Soul music
Encyclopedia
Soul music is a music genre
originating in the United States
combining elements of gospel music
and rhythm and blues
. 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 funk
y, secular
testifying." Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response
between the soloist and the chorus, and an especially tense vocal sound. The genre also occasionally uses improvisational
additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds.
and rhythm and blues
. The hard gospel vocal quartets of the 1940s and 1950s were big influences on major soul singers of the 1960s. The term "soul music" itself, to describe gospel-style music with secular lyrics, is first attested in 1961.
Ray Charles
is often cited as inventing the soul genre with his string of hits starting with 1954's "I Got a Woman
". Charles was open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers
vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style. Another view has it that a decade would transpire until Solomon Burke
's early recordings for Atlantic Records
codified the soul style; his early 1960s songs "Cry to Me", "Just Out of Reach" and "Down in the Valley" are considered classics of the genre. Little Richard
(who was the inspiration for Otis Redding
), Fats Domino
and James Brown
originally called themselves rock and roll
performers. However, as rock music
moved away from its R&B roots in the 1960s, Brown claimed that he had always really been an R&B singer. 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. Jackie Wilson
and Sam Cooke
are also often acknowledged as soul forefathers.
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
" (written by Chips Moman
and Dan Penn
), are considered the apogee of the soul genre, and were among its most commercially successful productions. In the late 1960s, Stax
artists such as Redding, Eddie Floyd
, Wilson Pickett
, 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. By 1968, the soul music movement had begun to splinter, as artists such as James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone
began to incorporate new styles into their music.
inner cities, particularly Chicago
. Other cities, such as New York
, Detroit, Memphis
and Florence
, quickly followed, creating their own soul styles based on their regional gospel roots.
Florence, Alabama, was the home of FAME Studios
. 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 nearby town) enjoyed a close relationship with the Memphis label Stax Records
, and many of the musicians and producers who worked in Memphis contributed to recordings in Alabama. Another notable Memphis label was Goldwax Records, which signed O.V. Wright
and James Carr
. Carr's "The Dark End of the Street
" (written by Chips Moman
and Dan Penn
) was recorded in 1967 at two other Memphis studios, Royal Recording and American Sound Studios. American Sound 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 recorded songs at Fame Studio with musicians David Hood
, Jimmy Johnson
and Roger Hawkins.
The Detroit-based Motown Records
also contributed to the soul canon in the 1960s, although at the time, the label described itself as a manufacturer of pop music
. Music by Motown artists such as Stevie Wonder
, Gladys Knight & the Pips
, Marvin Gaye
, the Temptations, and the Supremes did much to popularize what became known as the Motown sound.
In Chicago, Curtis Mayfield
helped develop the sweet soul sound that later earned him a reputation as the Godfather of northern soul
. As a member of The Impressions, Mayfield infused a call and response
style of group singing that came out of gospel, and influenced many other groups of the era, notably fellow Chicago artists the Radiants.
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.
In Detroit, 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 a link between soul and the later disco
style. Motown Records
artists such as Marvin Gaye
, Michael Jackson
, Stevie Wonder
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 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.
As disco
and funk were dominating the charts in the late 1970s and early 1980s, soul went in the direction of quiet storm
. With its relaxed tempos and soft melodies, quiet storm soul took influences from soft rock and adult contemporary. Many funk bands, such as Con Funk Shun
, Cameo
, and Lakeside
would have a few quiet storm tracks on their albums. Among the most successful acts in this era include Smokey Robinson
, Teddy Pendergrass
, Peabo Bryson
, Atlantic Starr
, and Larry Graham
.
After the decline of disco and funk in the early 1980s, soul music became influenced by electro music. It became less raw and more slickly produced, resulting in a style known as contemporary R&B
, which sounded very different from the original rhythm and blues
style.
The United States saw the development of neo-soul around 1994. Mainstream record label
marketing support for soul genres cooled in the 2000s due to the industry's re-focus on hip hop.
