Soul+Music

Soul Music

Soul music is fundamentally rhythm and blues, which grew out of the African-American gospel and blues traditions during the late 1950s and early 1960s in the United States. Over time, much of the broad range of R&B extensions in African-American popular music, generally, also has come to be considered soul music. Traditional soul music usually features individual singers backed by a traditional band consisting of rhythm section and horns, as exemplified by Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding. Furthermore, soul music has its roots in gospel music and rhythm and blues.

Broadly speaking, soul comes from a mixture of the sacred (i.e. gospel) and the profane (blues). Blues mainly praised fleshly desires, whereas gospel was more oriented toward spiritual inspiration. Soul music exploded in the 1960s and ruled the black music charts throughout the decade, and inspired many other music styles. Although Soul's popularity has waned over the years, it's impact and influence can still be heard in many musical styles, including Funk, Neo-Soul and contemporary pop.

Popular Soul Music: > > Literary Movement Music of the 20th Century (Home)
 * I Got A Woman - Ray Charles
 * I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) - Arethra Franklin
 * Respect - Otis Redding