23 - SOUL

SoulMany black songwriters and performers who had strayed over into the predominantly white camp of rock and roll during the 1950's, returned to the fold in the early 1960's. While whites had already latched onto rock and roll, a new musical movement was growing in the black community - a return of sorts to the roots of the black experience. It was called soul.

Soul was simply the inspired transferral of religious attitudes to black popular music. Capturing the fervour of gospel in the music and rejecting assimilation into white culture, black artists developed soul music. It was a form of black music that whites initially found difficult to emulate.

Soul was salvation - an emotional, almost churchlike form of R&B - good-hearted, honest and optimistic. During a soul performance, emotions were taken to the extreme. The music had a somewhat semi-religious feel, yet it could be highly sensual with lyrics depicting the most personal, intimate moments of the human experience. Soul was delivered in what could only be termed as "ghetto dialect," promoting a music associated exclusively with blacks.

From the early to mid 1960's, soul music emerged when black pride and the civil rights movement were in full flower. Soul shone as a beacon for the black community. Most of the soul pioneers were raised in the south and all had their musical roots in the church. Although much of the music was extremely rhythmic, especially the Stax/Volt style, the basis of the soul genre was the preachy, emotional ballad. Soul was serious business.

From Nov. 30, 1963 to Jan. 23, 1965, the charting of black music in Billboard Magazine had been discontinued because of the difficulties involved in pinpointing exactly what constituted R&B. White critics had already been confused by the fine line between early R&B and rock and roll. However, with the emergence of the totally black soul music, Billboard reinstated R&B as a separate entity in its chart listings.

During the classic soul period, there emerged two record labels which defined, specialized and dominated in the field. These were the major label Atlantic and the smaller yet innovative Stax/Volt company which later came to epitomize what soul was really all about.

By the late 1960's, an unthinkable thing happened. Whites had caught on to soul music and once again began copying it successfully to varying degrees. By this time, black artists were generally turning their backs on the regimented structure of southern soul, moving on to funk and several other more adventurous new black music styles. And although soulful vocals remained the mainstay of black popular music, the instrumental aspects were becoming much more technical. By 1969, the American public in general was also tiring of soul music. Psychedelia and heavy rock was dominating the mainstream and musical tastes had switched radically from AM to FM.

Soul as a pure music form had experienced its commercial heyday in the period between 1960 and 1968. Strangely enough, although it continued to thrive long after that period, it is interesting to note that soul's greatest commercial exponent did not technically arrive on the scene until 1967. Aretha Franklin's overwhelming popularity in the late 1960's and early 1970's was a fluke and a considerable tribute to her exceptional vocal artistry when one considers that classic soul was already at its peak at the time of her glorious debut.

SOUL PIONEERS

In the evolution of soul music, the contributions of three definitive stylists cannot be overlooked or overestimated. The first real soul protagonist was the great Ray Charles, whose churchy vocal style influenced a multitude of singers. Second is the bombastic James Brown, whose dynamic stage antics and full throttle delivery influenced later superstars like Michael Jackson and Prince. The third, Sam Cooke approached soul in a pop vein yet never abandoned his gospel roots. His silky smooth vocal style was obviously the more subtle of the three, allowing easier accessibility for the white market.

RAY CHARLES

JAMES BROWN

SAM COOKE

ATLANTIC RECORDS

In October of 1947, Atlantic Records was founded by the Turkish ambassador Munir Ertegun's sons Ahmet (1924 – ) and Nesuhi (1919 - July 15, 1989) Ertegun. Ahmet was the main producer, later joined in 1953 by Jerry Wexler (Jan. 10, 1917 – ) (later Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee). The company became the most successful R&B/Soul label of all time. The definitive Atlantic Sound featured a heavy backbeat, strong tenor sax leads and percussive piano. Based in New York, Atlantic set the standard for other labels to follow.

In 1949, Atlantic had its first major hit with Stick McGhee & His Buddies' "Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee, Drinking Wine"(April, 1949)#2 R&B, (Aug., 1949)#26.

During the late 1940's and 1950's, it promoted the crème of the new black R&B performers, later cornering a considerable chunk of the soul market. It also distributed early Stax/Volt recordings before they became their foremost commercial rival. Later in the late 1960's, Atlantic widened its scope by promoting heavy rock acts like Led Zeppelin, and in the 1970's and 1980's, pop artists such as Bette Midler and Debbie Gibson.

From 1948, well into the 1970's, one apparent reason for the success of the Atlantic sound was the artistry of top engineer Tom Dowd (1925 – ), who later became a producer. During its early heyday, Atlantic's biggest star was the charismatic Ruth Brown and in the 1960's, its major artist was the incomparable Aretha Franklin. In fact, Brown's recordings sold so well that Atlantic became known as "the label that Ruth built," and Aretha's widespread popularity was so great that even after the decline of classic soul, her popularity remained intact, enabling Atlantic to dabble in other experimental music forms. Obviously, the power of the ladies in the music industry has been severely underestimated.

Jerry Wexler later formed Bang Records as an Atlantic subsidiary. The label's name was taken from the first names of Atlantic moguls, Bert Berns, Ahmet Ertegun, Nesuhi Ertegun and Gerald Wexler. Their roster of new talent included Neil Diamond and The McCoys.

THE ATLANTIC SOUL ARTISTS

SOLOMON BURKE

WILSON PICKETT

CARLA THOMAS

PERCY SLEDGE

ARETHA FRANKLIN

CLARENCE CARTER

THE SPINNERS

ROBERTA FLACK

A SELECTED LISTING OF OTHER ATLANTIC SOUL RECORDINGS

STAX RECORDS

"The Sound Of Memphis"

In 1960, Jim Stewart (1930 – ) and his sister Estelle Axton bought the Capitol Cinema, situated at East McLemore Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. It was to serve as the offices and studio for their newly founded Satellite Records. Beginning strictly as a local operation, their early recordings became so popular that a distribution deal was arranged with Atlantic Records in New York City. Their first notable release was "'Cause I Love You" by Rufus & Carla Thomas (Aug., 1960). In 1961, Satellite Records was renamed Stax, a combination of the names Stewart and Axton. Distribution by Atlantic continued until 1968 when Paramount/Dot took over. Stax also created a subsidiary label called Volt. Unfortunately, the Stax distribution problems continued in 1969 when Gulf Western took over and by the end of the 1960's, the label had begun to deteriorate, finally claiming bankruptcy in 1975. On Jan. 12, 1976, Stax closed down and in 1989, the building was demolished.

The Stax sound was definitely the epitome of what was known as southern soul, its basis being the magic created by its remarkable session musicians. The Stax house band had developed a rather distinctive lazy yet churchy style. Even during an up-tempo piece, they often appeared to be winding down. The Stax trademark was its heavily stressed weak beats. The band was made up of an incredible mixture of white redneck and black musicians, basically Booker T. & The M.G.'s, The Bar-Kays and several super session sidemen such as Isaac Hayes. The main rhythm section was often augmented by an outfit known as The Memphis Horns. No matter who the lead vocalist was, the same well-defined backing formula was applied. Simply put, it sounded like a huge well oiled machine. The discs released by Stax during its 1965-1968 peak period were representative of southern soul at its best.

Principal engineers Ron Capone and Jim Stewart (co-owner) can take much of the credit for capturing the distinctive Stax sound. The two most innovative and tasteful instrumentalists on many a Stax soul classic were white guitarist Steve Cropper and white bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn (see Booker T. & The M.G.'s). In 1959, both had been members of The Markeys. Cropper left the group in 1960 to join the newly formed Stax house band, Booker T. & The M.G.'s. Dunn joined in 1964, completing one of the most powerful and professional recording units in modern pop music history. Their sound was so incredibly intense that it seemed to virtually eat up one's speakers. The inspired combination of the driving house band, the writing talents of Isaac Hayes and David Porter and exceptional vocal stylings of artists such as Otis Redding and Sam & Dave added up to soul perfection.

Booker T. Jones had formed Booker T. & The M.G.'s as the session band for the Stax company, yet they also enjoyed several solo hits including their classic recording of "Green Onions."

BOOKER T. & THE M.G.'S

THE MEMPHIS HORNS

THE BAR-KAYS

ISAAC HAYES

THE MAJOR STAX SOUL ARTISTS

RUFUS THOMAS

WILLIAM BELL

OTIS REDDING

SAM & DAVE

EDDIE FLOYD

JOHNNIE TAYLOR

THE STAPLE SINGERS

A SELECTED LISTING OF OTHER STAX/VOLT HITS

HI RECORDS

The Hi label, out of South Lauderdale, Memphis was a small yet impressive soul label, featuring a unique artist roster. Formed in 1957 by Joe Cuoghi as a subsidiary of the British owned London Records, it originally promoted several white entertainers such as Murray Kellum, Gene Simmons, Jerry Jaye and Elvis Presley's bassist Bill Black. By the 1970's, with producer Willie Mitchell, the label had embraced an exclusive soul format.

The Stax sound had become passé, yet Hi Records incorporated a suspiciously Stax oriented style featuring a down home collection of stars like Al Green and Ann Peebles. Hi epitomized the soft underbelly of soul in the early 1970's, never abrasive yet somehow consistently satisfying. Hi represented the transition from classic southern soul to the more funky sounds of the mid 1970's. It retained the root soul sensibility attributed to Stax while most other black companies were experimenting with watered down, string dominated disco sounds. Unfortunately, the Hi label folded in 1980.

THE HI SOUL ARTISTS

WILLIE MITCHELL

AL GREEN

ANN PEEBLES

SYL JOHNSON

OTHER MAJOR SOUL ARTISTS

THE DELLS

BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND

ETTA JAMES

JACKIE WILSON

THE IMPRESSIONS

JERRY BUTLER

THE ISLEY BROTHERS

NINA SIMONE

MAXINE BROWN

BEN E. KING

ARTHUR ALEXANDER

CHUCK JACKSON

THE MANHATTANS

LEE DORSEY

IKE & TINA TURNER

TINA TURNER

DIONNE WARWICK

JOE TEX

LOU RAWLS

ARTHUR CONLEY

THE 5TH DIMENSION

TYRONE DAVIS

A SELECTED LISTING OF OTHER CLASSIC SOUL RECORDINGS

BLUE EYED SOUL - WHITE SOUL ARTISTS

THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD

ROY HEAD & THE TRAITS

MITCH RYDER & THE DETROIT WHEELS

THE BUCKINGHAMS

THE SWINGING MEDALLIONS

WAYNE COCHRAN & HIS C. C. RIDERS

ALSO SEE

BIBLIOGRAPHY