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Soul music is a
music genre that combines
rhythm and blues and
gospel music originating in the late 1950s in the
United States.
Rhythm and blues arose in the 1940s as small groups of predominately
African-American musicians built upon the blues tradition. Soul music is differentiated from rhythm and blues by its use of gospel-music devices, its greater emphasis on
vocalists, and its merging of religious and secular themes.
Origins
right|thumb|200px|[Sam Cooke, shown on the cover of his 1964 album
Ain't That Good News, is considered one of the founders of soul music.]
As with all genres of music there are always forerunners of forerunners and 40s artists like
Mahalia Jackson,
Louis Jordan,
Louis Prima, and
Big Joe Turner have all been mentioned as early influences on soul (As well as
rock'n'roll and
R&B), however
Sam Cooke,
Ray Charles and
James Brown are considered to be amongst the earliest pioneers of soul music, although all three were happy to call themselves rock'n'roll performers at the time, and during the 60s '
Beatles boom' both Charles and Brown claimed that they had always been R&B singers really.
Solomon Burke's early recordings for
Atlantic Records codified the style, and his early 1960s recordings
Cry to Me,
Just Out of Reach and
Down in the Valley are considered classics of the genre.
Peter Guralnick writes, "it was only with the coming together of Burke and Atlantic Records that you could see anything resembling a movement."
In
Memphis, Tennessee,
Stax Records produced recordings by
Otis Redding,
Wilson Pickett and
Don Covay (who also recorded in
New York City for Atlantic).
Joe Tex's 1965
The Love You Save is a classic soul recording. An important center of soul music recording was
Florence, Alabama, where the Fame Studios operated. Jimmy Hughes,
Percy Sledge and
Arthur Alexander recorded at Fame;
Aretha Franklin recorded in the area later in the 1960s. Fame Studios, often referred to as
Muscle Shoals (after a town neighboring Florence), enjoyed a close relationship with Stax, and many of the musicians and producers who worked in Memphis contributed to recordings done in Alabama.
Another important Memphis label was Goldwax Records, owned by Quinton Claunch. Goldwax signed O. V. Wright and
James Carr, who went on to make several records that are considered essentials of the genre. Carr's
The Dark End of the Street (written by
Chips Moman and
Dan Penn) was recorded at two other important Memphis studios — Royal Recording and American Sound Studios — in 1967. American Studios owner Chips Moman produced
Dark End of the Street, and the musicians were his
house band of
Reggie Young, Bobby Woods, Tommy Cogbill and Gene Chrisman. Carr also made recordings at Fame, utilizing musicians
David Hood,
Jimmy Johnson and Roger Hawkins.
Aretha Franklin's 1967 recordings, such as
I Never Loved a Man That Way I Love You, Respect (originally sung by Otis Redding), and
Do Right Woman-Do Right Man, are considered to be the
apogee of the soul music genre, and were among its most commercially successful productions. During this period, Stax artists such as
Eddie Floyd and
Johnnie Taylor made significant contributions to soul music.
Howard Tate's recordings in the late 1960s for
Verve Records, and later for Atlantic (produced by Jerry Ragovoy) are another important body of work in the soul genre.
Much has been made of
Tamla Motown's contributions to the soul canon although the
Detroit based label proudly thought of itself as a manufacturer of
pop music. Certainly the music of
Motown artists such as
Stevie Wonder,
Gladys Knight, and
Marvin Gaye did much to popularise the style, and the overall 'Motown-sound' did much to define the fork in the soul music style known as
Northern soul.
Meanwhile in
Chicago Curtis Mayfield was creating the 'Sweet soul' sound that would render him the undisputed Godfather of Northern soul, although once again the 'forerunner theory' suggests his music was heavily influenced by the late Sam Cooke. As a member of
The Impressions Mayfield created a '
Call and answer' style of group singing that harked right back to Gospel but nevertheless influenced scores of other groups of the era.
By 1968, the soul music movement had begun to splinter, as James Brown and
Sly & the Family Stone began to expand upon and abstract both soul and rhythm and blues into other forms. As Guralnick writes, "More than anything else, though, what seems to me to have brought the era of soul to a grinding, unsettling halt was the death of Martin Luther King in April of 1968."
1970s and later
Later examples of soul music include recordings by
The Staple Singers (such as
I'll Take You There), and
Al Green's 1970s recordings, done at
Willie Mitchell's Royal Recording in Memphis. Mitchell's
Hi Records continued the Stax tradition in that decade, releasing many hits by Green,
Ann Peebles, Otis Clay, O. V. Wright and
Syl Johnson.
