History Main / Soul

* The Temptations: Originally presented as a clean-cut boy band, the Temptations were one of the most successful all-male vocal groups to perform on the label. In the late 1960s, they became a vehicle for the staff songwriters experiments with psych-rock influences, leading to the creation of a whole new subgenre known as psychedelic soul.

Showing up in TheFifties and TheSixties, soul was developed by African-American musicians by combining elements of {{Gospel Music}} and RAndB. The result was something that sounded a lot like Gospel but (usually) without the religious themes.

In the heyday of soul--starting in the late [[TheFifties 1950s]] and running through the [[TheSixties 1960s]]--it was initially divided into two camps: Northern and Southern. Southern soul, whose flagship studio was Creator/StaxRecords in Memphis, was noted for a rougher sound and harder-edged lyrics, and was mostly marketed towards Black audiences. Northern soul, whose flagship studio was Creator/{{Motown}} Records in, erm, [[UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Motown]], was noted for a softer, poppier sound with more "family-friendly" lyrics and elaborate orchestrations, and was specifically engineered by studio head Berry Gordy[[note]]Fun fact: His son and grandson formed Music/{{LMFAO}}, which couldn't be more different[[/note]] to have crossover appeal to White audiences. Around the same time, other soul scenes percolated in New York (based around Creator/AtlanticRecords, the premier rhythm and blues label in America, which had previously recorded and published Music/RayCharles, was home to Solomon Burke throughout the 1960s, and served as national distributor for Stax Records for most of the decade) and Chicago (a halfway house between Motown, Memphis and New York both musically and geographically, and largely centred around the songwriting and production of the Impressions' lead vocalist Curtis Mayfield).

Despite the differences - and the commercial rivalry between Stax and Motown - there was a definite sense they were one style, with a lot of cross-pollination. This soul - the "classic" soul sound of the 1960s - was the soundtrack of the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement, and everything associated with "good" and authentic Black culture was called "soul" something by analogy (most famously, the term [[UsefulNotes/CuisinesInAmerica soul food]] stuck for referring to traditional Black American cuisine). Later, in the mid-to-late 60s and into the [[TheSeventies 70s]], a third soul "sound" appeared when some artists in UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}, most famously the songwriting and production duo of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, began incorporating elements of {{Funk}}, BigBand {{Jazz}} and Motown-style orchestration to produce the sweet-sounding variant called "Philadelphia Soul", a.k.a. "Sweet Philly," which in retrospect was probably one of the strongest influences on the nascent {{Disco}} (listen to some Philly soul and you'll probably remark how incredibly 70s it sounds).

Soul had a powerful effect on both RockAndRoll and modern {{Pop}}, and was the leading form of music for African-Americans until {{Funk}} music (itself heavily influenced by soul, and pioneered by leading R&B artists like James Brown and Isaac Hayes) came onto the scene in the early [[TheSeventies Seventies]]. Soul kept on; it eventually became nigh-indistinguishable from its forbear RAndB as, in the face of the rise of HipHop, the term started to be used for "any music made for and by black people that still has melodic singing." Purists cringed, of course, but alas, there was nothing to be done.

Britain is strongly associated with the mod-oriented [[OopNorth northern soul scene]] of the 1960s and early 1970s, which grew out of the dance clubs in cities like Manchester and Wigan and was sustained by [=DJs=] who specialized in tracking down extremely rare soul tracks from obscure labels which never quite gained mainstream popularity. Many British pop stars who kicked off their careers at the onset of the 1980s, including Music/ElvisCostello, Music/{{Madness}}, Music/TheSpecials, Music/DexysMidnightRunners (who took their name from a popular northern soul mod amphetamine which gave its users the energy to dance all night) and many, many more were active participants in or admirers of the northern soul movement. Pete Waterman, famously one third of the Stock-Aitken-Waterman production team (the "Hit Factory") whose Hi-NRG and synthpop productions provided the sound of British pop music in the late 1980s and early 1990s, began his musical career as one of the top northern soul [=DJs=] (alongside fellow Hi-NRG producer/songwriter Ian Levine) in the 1970s.

* Music/{{Adele}}: A British revivalist - aren't there so many? - who broke to international attention thanks to a fortuitous Saturday Night Live appearance and one of the most popular acts of TheNewTens. Often credited for putting the focus on her powerhouse vocals as opposed to appearance, though [[BigBeautifulWoman no slouch there either.]]

