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Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: Inlander on 05 May 2009, 05:25

Title: SOUL.
Post by: Inlander on 05 May 2009, 05:25

It's suddenly occurred to me that soul might be the greatest genre of popular music ever created. Maybe not, but either way how the hell do we not talk about it more around here?

So, favourite artists anyone? Songs? Albums? Was Motown as good as Stax? Who do you think is the real godfather of soul? Are there any new artist out there at the moment who are as good as the classics of yesteryear?

To start us off here's my most recent discovery, the rather amazing and wonderful Lee Moses, with "Bad Girl" (parts 1 and 2):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4DyV2VaDU8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4DyV2VaDU8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq8yRYOxxE4&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq8yRYOxxE4&feature=related)

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Tyler on 05 May 2009, 06:06

Sam Cooke is easily one of my most favorite artists of all time.

Bring it on Home to Me. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME6fNgyJzgM&feature=related)

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Inlander on 05 May 2009, 06:37

Shit yeah, his Live at the Harlem Square Club is one of the very few albums that I would consider absolutely essential for everybody to own a copy of.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Dazed on 05 May 2009, 08:02

Tower of Power.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: the_pied_piper on 05 May 2009, 08:11

Marvin Gaye.

Also, pretty much most of MOTOWN.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Tyler on 05 May 2009, 11:29

Of course, Nina Simone should be required listening, though in many aspects she can be far more jazzy than soul. Regardless of specific genre, one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard.

Love me or Leave me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEQpipS_qfc)

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Avec on 05 May 2009, 13:19

Otis Redding.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Tyler on 05 May 2009, 13:58

Aww, cmon.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Tyler on 05 May 2009, 13:59

Eileen

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: spoon_of_grimbo on 05 May 2009, 14:05

i'm a bit unsure with my pre-80s genre-nomenclature, but i'm pretty sure The Drifters are soul right?

my parents had a tape (tape!) of the drifters' greatest hits in the car throughout my childhood and i still love those songs.  i credit them for giving me a keen ear for a good melody.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: altered_carbon on 05 May 2009, 16:50

The great Motown singles include some pretty class songs. The other big labels had excellent stuff too of course, Aretha Franklin being particularly notable to me.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: KharBevNor on 05 May 2009, 17:39

No matter how hard you wish Harry, you're never going to become a black man from history.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Inlander on 05 May 2009, 17:54

And you're never going to be a viking, but I don't see that stopping you!

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: KharBevNor on 05 May 2009, 23:33

Once western civilisation collapses, you'd better make sure you aren't living in a flammable building near the coast. Particularly not near any large concentration of buxom wenches and/or silver.

Just saying.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: fish across face on 06 May 2009, 00:58

I do love belters like Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, but prefer complete pussy shit.  :wink:

Had a shit run with Youtube - mostly just recent live versions, which kind of sucks.  Only put links where I could find the record version.

The Spinners - I'll Be Around
Betty Wright - Clean Up Woman
The Isley Brothers - It's Your Thing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v2-DSKx3Eg)
Al Green - I'm Glad You're Mine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZAO0K7QgI4)
The Dramatics - What You See Is What You Get (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p353zVhKyN0)  (oh shit, Soul Train!)
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - You're All I Need To Get By (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2QPXN_icd4) (Um... Cinderella visuals!?  Super.)
The Temptations - Just My Imagination (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Z9-QCmZyw)
Isaac Hayes - Walk On By (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvJLnuEkXpQ)
The Impressions - People Get Ready
Aaron Neville - Tell It Like It Is (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt-V-Pm44wk) (Fucking Wonder Years  :-( )

...  Keep wanting to diverge into funk stuff.  Lines get blurry of course... things like George McCrae's I Get Lifted (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfsffF3dwrw) are just amazing.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Patrick on 09 May 2009, 17:20

This thread needs more Aretha Franklin. And at a small bit of a stretch, Cat Power.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: MrBlu on 09 May 2009, 17:53

Quote from: Patrick on 09 May 2009, 17:20

Aretha Franklin.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Alex C on 09 May 2009, 20:40

I love me some (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3hBYTkI-sE&feature=related) Bill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIdIqbv7SPo) Withers. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wpof8s5ZTg) One of the ultimate "If this is so easy how come you didn't write it?" artists of all time.

Also, I don't care if that stuff is technically more R&B than anything. The amount of stylistic overlap we're dealing with on this subject is mindboggling.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: fish across face on 10 May 2009, 03:17

^ Yeah, the R&B greats of the 50s, e.g. Ray Charles, were all like "well, soul is R&B in the 60s" anyway, so whatever.

Just got home and Bill Withers' Use Me was the last song on the radio in the car.  What a tune.  Probably my favourite, although Who Is He And What Is He To You? is fantastic as well.

Aretha is someone I've honestly never, really got.  Someone who gets so much damn respect in a genre I love... so I try, and I try, but I can't get no satisfaction.


Also, Cat Power is not worthy, sorry.  I really like some of her stuff, but that album 'The Greatest' (the one with soul stylings) is like she wanted to do 'Dusty In Memphis' and the fact Chan only ever sings about 3 notes a melody kind of fucks everything up.  There are great songs on there and all, but it really is quite a stretch to call them great soul songs.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Inlander on 10 May 2009, 03:30

Re: Aretha, have you heard her version of "A Change is Gonna Come"? Personally I think it's the definitive version of that song. It's on her famous album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (the album that also has her version of "Respect" on it).