Bobby Womack, who recorded with Chips Moman in the late 1960s, continued to produce soul recordings in the 1970s and 1980s.
The city of
Detroit produced some important later soul recordings. Producer
Don Davis worked with Stax artists such as Johnnie Taylor and
The Dramatics. Early-1970s recordings by The Detroit Emeralds, such as
Do Me Right, are an important link between soul and the later
disco style.
Motown Records artists such as
Marvin Gaye and
Smokey Robinson contributed to the evolution of soul music, although their recordings were considered more in a
pop music vein than those of Redding, Franklin and Carr.
right|thumb|200px|What's Going On.">[Marvin Gaye on the cover of his classic 1971 album
What's Going On.]
Although stylistically different from classic soul music, recordings by
Chicago-based artists such as
Jerry Butler and
The Chi-Lites are often considered part of the genre.
By the early 1970s, soul music had been influenced by
psychedelic rock and other genres. The social and political ferment of the times inspired artists like Gaye and
Curtis Mayfield to release album-length statements with hard-hitting social commentary. Artists like
James Brown led soul towards
funk music, which became typified by 1970s bands like
Parliament-Funkadelic and
The Meters. More versatile groups like
War, the
Commodores and
Earth, Wind and Fire became popular around this time. During the 1970s, some slick and commercial blue-eyed soul acts like Philadelphia's
Hall & Oates and Oakland's
Tower of Power achieved mainstream success, as did a new generation of street-corner harmony or
city-soul groups like
The Delfonics and Howard University's Unifics.
By the end of the 1970s,
disco and funk were dominating the charts. Philly soul and most other soul genres were dominated by disco-inflected tracks. During this period, groups like
The O'Jays and
The Spinners continued to turn out hits.
After the death of disco in the early 1980s, soul music survived for a short time before going through yet another metamorphisis. With the introduction of influences from
electro music and funk, soul music became less raw and more slickly produced, resulting in a newer genre that was called
R&B, which sounded very different from the original rhythm and blues style. This new version of R&B was often labelled
contemporary R&B.
Genres of soul
Blue-eyed soul
see details|Blue-eyed
Usually performed by white artists, blue-eyed soul is often characterized by catchy hooks and melodies. It arose from a mixture of
Elvis Presley and
Bill Haley-derived
rockabilly and from 1950s
doo wop. Other performers include
Righteous Brothers,
The Action,
Hall & Oates,
The Rascals,
Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels,
Dusty Springfield,
Culture Club and
George Michael.
David Bowie's
Young Americans album is widely regarded as a later classic of the genre. Modern examples would be the early part of
Anastacia's career.
Detroit (Motown) soul
:
For more details on these topics, see Motown and Motown Sound. Dominated by
Berry Gordy's
Motown Records empire, Detroit soul is strongly rhythmic, and influenced by gospel music. The
Motown Sound often includes hand
clapping, a powerful bass line,
violins,
bells and other untraditional instruments. Motown's house band was
The Funk Brothers, and singers included:
Marvin Gaye,
The Temptations,
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles,
Gladys Knight & the Pips,
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas,
The Marvelettes,
Mary Wells,
Diana Ross & the Supremes,
The Jackson 5,
The Four Tops and
Stevie Wonder. Songwriters included:
Holland-Dozier-Holland,
Norman Whitfield,
Barrett Strong,
Smokey Robinson,
Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson,
Ivy Jo Hunter and
Roger Penzabene.
Northern soul and Modern soul
:
For more details on this topic, see Northern soul and modern soulThe term
Northern soul was coined by music journalist Dave Godin in 1970 after a visit to the
Twisted Wheel Club in
Manchester, The term refers to rare soul music played by DJs at night clubs in northern England. The songs originally consisted of obscure American soul recordings with an
uptempo beat, similar to (and including) those on Motown Records and more obscure labels such as Okeh.
Modern soul was an updated version of the northen soul sound.
Deep soul and Southern soul
:
For more details on this topic, see Deep soul and Southern soulThe terms
deep soul and
southern soul generally refer to a driving, energetic soul style combining
R&B's energy with pulsating southern United States
gospel music sounds.
Memphis, Tennessee label
Stax Records nurtured a distinctive sound, which included putting vocals further back in the mix than most contemporary R&B records, using vibrant horn parts in place of background vocals, and a focus on the low end of the frequency spectrum. The vast majority of Stax releases were backed by house bands
Booker T and the MGs (with
Booker T. Jones,
Steve Cropper,
Duck Dunn, and
Al Jackson) and the Memphis Horns (the splinter horn section of the
Mar-Keys). The label counted
Otis Redding,
Carla Thomas,
Sam & Dave,
Rufus Thomas, William Bell, and
Eddie Floyd among its stars.