* Music/SamCooke: Along with Ray, Sam Cooke was one of the inventors of the genre, although his songs probably leaned towards gospel moreso than [=R&B=]. Although he died young, he left a legacy of great recordings which have been widely covered and continue to influence aspiring singers. His landmark recording "A Change Is Gonna Come" (inspired by the music of Bob Dylan) is often credited as one of the first really socially conscious soul songs.
* Delaney & Bonnie: A Creator Couple prominent in the late sixties, the Bramletts were the first white act to release an album at Stax. After ''Home'' tanked, they recorded ''Accept No Substitute'', a country- and rock-influenced followup whose early pressings became subject to a bidding war between Atlantic and Apple. Despite limited commercial success, they were favorites of musicians and tended to attract all-star backing bands. Broke up in 1972, both as a musical act and a couple.

* The Four Tops: Another Holland-Dozier-Holland group, the Four Tops were in some respects presented as rivals to the Temptations. They're best known for hits like "Reach Out, I'll Be There" and "It's the Same Old Song" which showcased the powerful lead vocals of Levi Stubbs; while their songs had the same polished production as their labelmates, Stubbs's gritty, gutsy voice helped to set them apart.

* Music/LutherVandross: One of the last major exponents of soul as such (everybody afterward was "soul, R&B, funk, and jazz" on account of blurring distinctions), and a pioneer of the "Philadelphia Soul" subgenre. He got his big break as a backing vocalist on [[/index]]''Music/YoungAmericans''[[index]], helping Bowie make the aforementioned transition into soul that made him marketable on the left side of the pond.

* Music/AmyWinehouse: Responsible for kicking off a major soul revival in the mid to late late 00's, in not only the United Kingdom but all around the world. Her music directly inspired and paved the way for other notable soul singers of that period including Adele, Paloma Faith, Shannon Jones and the Dap Kings, Music/{{Duffy}}, Azaelia Banks, Rebecca Ferguson and Emilie Sande. Many have dubbed the recent influx of British soul singers enjoying success on the American charts, which was led by Winehouse, a third British Invasion or a British Soul Invasion.

* Music/VanessaWilliams

Soul also stayed popular in an unusual space. A mix of all styles survives in North and South Carolina as 'Beach Music' where soul music style with a lindy-hop-style dance called 'The Shag' [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant (no, not the British meaning)]] started in the 1940s with early R&B and settled into its modern form in the 1980s with music from the Dominoes, the Drifters, the Clovers, the Tams, the Tymes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, and the Chairmen of the Board, along with local acts like The Swinging Medallions, The Okaysions, The Catalinas, and The Embers. The epicenter of this is Myrtle Beach, on the NC/SC border. As Soul faded from popularity in mainstream popular music, Beach Music kept many acts alive and earning money right through to today. The very early days of Beach Music were critical in getting southern white audiences to accept what was then called 'race' records.

* Creator/StaxRecords: Based in Memphis, Stax typically had a rawer, grittier, harder-edged southern sound in contrast to the smoother, sweeter output of Motown artists. Amusingly, despite putting out music that sounded more "black" than what Motown offered, the label was actually owned by a white businessman, Jim Stewart. Having enjoyed great success in the early 1960s, it suffered several blows toward the end of the decade (including the death of Otis Redding and the cessation of its contract with its distributor, Atlantic Records, which left it without a back catalogue) until the Wattstax event revived its fortunes. Like Motown, Stax attempted to branch out into fields beyond music and sought to encourage social justice and racial integration, but shady financial dealings and money mismanagement ended up killing the label in the mid-1970s.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Please do not confuse]] with [[Literature/SoulMusic the Discworld novel]].

* Music/YvesTumor (mixed with PBRAndB, experimental pop, plunderphonics, HarshNoise and PsychedelicRock)

* Music/BarryWhite

Soul or soul-styled music performed by white artists is generally called "blue-eyed soul". The British are the most likely to try a soul-influenced sound: Music/DavidBowie broke into the American market after he switched from glam rock to soul (with the NewSoundAlbum ''Young Americans'', recorded in Philadelphia), and two of the biggest soul acts of the past decade are Music/AmyWinehouse and Music/{{Adele}}, both as English as they come. The term "plastic soul" is used pejoratively to describe soul-styled music that replicates the sound and characteristics of soul music, but without its innate meaning (which prompted Music/TheBeatles to name their next album ''Music/RubberSoul'', 'cos, wouldn't you know it, they were high at the time and thought that was funny).

* Music/TheIsleyBrothers

''Series/SoulTrain'' started ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin predictably enough]]) presenting soul acts on television, à la ''Series/AmericanBandstand''. As the black community's tastes in music changed, ''Soul Train'' changed its tune a bit (and at some point became inextricably -- and [[DeaderThanDisco rather]] [[NeverLiveItDown embarrassingly]] -- linked with {{Disco}}), but the roots were still fairly obvious down to the end.

** ''Music/{{Survivor|2001}}'' (2001)

*** ''Music/DangerouslyInLove'' (2003)
*** ''Music/Beyonce2013'' (2013)
*** ''Music/Lemonade2016'' (2016)