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Robert Crumb · 08-29-2005, 07:28 PM

II. These Happy Golden Years...

Now, the nature of nearly every living thing on this planet is pretty simple to follow; you’re born, you expand, and then you fall into some state of disrepair. I’d argue that music is as much alive as any other thing (at least in some respects, come on, work with me here,) so it makes sense that it too would follow this rule. So if the birth occurred in the 50's, then the expansion began in the 60's.

Soul splintered into three really distinct styles during the first half of that decade, or at least so it would seem to me. First, you’ve got Southern Soul.

Southern soul maintained elements of a lot of early soul. It was rough, like a bare-fist slugfest, which made it the most primal, rocking version of soul. That’s not to say that one couldn’t get their slow groove on to a Solomon Burke song. Rather, southern soul was less concerned with much of the musical finesse that other styles took to. Ballads were a’plenty but the scratchy throated vocals of guys like Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding gave them a worn, distinctly southern feel.

Southern soul was fairly synonymous with Stax Records, an independent record label during the sixties based out of Memphis, Tennessee. Musically, southern soul had a strong continuum from artist to artist, thanks to the use of label in-house bands. Session/backing bands like the Bar-Kays, The Mar-Kays, Booker T. and the MGs, The Meters and later, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, gave the sub-genre a tight, self-referential feel which surprisingly, rarely sounded like typical factory packaged pop music.

On the other hand, you’ve got Motown, which was completely factory packaged pop music. That’s not a knock on the output, really. That’s just how it was. No matter, because Motown was easily the most popular style of soul in the sixties.

A lot of people know the Motown story, so I’m not going to bore you with that. If you wanna know it, you can research it yerself. Early Motown stuff was pretty distinct because it was, as I said, very formulaic. Generally, the stuff was written by one of a handful of guys, Smokey Robinson (who Bob Dylan called the greatest American poet of his time,) Holland-Dozier-Holland or by Berry Gordy Jr. himself.

Motown’s style was less aggressive than southern soul. A strong focus placed melodic hooks, sophisticated musical arrangement and pop craftsmanship above all else. They also banked on their boy-girl groups like Martha and the Vandellas, The Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Miracles and The Four Tops. Early hits like “Baby, I Need Your Loving” and “Come See About Me,” were catchy at the least, filled with intricate nuance at best.

When we think “formulaic music,” we tend to think “bad music,” and while Motown wasn’t always perfect, the hit factory was arguably the finest incident of “formulaic music.” If nothing else, Motown deserves credit for being the first occasion music made by black people reached a massive audience of white folks. Motown hits from the early sixties easily rivaled the success of Beatles hits and scored on R&B and Pop charts consistently.

Most uptown soul didn’t chart quiet as effectively as Motown, however. The true emphasis of the style wouldn’t really be on display until the seventies. Basically, uptown soul was created in the other major northern epicenters of soul, namely, Chicago and Philadelphia. One might consider Motown as a sub-genre of uptown soul, the sect of Uptown that developed in Detroit.

I’m still kinda new to a lot of artists from Philly and Chi-Town but my one of my personal favorites from either city is The Impressions. Early on, soul from Chicago embraced and employed the civil rights movement in music and unsurprisingly, the Impressions made some of the finest early political soul songs. The churchy righteousness of “People Get Ready” alluded to other, more socio-political matters and though the ideas being put forth weren’t particularly radical, the simple act was huge for soul. By the early seventies, everyone and their mother made a politically charged soul album.

The cross-over success of Motown artists opened the way for other soul artists, who, conversely, opened the way for even more soul artists. Otis Redding is an important figure in this respect. He’s a guy who played to hardcore southern soul fans yet reached out to other music fans with songs like “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” written at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, where he performed alongside former R&B session man Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Ravi Shankar, and Simon and Garfunkel.

One of the most important developments in soul at the end of the decade was the appearance of truly singular talents like Redding. Other vocal talents like Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye blew away most of the competition, inimitable in every respect, which was somewhat problematic to the idea of pop-packaged soul.

Another important development was the embrace of the psychedelic, rowdy, and throbbing elemental force that became funk.

