Madeline Bell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Madeline Bell | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Madeline Bell Brodus |
| Born | July 23, 1942 Newark, New Jersey, United States |
| Origin | Newark |
| Occupation(s) | singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | singing |
| Years active | 1965-present |
| Label(s) | RPM, RCA |
| Associated acts | Dusty Springfield, Blue Mink, Ashman-Reynolds, Spike Edney's All Star Band (S.A.S.) |
| Website | http://www.madelinebell.com/ |
Madeline Bell (born 23 July 1942, Newark, New Jersey) is an African-American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in England during the 1960s, having arrived from the U.S. in the Gospel show Black Nativity, with vocal group The Bradford Singers.
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[edit] Career
She worked as a session singer, most notably backing for Dusty Springfield. Her first major solo hit was a cover version of Dee Dee Warwick's single "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", which performed better on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart than the original.
Madeline then joined contemporary pop combo Blue Mink, with whom she had a number of Top 20 hits with Philips Records in the UK, including "Melting Pot", "Our World", "Randy", "Banner Man", "Good Morning Freedom", "Sunday", "By The Devil I Was Tempted" and "Stay With Me".[1] She then went solo, and her cover version of "Picture Me Gone" is still a Northern Soul favourite today, as is "What Am I Supposed To Do", from 1968, a two-minute B-side tune co-written with future Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones, then working as one of London's most in-demand session bassists. He later arranged, produced and recorded Bell's 1973 RCA album Comin' Atcha.[2] She also contributed to the soundtrack of the romance film A Touch of Class (1973).
Bell has also provided backing vocals on a number of other artists' recordings notably Tom Parker's neo-classical arrangements and in 1975, performed with Sunny and Sue (originally members of Brotherhood of Man) at the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden, providing backing vocals for the German entry Ein Lied Kann Eine Brücke Sein performed by Joy Fleming.
Since the 1970s, Madeline has continued singing solo and also performed in a number of stage shows. She lives in Spain with her husband, drummer Barry Reeves, and regularly tours Europe singing jazz and popular songs. In 1982, she add background vocals to the fantasy film Alicja. She then again teamed up with John Paul Jones in 1985, contributing performances ("Take It or Leave It" and "Here I Am") to the soundtrack album Scream for Help.
[edit] Solo discography
- Bell's a Poppin (1967)
- Doin' Things (1968)
- I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (1968)
- Comin' Atcha (1973)
- This Is One Girl (1976)
- Beat out That Rhythm on a Drum (1998)
- Blessed (2000)
[edit] Notes
- ^ Larkin, Colin (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Seventies Music, 85. ISBN 0-85112-727-4.
- ^ Lewis, Dave (2003). Led Zeppelin: A Celebration, 185. ISBN 0-7119-9651-2.
