Our generation has seen a fair
revival of soul music through talented vocalists like Adele, Lana Del Rey, John
Legend etc. Again, like all genres covered in Musical Breakdown, the aim is to
showcase is on what we really missed out on in terms of musical gold along the
years.
Due to infusion of hip hop
elements since the 90’s, R&B has seen a great resurfacing. A lot of this also
rubbed off on what we understand as Soul music these days. Most of what we experience
and consume as Soul in the 2000’s and 2010’s is usually a inspired and collaborated works
with bringing rap and hip hop angles to the music to make the experience more
relevant to the millennial listeners.
My focus in Musical Breakdown is
to get you a sense of how this beautiful and suave genre come about? Of
course, it didn’t appear out of thin air.
Well, the development of Soul
music is said to be essential to the Black American experience of the mid 20th
century. It grew out of a combination of Jazz that was born a half century
before soul ago, Gospel music that was prevalent among the African American
community of the time and R&B that is to quote Wikipedia.
The culmination of these genres to
create soul music, had more to do with catering to mainstream lounge
performances, radio and stage in colored America, an equivalent of what we
hear as ‘Adult contemporary music’. But what was born, became a genre that was
very much diverse than the easy listening expectations, it never forgot its
jazz origins, giving in to interludes and beats that got the bodily energy moving in
the same room it tried to tie down, so as to create a 'lounge experience'. The energy it brought out would later
develop and eventually evolve into funk.
To be honest I was clueless about
the genre and its uniqueness till I watched Jackie Brown, the Quentin Tarantino
ode to Blaxploitation movies starring Pam Grier. The soundtrack of that movie
had artists like Delfonics, Bobby Womack, Bill Withers etc and I got a taste of
this amazing new world of music, something that sounded very similar to some of
the R&B I was aware of at the time. But it most definitely was something with more fluidity and
literal ‘soul’ that got it to flow so effortlessly.
That kind of a wake up call was
enough for me to go ahead and dig a little deeper on this new musical
fascination of mine. And as soon as I entered the sanctum of soul music, so to
speak, I encountered a gamut of stalwarts and musical geniuses that literally
blew my mind out.
So..What is it?
This genre isn’t as enigmatic as
jazz or as esoteric as blues. It is definitely more digestible to any listener
and is one of the causes why it enjoyed such great popularity across the 60’s,
70’s and 80’s. The music was greatly dominated by African-American Vocalists
whose voice, most of which showcased more grit and earthiness than octave
manipulation, unlike jazz vocalists, to put out the emotions they wished to
sing about. The background music has one sole focus: create a soundscape that
the voice can play upon and there’s hardly any solo instrumental focus.
Soul has
the roots and magic of all types of African-American centric music in it, be it
Jazz, R&B, Gospel and Blues. And what it takes from each of these genres is
their ability to create ease in the listeners’ ears, which these 3 genres have
defined uniquely in their own right. You can’t help but feel relaxed when there’s
soul music playing in your background. The energy it feeds off is indeed the
chilled out forehead lines of its listeners, if I had to put it plainly (*want
to know the opposite? Put on a pair of headphones and give Cowboys from Hell by
Pantera a spin while looking at your forehead in mirror, you’ll know) This kind
of music is almost tailored for a romantic or a lounge-like environment. These are
places it can lend themselves to exploit the ambient factor to the best
possible degree with soul music.
The other energy that Soul gives
out is more on the veins of vocally focused funk a la 'I Feel Good' By James
Brown. Now you don’t need me to tell you, that this type of Soul is meant to
get your feet tappin’ and body movin’.
Showcase
As always let’s look into the
legends and masters at the ‘soul’ of this genre.
Al green – Let’s Stay together
This man is a definite legend of
the genre and was the prima donna for younger soul artists of the 70’s. His
vocal style is typical has a peculiar soulful seduction to it, providing him
with a great platform to create romantic numbers in the genre. Also Try: I can’t
get next to you
Barry white – Can’t get enough of your love babe
Barry white sure has one of the
most recognizable voices in the genre. With a thick baritone and distinct
hoarse voice, White can liven any spoken word. It’s no wonder how this man
wound up selling more than a 100 million records. Also Try: Just the way you
are
Bill Withers – Ain’t no sunshine
Bill wasn’t actually a legend if
you go by the heights his career reached. But the few tracks of the man which
hit the spot wound up defining soul for a lot of people and created an
unmistakable and unprecedentedly intimate atmosphere. Also Try: Grandma’s Hands
James Brown – I Got You
It would be a sin to leave this
post without mentioning the godfather a half dozen times. James Brown created
the energy that soul music,until the early 60’s, seemed lacked. That is, the energy to move crowds
to get groovin’. His experiments with the genre gave birth to funk, whose roots
are very evident from this track itself. Also Try: Get up offa that thing.
Marvin Gaye – Let’s get it on
Marvin was to soul what we could
say, John Bonham was to drumming. His style was as unique and conceptual
approach to music created a body of work that can never be confused with
another. With a string of albums like ‘What’s going on’, ‘Let’s get it on’ and 'I want you’ he single-handedly raised the bar of soul for the generation. Also Try: What’s going on?
Sam Cooke – A change is gonna come
Cooke is possibly the greatest
singer soul ever produced. This trademark number and the innumerable times it’s
been covered, is evidence of the kind of influence this man and his body of
work had. In his short career, his music and its popularity paved the way for
several other stalwarts on this list to come out and showcase themselves as
soul musicians. Also Try: I’ll come running back to you
Otis Redding – Sitting on the dock of the bay
Otis lived a short life, dying at
the age of 26 years due to plane crash. In such a short while and with an early
start, he created to a legendary persona and music that will eternally mark the
genres of soul and R&B. His tone was vulnerable and proud, knowing the
power in its emotion, behind he evolved a style that painted simple portraits of life. Also Try: I’ve got dreams to remember
Ray Charles – Georgia on my mind
We all have seen Jamie Foxx in his portrayal of Charles in his Academy
Award winning role in Ray. The man was a force so strong that Sinatra himself
crowned him genius. His fearless experiments across genres like R&B, blues
and jazz forged this sweet divine tasting musical savoury called soul. Also Try:
Hit the road jack
Why should you listen?
This genre, more than anything,
is something that I could find myself going back to when things got stressful
in the day. It doesn’t provide the escapism that Vocal Jazz offers through
Sinatra and Martin. What soul masterfully does is that it gives you the stress
free mindfulness to get back in rhythm and get on with whatever’s on your
plate.
Soul defines relaxation for the average days
listen, providing the right amount of energy, ease and emotion to crack that
crust off a dull day. I think our generation deserves to rediscover this amazing
style, not just to enjoy it but also ...for once...to realize that a song doesn't needs to be inane and dumbed down to be easy on the ears. Soul provides that trademark
balance of energies that can still prove as a potent holder of attention, even
in these times of EDM and Hip Hop. As it is quite rightly stated by John Mayer,
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