When Did Soul Music Start?

The history of soul music is often traced back to the late 1950s and early 1960s, when artists like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles began blending elements of gospel, R&B, and blues to create a sound that was both spiritual and secular. But the roots of soul go much deeper, all the way back to the African-American oral tradition.

Origins of Soul Music

The term “soul” has been used in popular music for nearly a century, but the musical genre we know as soul music only developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. So, when did soul music start? Soul music is a combination of African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues.

Gospel music

Gospel music is the oldest form of soul music. It originated in the late 18th century with the slave trade. African slaves were brought to the Americas and forced to work in plantations. They were not allowed to bring their own musical instruments, so they had to make do with whatever they could find. This led to the development of a new type of music, which incorporated elements of both African and European cultures.

Gospel music was originally purely religious, but it later evolved into a form of secular entertainment. It became popular in the US in the early 20th century, when it was performed by black minstrels in vaudeville shows. Gospel music was also an important influence on the development of rock and roll in the 1950s.

Today, gospel music is still popular, particularly among African Americans. It has also been influential in the development of other genres of soul music, such as R&B and hip hop.

Rhythm and blues

In the late 1940s, a new type of music was developed by African American musicians. This new style combined elements of both gospel and blues music. The result was a unique sound that came to be known as rhythm and blues.

Rhythm and blues was originally intended for a black audience. However, it soon began to appeal to white listeners as well. In the 1950s, a number of white musicians began to perform rhythm and blues music. These performers included Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.

The popularity of rhythm and blues among whites continued to grow in the 1960s. During this decade, the term “soul” came to be used to describe this type of music. Soul music became one of the most popular genres of the 1960s. It continued to grow in popularity during the 1970s and 1980s. Today, soul music is still widely heard and loved by people all over the world.

Funk

Funk is a style of music that was popularized in the mid-1960s. It is a blend of African-American musical styles, such as soul and rhythm and blues (R&B). Funk songs are often characterized by a repetitive, groove-oriented bass line and infectious, syncopated rhythms.

Soul Music in the 1960s

Soul music started in the 1960s, and it is a genre of music that is rooted in African American culture. The genre is a combination of rhythm and blues, gospel, and jazz.

Motown

The term “Motown sound” refers to a style of popular music produced by the Motown record label in Detroit, Michigan. It was developed in the late 1950s and reached its height of popularity in the 1960s. The Motown sound was a blend of black R&B and pop music, with a heavy emphasis on close harmony vocals and danceable rhythms.

The Motown sound was created by a team of songwriters, producers, and musicians who worked together to create hits for the label’s artists. The most famous members of this team were the songwriting duo of Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy, Jr., who wrote many of the label’s biggest hits. Other key members included producer Norman Whitfield, arranger Paul Riser, and the Funk Brothers, Motown’s house band.

The first record label to be owned by an African American, Motown played a major role in breaking down racial barriers in popular music. The company’s artists were some of the first black musicians to achieve mainstream success, and their music appealed to fans of all races. The success of the Motown sound helped pave the way for other genres of black popular music, including soul and disco.

Stax Records

Stax Records was an American record label, founded in 1957 by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton in Memphis, Tennessee. As one of the most renowned soul music labels of all time, Stax is responsible for launching the careers of some of the genre’s most iconic artists, including Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, and Booker T. & the M.G.’s. Though it enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and early 1970s, the label remained active until 1975, when it declared bankruptcy. Despite its brief lifespan, Stax had a profound impact on music and popular culture, and its legacy continues to be felt today.

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records was founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson, both natives of Turkey. Ertegun and Abramson were strangers to the music business, but they shared a passion for R&B and jazz. The label’s first release was a 78 rpm single by saxophonist Joe Morris. Atlantic would go on to become one of the most important record labels in the history of popular music.

In the early 1960s,Atlantic was at the forefront of the soul music revolution. The label’s roster included such legends as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam and Dave. Atlantic’s success with soul music was due in part to Jerry Wexler, a former journalist who joined the label as a producer in 1953. Wexler had a keen ear for talent and an encyclopedic knowledge of R&B. He helped to shape the sound of Atlantic’s soul recordings and signed many of the label’s most important artists.

