Top Ten Soul Music Tracks of All Time

Here are the top ten soul tracks of all time. This genre of music has produced some of the most classic tracks ever written.

Introduction

While the history of soul music is often traced back to the 1960s, the genre actually has its roots in gospel and R&B music of the 1950s. Gospel music, which was deeply rooted in the African-American church, was emotional, intense, and featured powerful vocal performances. R&B, or rhythm and blues, was a popular style of music that developed from jazz and blues. It featured a strong beat and was often sexually suggestive. Both gospel and R&B were extremely popular among African Americans in the 1950s.

In the 1960s, soul music became its own distinct genre. It incorporated elements of both gospel and R&B, but also added a unique flavor all its own. Soul music was characterized by emotive vocals, often performed by African American artists. The lyrics often dealt with personal struggles and relationships, and the music was meant to evoke intense emotions. The best soul tracks of all time feature some of the most talented vocalists in music history.

What is Soul Music?

Soul music is a genre of popular music that originated in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and jazz. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music, disco and other genres.[1]

The original recordings of songs in this genre were made by mostly African-American artists such as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. During the 1960s and 1970s, soul performers had a major influence on white US and UK singers. More recently, soul has been influenced by contemporary R&B and hip hop.

The Origins of Soul Music

While the term “soul” has been used to describe many genres of music, it’s generally understood to refer to a specific style that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This style combines elements of gospel, R&B, and pop, and is often characterized by its emotive, intimate lyrics.

The origins of soul music are often traced back to the church, where African American singers would infuse traditional gospel songs with their own personal style. As secular music began to gain popularity in the early 20th century, artists like Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe began crossover success by bringing their unique sound to a wider audience.

In the 1950s, artists like Ray Charles and Sam Cooke began experimenting with different production techniques and song structures, laying the groundwork for what would become known as soul music. In the 1960s, Motown Records would play a major role in popularizing soul music with Hitsville U.S.A., their legendary recording studio in Detroit, Michigan. Artists like Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, and Stevie Wonder would go on to achieve massive success with their Soul tracks.

While there have been many great soul musicians over the years, these are ten of the most iconic and influential soul songs of all time.

The Evolution of Soul Music

Soul music is a genre that evolved out of African American spirituals, gospel, and rhythm and blues (R&B) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is a sound that is hard to define, but its core attributes include emotive vocals, funk-infused grooves, and positive messages. The genre enjoyed its peak popularity in the 1970s with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Curtis Mayfield topping the charts.

While soul music has remained popular throughout the years, it has also undergone something of a renaissance in recent years with a new wave of artists taking influence from the classic sounds of the genre while also adding their own modern twist. So without further ado, here are ten of the best soul tracks of all time.

1. “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers (1971)
2. “I’ll Take You There” by The Staple Singers (1972)
3. “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye (1973)
4. ” Higher Ground” by Stevie Wonder (1973)
5. “Living for the City” by Stevie Wonder (1973)
6. “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin (1967)
7. “Respect” by Aretha Franklin (1967)
8. “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 (1969)
9. “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding (1968)
10.”What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye (1971)

The Top Ten Soul Music Tracks of All Time

Music is the universal language- it has the ability to transcend race, culture, and time. Soul music is a genre that has been around for decades, and its popularity does not seem to be waning. Here are the top ten soul music tracks of all time, in no particular order.

“A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke

“A Change is Gonna Come” is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. Released on December 22, 1964 by RCA Victor, the song addressed both the struggles of African Americans and the gradual changes coming to the United States at the time. The track was an immediate commercial success, reaching number one on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart and number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Aside from its critical and commercial success, “A Change Is Gonna Come” inspired subsequent artists in the soul music genre, including Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight & THE Pips, Bryan Adams and Phil Collins. It has been covered by a wide range of artists including Annie Lennox, Bruce Springsteen and Seal. In 2010 the song was ranked at number 41 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list; it also ranked at number 97 on Pitchfork Media’s The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s list.

“Respect” by Aretha Franklin

“Respect” is a song written and originally released by Otis Redding in 1965. The most notable cover of the song was recorded by Aretha Franklin in 1967. Her version of the song became a hit in 1968, reaching number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the R&B singles chart. It earned Franklin a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, which she co-wrote with her brother, Thomas Bell. The song has been ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as number five on their list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

“I Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye

This song was originally released by Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1967, but Gaye’s version a year later is the one that everyone remembers. It’s often cited as one of the greatest soul songs of all time, and it helped solidify Gaye as a Motown legend.

“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers

“Ain’t No Sunshine” is a song by Bill Withers from his 1971 album Just As I Am, produced by Booker T. Jones. The record featured musicians Donald Duck Dunn on bass guitar, Al Jackson Jr. on drums and guitar, and Steve Cropper on guitar.

