Soul Music has its beginnings in Gospel and R&B of the 1940s and 1950s. They both had major influences on key soul singers including Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, just to name a couple.
The birthplace of Soul Music, to be quite honest is unknown. What is known? The United States inner cities, including Chicago, Detroit, Florence, Memphis, and New York, all created and produced their own soul music styles based on their demographics at the same time, thus making a “beautiful mixture“ of sound variety across the states for us all to enjoy.
In the 1970s, Hip Hop was born, which had a huge influence on the Soul Music that followed. New Jack Swing (aka Swing Beat), which combined Soul, Hip Hop, Gospel and Jazz, was absolutely rocking.
Disco and Funk Music also came to fruition in the 1970s, and started to decline in the early 1980s. Undoubtedly, Soul Music was now being influenced by Electro Music and Funk – it became known as Contemporary R&B which was, and still is, great!.
House and Techno rose to mainstream popularity in the late 1980s and remained popular in the 1990s and 2000s. Also starting in the 1980s, Soul Music from the United Kingdom became very popular – cheers mate!.
The development of Neo-Soul started around 1994. This was due to mainstream record label marketing support for soul genres diminishing in the 2000s, as the industry re-focused on Hip Hop – somewhat of a master stroke by the powers that be.
The many genres of Soul Music and R&B have reached a point, well before now of course, where they are now sub-divided into subgenres. To be side tracked, even though I have not mentioned it above, true Soul Music connoisseurs know that Rock and Roll was, literally, born from Soul Music and Rhythm and Blues….another day, another article.
Subgenres:
Detroit (Motown) Soul Music
Strongly rhythmic and influenced by gospel music – includes hand clapping, a powerful bass line – called “dub“, Violins and Bells.
Deep Soul and Southern Soul Music
A driving, energetic soul style combining R&B’s energy with pulsating – down south, Gospel Music.
Memphis Soul Music
A shimmering, sultry style of soul music produced in the 1960s and 1970s – includes melancholic and melodic horns, organ, bass, and drums – truly remarkable.
New Orleans Soul Music
Directly came out of the R&B era – deep.
Chicago Soul Music
A light gospel-influenced sound – emotional.
Philadelphia Soul Music
AKA Philly Soul – Orchestral sound and “doo-wop” vocals.
Psychedelic Soul Music
A blend of psychedelic rock and soul music, which paved the way for funk music a few years later – yeah buddy!.
Blue-eyed Soul Music
Performed by white artists, it has evolved over decades and to a lesser extent, the term has been applied to singers in other music genres that are influenced by Soul Music – Kenny G is truly a great artist.
Neo Soul Music
A musical blend of 1970s soul-style vocals and instrumentation with contemporary R&B sounds, hip hop beats and poetic interludes – to chill out!.
Northern Soul and Modern Soul Music
Rare Soul Music that was played by DJs at nightclubs in northern England – includes obscure 1960s and early 1970s American soul recordings – It‘s the vibes that matter.
Nu-Jazz and soulful electronica Music
Various genres of electronic music such as House, Drum & Bass, UK Garage, and Down tempo – the fusion is “you are on one!”
There is something about really fantastic old rare soul music that will always stay with you , and will always have you wanting more of “the vintage stuff.” Well look no further, because finally, there is this highly popular R&B and Rare Soul Grooves website featuring
Soul Music TV. Want to watch FREE 24 hour Soul Music Internet TV and receive 4 FREE Rare Soul CD Samplers?
Then visit: http://www.raresoulgrooves.com/106.html
Soulgrooves
Soul Music has its beginnings in Gospel and R&B of the 1940s and 1950s. They both had major influences on key soul singers including Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, just to name a couple.
The birthplace of Soul Music, to be quite honest is unknown. What is known? The United States inner cities, including Chicago, Detroit, Florence, Memphis, and New York, all created and produced their own soul music styles based on their demographics at the same time, thus making a “beautiful mixture“ of sound variety across the states for us all to enjoy.
In the 1970s, Hip Hop was born, which had a huge influence on the Soul Music that followed. New Jack Swing (aka Swing Beat), which combined Soul, Hip Hop, Gospel and Jazz, was absolutely rocking.
Disco and Funk Music also came to fruition in the 1970s, and started to decline in the early 1980s. Undoubtedly, Soul Music was now being influenced by Electro Music and Funk – it became known as Contemporary R&B which was, and still is, great!.
House and Techno rose to mainstream popularity in the late 1980s and remained popular in the 1990s and 2000s. Also starting in the 1980s, Soul Music from the United Kingdom became very popular – cheers mate!.
The development of Neo-Soul started around 1994. This was due to mainstream record label marketing support for soul genres diminishing in the 2000s, as the industry re-focused on Hip Hop – somewhat of a master stroke by the powers that be.
The many genres of Soul Music and R&B have reached a point, well before now of course, where they are now sub-divided into subgenres. To be side tracked, even though I have not mentioned it above, true Soul Music connoisseurs know that Rock and Roll was, literally, born from Soul Music and Rhythm and Blues….another day, another article.
