"Hi, everybody!  I'm Archie Bell of The Drells, of Houston, Texas!"  Archie Bell let the world know exactly who he was as he led his group through the "Tighten Up," his 1968 Pop and R&B chart-topping dance record.  He explained to author Fred Bronson that the decision to introduce himself was in response to an unkind remark that "nothing good ever came out of Texas."  Bell was determined to prove that the comment was wrong - and prove it, he certainly did.  Cherry Red's Robinsongs imprint has recently collected Archie Bell and The Drells' complete albums plus a disc of bonus singles and non-LP sides on a new, essential 5CD box set, The Albums 1968-1979.

The box begins with Bell's admonition to "Tighten Up."  It wasn't the Texas-born singer's first single, but it's the one that sent his career into the stratosphere - as well as that of Drells Billy Butler, James Wise, and Willie Pernell.  Originally issued as a B-side for the small Ovide label, it was then reissued in the same position on Atlantic before the major, national label flipped it over and created a No. 1 Pop and R&B hit in the United States.  It also became the title of the Drells' first album.  Co-written by Bell and Billy Butler, "Tighten Up" set the template for Bell's loose, funky party jams.  (The original A-side, the brassy, pulsating "Dog Eat Dog," is among the bonus tracks on this set, too, and it's not half-bad.)  Not that Bell could party much at the time.  When "Tighten Up" was ascending the charts, he was serving his country and stationed in Germany.  The ballad "A Soldier's Prayer," another one of his Ovide singles reissued on Atlantic, captures this moment in time for the vocalist with the distinctive pipes.

The next landmark moment in Archie Bell and The Drells' career came when Atlantic paired them with up-and-coming Philadelphia-based writer-producer-entrepreneurs Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff.  On two albums (I Can't Stop Dancing and There's Gonna Be a Showdown) and a handful of singles, Gamble and Huff surrounded Bell with a cadre of talents soon to make their own marks in popular music including Thom Bell.  Thom (no relation to Archie) arranged the title song of I Can't Stop Dancing, earning the group another Top 10 hit on both U.S. charts.  "I Can't Stop Dancing" built on the "Tighten Up" rhythm as did the follow-up single "Do the Choo-Choo."  (Bell quipped at the beginning of the song, "Here we go again!")  By this time, Archie's brother Lee Bell had replaced Billy Butler in the lineup.  Joe Cross and Luscious Larkins, during various periods, were also part of the group's lineup.

The Gamble and Huff-penned "(There's Gonna Be a) Showdown," title of the band's third Atlantic LP and second produced by the Philly contingent, had the by-now-familiar spoken intro from Bell and another dance theme, but upped the ante with another sophisticated arrangement (this time by Bobby Martin).  The catchy track made it to No. 6 R&B and a none-too-shabby No. 21 Pop.  There's Gonna Be a Showdown boasts a number of lesser-known yet no less exemplary tracks showcasing Archie and the Drells' versatility, such as "Go for What You Know" from future "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" writers Marvin and Melvin Steals; the happily buoyant "My Balloon's Going Up;" and a couple of Thom Bell/Kenny Gamble co-writes, "I Love My Baby" (with its adventurous rhythms and time shifts), and the swinging, street-corner-harmonizing "Girl, You're Too Young."  The sitar sound on the uptempo album track "Here I Go Again" looks forward to Thom Bell's future work with The Stylistics.

Archie Bell and the Drells were next dispatched to work with another hot pair of producers working at Atlantic.  Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro's soul credentials were rock-solid thanks to their work with Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, The Sweet Inspirations, Jackie Moore, and numerous others.  From their frequent home base in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Crawford and Shapiro reinvented the Drells' style for a number of singles included on the sixth disc of The Albums including the lively "Get It from the Bottom" and rootsy, soulful "I Wish."  A cover of Isaac Hayes and David Porter's "Wrap It Up" is effortlessly funky, and "Deal with Him" is effectively urgent.  The Drells' final two A-sides produced by the Crawford/Shapiro team, the pretty, string-drenched "I Just Want to Fall in Love" and the exuberant "Archie's in Love," were both written by "Prince" Philip Mitchell.  He would prove key to the Drells when he wrote and produced a series of A-sides for their next label affiliation, with Henry Stone's Glades Records.  The Glades material, alas, is absent from this collection.

Archie Bell and The Drells re-teamed with Gamble and Huff in 1975 when they joined the roster of the duo's Philadelphia International Records.  They were assigned to the TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) imprint for their first LP in over six years; all told, they would release four albums on PIR through 1979.  Label debut Dance Your Troubles Away brought the group full circle with a terpsichorean-themed set harkening back to their early hits, imbued with the plush orchestration associated with the Philly sound.

Leon Huff, Victor Carstarphen, Gene McFadden, and John Whitehead's "Let's Groove" began with a spoken introduction ("Hi, everybody, this is Archie Bell, and these are The Drells...") before the rhythmic, bass-driven track kicked into high gear.  Gamble and Huff's faith in Archie Bell paid off when the track reached the Top 10 of the R&B chart and went to No. 3 on the Disco survey.  Ron Tyson, Bunny Sigler, and Allan Felder collaborated on the jubilantly melodic "I Could Dance All Night," arranged by MFSB bassist Ron Baker, and it went to No. 25 R&B.  The sleek No. 42 R&B hit "The Soul City Walk" reunited the Drells with arranger Bobby Martin.  The title track of Dance Your Troubles Away barely missed the Disco top 10 at No. 11.