's successful Tamla/Motown group of labels was notable for being black-owned, unlike most of the earlier independent R&B labels. Notable artists under this label were The Supremes
, The Temptations
, Smokey Robinson
and the Miracles
, the Four Tops
, Marvin Gaye
, Tammi Terrell
, Martha and the Vandellas
, and The Jackson Five. Hits were make using a quasi-industrial production-line approach. Some considered the sound to be mechanistic but producers and songwriters such as Phil Spector
brought artistic judgement to the three minute tunes. Brian Holland
, Lamont Dozier
and Eddie Holland were rarely out of the charts for their work as writers and producers for The Supremes
, the Four Tops
and Martha and the Vandellas
. They allowed important elements to shine through the dense musical texture. There was a large emphasis on the rhythm section with handclaps or tambourine. Smokey Robinson
was another writer and producer who added lyrics to "The Tracks Of My Tears" which was one of the most important songs of the decade.
, Otis Redding
and Wilson Pickett
. They tended to have smaller ensembles marked by expressive gospel-tinged vocals. Brass and Saxophones were also used extensively.
'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, violin
s and bells
. Motown Records' house band was The Funk Brothers
.
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
).
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.
, Fats Domino
, and Huey Piano Smith made a huge impact on the pop and R&B charts and a huge direct influence on the birth of Funk
music. The principal architect of Crescent City’s soul was songwriter, arranger, and producer Allen Toussaint
. He worked with such artists as Irma Thomas
(“the Soul Queen of New Orleans”), Jessie Hill, Kris Kenner, Benny Spellman, and Ernie K. Doe on the Minit/Instant label complex to produced a distinctive New Orleans soul sound generating a passel of national hits. Other notable New Orleans hits came from Robert Parker, Betty Harris
, and Aaron Neville
. While record labels in New Orleans largely disappeared by the mid-1960s, producers in the city continued to record New Orleans soul artists for other mainly New York and Los Angeles record labels—notably Lee Dorsey
for New York–based Amy Records and the Meters for New York–based Josie and then LA-based Reprise.
, Betty Everett
, Dee Clark
, and Gene Chandler
. Chess Records
, mainly a blues and rock and roll label, produced a number of major soul artists. Curtis Mayfield
not only scored many hits with his group, The Impressions, but wrote many hit songs for Chicago artists and produced hits on his own labels for The Fascinations
and the Five Stairsteps.
-inspired vocals. Thom Bell
, and Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff are considered the founders of Philadelphia soul.
and soul music in the late 1960s, which paved the way for the mainstream emergence of funk
music a few years later. The Politicians were one example.
or soul music performed by white artists. The term does not refer to a distinct style of music, and the meaning of blue-eyed soul has evolved over decades. Originally the term was associated with mid-1960s white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music released by Motown Records
and Stax Records
. The term continued to be used in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly by the British
media to describe a new generation of singers who adopted elements of the Stax and Motown sounds. To a lesser extent, the term has been applied to singers in other music genre
s that are influenced by soul music.
, most significantly The Beatles
. There were a handful of significant British Blue-eyed soul
acts, including Dusty Springfield
and Tom Jones
. American soul was extremely popular among some youth sub-cultures like the Northern soul
and Modern soul
movements, but a clear genre of British soul did not emerge until the 1980s when a number of artists including George Michael
, Sade
, Simply Red
, Lisa Stansfield
and Soul II Soul
enjoyed commercial success. The popularity of British soul artists in the U.S., most notably Amy Winehouse
, Adele
, Estelle
, Joss Stone
, Duffy
, Jessie J
and Leona Lewis
led to talk of a third British Invasion or soul invasion in the 2000s.
executive Kedar Massenburg to describe a musical blend of 1970s soul-style vocals and instrumentation with contemporary R&B
sounds, hip hop
beats and poetic interludes. The style was developed in the early to mid 1990s. A key element in neo soul is a heavy dose of Fender Rhodes or Wurlitzer electric piano
pads over a mellow, grooving interplay between the drums (usually with a rim shot snare sound) and a muted, deep funky bass. The Fender Rhodes piano sound gives the music a warm, organic character.
and popularised in 1970 through his column in Blues and Soul magazine. The term refers to rare soul music that was played by DJs at nightclub
s in northern England
. The playlists originally consisted of obscure 1960s and early 1970s American
soul recordings with an uptempo beat, such as those on Motown Records
and more obscure labels such as Okeh Records
. Modern soul
developed when northern soul DJs began looking in record shops in the United States and United Kingdom
for music that was more complex and contemporary. What emerged was a richer sound that was more advanced in terms of Hi-Fi and FM radio technology.