Subgenres:
Detroit (Motown) Soul Music
Strongly rhythmic and influenced by gospel music – includes hand clapping, a powerful bass line – called “dub“, Violins and Bells.
Deep Soul and Southern Soul Music
A driving, energetic soul style combining R&B’s energy with pulsating – down south, Gospel Music.
Memphis Soul Music
A shimmering, sultry style of soul music produced in the 1960s and 1970s – includes melancholic and melodic horns, organ, bass, and drums – truly remarkable.
New Orleans Soul Music
Directly came out of the R&B era – deep.
Chicago Soul Music
A light gospel-influenced sound – emotional.
Philadelphia Soul Music
AKA Philly Soul – Orchestral sound and “doo-wop” vocals.
Psychedelic Soul Music
A blend of psychedelic rock and soul music, which paved the way for funk music a few years later – yeah buddy!.
Blue-eyed Soul Music
Performed by white artists, it has evolved over decades and to a lesser extent, the term has been applied to singers in other music genres that are influenced by Soul Music – Kenny G is truly a great artist.
Neo Soul Music
A musical blend of 1970s soul-style vocals and instrumentation with contemporary R&B sounds, hip hop beats and poetic interludes – to chill out!.
Northern Soul and Modern Soul Music
Rare Soul Music that was played by DJs at nightclubs in northern England – includes obscure 1960s and early 1970s American soul recordings – It‘s the vibes that matter.
Nu-Jazz and soulful electronica Music
Various genres of electronic music such as House, Drum & Bass, UK Garage, and Down tempo – the fusion is “you are on one!”
There is something about really fantastic old rare soul music that will always stay with you , and will always have you wanting more of “the vintage stuff.” Well look no further, because finally, there is this highly popular R&B and Rare Soul Grooves website featuring
Soul Music TV. Want to watch FREE 24 hour Soul Music Internet TV and receive 4 FREE Rare Soul CD Samplers?
Then visit: http://www.raresoulgrooves.com/106.html
Soulgrooves
Soul Music has its beginnings in Gospel and R&B of the 1940s and 1950s. They both had major influences on key soul singers including Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, just to name a couple.
The birthplace of Soul Music, to be quite honest is unknown. What is known? The United States inner cities, including Chicago, Detroit, Florence, Memphis, and New York, all created and produced their own soul music styles based on their demographics at the same time, thus making a “beautiful mixture“ of sound variety across the states for us all to enjoy.
In the 1970s, Hip Hop was born, which had a huge influence on the Soul Music that followed. New Jack Swing (aka Swing Beat), which combined Soul, Hip Hop, Gospel and Jazz, was absolutely rocking.
Disco and Funk Music also came to fruition in the 1970s, and started to decline in the early 1980s. Undoubtedly, Soul Music was now being influenced by Electro Music and Funk – it became known as Contemporary R&B which was, and still is, great!.
House and Techno rose to mainstream popularity in the late 1980s and remained popular in the 1990s and 2000s. Also starting in the 1980s, Soul Music from the United Kingdom became very popular – cheers mate!.
The development of Neo-Soul started around 1994. This was due to mainstream record label marketing support for soul genres diminishing in the 2000s, as the industry re-focused on Hip Hop – somewhat of a master stroke by the powers that be.
The many genres of Soul Music and R&B have reached a point, well before now of course, where they are now sub-divided into subgenres. To be side tracked, even though I have not mentioned it above, true Soul Music connoisseurs know that Rock and Roll was, literally, born from Soul Music and Rhythm and Blues….another day, another article.
Subgenres:
Detroit (Motown) Soul Music
Strongly rhythmic and influenced by gospel music – includes hand clapping, a powerful bass line – called “dub“, Violins and Bells.
Deep Soul and Southern Soul Music
A driving, energetic soul style combining R&B’s energy with pulsating – down south, Gospel Music.
Memphis Soul Music
A shimmering, sultry style of soul music produced in the 1960s and 1970s – includes melancholic and melodic horns, organ, bass, and drums – truly remarkable.
New Orleans Soul Music
Directly came out of the R&B era – deep.
Chicago Soul Music
A light gospel-influenced sound – emotional.
Philadelphia Soul Music
AKA Philly Soul – Orchestral sound and “doo-wop” vocals.
Psychedelic Soul Music
A blend of psychedelic rock and soul music, which paved the way for funk music a few years later – yeah buddy!.
Blue-eyed Soul Music
Performed by white artists, it has evolved over decades and to a lesser extent, the term has been applied to singers in other music genres that are influenced by Soul Music – Kenny G is truly a great artist.
Neo Soul Music
A musical blend of 1970s soul-style vocals and instrumentation with contemporary R&B sounds, hip hop beats and poetic interludes – to chill out!.
Northern Soul and Modern Soul Music
Rare Soul Music that was played by DJs at nightclubs in northern England – includes obscure 1960s and early 1970s American soul recordings – It‘s the vibes that matter.
Nu-Jazz and soulful electronica Music
Various genres of electronic music such as House, Drum & Bass, UK Garage, and Down tempo – the fusion is “you are on one!”
There is something about really fantastic old rare soul music that will always stay with you , and will always have you wanting more of “the vintage stuff.” Well look no further, because finally, there is this highly popular R&B and Rare Soul Grooves website featuring
Soul Music TV. Want to watch FREE 24 hour Soul Music Internet TV and receive 4 FREE Rare Soul CD Samplers?
Then visit: http://www.raresoulgrooves.com/106.html
Soulgrooves
Soul music is the creation of altering social conditions and diverse musical influences. Tracing its roots into the traditional folk songs of the African slaves that were brought at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, soul music was originally the ‘African Spirituals’ of the period between 1825 and 1850. These spirituals had significant harmonious and metrical relationships with West African songs and were often used by black slaves as a means of secret communication. By the end of the 19th century, they were replaced by gospel songs.
Black gospel music had developed out of a blend of earlier hymns, elements from the spirituals and black performance styles. The singing often reflected ecstatic dance and was accompanied by a piano or an organ, anchored with tambourines, electric guitar and hand-clapping.
During World War I, many black people migrated from the agricultural South to the industrial North. This population shift altered the setting and created a new demographic group which developed a new music genre known as R&B. In the late 1940s, R&B had become a massive phenomenon in the north with black R&B artists being promoted by black owned radio stations. Besides, white radio station owners, in the fear that the newly invented TV would make radio old-fashioned promoted and distributed R&B in an unprecedented way. At the same time, the South experienced the evolvement of jazz, which also traced its roots in the musical traditions of African slaves. Performed by piano soloists and small marching bands, jazz music featured spirituals, blues and hymns.
Soul music did not evolve until the mid-50s with the resurgence of gospel and doo-wop and the commercial blast of music for African-Americans. Tracing its roots in rhythm & blues and gospel, soul music was associated with the black civil rights movement through the metamorphosis of black music into a form of funky confirmation.
Besides, the dominant trend of the 1960s towards cultural integration enabled the development of soul as a means to integrate black and white America. By featuring catchy grooves, hand-clapping, spontaneous body moves, improvisational add-ons, and constant interplay between the soloist and the chorus, the soul genre made white America more open to the idea that African-American culture was not demeaning or corrupting, simply different. In a way, the sociopolitical inroads made by jazz popularized black music within the white audiences. The soul genre was also, rather indirectly, assisted by rock music, mostly because rock made white pop music sound old-fashioned. Without offering an alternative to the obsolete sounds of white pop music, rock music, in effect, legitimized black pop music.
As the black civil rights movement moved forward increasing African-American pride, soul music gained credit in the hearts of African-Americans as a means of expression and artistic freedom. Soul music became the flag of unity for the black communities and although never truly political in nature, for many, its instant rise in the pop charts was representative of the first successes of the civil rights movement.
Ray Charles is widely regarded as the pioneer of soul music with his 1954 release ‘I Got A Woman’. After that release, a number of successful artists followed taking soul music to its apogee in the 60s and the 70s. The geographical dispersion of soul music and its associations to the racial discrimination against the African-Americans popularized soul massively as a fundamental psychological element of the black struggle. From Florence and Memphis to Chicago and Detroit soul music reflected idealism and how life should not be accepted as it comes, but it should be made worth living.
The magnificent recordings of Sam Cooke (’You Send Me’, 1957 and ‘Twistin’ the Night Away’, 1961) Arthur Alexander (’You Better Move On’, 1961), Otis Redding (’I've Been Loving You Too Long’, 1965), Wilson Pickett (’In the Midnight Hour’, 1965), Percy Sledge (’When a Man Loves a Woman’, 1966), Aretha Franklin (’Respect’, 1967 and ‘I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)’, 1967), and Sam & Dave (’Soul Man’, 1967) were some of the Southern soul releases of Florence and Memphis throughout the 60s.
Northern soul has been developed in Detroit and Chicago. Motown Records practically swept the charts with top-selling artists that established the Motown Sound featured smash hits such as ‘Where Did Our Love Go’ by Diana Ross and The Supremes in 1964, ‘The Way You Do The Things You Do’ by The Temptations in 1964, ‘Tracks Of My Tears’ by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles in 1965, ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye in 1967, ‘I Want You Back’ by The Jackson 5 in 1969, Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ in 1972 and many others. Chicago became known for the sweet soul featured by Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions, who introduced a call and response style of group singing as derived from gospel.
Even James Brown and Little Richard, who were both into R&B music featuring a variety of deep backbeat, funky saxophone grooves, moans, screams and emotive inflections with boogie-woogie sounds, embodied in their music soul elements in their most commercially successful productions.
During the 1970s, the emergence of hip-hop culture and disco influenced the soul genre greatly, while in the 1980s the use of synths and other electronic equipment featured house and techno music over soul. Although its popularity has declined over the years, the impact and the influence of soul music is evident in many music genres such as funk, pop and neo-soul.