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- Elements of the genre live on, but the classic period of soul music, from about 1960 to 1975, remains one of the most important contributions to American popular culture for its style, its raw, emotive power, and its depth of feeling. Alongside jazz, it is one of America's most original contributions to world culture.
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May 17, 2024 · soul music, term adopted to describe African American popular music in the United States as it evolved from the 1950s to the ’60s and ’70s. Some view soul as merely a new term for rhythm and blues.
- David Ritz
Soul music has its roots in traditional African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues and as the hybridization of their respective religious and secular styles – in both lyrical content and instrumentation – that began in the 1950s.
Soul is a gospel-influenced African American popular music style that evolved out of rhythm and blues in urban areas beginning in the late 1950s. Its passionate vocalizing, powerful rhythms, and honest lyrics spoke directly to a generation of young African Americans, and soul music became synonymous with the social and political developments ...
Soul music emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s as one of the most distinctive forms in the history of American popular music. For black Americans especially, soul music defined the 1960s, offering a cultural soundtrack to the civil rights movement and the larger awakening of black consciousness and pride.
- “Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye. This 1967 hit sits in the Grammy Hall of Fame for its “historical” and “artistic” value. It was written a year earlier, but Gaye’s rendition rocketed the song to its present iconic state.
- “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers. Bill Withers’ 1972 “Lean on Me” is the most recognizable track in his fifteen-year music career. This song also secured a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007, due to its encouragement of unity and significance during world efforts for peace.
- “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder. 1972 was a big year for soul music, with both “Lean on Me” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” hitting the air. This track earned a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and still holds up as an example of soul and funk.
- “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin. In 1967, Aretha released this soulful single. It reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and gained even more traction following Franklin’s death.
soul music, Style of U.S. popular music sung and performed primarily by African American musicians, having its roots in gospel music and rhythm and blues. The term was first used in the 1960s to describe music that combined rhythm and blues, gospel, jazz, and rock music and that was characterized by intensity of feeling and earthiness.
Soul music is a genre of African-American popular music that caused the birth of many other genres, from dance music and hip hop to contemporary R&B and funk. Emerged in America in the 1950s, soul music hailed from African-American church music known as "Gospel Music."
