Introduction
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.
Early career
During the mid-1970s at the Anderson Fair nightclub in Houston, Texas 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."
Recordings
Bell's first album Phoenix 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.
Discography
- Phoenix, Watermelon, 1994
- Texas Plates, Paladin, 1999, In Music We Trust 20, June 1999.
- Live in Texas, VinceBell.com, 2001
- Recado, SteadyBoy/VinceBell.com, 2007
- Steininger, Alex. review of Texas Plates
- Dave Lifton, review of Recado, blogcritics.org.