Memphis soul
see details|Memphis
Memphis soul is a shimmering, sultry style of soul music produced in the 1960s and 1970s at
Stax Records and
Hi Records in
Memphis, Tennessee. It featured melancholic and melodic horns, organ, bass, and drums, as heard in recordings by Hi's
Al Green and Stax's
Booker T. & the M.G.'s. The latter group also sometimes played in the harder-edged
Southern soul style. The Hi Records house band (
Hi Rhythm Section) and producer
Willie Mitchell developed a surging soul style heard in the label's 1970s hit recordings. Some Stax recordings fit into this style, but had their own unique sound.
Neo soul
see details|Neo
Neo soul is a mixture of 1970s soul-styled vocals and instrumentation with a contemporary
R&B sound,
hip hop beats and rap interludes. The style first appeared in the mid 1990s with the work of
Tony! Toni! Toné! and
D'Angelo, after previous permutations in
new jack swing and
hip-hop soul.
Lauryn Hill,
Musiq Soulchild,
The Roots and
Alicia Keys helped popularize the sound. Other performers include
Jill Scott,
Jaguar Wright,
Erykah Badu,
Adriana Evans,
Maxwell,
India.Arie,
Joss Stone, Anthony Hamilton, Bilal and
Tom Fox.
Philadelphia soul
see details|Philadelphia
Based primarily in the
Philadelphia International record label, Philadelphia soul (AKA Philly Soul) had a lush
orchestral sound and
doo-wop-inspired vocals.
Thom Bell, and
Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff are considered the founders of Philadelphia soul, which was dominated by artists such as
The Spinners,
The Delfonics,
The O'Jays,
The Stylistics,
The Intruders,
Patti LaBelle,
MFSB,
The Three Degrees,
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and
McFadden & Whitehead.
Psychedelic soul
see details|Psychedelic
Psychedelic soul was a blend of
psychedelic rock and soul music in the late-1960s, which paved the way for the mainstream emergence of
funk music a few years later. Principle figures included
multicultural band
Sly & the Family Stone,
The Fifth Dimension, and (with producer
Norman Whitfield)
The Temptations and
The Undisputed Truth.
Sound samples
*
Download sample of
Ray Charles'
What'd I Say, the most well-known hit from Charles, a noted R&B and soul singer.
*
Download sample of
Otis Redding's
Mr. Pitiful, one of the most well-remembered songs from the soul singer.
*
Download sample of
Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools", one of the Franklin's biggest hits.
*
Download sample of
The Delfonics'
Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love) from
The Sound of Sexy Soul, one of the pioneering recordings of
Philly soul*
Download sample of
Marvin Gaye's
What's Going On, a hit track that transformed the soul genre from single-led pop music to cohesive albums with socio-political lyrical content.
*
Download sample of
D'Angelo's
Untitled (How Does It Feel) from
Voodoo. D'Angelo is one of the most renowned male artists of the
neo soul genre.
External links
*
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/bluessoulreggae/guides/soul/ BBC: A quick guide to Soul*
http://www.soulmusicnews.com/ Soul Music News*
http://www.soul-source.co.uk/ Soul Source *
http://www.northernsoul.co.uk/ NorthernSoul.co.uk *
http://www.bluejuice.org.au/subpage9.html Soul stars of Jamaica*
http://www.soulsvilleusa.com Stax Records Museum*
http://www.soulmusiconline.com/ Horn-driven soul and funk music*
http://www.underground-soul.com Underground Soul: Contemporary Soul Music*
http://www.electro-funk.de Electro & Funk link to Webradios & Music Videos
References
*Miller, Jim (editor) (1976).
The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. New York: Rolling Stone Press/Random House. ISBN 0-394-73238-3. (Chapter on "Soul," by Guralnick, Peter. pp. 194-197.
*Escott, Colin. Liner notes for
The Essential James Carr. Razor and Tie Records, 1995.
Category:Soul musicCategory:Radio formatsca:Soulda:Soulde:Soules:Souleo:Soulofr:Soul musicgl:Soulit:Soulhe:מוזיקת נשמהka:სოულიhu:Soulnl:Soulja:ソウルミュージックno:Soulmusikkpl:Soulpt:Soulfi:Soul (musiikki)sv:Soul
