Livin' it up as songwriter for himself
And then, when you were at a boring party and some nonentity asked you that banal question, "What do you do?" you wouldn't answer anything — you'd just hum a few bars of your song. "Ah," they'd say, "you're that songwriter." And then maybe you'd write a song about being at a boring party — another hit!
It's not quite as easy as all that, of course. First of all, you have to be able to match emotion to music, you have to find phrases of words and notes that "strike a chord" with the populous. You have to have "the knack," "the gift." It can't be taught, not really.
LeRoy Martez Bell has "the gift." He writes songs that summarize feelings, songs that sketch moods. He writes songs that people like. Always has and, though he nervously chuckles about writer's block, probably always will. It really might be in his blood, as his uncle is the famous pop producer Thom Bell, who helped him crack the music business, first as a drummer.
Back in '79, LeRoy Bell co-wrote "Livin' It Up (Friday Night)" with Casey James — a big hit for the Bell & James team. They also wrote the Elton John hits "Mama Can't Buy You Love" and "Are You Ready for Love" (the latter was remixed by Fatboy Slim), and songs for the O'Jays, Gladys Knight, Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls and others.
Now, after years of being a songwriter-for-hire, the longtime Seattle-Tacoma resident is writing for himself.
"Spending Time," Bell's solo CD, is spare and longing, drawing comparisons to the likes of John Hiatt, Ben Harper, David Gray.
It is filled with good songs, tales of love, tales of confusion, promise, teetering hopelessness. ... At first, he imagined the album as a true solo work, just himself and an acoustic guitar. Later, he added a cello player, which underscores the pining, searching nature of the album.
Chatting last weekend in the bar of the Triple Door, the downtown club where Bell will perform at a sold-out show Saturday night, the unaffected songwriter allowed that some of his previous successes may mislead people.
This isn't disco. This isn't Elton John balladry. This isn't even really very poppy pop. Bell's style is acoustic-guitar-oriented, laid-back songcrafting. "I like the sound of acoustic guitar — I play a nylon string."
His guitar playing is nice, but it is his singing — and the lyrics he sings — that mark the album. Bell is sincere and passionate, putting emotion before catchiness. Far from the standard love songs, the material here is searching, longing, sometimes even chilling:
"sometimes I feel I'm invisible to you ... I'm a stranger in this house" (title cut)
"he sleeps/
it's the only time he feels at ease ...
he's so weak/
he's so hungry/
he's dying for affection/
he needs that one connection/
he needs divine intervention"
("Divine Intervention")
If this father of three finds a radio niche with his new songs, it would likely be with the adult contemporary AAA stations. One can also imagine the songs on soundtracks. Indeed, the Bell song "Without You" (which didn't make the album) was featured in "Finder's Fee," the film by "Survivor" host — and Puget Sound resident — Jeff Probst.
As for his writing schedule, "I don't have a major routine ... not like when I was a songwriter-for-hire, and I would write two or three hours a day."
Now, he just picks up a guitar and starts strumming; inevitably, the songs come to him. He even writes songs in his dreams! (Though, he sheepishly adds, when he wakes up and plays them, they're not as magical as they sounded in sleepland.)
For the past six years, Bell has been living in Tacoma, where he spent part of his childhood ("I was an Army brat"). As an adult, he lived around Seattle for years, before moving back to Tacoma — "I thought about moving to L.A., I've had some friends who are musicians do that, but I didn't want to do that whole thing."
At the Triple Door, Bell will play acoustic guitar ("I kind of make up my own chords," says the self-taught guitarist), and be backed by bass, cello and guitar players. No percussion, at this point.
His 90-minute set will be made of songs from the album and even newer songs ... he's not planning to dust off any of the old hits others recorded.
"It's all about the music now. It's hard for me to go back and be in that frame of mind."
After the Triple Door initial date sold out, a second show was added, on Feb. 6. Bell is also booked at EMP in February.
Around town
• Wayne Horvitz brings his latest band, the New Electric Quartet, to the Triple Door tonight (8 p.m., $17).
• Alt-country star Jay Farrar (Uncle Tupelo) plays the Tractor on Tuesday (9 p.m., $15).
• L.A.'s Ozomatli brings its urban-rock-hip-hop power shake to the Showbox on Sunday (9 p.m., $20).
• Source of Labor leads a live/DJ hip-hop show at Chop Suey on Saturday (10 p.m., $12), followed on Sunday by the last "Yo Son!" night at this venue. The "Yo Son!" people will be moving their hip-hop dance show to nearby Neumo's when that club opens in February.
• The Hunches — a fiery glam-pop band from Portland — headline at the Fun House (former Zak's) on Saturday (10 p.m., $5).
Tom Scanlon: tscanlon@seattletimes.com