(such as house
, drum n bass, UK garage
, and downtempo
) are heavily influenced by soul, and have produced many soul-inspired compositions.
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
originating in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
combining elements of gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America
African American culture
African-American culture, also known as black culture, in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of Americans of African descent to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture. The distinct identity of African-American culture is rooted in...
through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
y, secular
Secularity
Secularity is the state of being separate from religion.For instance, eating and bathing may be regarded as examples of secular activities, because there may not be anything inherently religious about them...
testifying." Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response
Call and response (music)
In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first...
between the soloist and the chorus, and an especially tense vocal sound. The genre also occasionally uses improvisational
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds.
Origins
Soul music has its roots in gospel musicGospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
. The hard gospel vocal quartets of the 1940s and 1950s were big influences on major soul singers of the 1960s. The term "soul music" itself, to describe gospel-style music with secular lyrics, is first attested in 1961.
Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
is often cited as inventing the soul genre with his string of hits starting with 1954's "I Got a Woman
I Got a Woman
"I Got a Woman" is a song co-written and recorded by American R&B/soul musician Ray Charles and released as a single in December 1954 on the Atlantic label as Atlantic 45-1050 b/w "Come Back Baby." Both sides later appeared on his 1957 album Ray Charles .-Origin:The song builds on...
". Charles was open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers
Pilgrim Travelers
The Pilgrim Travelers were a gospel group popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s.-Musical career:Formed in the early 1930s in Houston, Texas, they were strongly influenced by another Texas-based quartet, the Soul Stirrers...
vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style. Another view has it that a decade would transpire until Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...
's early recordings for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
codified the soul style; his early 1960s songs "Cry to Me", "Just Out of Reach" and "Down in the Valley" are considered classics of the genre. Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
(who was the inspiration for Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
), Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
and James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
originally called themselves rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
performers. However, as rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
moved away from its R&B roots in the 1960s, Brown claimed that he had always really been an R&B singer. 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. Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
and Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
are also often acknowledged as soul forefathers.
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
's 1967 recordings, such as "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", "Respect
Respect (song)
"Respect" is a song written and originally released by Stax recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. "Respect" became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin. The music in the two versions is significantly different, and through a few minor changes in the lyrics, the stories told...
" (originally sung by Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
), and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
"Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" is a single by Aretha Franklin. It was released in March 1967. Rolling Stone listed it as number 476 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.-Production:...
" (written by Chips Moman
Chips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
and Dan Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
), are considered the apogee of the soul genre, and were among its most commercially successful productions. In the late 1960s, Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
artists such as Redding, Eddie Floyd
Eddie Floyd
Eddie Lee Floyd is an American soul/R&B singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s and the song "Knock on Wood".-Biography:...
, Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
, and Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from rhythm and blues, soul, blues and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco.-Early years:...
made significant contributions to soul music. Howard Tate
Howard Tate
Howard Tate is an American soul music singer and songwriter.-Early life:He moved with his family to Philadelphia in the early 1940s. In his teens, he joined a gospel music group that included Garnet Mimms and, as the Gainors, recorded rhythm and blues sides for Mercury Records and Cameo Records in...
's recordings in the late 1960s for Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
, and later for Atlantic (produced by Jerry Ragovoy
Jerry Ragovoy
Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy was an American songwriter and record producer.His best-known composition "Time Is on My Side" was made famous by The Rolling Stones, although it had been recorded earlier by Kai Winding and Irma Thomas...
) are another notable body of work in the soul genre. By 1968, the soul music movement had begun to splinter, as artists such as James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
began to incorporate new styles into their music.
