Archie Bell And The Drells
Play Radio
Listen to Archie Bell And The Drells Radio,
featuring artists like Jean Carn, The Capitols, Arthur Conley, Honey Cone and more…
-
Search on Spotify
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
386,633 plays (92,735 listeners)
Archie Bell (born in Henderson, Texas on September 1, 1944) & the Drells were a Houston soul vocal group, one of the main acts on Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Records. The band’s hits include “Tighten Up” and “I Can’t Stop Dancing” (both 1968), “The Soul City Walk” (1976), and “Everybody Have A Good Time” (1977).
Bell, the brother of American footballer Ricky Bell (1955-1984), moved to Houston as a young boy and formed the group in 1966 with his friends James Wise, Willie Parnell and Billy Butler. They signed with local label Ovid.
After a spell in Vietnam for Archie, the group released Tighten Up, which was picked up by Atlantic for distribution and toppped both the R&B and pop charts. The song’s line “we dance just as good as we walk” was a little ironic given that Archie had been shot in the leg and was consigned to a military hospital bed at the time.
The phenomenal success of the single prompted the band to rush out an album, despite their incapacitated leader.
In 1969, after Bell had left the army, the group recorded their first full album with Gamble and Huff, I Can’t Stop Dancing, which reached number 28 on the R&B chart.
After mediocre chart showings in the late ’70s, the group split in 1980. Archie Bell later released one solo album on Beckett Records.
Bell, the brother of American footballer Ricky Bell (1955-1984), moved to Houston as a young boy and formed the group in 1966 with his friends James Wise, Willie Parnell and Billy Butler. They signed with local label Ovid.
After a spell in Vietnam for Archie, the group released Tighten Up, which was picked up by Atlantic for distribution and toppped both the R&B and pop charts. The song’s line “we dance just as good as we walk” was a little ironic given that Archie had been shot in the leg and was consigned to a military hospital bed at the time.
The phenomenal success of the single prompted the band to rush out an album, despite their incapacitated leader.
In 1969, after Bell had left the army, the group recorded their first full album with Gamble and Huff, I Can’t Stop Dancing, which reached number 28 on the R&B chart.
After mediocre chart showings in the late ’70s, the group split in 1980. Archie Bell later released one solo album on Beckett Records.
Shouts:
15 shouts
Top Albums
-
There's Gonna Be a Showdown
Archie Bell And The DrellsBuy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $12.99
- 7digital $13.99
- iTunes $12.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
The Platinum Collection
Archie Bell And The DrellsBuy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
Tighten Up
Archie Bell And The DrellsBuy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital $8.99
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $11.42
- eBay Search
Shoutbox
-
Fullmettall wrote:
LECAU (Y) I Like It
-
cadaver11 wrote:
I thought these were white guys with soul. Oops!
-
sjm26b wrote:
"Wait a minute Uncle sam, we can't fight on Sunday!"
-
Yastrzemski wrote:
http://www.last.fm/music/Archie+Bell+and+The+Drells/+images/56737043
-
Carlana wrote:
yes you should ("ladyintelect"). ;)
-
Tr1xx wrote:
shame that "Here I Go Again" isn't streamable; it should have a higher play count. Still, at least the tags are improving
-
ladyintelect wrote:
The instrumentals remind me of Brand New Heavies.... or should I say, Brand New Heavies was influenced by Archie Bell and The Drells?
-
dancingfool wrote:
tighten up that grindcore fellas.
-
rough_n_tumble wrote:
haha! brutalinski thats some funny shit
-
killmoms wrote:
I'm doing the Fishstick to "Tighten Up" right now.
-
Brutalinski wrote:
What a surprise, when I listened to grindcore tag radio those guys showed up, it changed my world ;-)
-
ghindo wrote:
the hell is up with the tags
-
Tr1xx wrote:
If yer gonna tag yer artists, don't be bloody stupid; I'd settle for soul, northern soul or funk... nowt else
Videos
Listening Now
Top Listeners
-
indoorvoices
Top Listener
-
consommateur
Top Listener
-
Alkone
Top Listener
-
rodrigoferrari
Top Listener
Recent Activity
-
DeffFuture and DLesseps added Archie Bell And The Drells to their libraries. Tuesday morning
-
mk-joy tagged Archie Bell And The Drells with funk, soul and american. Saturday morning
-
Millablackheart, AlwaysSummer, RBJAZZFUNKROCK and 12 other people added Archie Bell And The Drells to their libraries. Friday morning
-
KrissQuarme wrote about Sigur Rós – ( ) in Cd'ar. 14 days ago
-
KrissQuarme wrote about Sigur Rós – ( ) in a deleted journal. last month
-
lone_hunter tagged Archie Bell And The Drells with northern soul and soul. last month
-
tkeef5, djguvnore, morticiagurl and 4 other people added Archie Bell And The Drells to their libraries. last month
-
povlja wrote about Sigur Rós – ( ) in a deleted journal. last month
-
minuszeroLastFM tagged Archie Bell And The Drells with philly soul, funk, disco and one other tag. last month
-
toolrockt tagged Archie Bell And The Drells with funk and soul. last month
Related Journals
-
500 Greatest Songs Of All Time (Rolling Stone Magazine)
by FanMusic2 |
28 Jun 2009
| 38 comments
-
rib-stickin, most infectious basslines (with links to play em)
by ethanethan |
4 Dec 2008
| 2 comments
-
because i am bored, this is quite dumb.
by missjeanette |
29 Jun 2008
Groups (11)
-
Funk
2,537 members
-
Hip Hop Sample Junkies
2,258 members
-
Northern Soul
1,513 members
-
Funk Reggae and Soul
1,024 members
-
The Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Listeners
219 members
More Information
- Labels
- Other spellings
