Vincent Edward Gambella (July 28, 1932 – October 3, 2019),
known as Vinnie Bell, was an American
session guitarist, instrument designer and pioneer of
electronic effect
An electronic effect influences the structure, reactivity, or properties of molecule but is neither a traditional bond nor a steric effect. In organic chemistry, the term stereoelectronic effect is also used to emphasize the relation between th ...
s in
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
.
Life and career
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Life and career
He was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and studied guitar from childhood.
He made his first recordings as a session musician on singles by such instrumental groups as the Overtones and the Gallahads, and played in nightclubs in New York City in the late 1950s.
[ During this time, he developed his characteristic "watery" guitar sound, popular in instrumental recordings in the 1960s. By 1962, Bell decided to devote his energies to working as a ]studio
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
musician in New York and Los Angeles. In 1963 he did a session with the French Jean-Jacques Perrey
Jean Marcel Leroy (; 20 January 1929 – 4 November 2016), popularly known as Jean-Jacques Perrey, was a French electronic music performer, composer, producer, and promoter. He is considered a pioneer of pop electronica.[Ondioline
The Ondioline is an electronic keyboard musical instrument, developed and built by Frenchman Georges Jenny. Sometimes referred to as the "Jenny Ondioline," the instrument is considered a forerunner of the synthesizer. First conceived by Jenny i ...]
. After that Vinnie along with Perrey recorded several successful commercials, when Jean-Jacques got a contract with the Vanguard Records
Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...
label. Perrey asked him to be the lead guitarist for his recording sessions as "E.V.A." from ''Moog Indigo
''Moog Indigo'' is the ninth studio album by the French electronic music pioneer Jean-Jacques Perrey, released in 1970 on the Vanguard Records label. The name album is a reference to Jazz song "Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington.
Composition and re ...
'' (1970).
He also helped design a number of electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
models with the company Danelectro
Danelectro is a brand of musical instruments and accessories, founded in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1947. The company is known primarily for its string instruments that employed unique designs and manufacturing processes. The Danelectro company was ...
for its Coral line of instruments, including the "Bellzouki" electric 12-string guitar
A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...
, and the electric sitar
An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional ...
, which was used, not necessarily by Bell, on such hits as "Cry Like a Baby
"Cry Like a Baby" is a 1968 song written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, and performed by The Box Tops. The song reached #2 in April 1968 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. It was kept out of the top spot by ...
" by The Box Tops
The Box Tops is an American rock band formed in Memphis in 1967. They are best known for the hits " The Letter", "Cry Like a Baby", "Choo Choo Train," and " Soul Deep" and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period. They perform ...
, "Green Tambourine
"Green Tambourine" is a song written and composed by Paul Leka (who also produced it) and Shelley Pinz. It was the biggest hit by the 1960s Ohio-based rock group the Lemon Pipers, as well as the title track of their debut album, '' Green Tambou ...
" by The Lemon Pipers
The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s American psychedelic rock band from Oxford, Ohio, United States, known chiefly for their song " Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968. The song has been credited as being the first bub ...
, and a cover of the love theme from the 1970 film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
, ''Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
''. The last of these sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
. It also won a Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for Best Instrumental Composition
The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (including its previous names) has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of an original piece of music (not an adaptation), first released during the eligibility year. I ...
in 1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
, while Bell was nominated for Best Instrumental Performance.
As well as being notable for his technical innovations, Bell worked extensively as a session player, playing on tracks such as " The Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...
and for artists such as The Four Seasons and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
. He also recorded occasionally under his own name, his albums including ''The Soundtronic Guitar of Vincent Bell'' (Independent Record Company, 1960), ''Whistle Stop'' (Verve, 1964), and ''Pop Goes the Electric Sitar'' (Decca, 1967).[
He died on October 3, 2019 at the age of 87.]
Discography
Albums
* ''The Soundtronic Guitar of Vincent Bell'' (1959)
* ''Whistle Stop'' (Verve, 1964)
* ''Big Sixteen Guitar Favorites'' (Musicor, 1965)
* ''Pop Goes the Electric Sitar'' (Decca, 1967)
* ''Good Morning Starshine'' (Decca, 1969)
* ''Airport Love Theme'' (Decca, 1970)
Singles
*"Airport Love Theme" ( US # 31, 1970; AC # 2, 1970, Australia #4)
*"Nikki" (1970) Did not chart
As sideman
With Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
*'' Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini'' (Mercury, 1964)
With Les McCann
*'' Les McCann Plays the Hits'' (Limelight, 1966)
With Clark Terry
Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator.
He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...
*''Mumbles
Mumbles ( cy, Mwmbwls) is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales.
Toponym
Mumbles has been noted for its unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by French sailors, ...
'' (Mainstream, 1966)
References
External links
Vinnie Bell website (Preserved at danacountryman.com)
Vinnie Bell Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2017)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Vincent
1932 births
2019 deaths
20th-century American inventors
American rhythm and blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American rock guitarists
American session musicians
Decca Records artists
Guitarists from New York City
Musicians from Brooklyn
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians