I will be discussing Soul music for this blog. Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the 1950s. The phrase "Soul Music" itself refers to gospel-style music with secular lyrics. Soul became popular to dance and listen to in the United States.  Much of soul music's growth and evolution is specific to particular cities, each of which had a major record label that supported the town's music. 

 

What Makes Soul Music Soul Music - Soul music is a mix of Jazz, gospel, and R&B. Soul music is very laid back with a funky style. The singers use a wide range of rich vocal timbre and often express strong emotions in the song. Piano or electric organ, a bass and horn section, trumpet, trombone, or sax often accompany singers and backup singers.

 

History of Soul – 

Beginnings - Soul music traces its roots to traditional blues and the gospel music of the black church. Soul pioneers of the 1950s such as Ray Charles, Etta James, Sam Cooke, and Little Richard learned music by performing in gospel groups. Soul was born as these artists incorporated blues sounds and shifted to secular lyrics.  Soul became most popular between the  1950s and 1970s. Soul Music reflected the African American identity and stressed the importance of African American culture. As Soul became more popular, it directly influenced rock music and even hip hop. Soul music is still popular today with artists like Mary J Blige, Joss Stone, Anthony Hamilton, and James Blake  


Cities of Soul – Soul music had regional influences and unique soul styles. Detroit, New York, and the South were some of the biggest influencers.

 

  • Detroit Soul –  The Detroit soul record label was Motown Records, founded by Barry Gordy. In the 1960s,  Motown Records had many of the most famous artists, including; Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and The Jackson 5. Motown did a lot of their own songwriting which made it different from the other sounds. 

 

  • New York Soul - Atlantic Records was the record label for New York Soul. Ahment Ertegen and Herb Abramsom founded it. They recruited black artists who played Jazz from around the city to create their unique style. New York Soul is characterized by intense gospel vocals and a lot of call and response, and big horn sections 

 

  • Southern Soul is known for strong gospel influences out of the black church. Southern Soul was centered in Memphis, Tennessee, with the Stax and HI Records labels. These labels were able to recruit artists from Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Major Southern Soul artists included Aretha Franklin, who later moved to Detroit, Ray Charles, Percy Sledge, and Solomon Burke.



Musicians of Soul – 


Aretha Franklin started her career as a gospel singer at her minister father's church, but by 18, she had started a secular music career. She recorded with Columbia Records, then Atlantic Records. Songs like "Respect" and "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman" show the power of her voice the emotions of soul music and earned her the title of "The Queen of Soul."  Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (Official Lyric Video)


 

James Brown began his career as a Gospel singer in Toccoa, GA. He became popular in the mid-1950s as he was the lead singer of the Famous Flames. James Brown's most famous song may have been I Got You (I Feel Good), but he had so many hits he became known as the Godfather of Soul.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1wOK9yGUYM


 

 

Ray Charles was the first soul singer to bring his blend of gospel and rhythm and blues to the mainstream. Ray Charles pioneered Soul music during the 1950s by combining blues, Jazz, R&B, and gospel music. Ray Charles'most famous songs are "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Georgia On My Mind." He frequently crossed musical styles playing Soul, Jazz, and even country. He was a popular guest on TV variety shows in the '60s and 70s. Ray Charles   I Can't Stop Loving You



Sam Cooke was considered a pioneer of Soul and one of the most influential soul artists of all time. He is often called the "King Of Soul" for his unique, distinctive vocals and notable contributions to popular music. He wrote most of his songs and sang many songs about romantic love. The smoothness of his voice and the romance in his songs made him very popular with the women listeners. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrwfB4aAZZc






Sources:

Paese, M. (n.d.). Soul music. The History of Rock and Roll Radio Show. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://www.thehistoryofrockandroll.net/soul-music/ 

MasterClass. (2021, June 4). Soul music guide: History and sounds of soul music - 2022. MasterClass. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/soul-music-guide#a-brief-history-of-soul-music 

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Soul music. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/art/soul-music 

Comments

  1. Michaela FayeJanuary 20, 2022 at 12:08 PM

    Katy! You linked some of my favorite artists ever in this blog post! I got super excited when you mentioned Joss Stone because she's one of my favorite artists ever. I have a lot of her CDs in my car right that I've been listening too actually. I didn't realize there were specific cities that Soul blossomed out of but I guess that makes a lot of sense! Awesome blog! Thank you for sharing!

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