Geographical origins
Many consider the birthplace of soul music to be northern United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
inner cities, particularly Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Other cities, such as New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Detroit, Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and Florence
Florence, Alabama
Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
, quickly followed, creating their own soul styles based on their regional gospel roots.
Florence, Alabama, was the home of FAME Studios
FAME Studios
FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...
. Jimmy Hughes
Jimmy Hughes (singer)
Jimmy Hughes is an American former rhythm and blues singer, whose biggest successes in the mid 1960s, notably his hit "Steal Away", were important in the early development of the Muscle Shoals music industry.-Life and career:...
, Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
and Arthur Alexander
Arthur Alexander
Arthur Alexander was an American country soul singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for Allmusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and though largely unknown, "his music is the stuff of genius, a poignant and deeply intimate body of work on par with the best of his...
recorded at Fame, and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
recorded in the area later in the 1960s. Fame Studios (often referred to as Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,in 1969 when musicians Barry Beckett , Roger Hawkins , Jimmy Johnson and David Hood left FAME Studios to create their own studio...
after a nearby town) enjoyed a close relationship with the Memphis label Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
, and many of the musicians and producers who worked in Memphis contributed to recordings in Alabama. Another notable Memphis label was Goldwax Records, which signed O.V. Wright
O.V. Wright
Overton Vertis "O. V." Wright was an American singer who is regarded as one of Southern soul's most authoritative and individual artists...
and James Carr
James Carr (musician)
James Carr , was an American Rhythm & Blues and soul singer.Born to a Baptist preacher's family in Coahoma, Mississippi, Carr began singing in church and was performing in gospel groups and making tables on an assembly line in Memphis, Tennessee, when he began recording in the mid-'60s for Goldwax...
. Carr's "The Dark End of the Street
The Dark End of the Street
"The Dark End of the Street" is a 1967 soul song written by Muscle Shoals songwriters Dan Penn and Chips Moman and first performed by James Carr...
" (written by Chips Moman
Chips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
and Dan Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
) was recorded in 1967 at two other Memphis studios, Royal Recording and American Sound Studios. American Sound Studios owner Chips Moman produced "The Dark End of the Street", and the musicians were his house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
of Reggie Young
Reggie Young
Reggie Young was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studios Band , and is a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, J.J...
, Bobby Woods, Tommy Cogbill and Gene Chrisman. Carr also recorded songs at Fame Studio with musicians David Hood
David Hood
David Hood , is a bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame....
, Jimmy Johnson
Jimmy Johnson (musician)
Jimmy Johnson is an American a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section that was attached to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama for a period in the 1960s and 1970s, and later was the a founder of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio located at first on 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield, Alabama and at...
and Roger Hawkins.
The Detroit-based Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
also contributed to the soul canon in the 1960s, although at the time, the label described itself as a manufacturer of pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Music by Motown artists such as Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & The Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia, active from 1953 to 1989. The group was best known for their string of hit singles on Motown's "Soul" record label and Buddah Records from 1967 to 1975, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight...
, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, the Temptations, and the Supremes did much to popularize what became known as the Motown sound.
In Chicago, Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
helped develop the sweet soul sound that later earned him a reputation as the Godfather of northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
. As a member of The Impressions, Mayfield infused a call and response
Call and response
Call and response is a form of "spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the statements are punctuated by expressions from the listener."...
style of group singing that came out of gospel, and influenced many other groups of the era, notably fellow Chicago artists the Radiants.
1970s and later
The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples , the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha , Pervis , Yvonne , and Mavis...
(such as I'll Take You There), and Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
's 1970s recordings, done at Willie Mitchell's
Willie Mitchell (music)
Willie Mitchell was an American soul, R&B, rock and roll, pop and funk record producer and arranger, who ran Royal Studios in Memphis, Tennessee...
' Royal Recording in Memphis. Mitchell's Hi Records
Hi Records
Hi Records was a Memphis soul and rockabilly label started in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch , and three silent partners, including Cuoghi's lawyer, Nick Pesce....
continued the Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
tradition in that decade, releasing many hits by Green, Ann Peebles
Ann Peebles
Ann Peebles is an African American singer-songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s on the Hi Records label...
