A Comprehensive List of Soul Music & Indie Rock Artists
A list of the best soul music and indie rock artists to help get you through tough times.
The Roots of Soul Music
Soul music is a genre that originated in the United States in the 1950s. It combines elements of rhythm and blues, gospel, and jazz. Indie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. It typically has a DIY ethic and is experimental.
The Birth of Rock and Roll
Rock and Roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, from African American musical styles such as gospel, jump blues, jazz, boogie woogie, rhythm and blues, and country music. While elements of what was to become rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.
The term “rock and roll” now has at least two different meanings: either a musical style or a cultural phenomenon. The term “rock” usually refers to musical styles originating after the 1950s. However, “rock” can also refer to earlier styles including but not limited to: Boogie Woogie, Rockabilly, Surf Music, Twist (dance), garage rock and punk rock. The term “roll” generally refers to a style of music typified by deliberately insistent rhythmic roll patterns played on the drums using an open hi-hat cymbal with accents on other beats while electric guitars play brief phrase patterns with heavy use of distortion accompanied by sustained notes. These phrases are usually played over background chords consisting of alternating bass notes an octave apart which outline major or minor chords (often seventh chords).
The Rise of Motown
During the 1950s, a new style of music called soul developed in the United States. Soul music was a combination of African-American gospel and rhythm and blues (R&B). The term ”soul” was first used in the late 1950s by record companies and radio disc jockeys (DJs) to describe this new type of music.
In the 1960s, Motown Records became the most successful soul music record label. Motown was founded in Detroit, Michigan, by Berry Gordy, Jr., in 1959. Gordy named his label after the city’s nickname, ”Motor Town.” Motown’s first release was ”Come to Me” by Marv Johnson in 1959.
Gordy signed several talented African-American musicians to Motown, including Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, and Stevie Wonder. These artists wrote and performed songs that appealed to both black and white audiences. During the 1960s, Motown artists had more than 100 Top 40 hits on the Billboard pop charts. In 1968, Motown released what would become its most successful album ever: Diana Ross & the Supremes Sing Hits from ”The Wizard of Oz.” The album included the hit single ”Someday We’ll Be Together.”
In the 1970s, many Motown artists left the label to start their own companies. Despite this setback, Motown remained one of the most successful record labels in America throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Today, Gordy’s company is known as Motown Records Corporation. It is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, one of the largest music companies in the world.
