soul music

 

Soul
Stylistic origins:	Gospel music, blues, Rhythm and blues
Cultural origins:	late 1950s United States (esp. Chicago, Illinois)
Typical instruments:	Guitar - Bass - keyboard - Drums - Horn section - Vocals
Mainstream popularity:	International, 1960s through early 1980s
Derivative forms:	Funk - Disco- contemporary R&B- Quiet Storm
Subgenres
Deep Soul - Motown Sound - Psychedelic soul - Blue-eyed soul - Brown-eyed soul
Fusion genres
Neo soul - Soul blues - Spoken Word Soul
Regional scenes
Detroit soul - Memphis soul - Philly soul
Other topics
Soul Musicians

Soul music is a music genre that combines rhythm and blues and gospel music, originating in the United States. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying."^[1]

Origins

Soul music has some of its roots in gospel music and rhythm and blues. Many consider soul music to be a genre of music created by African Americans in northern United States inner cities, particularly Chicago.^{[citation needed]} Other areas, such as Detroit and Memphis, Tennessee quickly followed and created their own regional soul music style, due to their gospel roots. Some of the elements from Chicago and other parts of the United States, such as the south, brought some raw unpolished funky talent to heavily-populated inner cities, where soul became polished and perfected.

Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and Etta James were early popular stars of the music genre, and other soul forerunners include: Mahalia Jackson, Louis Jordan, Louis Prima, and Big Joe Turner. Some of the earliest soul artists included Ray Charles, Little Richard, and James Brown, although all were happy to call themselves rock and roll performers at the time. During the 1960s Beatles boom, both Charles and Brown claimed that they had always really been R&B singers. Little Richard proclaimed himself the "king of rockin' and rollin', rhythm and blues soulin'", because his music embodied elements of all three, and because he inspired artists in all three genres. Solomon Burke's early recordings for Atlantic Records codified the soul style, and his early 1960s songs "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."^{[citation needed]}

In Memphis, Stax Records produced key soul recordings by Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Don Covay (who also recorded in New York City for Atlantic Records). 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, and 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 notable 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 "The 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 Studios, utilizing musicians David Hood, Jimmy Johnson and Roger Hawkins.

Aretha Franklin's 1967 recordings, such as "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", "Respect" (originally sung by Otis Redding), and "Do Right Woman-Do Right Man", are considered the apogee of the soul music genre, and were among its most commercially successful productions. During the late 1960s, 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 notable body of work in the soul genre.

Motown Records also contributed to the soul canon, although at the time, the Detroit-based label described itself as a manufacturer of pop music. Music by 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 what later became known as northern soul. In Chicago, Curtis Mayfield created the sweet soul sound that later earned him a reputation as the Godfather of northern soul. As a member of The Impressions, Mayfield created a call and answer style of group singing that resembled the gospel style, and influenced many 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 evolve both soul and rhythm and blues into other forms. Guralnick argues that, "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."^{[citation needed]}

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.

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.

Soul music from the United Kingdom has become popular worldwide, with artists such as Joss Stone and most recently Amy Winehouse. In the 1980s, artists such as Soul To Soul, Loose Ends, Imagination, Mica Paris and Sade propagated the worldwide success of British soul. Simultaneously, the United States saw the development of neo-soul, but mainstream record label maketing support cooled, due to the industry focus on hip hop music. Notable British soul artists of the 2000s include Terri Walker, Beverley Knight, Corrine Bailey Rae, Jamiroquai, Julie Dexter and Brand New Heavies.

Soul subgenres

Detroit (Motown) soul

For more details on these topics, see Motown Records 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, Roger Penzabene, and Stevie Wonder.

Deep soul and southern soul

For more details on this topic, see Deep soul and Southern soul

The 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

For more details on this topic, see Memphis soul.

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.

Philadelphia soul

For more details on this topic, see Philadelphia soul.

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

For more details on this topic, see Psychedelic soul.

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. Principal figures included multicultural band Sly & the Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield, The Fifth Dimension, and (with producer Norman Whitfield) The Temptations and The Undisputed Truth.

Blue-eyed soul

For more details on this topic, see Blue-eyed soul.

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 Hall & Oates, Righteous Brothers, Boy George, The Action, The Rascals, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, The Soul Survivors, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, David Bowie's Young Americans album is widely regarded as a later classic of the genre.

Neo soul

For more details on this topic, see Neo soul.

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. Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill, Musiq, and Alicia Keys helped popularize the sound. Other performers include Jill Scott, Jaguar Wright, Erykah Badu, Amel Larrieux, Adriana Evans, Maxwell, Charles Inniss, India.Arie, Soul Basement, Anthony Hamilton, Floetry, Bilal, J Dilla, Mark Ronson and Tom Fox, Goapele

Northern soul and modern soul

For more details on this topic, see Northern soul and Modern soul

The term Northern soul was coined by music journalist Dave Godin in 1970 after a visit to the Twisted Wheel Club in Manchester, England.^{[citation needed]} 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 northern soul sound.

Spoken word soul

For more details on this topic, see Spoken word soul.

See also

• List of soul musicians
• Easy listening

Audio 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 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.

Footnotes

Bibliography

• 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.

Soul music
Blue-eyed soul - Brown-eyed soul - Chicago soul - Country soul - Hip hop soul - Memphis soul - Modern soul - Motown Sound - Neo soul - Northern soul - Philadelphia soul - Psychedelic soul - Southern soul - Spoken word soul
Other topics	Soul musicians - African American music - Blues - Funk - Gospel music - Motown Records - Rhythm and blues - Stax Records - Mod (lifestyle) - Skinhead - Mod revival

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