Although the song was originally credited to Withers alone, it was actually co-written with Jackson, Cropper, and Dunn. Jackson claimed that he wrote the drum part while the other three were discussing what the song should be about. Withers stated that he wrote the song in about 10 minutes while thinking about a woman he had dated who had left him.

The song is in 6/8 time with a MIDI tempo of 96 beats per minute. Withers vocal range spans one octave and one note, from E3 to F#4. The song features a horn section composed of Floyd Newman on baritone saxophone, Jack Hale Jr. on trombone, and Charles Chalmers on tenor saxophone.

The single was originally released in August 1971, but it did not gain significant popularity until October 1972, when it was re-released after the success of Withers’ previous single, “Lean on Me”. “Ain’t No Sunshine” peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number six on the soul singles chart. The song also peaked at number two on the Easy Listening chart.

Withers won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards in 1973 for “Ain’t No Sunshine”. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked it 63rd on its list of “The 100 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

“Stand by Me” by Ben E. King

“Stand by Me” is a song originally performed by Ben E. King and written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1961. The black-and-white film Stand by Me was released in 1986, directed by Rob Reiner, and starred Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell. It is based on Stephen King’s novella The Body. The song was ranked at number 121 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2004. In the UK it was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Single at the 1987 Brit Awards. In 2012 the song was voted by the British public as number 28 in “The Nation’s Favourite Number One” over 60 years of music history.

“(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding

“Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” is a song co-written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just days before his death in a plane crash. The song was released on Stax Records’ Volt label in 1968, becoming the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US. It was written in just 30 minutes on a houseboat in Sausalito, California.

“I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by The Four Tops

The Four Tops are a Motown quartet from Detroit, Michigan, United States, who helped to define the city’s Motown sound of the 1960s. The group’s repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz and show tunes.

The group was founded in 1953 as The Four Aims, after high school friends Leonard Elias (baritone/bass), Abdul Fakir (tenor), Renaldo Benson (baritone) and Lawrence Payton (baritone/falsetto) decided to pursue a career in music. The Aims signed with Chess Records in 1956, changing their name to the Four Tops when They went toMotown Records in 1963.

“My Girl” by The Temptations

1. “My Girl” by The Temptations
2. “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers
3. “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King
4. “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding
5. “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by The Four Tops
6. “Respect” by Aretha Franklin
7. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye
8. “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye
9. “The Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
10. “Beautiful Soul” by James Brown

“What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye

“What’s Going On” is a song by American recording artist Marvin Gaye, released in 1971 on the Motown label. It was also released as a single in May 1971, becomingGaye’s first hit record in several years. The song marked Gaye’s change from the Motown Sound to more personal material, and is reportedly based on his experience during the 1968 Detroit riot. “What’s Going On” initially sold over two million copies, and later shipments totaled more than three million in the US alone, earning an RIAA gold certification. Following its initial success, “What’s Going On” became an anthem for the African-American community and is cited as motivation for political activism against social injustice. It remains Gaye’s most successful single for Motown, and one of his most famous recordings.

The song was written by Renaldo “Obie” Benson, Al Cleveland and Gaye himself. on April 12, 1970 while they were touring England with The Miracles.dddddThe group had been asked to write a campaign song for then-U.S. Representative John Conyers’ re-election bid; however, they were having difficulty completing it before their scheduled return to the United States several days later. One night after finishing a concert at Birmingham Town Hall, Benson mused to Cleveland: “What is happening here?” Benson then related this experience to Gaye who wrote down what he sang:

Father, father
We don’t need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today

“I’ll Take You There” by The Staple Singers

“I’ll Take You There” is a song written and recorded by American gospel group The Staple Singers. Released in 1972, it spent four weeks at number one on the Hot 100, becoming their biggest pop hit. The song also topped Billboard’s R&B chart for three weeks.

The Staples were persuaded to record the song by Al Bell of Stax Records, who hoped it would introduce them to a wider audience outside the gospel community. The group originally planned to title the song “I’m Gonna Take You There”, but Bell convinced them to change it to “I’ll Take You There” instead. Mavis Staples later recalled that the recording session was a “party atmosphere”, with everyone in the studio singing and clapping along with the music.

“I’ll Take You There” has been described as a call-and-response song, with lead singer Mavis Staples calling out destinations (“to many happy places”) and the rest of the group responding with “I’ll take you there”. In addition to its message of hope and deliverance, the song also includes references to specific places in African-American history, such as funk musician James Brown’s hometown of Augusta, Georgia and saxophonist John Coltrane’s home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked “I’ll Take You There” number449 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.