, Otis Clay, O.V. Wright and Syl Johnson
Syl Johnson
Syl Johnson is an American blues and soul singer and record producer.-Biography:Born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States, Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, before recording with Jimmy Reed...
. Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
, who recorded with Chips Moman in the late 1960s, continued to produce soul recordings in the 1970s and 1980s.
In Detroit, producer Don Davis worked with Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
artists such as Johnnie Taylor and The Dramatics
The Dramatics
The Dramatics are an American soul music vocal group, formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1962. They are best known for their 1970s hit songs "In the Rain" and "Whatcha See is Whatcha Get", both of which were #1 R&B and Top 10 Pop hits.-Career:The Dramatics originally formed in 1962 recording as the...
. Early 1970s recordings by The Detroit Emeralds, such as Do Me Right, are a link between soul and the later disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
style. Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
artists such as Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
and Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
contributed to the evolution of soul music, although their recordings were considered more in a pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
vein than those of Redding, Franklin and Carr. Although stylistically different from classic soul music, recordings by Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based artists are often considered part of the genre.
By the early 1970s, soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
and other genres. The social and political ferment of the times inspired artists like Gaye and Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
to release album-length statements with hard-hitting social commentary. Artists like James Brown led soul towards funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music, which became typified by 1970s bands like Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic is a funk, soul and rock music collective headed by George Clinton. Their style has been dubbed P-Funk. Collectively the group has existed under various names since the 1960s and has been known for top-notch musicianship, politically charged lyrics, outlandish concept albums...
and The Meters
The Meters
The Meters are an American funk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Meters performed and recorded their own music from the late 1960s until 1977...
. More versatile groups like War
War (band)
War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...
, the Commodores
Commodores
The Commodores are an American funk/soul band of the 1970s and 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for The Jackson 5 while on tour...
and Earth, Wind and Fire became popular around this time. During the 1970s, some slick and commercial blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...
acts like Philadelphia's Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
and Oakland's Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
achieved mainstream success, as did a new generation of street-corner harmony or city-soul groups like The Delfonics
The Delfonics
The Delfonics are a pioneering Philadelphia soul singing group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include "La-La ", "Didn't I ", "Break Your Promise," "I'm Sorry," and "Ready or Not Here I Come "...
and Howard University's Unifics.
As disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
and funk were dominating the charts in the late 1970s and early 1980s, soul went in the direction of quiet storm
Quiet storm
Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jams, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey at WHUR-FM, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album, lent its name to the format...
. With its relaxed tempos and soft melodies, quiet storm soul took influences from soft rock and adult contemporary. Many funk bands, such as Con Funk Shun
Con Funk Shun
Con Funk Shun is an American R&B and funk band popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Influences include James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone.-History:...
, Cameo
Cameo (band)
Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in the early 1970s. Cameo was initially a 13-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo to avoid a lawsuit from Ohio Players, another group from that era. Since then, Cameo has recorded several...
, and Lakeside
Lakeside
-Australia:*Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City, Joondalup, Western Australia*Lakeside, near Reservoir, Victoria*Lakeside International Raceway, Pine Rivers, Queensland*Lakeside Mental Hospital, formerly known as Ballarat Lunatic Asylum, Ballarat, Victoria...
would have a few quiet storm tracks on their albums. Among the most successful acts in this era include Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
, Teddy Pendergrass
Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...
, Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...
, Atlantic Starr
Atlantic Starr
Atlantic Starr was a 1980s R&B band. Among their biggest hits were "Always" and "Secret Lovers."- History :The group was started in 1976 in White Plains, New York by trumpeter Duke Jones , drummer Porter Carroll Jr., bassist Clifford Archer, percussionist and flautist Joseph Phillips, and three...
, and Larry Graham
Larry Graham
Larry Graham, Jr. is an African American bass guitar player, both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station...
.
After the decline of disco and funk in the early 1980s, soul music became influenced by electro music. It became less raw and more slickly produced, resulting in a style known as contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
, which sounded very different from the original rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
style.
The United States saw the development of neo-soul around 1994. Mainstream record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
marketing support for soul genres cooled in the 2000s due to the industry's re-focus on hip hop.