The 1960s were a golden era for Atlantic Records. The label enjoyed commercial success with a wide range of genres, including pop, rock, jazz, and blues. However, it was soul music that truly made Atlantic an industry powerhouse. Thanks to artists like Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett, the label dominated the charts and defined an entire musical genre.

The 1970s and the Birth of Disco

Soul music originated in the African-American community in the 1950s. It combines elements of gospel, R&B, and blues. The first soul songs were created by artists like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. In the 1960s, soul music became more popular with the help of Motown Records. The 1970s saw the rise of disco, which was a type of soul music.

Philadelphia soul

Philadelphia soul, sometimes referred to as the “Philly Sound”, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music created by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell at Philadelphia-based record label Sigma Sound Studios. It was characterized by its diversity, funky basslines, string section interludes, three-part background vocal harmony style (a la The Delfonics), and its distinctive horn arrangements.

The Philly sound became commercially successful when Gamble and Huff worked with producers such as Thom Bell and Gamble’s brother-in-law, Dexter Wansel, to create hits for acts such as The O’Jays (“Love Train”, “For the Love of Money”), Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes (“If You Don’t Know Me by Now”), the Stylistics (“You Make Me Feel Brand New”), and Billy Paul (“Me and Mrs. Jones”).

The sound shaped Philadelphia soul into a commercial entity that helped to establish Philadelphia as a vital center for R&B music in the 1970s.

Funk

In the 1960s, James Brown and other soul artists created a new style of music called funk. Funk is a type of soul music that uses a strong rhythm section, or groove, to create a feeling of danceability. The word “funk” can also refer to the style of dancing that is often done to this type of music.

Funk first became popular in the early 1970s with songs like Brown’s “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine” and George Clinton’s “Flash Light.” Clinton was the leader of a group called Parliament-Funkadelic, which mixed elements of funk, rock, and psychedelic music. Clinton’s work with Parliament-Funkadelic helped to create what is sometimes called P-funk, a subgenre of funk that is known for its complex arrangements and electronically altered sounds.

Disco, another subgenre of soul, also became popular in the 1970s. Disco music is designed for dancing and often has a repetitive beat. It became famous for its association with nightclubs, especially those in New York City’s Greenwich Village and Harlem, which were frequented by gay and African American patrons. One of the most well-known disco songs is Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”

Disco

Disco is a genre of music that arose in the 1970s, and is closely associated with the culture of that decade. The word “disco” is short for discothèque, which is a type of nightclub where people danced to music played on a phonograph (record player).

Disco music began to take hold in American popular culture in the early 1970s, thanks in part to the release of the film “Saturday Night Fever” in 1977. The film’s soundtrack popularized a new style of disco music called “disco Inferno”, which was characterized by its simple, repetitive beat and often sexually suggestive lyrics.

The disco craze reached its height in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when countless disco clubs opened up across the United States (and around the world). However, by the mid-1980s, disco’s popularity began to wane, due in part to the rise of other musical genres (such as hip-hop) and changes in popular culture.

The 1980s

The 1980s were a time of great change for soul music. The genre had begun to move away from its Motown and Stax roots, and was beginning to encompass a more diverse range of styles. The result was a sound that was both fresh and exciting, and which would go on to dominate the charts throughout the decade. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the key moments in the history of soul music in the 1980s.

Boogie

The term “boogie” first appeared in print in 1861 in a Kentucky local newspaper. In 1925, “Boogie Woogie” was used as the title of a piano piece by Harlem stride pianist Clarence Williams. The first recorded use of the word “boogie” to refer to a style of music was in 1929, when Texas playboy and gambler Hatcheck Simpson used it to describe his own piano playing. Boogie woogie became popular in the 1940s, with performers such as Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Meade Lux Lewis. By the 1950s, the boogie woogie craze had begun to die down, but the style continued to be popular among blues and rhythm and blues musicians. Boogie woogie has influenced many other genres of music, including rock and roll, disco, and electronica.

Contemporary R&B

In the 1980s, soul music began to evolve away from the classic sound of artists like Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder. A new generation of performers like Prince, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston helped to take soul music in a more pop-oriented direction. This new sound came to be known as “Contemporary R&B.” Contemporary R&B combines elements of pop, hip-hop, and traditional soul music to create a unique sound that is both commercial and artistic.