Music Appreciation: The History of Rock Chapter 13: Soul

The definition of Soul… It means many different things to different people. For some, it is a feeling- expressing one’s inner self to the audience. For some it is a manner of performance, a sense of relaxation or ease in performance that creates a flow of music from one’s most inner depths.

Soul comes from… Soul is a combination of the elements of rhythm and blues and gospel. “Soul” originally referred to the performers’ abilities to stir the listeners’ souls. “Soul” began to describe secular (non-religious) music that black Americans were working on as an expression of black pride.

Elements from Gospel Music: 1) Freedom of performance (improvisation) 2) Vocal inflections 3) Religious fervor (feeling) 4) Call and response performance

Elements from Rhythm and Blues 1) Band instrumentation: bass, drums, piano, horns, backing vocalists (some guitar) 2) Hard-driving rhythms 3) Generally fast tempos 4) Aggressive, electrifying performances

What was added? More elements from gospel were added to the sound and stage performances to develop the “soul” sound. This created a new version of popular black music.

Ray Charles Born 1930 in Albany, Georgia and died in 2004. Ray began to lose his eyesight at age six from glaucoma, but not after he had started taking piano lessons at age five. Ray was one of the first artists who crossed over from gospel to rhythm and blues and combined musical elements of the two to form his own style.

Ray- early life Ray’s parents enrolled him in the St. Augustine (Fla.) School for the Deaf and Blind and he learned how to play piano, organ, alto saxophone, clarinet and trumpet. He dropped out at age 15 after his mother died and began his career as a musician by moving to Florida and then Seattle.

Characteristics of Ray’s sound 1) Gospel chord progressions 2) A horn section that resembled a backing choir. 3) An emotionally-charged singing style 4) A strong, gospel-based piano style 5) A raspy, full-throated vocal with sudden swoops and falsetto shrieks. 6) A sense of wild abandon.

Music of Ray In November of 1954, Ray and his group cut the song that many consider to be the perfect synthesis of gospel and rhythm and blues: I’ve Got a Woman. This created a huge dilemma: a pre-existing gospel song with secular lyrics. The art term for putting secular words to sacred music is contrafactum.

Ray: 1955-1959 Ray’s music was continually evolving between these years. He added three female backing singers and hired some of the best jazz horn players in the business. “What’d I Say” is perhaps his most successful song. It started as a jam at a party, but was recorded four days later. In the words of writer Peter Guarlnick, it “was six and a half minutes of the most joyous celebration of an utterly profane love.”

Memphis Soul Sound Two studios that helped develop the Memphis Soul Sound were Stax Records (originally Satellite Records). The name was changed due to another company with the same name. The original house band was a group of white performers who were enthralled with black blues, jazz and rhythm and blues- the Royal Spades. They later became the Mar-Keys.

Characteristics of the Memphis Sound A heavy accent on the beat and the rhythm. Prominent recording of the drums. A staccato, percussive horn sound. A growly, rasping sound that supports the melody.

Stax recording artists…. Booker T and the MGs- Green Onions Otis Redding- Dock of the Bay Eddie Floyd- Knock on Wood Wilson Pickett- In the Midnight Hour Percy Sledge- When a Man Loves a Woman Sam and Dave- Soul Man

James Brown 1933-2006 The model for almost all male soul singers. Voice had a raspy, full-throated quality and he typically shouts a raw, basic vocal line. Nicknames include the Godfather of Soul and Soul Brother #1. Also called The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Mr. Dynamite and Mr. Sex Machine. He was flamboyant and aggressive in performance.

James Brown Born in Augusta, Georgia in 1933 to a poor family. His first performances were in the choir of the family church and he was strongly influenced by gospel music. First group he belonged to was the Swannees but switched to a strictly secular style of rhythm and blues and became The Famous Flames.

Musical characteristics of Please, Please, Please Strongly gospel-oriented chord progressions. A triplet figure in the piano part reminiscent of New Orleans rock and roll. Backup singers influenced by both gospel and vocal group rock and roll singing. A strophic form, somewhat repetitive in nature. Underlying rhythmic and accompanimental intricacies that will become the basis of his style. A very intense, dramatic, energetic performance.

Singing style His style of singing was influenced by a Southern Baptist preacher. Vamp- a short chord progression that is repeated several times as a means of marking time. The vamp is used to mark a place in the music so the singer can improvise and talk with the audience, but the forward motion has stopped. A RIFF is repetitive and does not serve a purpose like the vamp does. A riff is a pattern.

Elements of James Brown’s style that developed in the 1960’s A heavy, shuffle-type beat. Latin-influenced cross rhythms (3+3+2 subdivision pulses in a measure). The guitarist uses a “choked” style of playing, grasping the strings tightly to the neck of the guitar, producing a metallic, percussive sound that matches the band. The bass part is more staccato, almost choppy, a sound that also fits with the percussive nature of the group’s sound. A hard-punching, biting horn section.

Famous James Brown Songs… Please, Please, Please I Got You (I Feel Good) Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud), Part 1 Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag

James Brown’s Influence By 1960, he was very well-respected and somewhat of a political representative of African Americans. He advocated a positive, non-violent approach to racial changes. He and his band were heavy influences on Earth, Wind and Fire, The Ohio Players, Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy’s Rubber Band and Sly and the Family Stone.

Aretha Franklin Born in Memphis in 1942 and raised in Buffalo and Detroit. Her father was an evangelist preacher. She began singing when she was 8. She dropped out of school at age 14 in order to be the featured soloist with her father’s evangelical tour. She released her first album as a 14 year old on Checker Records.

Aretha continued…. Her only number one single was Respect in June 1967. The Blues Brothers movie appearance… Biggest hits include: Natural Woman Think I Say a Little Prayer