Motown Records
Berry GordyBerry Gordy
Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
's successful Tamla/Motown group of labels was notable for being black-owned, unlike most of the earlier independent R&B labels. Notable artists under this label were The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
, The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
and the Miracles
The Miracles
The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...
, the Four Tops
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, hard rock, and showtunes...
, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, Tammi Terrell
Tammi Terrell
Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, known as Tammi Terrell was an American singer-songwriter most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter–Wand, Try Me and Checker record labels. She signed with Motown in April 1965 and enjoyed...
, Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
, and The Jackson Five. Hits were make using a quasi-industrial production-line approach. Some considered the sound to be mechanistic but producers and songwriters such as Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
brought artistic judgement to the three minute tunes. Brian Holland
Brian Holland
Brian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland. That songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops,...
, Lamont Dozier
Lamont Dozier
Lamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...
and Eddie Holland were rarely out of the charts for their work as writers and producers for The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
, the Four Tops
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, hard rock, and showtunes...
and Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
. They allowed important elements to shine through the dense musical texture. There was a large emphasis on the rhythm section with handclaps or tambourine. Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
was another writer and producer who added lyrics to "The Tracks Of My Tears" which was one of the most important songs of the decade.
Stax Records and Atlantic Records
These independent labels produced high-quality dance records with such singers as Aretha FranklinAretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
and Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
. They tended to have smaller ensembles marked by expressive gospel-tinged vocals. Brass and Saxophones were also used extensively.
Detroit (Motown) soul
Dominated by Berry GordyBerry Gordy
Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
's Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
empire, Detroit soul is strongly rhythmic and influenced by gospel music. The Motown sound often includes hand clapping
Clapping
A clap is the sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often in a constant drone to express appreciation or approval , but also in rhythm to match sounds in music and dance...
, a powerful bass line, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s and bells
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
. Motown Records' house band was The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
.
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 musicGospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
sounds. Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
label Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
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
Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. and the MGs. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime...
, Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
, Duck Dunn, and Al Jackson
Al Jackson
Al Jackson, Jr. was a drummer, producer, and songwriter. He is best known as a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their own instrumentals...
) and the Memphis Horns (the splinter horn section of the Mar-Keys
Mar-Keys
The Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an American studio session band for the Stax label from Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing music formed the foundation for the early 1960s Stax sound.-Career:...
).
Memphis soul
Memphis soul is a shimmering, sultry style of soul music produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax RecordsStax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
and Hi Records
Hi Records
Hi Records was a Memphis soul and rockabilly label started in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch , and three silent partners, including Cuoghi's lawyer, Nick Pesce....
in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. It featured melancholic and melodic horns, organ, bass, and drums, as heard in recordings by Hi's Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
and Stax's Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Booker T. & the M.G.'s is an instrumental R&B band that was influential in shaping the sound of southern soul and Memphis soul. Original members of the group were Booker T. Jones , Steve Cropper , Lewie Steinberg , and Al Jackson, Jr....
. The latter group also sometimes played in the harder-edged Southern soul
Southern soul
Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues , country, early rock and roll, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern African-American churches. The focus of the...
style. The Hi Records house band (Hi Rhythm Section
Hi Rhythm Section
The Hi Rhythm Section was most notably the house band for hit soul albums by several artists, including Al Green and Ann Peebles, on Willie Mitchell's Hi Records label in the 1970s. The band included the three Hodges brothers, Charles Hodges , Leroy Hodges , and Mabon "Teenie" Hodges , together...
) 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.
New Orleans soul
The New Orleans soul scene directly came out of the rhythm and blues era, when such artists as Little RichardLittle Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, and Huey Piano Smith made a huge impact on the pop and R&B charts and a huge direct influence on the birth of Funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music. The principal architect of Crescent City’s soul was songwriter, arranger, and producer Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...
. He worked with such artists as Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas is an American Grammy Award-winning soul and rhythm and blues singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans"....
