Soul Music

Soul Music. This is a new Amapedia - under development. So why not add you comments and links to the great music. I’m grouping the links under different labels and sub-categories, but you may wish to add your own.

Check out Sam Cooke or Marvin Gaye or AL GREEN or follow the trail of the great labels.

Precursors of Soul. Soul didn’t emerge from nowhere. As a genre it came out of gospel, blues and the R&B music that emerged during the 1940s, hugely influenced by Louis Jordan who took the big band sound, stripped it back to four or five in his band, and pumped out a massive string of hits that had the world Jiving. Chuck Berry, James Brown, BB King - all have open credited Jordan with being a huge influence. From there R&B took off - and in the 1950s blended with a strong vocal tradition that you can hear in the early R&B/Jive/Do-Wop groups like the Drifters and my favourite: The Spaniels who did bopping versions of Gospel songs (Sister - Cross over the Bridge) long before Ray Charles connected the dots between Gospel and R&B.

By the 1960s thanks to Charles, and also the great work of Sam Cooke, and Jackie Wilson (who was a main link between R&B and Pop) not to mention the passionate production and talent scouting of Atlantic Records - the scene was set for the emergence of Soul.

But it also took the tempo of the times to fuel this genre. Soul Music owes as much to Rosa Parks (Rosa Parks (Trailblazers of the Modern World), Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and generations of racism to fuel its passion.

Sex. Anger. Conviction. Belief. They are all potent ingredients of this music. Go listen. 

Soul music is not as homogeneous as you portray it.  The vibe at Stax was not the same as the vibe at Motown or Atlantic or you name it.  Queue up Otis Redding, Diana Ross, Swamp Dogg, Aretha Franklin, Irma Thomas, Isaac Hayes, the Contours, the Chi-Lites, and the Meters, and try to tell me they all manifest the same vibe.  I beg to disagree.  And I’ve lived through it all, at least as far back as about 1956.  See also, for example, Rhythm and the Blues; Soulsville, U.S.A.; Nowhere to Run: Chicago Soul; Showtime at the Apollo; Amateur Night at the Apollo; The Brothers; Lost Highway; and Class Act. 

 First - if you are jaded by too many greatest hits packages check out some soul-tingling discoveries from the music vaults:

1. What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves (1967-1977) - the most absolutely monstrously essential soul session you can find anywhere. A must for fans.
2. Peter Young’s Soul Cellar - this guy is one clued-up dude who knows his music. Some great discoveries ehre.
3. Peter Young’s Soul Cellar, Vol. 2
4. You Better Believe It: Rare & Modern Soul Gems - from Warner’s vaults.

Atlantic. This was the home of great 50s R&B and 60s soul music, and the great Atlantic roster of artists (Aretha, Otis, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke...) defined the whole category.

1. Atlantic Records
2. Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974 [BOX SET] - Atlantic Label
3. Atlantic Records 
4. Atlantic Records: 50 Years [2-CD SET]
5. Aretha Franklin - 30 Greatest Hits - perhaps the greatest soul artist of them all? Incomparable Queen of Soul.
6. The Very Best of Sam & Dave
7. The Very Best of Otis Redding, Vol. 1

While it might be technically correct to describe Otis Redding as an "Atlantic Artist", no real student of Stax Records would be likely to do so.  Atlantic merely leased the masters from Stax (and eventually took them away from Stax, but that’s another story).  Shucks, Atlantic sent some of their artists (e.g., Wilson Pickett) down to Memphis to record at Stax.  Tom Dowd of Atlantic was really impressed with how things were done (i.e., the old fashioned, mostly live way).  Doesn’t anyone remember this stuff?  If it said Atlantic on the cover, that was merely because Atlantic could promote the product nationally better than the more regional label, Stax (or Stax /Volt for real purtists) could.  So Stax had a distribution agreement with Atlantic.  I thought everyone knew that.  Guess not.  Same rant for Sam and Dave.   See, for example, What’d I Say: the Atlantic Records Story; Soulsville, U.S.A.; Rhythm and the Blues.

Motown. For some purists this label was too pop - not enough soul (say compared to Atlantic) but putting Dinah Ross to one side (she was no Aretha) groups like the Temptations and the Four Tops consistenly delivered deeply soulful hits. Levi Stubbs’ vocals could deliver tingles down any spine, and Marvin, well, can you find more soulful recordings anywhere?

1. Motown 
2. Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971by Various Artists
3. The Motown Box

 The lady’s name is Diana Ross.  Nee Diane Ross.  I assume "Dinah" is a typo.

Southern Soul labels - Stax, Hi, American Studios. Al Green, Booker T & the MGs - these Southern labels were smoking.

1  The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968

2  The Complete Stax-Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 2: 1968-1971

3  The Complete Stax-Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 3: 1972-1975

4  Memphis Soul Classics~ Various Artists

5  Soul Serenade: Best of Willie Mitchell - Willie Mitchell

6  The Absolute Best -- Al Green

Modern or Neo-Soul. Hip Hop and Rap took music in a new direction from 1986 onward, but Soul is always floating around the edges. Artists like John Legend and Ben Harper have more than a hint of Curtis Mayfield about them, Jill Scott and Leela James show awesome talent.

1  Get Lifted by John Legend

2  Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds, Vol. 2 by  Jill Scott

3  A Change Is Gonna Come by Leela James

4  The Love Experience by Raheem DeVaughn

All time great soul albums. Your nominations please.

1  Superfly by Mayfield, Curtis

2  What’s Going on ~ Marvin Gaye