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Robert Crumb · 08-29-2005, 07:20 PM

Featured Genre #6: Soul

Author’s note: Hey, I know it’s long, so I broke it up a little bit. Hope that helps readability a little. I might add some downloads, pictures and maybe lists of additional important artists and albums once the feeling comes back to my fingers. Hope you enjoy!

A Completely Incomplete History of Soul Music

Soul music, like a surprising great deal many other things, can be viewed as a microcosm of that ol’ battle between the secular and the spiritual. There’s the flesh and there’s the heavenly, you know. The concrete and the abstract. These two concepts play at the very root of soul. You see, soul music is ultimately a synthesis of the two ideas, or at least a combination of musical equivalents.

Not surprisingly, our two little themes have been having a go at each other since the early history of soul music. Sure, soul pulled Sam Cooke from the church pew to the dance floor but when Al Green got a pot full of searing grits thrown on him (while he was in the shower) by a lover (who later killed herself,) which spurred him to briefly quit the music industry to become a preacher some twenty years later, well, it was kinda like the whole thing went full circle.

And judging from the sheer amount of tragedy, heartbreak and loneliness that soul music has portrayed over the years, both on record and in the personal lives of artists, it’s almost like the genre was damned from the get-go, as if such a thing were possible. However, this ain’t “the life and times.” Right now, I could care less about the transcendental personal events in a musician's life, which, though relevant to the music, are far too speculative. So then how ‘bout we get into this thing, eh?

08-29-2005, 07:20 PM	#1
Robert Crumb yeah baby shine that lamp Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: shine that lamp on this sad, sad man Posts: 4,345	Featured Genre #6 - Soul Featured Genre #6: Soul *Author’s note:* Hey, I know it’s long, so I broke it up a little bit. Hope that helps readability a little. I might add some downloads, pictures and maybe lists of additional important artists and albums once the feeling comes back to my fingers. Hope you enjoy! A Completely Incomplete History of Soul Music Soul music, like a surprising great deal many other things, can be viewed as a microcosm of that ol’ battle between the secular and the spiritual. There’s the flesh and there’s the heavenly, you know. The concrete and the abstract. These two concepts play at the very root of soul. You see, soul music is ultimately a synthesis of the two ideas, or at least a combination of musical equivalents. Not surprisingly, our two little themes have been having a go at each other since the early history of soul music. Sure, soul pulled Sam Cooke from the church pew to the dance floor but when Al Green got a pot full of searing grits thrown on him (while he was in the shower) by a lover (who later killed herself,) which spurred him to briefly quit the music industry to become a preacher some twenty years later, well, it was kinda like the whole thing went full circle. And judging from the sheer amount of tragedy, heartbreak and loneliness that soul music has portrayed over the years, both on record and in the personal lives of artists, it’s almost like the genre was damned from the get-go, as if such a thing were possible. However, this ain’t “the life and times.” Right now, I could care less about the transcendental personal events in a musician's life, which, though relevant to the music, are far too speculative. So then how ‘bout we get into this thing, eh? Last edited by Robert Crumb; 06-09-2006 at 12:48 PM.