The group's next album, released on the Philadelphia International label proper, posed the question: Where Will You Go When the Party's Over?  But the party wasn't ending anytime soon.  MFSB flautist Jack Faith put on his dancing shoes as arranger of the disco-flavored title song.  Bunny Sigler, as writer-producer, teamed with arranger Richard Rome for a song that could have been a Drells mandate: the breakneck "Everybody Have a Good Time."  (Note that the album track "Dancin' Man" has been shifted from this album to the disc of bonus material, presumably for timing reasons.)  1977's Hard Not to Like It continued the group's relationship with McFadden, Whitehead, and Carstarphen on such fine tracks as the sweet groover "It's Hard Not to Like You" and the atypical ballad "I've Been Missing You."

1979's Strategy turned out to be the group's swansong.  Though the Gamble and Huff-written "Show Me How to Dance" is one of the most lightweight items in the duo's discography, Strategy gave The Drells their final chart hit with McFadden and Whitehead's title song.  Archie and co. also participated in the socially-conscious PIR compilation Let's Clean Up the Ghetto; their moving contribution, Dexter Wansel and Bunny Sigler's "Old People," is featured on the sixth disc.

While the group's 12-inch platters for PIR are missing here, The Albums is nonetheless near-one-stop-shopping for the beloved Texas band (impressively featuring repertoire controlled by both Sony and Rhino).  The individual discs are housed in a clamshell case also containing a 20-page booklet with liner notes by Charles Waring and credits, sans discography, for all tracks.  Alan Wilson has remastered at Western Star.  This is feel-good party music at its finest, from some of the most soulful singers, musicians, songwriters, producers, and arrangers of all time.  Indeed, it's most certainly Hard Not to Like It.  This floor-filling collection from Robinsongs is available now at the links below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Albums 1968-1979 (Robinsongs QROBIN5BX68 (U.K.), 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Tighten Up (1-10, released as Atlantic SC 8181, 1968) and I Can't Stop Dancing (11-20, released as Atlantic SD 8204, 1968)

1. Tighten Up (Part 1)
2. Tighten Up (Part 2)
3. I Don't Wanna Be a Playboy
4. You're Mine
5. Knock On Wood
6. Give Me Time
7. In the Midnight Hour
8. When You Left Heartache Began
9. A Thousand Wonders
10. A Soldier's Prayer, 1967
11. I Can't Stop Dancing
12. (Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay
13. Do the Choo Choo
14. You're Such a Beautiful Child
15. Monkey Time
16. Do You Feel It?
17. I've Been Trying
18. Jammin' in Houston
19. Love Will Rain on You
20. Sometimes I Wonder

Disc 2: There's Gonna Be a Showdown (1-12, released as Atlantic SD 8226, 1969) and Dance Your Troubles Away (13-19, released as TSOP PZ 33844, 1975)

1. I Love My Baby
2. Houston Texas
3. (There's Gonna Be a) Showdown
4. Giving Up Dancing
5. Girl You're Too Young
6. Mama Didn't Teach Me That Way
7. Do the Hand Jive
8. My Balloon's Going Up
9. Here I Go Again
10. Go for What You Know
11. Green Power
12. Just a Little Closer
13. Let's Groove
14. I Could Dance All Night
15. I Won't Leave You Honey, Never
16. Dance Your Troubles Away
17. The Soul City Walk
18. Let's Go Disco
19. I Love You, But You Don't Even Know It

Disc 3: Where Will You Go When the Party's Over (1-8, released as Philadelphia International Records PZ 34323, 1976) and Hard Not to Like It (9-16, released as Philadelphia International Records PZ 34855, 1977)

1. Don't Let Love Get You Down
2. Where Will You Go When the Party's Over
3. Right Here is Where I Want to Be
4. Everybody Have a Good Time
5. I Swear You're Beautiful
6. Nothing Comes Easy
7. I Bet I Can Do the Dance You're Doin'
8. Glad You Could Make It
9. Disco Showdown
10. Disco Fever
11. On the Radio
12. It's Hard Not to Like You
13. There's No Other Like You
14. Real Good Feeling
15. I've Been Missing You

Disc 4: Strategy (released as Philadelphia International Records JZ 36906, 1979)

1. Show Me How to Dance
2. I Can't Get Enough of Your Love
3. How Can I
4. We've Got Something
5. Tighten Up At the Disco
6. Strategy
7. You're the Only One
8. We Got 'Em Dancin'

Disc 5: Bonus Tracks

1. A World Without Music
2. Deal with Him
3. Dog Eat Dog
4. Wrap It Up
5. Don't Let the Music Slip Away
6. Get It from the Bottom
7. I Wish
8. Love At First Sight
9. I Just Want to Fall in Love
10. Archie's in Love
11. Let the World Know You Got Soul
12. I Can't Face You Baby
13. Let's Groove (7" Version)
14. The Soul City Walk (7" Version)
15. Dancin' Man
16. Old People - The Philadelphia International All- Stars

Track 1 from B-side to "Here I Go Again" - Atlantic 45-2693, 1969
Tracks 2 and 4 released as Atlantic single 45-2678, 1969
Track 5 from Atlantic single 45-2721, 1970
Tracks 6-7 released as Atlantic single 45-2744, 1970
Tracks 8-9 released as Atlantic single 45-2793, 1971
Tracks 10-11 released as Atlantic single 45-2828, 1971
Track 12 from Atlantic single 47-2855, 1972
Track 13 from TSOP single ZS8 4775, 1975
Track 14 from TSOP single ZS8 4774, 1975
Track 15 from Where Will You Go When the Party's Over, Philadelphia International Records PZ 34323, 1976
Track 16 from Philadelphia International Records single ZS8 3651, 1977