08-29-2005, 07:28 PM	#3
Robert Crumb yeah baby shine that lamp Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: shine that lamp on this sad, sad man Posts: 4,345	II. These Happy Golden Years... Now, the nature of nearly every living thing on this planet is pretty simple to follow; you’re born, you expand, and then you fall into some state of disrepair. I’d argue that music is as much alive as any other thing (at least in some respects, come on, work with me here,) so it makes sense that it too would follow this rule. So if the birth occurred in the 50's, then the expansion began in the 60's. Soul splintered into three really distinct styles during the first half of that decade, or at least so it would seem to me. First, you’ve got Southern Soul. Southern soul maintained elements of a lot of early soul. It was rough, like a bare-fist slugfest, which made it the most primal, rocking version of soul. That’s not to say that one couldn’t get their slow groove on to a Solomon Burke song. Rather, southern soul was less concerned with much of the musical finesse that other styles took to. Ballads were a’plenty but the scratchy throated vocals of guys like Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding gave them a worn, distinctly southern feel. Southern soul was fairly synonymous with Stax Records, an independent record label during the sixties based out of Memphis, Tennessee. Musically, southern soul had a strong continuum from artist to artist, thanks to the use of label in-house bands. Session/backing bands like the Bar-Kays, The Mar-Kays, Booker T. and the MGs, The Meters and later, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, gave the sub-genre a tight, self-referential feel which surprisingly, rarely sounded like typical factory packaged pop music. On the other hand, you’ve got Motown, which was completely factory packaged pop music. That’s not a knock on the output, really. That’s just how it was. No matter, because Motown was easily the most popular style of soul in the sixties. A lot of people know the Motown story, so I’m not going to bore you with that. If you wanna know it, you can research it yerself. Early Motown stuff was pretty distinct because it was, as I said, very formulaic. Generally, the stuff was written by one of a handful of guys, Smokey Robinson (who Bob Dylan called the greatest American poet of his time,) Holland-Dozier-Holland or by Berry Gordy Jr. himself. Motown’s style was less aggressive than southern soul. A strong focus placed melodic hooks, sophisticated musical arrangement and pop craftsmanship above all else. They also banked on their boy-girl groups like Martha and the Vandellas, The Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Miracles and The Four Tops. Early hits like “Baby, I Need Your Loving” and “Come See About Me,” were catchy at the least, filled with intricate nuance at best. When we think “formulaic music,” we tend to think “bad music,” and while Motown wasn’t always perfect, the hit factory was arguably the finest incident of “formulaic music.” If nothing else, Motown deserves credit for being the first occasion music made by black people reached a massive audience of white folks. Motown hits from the early sixties easily rivaled the success of Beatles hits and scored on R&B and Pop charts consistently. Most uptown soul didn’t chart quiet as effectively as Motown, however. The true emphasis of the style wouldn’t really be on display until the seventies. Basically, uptown soul was created in the other major northern epicenters of soul, namely, Chicago and Philadelphia. One might consider Motown as a sub-genre of uptown soul, the sect of Uptown that developed in Detroit. I’m still kinda new to a lot of artists from Philly and Chi-Town but my one of my personal favorites from either city is The Impressions. Early on, soul from Chicago embraced and employed the civil rights movement in music and unsurprisingly, the Impressions made some of the finest early political soul songs. The churchy righteousness of “People Get Ready” alluded to other, more socio-political matters and though the ideas being put forth weren’t particularly radical, the simple act was huge for soul. By the early seventies, everyone and their mother made a politically charged soul album. The cross-over success of Motown artists opened the way for other soul artists, who, conversely, opened the way for even more soul artists. Otis Redding is an important figure in this respect. He’s a guy who played to hardcore southern soul fans yet reached out to other music fans with songs like “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” written at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, where he performed alongside former R&B session man Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Ravi Shankar, and Simon and Garfunkel. One of the most important developments in soul at the end of the decade was the appearance of truly singular talents like Redding. Other vocal talents like Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye blew away most of the competition, inimitable in every respect, which was somewhat problematic to the idea of pop-packaged soul. Another important development was the embrace of the psychedelic, rowdy, and throbbing elemental force that became funk. Last edited by Robert Crumb; 08-29-2005 at 08:16 PM.