Archie Bell

Archie Bell is comprised of interviews conducted by Houston entrepreneur, DJ, and filmmaker Flash Gordon Parks with 5th Ward living legend Archie Bell of Archie Bell & the Drells. Songs from the Drells include the sublime 1968 track “Tighten Up,” one of the earliest funk hits in music history. Bell moved to Houston when he was a toddler with his family and began singing at the age of five in church in Houston's 5th Ward. While attending E.O. Smith Junior High School, Bell formed the group, The Drells, who started out playing neighborhood dances and sock hops. Bell has said that the spoken word intro to “Tighten Up,” was in response to a DJ’s assertion, after President Kennedy’s assassination, that nothing good came out of Texas.