Sinking Radio: William Bell's "I Forgot To Be Your Lover"

Here's my weekly reminder to point your internet browser to LittleRadio.com this Friday from Noon to 2:00 PM for the Sinking Radio show. Each week I pick one song for the show and then write about it here.

My pick for this week's show is William Bell's "I Forgot to Be Your Lover." As I've mentioned before, this year I've been trying to really explore the Stax catalog. I didn't grow up on soul or funk, so there have been a lot of great revelations. Some of the stuff is really obvious (like Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes) and some of it's probably obvious to a lot of you, but still pretty fresh to me (Sam & Dave, Albert King, Carla Thomas).

The first time I ever became aware of William Bell was when I got really into the Byrds almost a decade ago. I knew Sweetheart of the Rodeo was predominately covers, and one of the tunes I really loved was "You Don't Miss Your Water." It was pure country soul.

In 2007, I picked up that Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration box set and finally heard Bell's original. As much as I loved that one, another track, "I Forgot To Be Your Lover," had an even stronger impact. In just over two minutes, the track conveys deep levels of regret and sorrow. Bell's performance is devastating.

I highly recommend you pick up The Very Best of William Bell. If you happen to see an original copy of The Soul of a Bell, pick that up for me. I'll pay you back...