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Alex C on 10 May 2009, 10:31

When talking about Aretha I think it's best to think in terms of highest peaks than anything else. She is after all a product of the 2 albums a year era, so there's a lot of stuff in her catalogue that is mostly just pretty okay, but albums like the I Never Loved A Man.. and Lady Soul are ridiculously good. Respect, Chain of Fools and Natural Woman alone are pretty much enough to get her into the soul pantheon. And if you're just looking for straight up gospel covers she performs those as well as or better than anyone.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: onewheelwizzard on 10 May 2009, 11:17

Quote from: Inlander on 10 May 2009, 03:30

Re: Aretha, have you heard her version of "A Change is Gonna Come"? Personally I think it's the definitive version of that song.

Baby Huey and the Babysitters did such a good job with that song, it's hard for me to agree with that statement.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Johnny C on 10 May 2009, 13:05

Quote from: fish across face on 10 May 2009, 03:17

Also, Cat Power is not worthy, sorry.  I really like some of her stuff, but that album 'The Greatest' (the one with soul stylings) is like she wanted to do 'Dusty In Memphis' and the fact Chan only ever sings about 3 notes a melody kind of fucks everything up.  There are great songs on there and all, but it really is quite a stretch to call them great soul songs.

That's the only record of hers that would qualify and it's more Nashville than soul I think? Besides that this is a wicked wrong assessment cause she basically sounds like a smoky Feist on The Greatest, not a music box stuck on the same three notes.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Alex C on 10 May 2009, 13:57

Also, Hall and Oates were pretty good at the white boy soul thing.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: fish across face on 10 May 2009, 18:26

Quote from: Alex C on 10 May 2009, 13:57

Also, Hall and Oates were pretty good at the white boy soul thing.

Haha, this is getting weird.  Yesterday it was Bill Withers in the car and then in this thread, today it's Hall & Oates.  Heard Rich Girl, and, yeah, they did that Philly soul sound well, I reckon.

Quote from: Johnny C on 10 May 2009, 13:05

Quote from: fish across face on 10 May 2009, 03:17

Also, Cat Power is not worthy, sorry.  I really like some of her stuff, but that album 'The Greatest' (the one with soul stylings) is like she wanted to do 'Dusty In Memphis' and the fact Chan only ever sings about 3 notes a melody kind of fucks everything up.  There are great songs on there and all, but it really is quite a stretch to call them great soul songs.

That's the only record of hers that would qualify and it's more Nashville than soul I think? Besides that this is a wicked wrong assessment cause she basically sounds like a smoky Feist on The Greatest, not a music box stuck on the same three notes.

Yeah, fair enough.  I was just trying to get across that she doesn't have a great range.  From a technical perspective it'd be hard to call her a good singer, I reckon.  But I do like the results, which is what counts.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Inlander on 10 May 2009, 18:40

Remember, Billie Holiday was technically a ratshit singer.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Alex C on 10 May 2009, 19:39

Basically, if you don't like Rich Girl, you're either a liar, an idiot or deaf.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Alex C on 10 May 2009, 19:47

This is one of the few things I'm willing to be completely unreasonable about.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Johnny C on 11 May 2009, 03:42

guess who's been bumpin private eyes in his station wagon all week

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: Alex C on 11 May 2009, 09:43

Story time!

This is one of my biggest regrets.

I met Daryl Hall once. As it turns out, he is the cousin of a friend's mother and I had absolutely no idea until I stopped by and he was sitting in the living room. Now, what makes this a soul crushing incident is that later on during the mandatory "Why the fuck didn't you ever tell me you are related to Daryl Hall?" conversation, I was informed he had also attended a recent wedding reception I had skipped. I missed slightly tipsy Daryl Hall karaoke.

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: MobyDickhole on 11 May 2009, 09:53

Otis Redding- Sitting on the Dock of The Bay
Best song of all-time?


http://deadbefore40.com/music/dockofthebay.mp3 (http://deadbefore40.com/music/dockofthebay.mp3)

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: MobyDickhole on 11 May 2009, 10:04

Oh... how about Sam & Dave?

They are undoubtedly Soul Men:
http://www.thesoulgirl.com/music/Sam%20%26%20Dave%20Celebration/208%20-%20Sam%20%26%20Dave%20-%20Soul%20Man.mp3 (http://www.thesoulgirl.com/music/Sam%20%26%20Dave%20Celebration/208%20-%20Sam%20%26%20Dave%20-%20Soul%20Man.mp3)

Title: Re: SOUL.
Post by: spoon_of_grimbo on 11 May 2009, 17:41

Quote from: MobyDickhole on 11 May 2009, 09:53

Otis Redding- Sitting on the Dock of The Bay
Best song of all-time?


http://deadbefore40.com/music/dockofthebay.mp3 (http://deadbefore40.com/music/dockofthebay.mp3)

i'll probably be torn apart for saying this, but i've heard a live pearl jam cover of that, and they do a pretty good job of it i think.