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- If rock and roll, represented by performers such as Elvis Presley, can be seen as a white reading of rhythm and blues, soul is a return to African American music’s roots— gospel and blues. The style is marked by searing vocal intensity, use of church-rooted call-and-response, and extravagant melisma.
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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.
Jun 7, 2021 · Soul Music Guide: History and Sounds of Soul Music. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Jun 7, 2021 • 5 min read. Various genres of popular Black-pioneered music—gospel, blues, R&B, and forms of jazz—are often grouped together in a category known as soul music.
- “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.
With its roots in gospel music and the broader Black church culture, soul music captured the spirit, emotions, and chaos of the 1960s civil unrest that continued into the early 1970s. The soul sound began to take shape during the 1950s, the beginning of the modern Civil Rights movement.
Apr 22, 2024 · Soul music is an African American-inspired genre. Chances are that you’ve probably heard a soul song, maybe without even knowing. The genre extends to a plethora of other genres, such as jazz, rock, and roll, blues, gospel, and pop. These combinations as well as the heartfelt lyrics are what made soul music so distinctive from other genres.
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.
