William Bell

"When you lose/ you lose alone," Memphis soul singer William Bell reminds us on "Everybody Loves a Winner." The lyrical turn is delivered over a twinkling, twilight piano and slushy drums. It's loose melodrama, porch-swing tragedy: the sort of countrified soul that Bell and label Stax would become synonymous with. Though Bell had been releasing singles since 1961, this was his full-length debut.