80s, especially RJR, would have been treated, on Sunday mornings, while getting ready to go to school, or relaxing at night, to the melodious songs written, arranged, and composed by Jamaican-born Bell, along with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Bell was (along with Gamble, Huff, and Linda Creed) the co-creator of the orchestrated “The Sound of Philadelphia” style of soul music. Known to mostly those deep in pop culture literature was the fact that Bell was not American but a native of Jamaica, a son born and bred in Kingston.
Nearly all the melodious soul songs that resonate with lovers and admirers of music that are romantic and soothing that made it to the top of the charts had the Bell stamp. Surely someone in the cultural industry or intellectual circles must have been aware that this great creator of the Phillysound was a son of Jamaica.
Bell produced songs that were like the national anthems of soul – La-La Means I Love You in 1968 and Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time in 1970 by The Delfonics; all-time pop favourite Stop, Look, Listen to Your Heart in 1971 and Betcha By Golly Wow by The Stylistics; and Could It Be I’m Falling in Love by The Spinners.
The O’jays, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, The Delfonics, The Spinners, Dusty Springfield, and Jerry Butler were some of the artistes for whom Bell wrote. His songs were what young people of the late 60s, 70s, and 80s relished and revered. The songs he wrote, composed, and arranged were considered collectibles, gifts to loved ones, and they were pop songs you could sing or even recite to the person you desired to become your lifelong partner.
While Bob Marley was busy introducing reggae to his international audience, Bell had a market of millions in all regions of the USA, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean whose love for pop music, created by black Americans, motivated him to write, arrange, and compose music of quality that covered nearly three decades.
To date, soul music, including Bell’s Philly soul music, has not waned for lack of earplay. At sometime during the day soul music will be played. The genre has never left us. It is too sweet to become extinct. As the name connotes, it is music for the soul and the soul does not die; therefore, soul music will not die. Modern occasions and events will need soul music – whether weddings, office parties, relaxing moments, or cruising in a pickup late at night coming from the airport.
Bell’s creations will be here on Earth with us just like the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frédéric Chopin, Richard Strauss, Ludwig van Beethoven, George Frideric Handel, or Johann Sebastian Bach.
It is time for the authorities in this country to get rid of their biases and political preferences and do a good job of selecting those worthy of awards. There are too many citizens who have served this country, much more than the many awarded over the years with national honours who have been sidelined and ignored – medical doctors, pastors, community builders, and philanthropists.
Yes, Bob Marley and Millie Small may have introduced Jamaican music to the world, but Bell created American music which has been heavily consumed by Jamaicans and the world for decades. His music is a fixture on any playlist.
I, therefore, call upon those entrusted with selecting the awardees to access information about the greatness of this musical genius who helped to spread one of the most popular musical genres worldwide for almost three decades.
winstondonald17@yahoo.com