(“the Soul Queen of New Orleans”), Jessie Hill, Kris Kenner, Benny Spellman, and Ernie K. Doe on the Minit/Instant label complex to produced a distinctive New Orleans soul sound generating a passel of national hits. Other notable New Orleans hits came from Robert Parker, Betty Harris
Betty Harris
Betty Harridick is an American Soul Singer. Her recording career in the 1960s produced three hit records that made the Billboard R&B and pop charts: "Cry to Me" , "His Kiss" and "Nearer to You"...
, and Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville is an American soul and R&B singer and musician. He has had four top-20 hits in the United States along with four platinum-certified albums...
. While record labels in New Orleans largely disappeared by the mid-1960s, producers in the city continued to record New Orleans soul artists for other mainly New York and Los Angeles record labels—notably Lee Dorsey
Lee Dorsey
Lee Dorsey was an African American pop/R&B singer during the 1960s. Much of his work was produced by Allen Toussaint with instrumental backing provided by the Meters.-Career:...
for New York–based Amy Records and the Meters for New York–based Josie and then LA-based Reprise.
Chicago soul
Chicago soul generally had a light gospel-influenced sound, but the large number of record labels based in the city tended to produce a more diverse sound than other cities. Vee Jay Records, which lasted until 1966, produced recordings by Jerry ButlerJerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
, Betty Everett
Betty Everett
Betty Everett was an African-American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling "The Shoop Shoop Song ".-Early career:...
, Dee Clark
Dee Clark
Dee Clark was an African-American soul singer best known for a string of R&B and pop hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the ballad "Raindrops," which became a million-seller in the United States in 1961....
, and Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler also known as "The Duke of Earl" or simply "The Duke", is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, producer and record executive. He is one of the leading exponents of the 1960s Chicago soul scene...
. Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
, mainly a blues and rock and roll label, produced a number of major soul artists. Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
not only scored many hits with his group, The Impressions, but wrote many hit songs for Chicago artists and produced hits on his own labels for The Fascinations
The Fascinations
The Fascinations were an American pop vocal group most active in the mid-1960s. They are best remembered for the Curtis Mayfield-penned hit "Girls Are Out To Get You", a minor pop hit in the US in 1967 that was re-released in the UK in 1971, where it reached the top 40.-Early years :The group was...
and the Five Stairsteps.
Philadelphia soul
Based primarily in the Philadelphia International record label, Philadelphia soul (AKA Philly Soul) had a lush orchestral sound and doo-wopDoo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
-inspired vocals. Thom Bell
Thom Bell
Thomas Randolph "Thom" Bell is an American songwriter and producer, best known as one of the creators of the Philadelphia style of soul music in the 1970s. He moved to Philadelphia as a child.-Biography:...
, and Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff are considered the founders of Philadelphia soul.
Psychedelic soul
Psychedelic soul was a blend of psychedelic rockPsychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
and soul music in the late 1960s, which paved the way for the mainstream emergence of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music a few years later. The Politicians were one example.
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a term used to describe R&BRhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
or soul music performed by white artists. The term does not refer to a distinct style of music, and the meaning of blue-eyed soul has evolved over decades. Originally the term was associated with mid-1960s white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music released by Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
and Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
. The term continued to be used in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
media to describe a new generation of singers who adopted elements of the Stax and Motown sounds. To a lesser extent, the term has been applied to singers in other music genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
s that are influenced by soul music.
British Soul
Soul has been a major influence on British popular music since the 1960s including bands of the British InvasionBritish Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
, most significantly The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. There were a handful of significant British Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...
acts, including Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
and Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
. American soul was extremely popular among some youth sub-cultures like the Northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
and Modern soul
Modern soul
Modern soul is a style of music with associated clothing and dance styles , that developed in Northern England in the early 1970s....
movements, but a clear genre of British soul did not emerge until the 1980s when a number of artists including George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
, Sade
Sade (band)
Sade is a British smooth jazz band that formed in 1983, named for Nigerian lead singer Sade Adu. Their music features elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and soft rock....
, Simply Red
Simply Red
Simply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...
, Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...
and Soul II Soul
Soul II Soul
Soul II Soul are a British group that was created in London in 1988. They are best known for their 1989 UK chart-topper and U.S. Top 5 hit, "Back to Life ".-Career:...
enjoyed commercial success. The popularity of British soul artists in the U.S., most notably Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
, Adele
Adele (singer)
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins , known professionally as Adele, is an English singer-songwriter. She was the first recipient of the Brit Awards Critics' Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2008...
, Estelle
Estelle (musician)
Estelle Fanta Swaray commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer.-Early Life:Estelle was born 18 January 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England...
, Joss Stone
Joss Stone
Jocelyn Eve Stoker , better known by her stage name Joss Stone, is an English soul singer-songwriter and actress. Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist...
, Duffy
Duffy (singer)
Aimée Ann Duffy , known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold...
, Jessie J
Jessie J
Jessica Ellen Cornish , better known by her stage name Jessie J, is an English recording artist currently signed to Island Records. She began her career as a songwriter for artists including Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus. Her debut single, "Do It Like a Dude", was released in November 2010 and peaked...
and Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer and songwriter. Lewis first came to prominence in 2006 when she won the third series of the British television series The X Factor....
led to talk of a third British Invasion or soul invasion in the 2000s.
Neo soul
The term neo soul is a marketing phrase coined by producer and record labelRecord label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
executive Kedar Massenburg to describe a musical blend of 1970s soul-style vocals and instrumentation with contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
sounds, hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
beats and poetic interludes. The style was developed in the early to mid 1990s. A key element in neo soul is a heavy dose of Fender Rhodes or Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer 200A|250px|thumbThe Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, New York...
pads over a mellow, grooving interplay between the drums (usually with a rim shot snare sound) and a muted, deep funky bass. The Fender Rhodes piano sound gives the music a warm, organic character.
Northern soul and modern soul
The phrase northern soul was coined by journalist Dave GodinDave Godin
David Edward Godin was an English fan of American soul music, who made a major contribution internationally in spreading awareness and understanding of the genre, and by extension African-American culture.-Biography:The son of a milkman, Dave Godin spent his early childhood in Peckham before...
and popularised in 1970 through his column in Blues and Soul magazine. The term refers to rare soul music that was played by DJs at nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s in northern England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
. The playlists originally consisted of obscure 1960s and early 1970s American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul recordings with an uptempo beat, such as those on Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
and more obscure labels such as Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
. Modern soul
Modern soul
Modern soul is a style of music with associated clothing and dance styles , that developed in Northern England in the early 1970s....
developed when northern soul DJs began looking in record shops in the United States and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for music that was more complex and contemporary. What emerged was a richer sound that was more advanced in terms of Hi-Fi and FM radio technology.
Nu-Jazz and soulful electronica
Many artists in various genres of electronic musicElectronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
(such as house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, drum n bass, UK garage
UK garage
UK garage is a genre of electronic dance music originating from the United Kingdom in the early-1990s. UK garage is a descendant of house music which originated in Chicago and New York, United States. UK garage usually features a distinctive syncopated 4/4 percussive rhythm with 'shuffling'...
, and downtempo
Downtempo
Downtempo is a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music. The beat is sometimes made from loops that have a hypnotic feeling...
) are heavily influenced by soul, and have produced many soul-inspired compositions.
See also
- Easy listeningEasy listeningEasy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
- List of soul musicians
- Spoken word soulSpoken word soulSpoken Word Soul is a contemporary, eclectic blend of Poetry, Jazz-funk, Electronica or acoustic Country soul music elements that originated in the African-American community. The style is largely considered to be an underground offshoot of the Neo Soul movement from the 1990s and became very...
External links
- Soul.PublikRadio.com - online station run by Soul Music fans
- SoulMusic.com - Classic and contemporary soul music archive
- Soul Bible - Looking back at some of the best soul tracks of the 1980s
- 100 Greatest 'Classic' R&B/Soul Songs - 50s-70s
- SoulBounce (Blogs, Podcast, Reviews)
- 100 Greatest R&B/Soul Ballads
- Getbluesinfo.com - Southern Soul/Blues Channel
- CarolinaSoul.Org
- SOULRNB.COM - French webzine and community about R&B, Soul and Nu Soul musics