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The Late Great Luke Bell Lives On In Aptly Titled Posthumous Single, “The King Is Back,” With 28-Track Album To Follow
The king is back indeed.
For the first time in over four years, new music from Luke Bell has hit streaming platforms, and there is plenty more where that came from.
Thirty Tigers, a Nashville-based music, marketing, distribution, and management company, announced today The King Is Back, an aptly named 28-track project that includes all of Bell’s unreleased material and will ultimately be his only posthumous album. Slated for release in its entirety on November 7, The King Is Back is comprised of songs that were tracked between 2013 and 2016, and it was assembled by a handful of people that were integral to Bell’s life and career such as his mother Carol Bell, sister Jane Bell, and manager Brian Buchanan, among others.
To kick things off, the title track and lead single off of the record, “The King Is Back,” hit streaming platforms today, and it is not a release you want to miss. With understated yet potent instrumentation that backs up Bell’s clever and often allegorical lyricism, this new one makes it feel as if Bell is picking up right where he left off. And while the song content takes on a new meaning than it was initially intended given the circumstances, it is clear from the opening lyrics that this was the perfect one to release as the lead single.
Bell’s mother Carol shared some valuable insight into the new track:
“‘The King Is Back’ captures the feeling of being back on top after a low period. Luke’s friend and bandmate Steve Daly said Luke hadn’t mapped out any solos or spots for big hooks, he’s simply said that whatever they played needed to sound cocky, as if something was about to happen. Like ‘The Bullfighter,’ this song is about a state of mind and it’s multilayered.
We can all relate to the feelings of relief and excitement when we wake up feeling strong after a period of feeling poor and hungry. We can all relate to waking up ready to seize the day after a period of hopelessness.”
Now, without further ado, give “The King Is Back” a listen for yourself here:
Man, it’s good to hear some new music from Luke Bell again.
And if this news gets you anywhere near as fired as it gets me, then you’ll be glad to know that a double vinyl package is available for pre-order, and you’ll be supporting a good cause if you buy it, too.
Accomplishing more than just keeping the spirit and music of Luke Bell alive, all proceeds from The King Is Back will raise money for the The Luke Bell Memorial Affordable Counseling Program, “a non-profit organization founded by Carol and Jane Bell that supports Big Horn Basin residents by providing vouchers for up to ten sessions with a therapist of the individual’s choice.”
Carol adds:
“It’s a meaningful way for Luke to give back to his community. A lot of Luke’s songs feature brave, cocksure characters who are hiding some kind of pain, and I think Luke was writing about himself, even though the songs weren’t always autobiographical.
I also see traces of Luke in funny songs like ‘Orangutang,’ which might be about a Wyoming kid who wound up in Nashville, feeling like an ape who just escaped the zoo.
The willingness to be silly and ridiculous, for the sake of fun — that’s very much like Luke, too. He changed the way we see the world. He helped us see people we didn’t always notice before, and he helped remind us how much they matter.“
For anyone who has made it this far and may not be familiar with the story, Luke Bell was a respected songwriter and musician who built a cult following in his short lived career behind the strength of his old school honky-tonk sound and the captivating tales of larger-than-life characters, much like himself, that he told through his songs.
Born in Kentucky and raised in Wyoming, Bell spent most of his adult life as a drifting musician, spending time in Austin, New Orleans, and Nashville, among plenty of other places, and recorded three albums between 2012 and 2016. The third record, his self-titled project Luke Bell, is the only one available on streaming services, which in some ways, contributes to the mysterious nature of Bell’s life and career.
Bell struggled with severe bipolar disorder and substance abuse issues throughout his life, and although he touched countless people with his kindness and eccentric personality over the years, he was no stranger to trouble and despair, and largely lived his life outside of the public eye. At just 32 years old, amidst a change in his bipolar medication, Bell was reported missing in Tucson, Arizona on August 20, 2022, and he was found dead nine days later. While the cause of death was ultimately reported to be a fentanyl overdose, his volatile mental issues undoubtedly played a large role in the tragedy.
Fortunately, certain groups and individuals within the country music community have done what they can in the years since to ensure that Luke Bell, and the incredible music he left us, do not go unforgotten. Notably, in addition to the album, filmmakers Kevin Romeo and Matt Bakken are in the process of creating a documentary about Bell’s life titled Where Ya Been? The Odyssey and Elegy of Luke Bell, which will include plenty of never before seen footage and first-person accounts of Bell’s life from family, friends, and other acquaintances.
In the meantime, before the documentary is finished or The King Is Back is released on November 7, be sure to stay on the lookout for more singles released off of the record. And if you want to hear some Luke Bell songs live, a special AmericanaFest tribute show will taking place in Nashville this coming week. If you’re in town, you won’t want to miss it.
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The King Is Back Tracklist
1) Rattlesnake Man
2) Don’t Mind If I Do
3) Long Gone Love
4) Cold Stew
5) Daydream Blues
6) I’m Not
7) Black Crows
8) On Our Own
9) All I’ve Got
10) Dark House of Fools
11) Ready for Love
12) Horse Flies
13) Guitar Man
14) Hand to Hold
15) Blue Freightliner
16) Hard Time
17) Rounder
18) Stag
19) Roofer’s Blues
20) River
21) Bottom of the Sea
22) The King Is Back
23) Irrigator’s Blues
24) Orangutang
25) Waste of Time
26) Seven and Steady
27) The Party Song
28) Tiger’s MouthThe post The Late Great Luke Bell Lives On In Aptly Titled Posthumous Single, “The King Is Back,” With 28-Track Album To Follow first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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