This Is Where I Live heralds William Bell’s return to Stax, the label on which he made his name – and the “This” of the title is soul music itself. William Bell, 77, is of impeccable soul vintage: he wrote and recorded a string of classics in the late 60s and early 70s, including Private Number and You Don’t Miss Your Water. Born Under a Bad Sign, originally recorded by Albert King and made famous by Cream, is rerecorded by its co-author here, and Bell’s voice and the warm Stax sound are intact. But – as is clear from the first lines of opening track The Three of Me, in which the narrator looks at past, present and future versions of himself – his mastery of the craft of songwriting is also undimmed. Poison in the Well is quintessential Bell, addressing universal themes with simple words and familiar images. His tragic hero is fatally weakened by a lover: “She put poison in the well and I drank it.”
