He moved with his mother to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1962, and learned to play the guitar from their neighbor George Benson, eventually joining his "All Stars" band as a bassist.
[3] Bell moved with his sisters to Flint, Michigan, around 1970 and continued playing, supplementing club gigs with street performances and bookings at senior centers and jailhouses.
During an extended visit to Atlanta, Georgia in the mid-1970s, Bell was arrested for playing without a permit, but public pressure on Mayor Jackson led to an eventual order that police should leave him alone.
[3] In 2004, Bell was contacted by the Music Maker Relief Foundation, which organized international tours and produced his debut album, Mississippi Rubberleg.
[6] The Music Maker connection saw Bell appear the same year at the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas.
[4] Bell appeared, along with a number of Music Maker roster artists, in the 2008 Machipongo Films produced documentary, Toot Blues.
[7] Bell's recorded work was included on a couple of compilation albums; Music Maker: Slavery, Prison, Women... (2007)[8] and Biscuits for Your Outside Man (2016).