NEW YORK — Thom Bell, the Grammy-winning producer, writer and arranger who helped perfect the “Sound of Philadelphia” of the 1970s with the inventive, orchestral settings of such hits as the Spinners’ “I’ll Be Around” and the Stylistics’ “Betcha by Golly, Wow,” has died at age 79.
Bell’s wife, Vanessa Bell, said that he died Thursday at his home in Bellingham, Washington, after a lengthy illness. She declined to give additional details.
