Margaret Bell is a Scottish rock vocalist. She came to fame as co-lead vocalist of the blues-rock group Stone the Crows, and was described as the UK's closest counterpart to American singer Janis Joplin.
Career
From a musical family, she sang from her teenage years, leaving school at the age of fifteen, to work as a window dresser by day and singer at night. Bell was introduced to Leslie Harvey, by his older brother Alex, after getting up on stage to sing with the latter. Leslie Harvey was, at that time, a guitarist with the Kinning Park Ramblers. Bell joined the group as one of the vocalists. After the band split up, Bell moved to the Mecca Band at the Sauchiehall Street Locarno, and later to the Dennistoun Palais Band.
Power/Stone the Crows
She then rejoined Harvey, forming Power initially known as The Power of Music and eventually The Power. Bell and The Power regularly performed at The Easterhouse Project, run by Archie Hind and Graeme Noble. They also toured United States Air Force bases in Germany in the mid 1960s. Peter Grant, who was managing The Yardbirds at the time, heard Power playing at one of these bases and agreed to produce and manage them, impressed by the vocal ability of Bell and the guitar playing of Harvey. Power was then renamed as Stone the Crows, an expression used by Grant upon hearing this band.
First solo album
Stone the Crows split up in 1973, after Leslie Harvey's accidental death from electrocution on 2 May 1972. Harvey had been an integral part of the band and its music. Peter Grant remained as Bell's manager after the split, and along with Mark London offered to help Bell record a solo album. She subsequently recorded two further albums for Atlantic Records, one produced by Felix Pappalardi and the other produced by Felix Cavaliere. Neither has yet been released. Grant then oversaw her first solo album release Queen of the Night, which was recorded in New York City with record producer Jerry Wexler.
Swan Song and Midnight Flyer
Bell signed to the then newly formed Swan Song Records in 1974, along with Bad Company and Pretty Things, as one of the first signings to the label. Jimmy Page contributed to her second album Suicide Sal. Bell then tried to capture past blues rock glories by fronting Midnight Flyer, who were a popular live act but their sole eponymous album released in 1981 was not a commercial success.
Solo again and B. A. Robertson
Returning to a solo career, she had her biggest hit in the UK in 1981 duetting with B. A. Robertson on a cover version of "Hold Me" which reached No. 11 in the UK Singles Chart. Bell also performed at many charity gigs during this period.
Television
While working with Stone the Crows, Bell was the subject of a BBC documentary in the 1972 Sounding Out series. Bell sang the end credits theme for the late 1970s ITV detective drama Hazell, with lyrics written by Judy Forrest and music by Andy Mackay. Her song "No Mean City", written by Mike Moran, was the theme music to the TV crime drama Taggart. She also appeared in a single episode of Taggart called "Evil Eye" in 1990, playing a gypsy fortune teller named Effie Lambie who is murdered early in the episode. In 1990 she appeared in four episodes of the BBC drama series Your Cheatin’ Heart. In 2009 she provided the singing voice of rock singer Esme Ford in the episode "Counter Culture Blues" of the ITV series Lewis.
