Soul Music
Year 8
Soul Influences
» Gospel
» Rhythm & Blues
» From America: Soul music came from
the black youth of America and
transformed gospel and Rhythm and
Blues into funky, secular testifying music.
» Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, New York
» Ray Charles is often cited as creating
Soul with his 1954 hit “I Got A Woman’
Soul Ingredients
» Cool bass guitar
» Funky drums (plus tambourine in
Motown)
» Electric guitar
» Piano/organ
» Horn section (saxophones, trumpets,
trombones)
» Tense and emotional vocals
Other musical features of
Soul
»
»
»
»
»
»
Catchy rhythms
Handclaps
Improvisation
Decorated singing melody
Dressing sharp
Call and response between vocalist
and chorus
Ray Charles (1930-2004)
» Sang early soul song
‘I Got A Woman’ in
1954
» Pianist/singer/
songwriter
» Controversially
combined gospel with
rhythm and blues
» ‘Georgia On My Mind’
» ‘Hallelujah I Love Her
So’
Sam Cooke (1931-1964)
» Singer/songwriter
» Pioneer of soul music
» He took an active part
in the American Civil
Rights movement
» Hit songs between
1957 and 1964
» ‘Cupid’
» ‘Wonderful World’
James Brown (1933-2006)
» The “Godfather of Soul”
» Great singer, dancer,
songwriter, bandleader
and trained a generation
of soul/funk musicians
» Pioneered soul and
invented funk
» ‘Please, Please, Please’
» ‘I Feel Good’
Four Tops
»
»
»
»
Motown: 1960s
Levi Stubbs
American quartet
Signature Motown
sound
» ‘Reach Out, I’ll Be
There’
The Supremes (inc.
Diana Ross)
» Motown: 1960s
» One of the first
‘girl groups’
» In mid-60s rivaled
Beatles in success
» ‘Baby Love’
» ‘You Can’t Hurry
Love’
Otis Redding (19411967)
» One of the great
soul singers
» Expert in ballads
and up-beat
numbers
» ‘Sittin’ On the
Dock of the Bay
» ‘These Arms Of
Mine’
Aretha Franklin (b.1942)
» The “Queen of
Soul”
» Passionate vocal
style and powerful
range
» Atlantic Records
» ‘Respect’
» ‘Think’
Stevie Wonder (b.1950)
» Multi-instrumentalist,
singer, songwriter
» Started recording for
Motown when he was
13
» ‘For Once In My Life’
» ‘Uptight (Everything’s
Alright)’
» ‘I Wish’
Marvin Gaye (1939-1984)
»
»
»
»
3-octave vocal range
Motown legend
Sweet lyrical style
‘How Sweet it is to be
Loved By You’
» ‘(I Heard It Through
the) Grapevine’
Performance Task
» To sing and play on the keyboard
James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’