Category Archives: A – 60s Soul

60s Soul 1962-1969

Soul Blog #2 – Elements

Soul Music

 

Musical Elements of Soul

The elements are as follows: the vocals will display a strong gospel influence with embellishments and ornamental vocal techniques rather than just singing out the notes straight; there is further development of a call and response as preacher to congregation; there is a very strong, prominent and noticeable support of strings that is usually very tempered in mainstream fifties R&B; the brass section changes into a more active role alternating between small and bigger bands and its advancing harmonic brass pans and rhythmic brass stabs to a more supportive base that sometimes carries the melody or counter melody.

 

 

Diaspora

One thing about soul music is the way it was born out of the spores of gospel music, so to speak. Quite literally, the seeds of soul music were blown across the airwaves of America and took up root in several specific places, but not all at once. This spread was due in large part to the progression of radio technology, the coverage across America and the new recording techniques.

 

The many Origins of Soul

Soul music is vast and has a wide variety of sounds due to the differring regions and cities, artists and bands, music influences and styles (blues, country, gospel, R&B etc) and different studios and labels giving off unique and totally identifiable recorded sounds and techniques.

 

 

Regions

Soul music developed somewhat as a Diaspora in America in the late 1950s/early 1960s mainly in the south (New Orleans, Atlanta, the Delta, Muscle Shoals, etc.), the mid-west (Memphis, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis), and the east coast (Philly, NY, etc). There were many different sounds and styles all brewing their distinctive blends of soul music in their specific locations. Whether it was from blues influenced Chicago, Detroit’s Motown, Memphis’s Stax, Muscle Shoals or Fame Studios Atlanta or Macon styles, Philly soul, New Orleans soul, or otherwise deep southern soul, they all had a gospel element tempered by different styles of R&B.

 

Labels & Studios

Soul had many labels and distribution deals starting with the major labels like Chicago’s ABC-Paramount (Ray Charles’s label), New York’s RCA/Victor and Atlantic records, minor labels like King, Duke, Brunswick, Atco and also newer start-up labels like Keen, Motown or Stax. These labels and networks helped shape the sounds of classic 60s soul, they all added gospel elements to several regional styles of R&B to produce the great variety of soul music.

 

There were several notable record labels in soul music that struggled for “the top spot” on the radio at any given point in the sixties. The soul labels came from different situations, some were major labels and others were family owned startups.

 

Motown records in Detroit had a lighter more up-tempo rhythm sound where, Stax records in Memphis was more laid back, more bluesy. You also had the distinctive sounds coming from specific studios like FAME studios and down in Muscle Shoals in northern Alabama across the Tennessee River.

 

Soul Blog #3 – Gospel Influence

Gospel’s Influence

 

Gospel’s Influence

This musical combination gives soul music a freshness and/or crispness with a strong feeling of emotion and excitement coming straight from the Gospel music influence. Soul as a dance music was part of its allure and popularity in the 60s. In the 50s, especially the late 50s, music was popular if it had a good beat to dance to, like much of the fast-paced rock & roll of the time.

Just like the preacher in the black Baptist church, giving a rousing sermon. The preacher pours his heart and “soul” into a very emotional and energetic delivery, where he is giving an over the top performance. Many of the greatest soul singers like Sam Cooke, Jerry Butler, Clyde McPhatter or Jackie Wilson are like those preachers. T

The backing singers in soul music resemble a Gospel choir while the lead singer would push the envelope and give more than 100% of his strength, almost to exhaustion at the end of the performance. Just like how James Brown does his over the top explosive, athletic performance, only to collapse at the end, being helped off stage with bruised knees.

where the harmony  some jazz elements from several forms of hard-bop and soul jazz.

 

 

Up Beat

The music of soul is fast paced with a lot of energy with an energetic pulse from the rhythm section’s bass, drums, and percussion. Soul music would often use other percussive instruments like congas, bongos, tambourines, claves and a myriad of other percussion instruments. Soul music would also incorporate brass support such as trumpets, cornets, trombones, saxophones, etc., as both rhythmic and harmonic and sometimes melodic color and support.

Soul music is similar to Gospel music in its up-tempo feeling that you get, where the whole congregation is swinging together as one. This upbeat fresh propulsive rhythm and horn section usually play in a simple duple (One, Two) or quadruple (One Two Three Four) meter with a tempo at or above 120 beats per minute (bpm). However, the speed of the tempo in soul music usually is not as fast as a Gospel meter which can be anywhere from 140 to 176 beats per minute or faster.

Soul music is that uplifting feeling you get when the lead singer is giving the final crescendo at the apex of an old spiritual. It is that electrifying feeling, the thrill of pins & needles you get when it truly feels like a spiritual “phenomenon”. It is like the music is touched by the Lord’s hand, the rush of endorphins flooding the bloodstream or a shamanic induced trance. The nature of soul music can conjure up strong emotional feelings that reflect an expression of the human state, unlike other genres.

I’ve had the pleasure of playing Gospel music in several groups and I can’t deny that feeling that overcomes you when playing Gospel or soul music, the only way to describe it is as spiritual. Gospel is a lot of fun to play, especially with a great choir, the music goes by so fast and then after you realize how much fun it was and that you received a good workout physically, mentally and of course spiritually.

 

Soul Blog #5 – Soul Criteria

Soul Criteria

Soul in a sense is taking a gospel tune and singing secular lyrics to it. Some soul songs can get down-right raunchy but on the whole, the metaphor is dancing, right? Right!

Once you can identify soul elements, you’ll be able to hear the aggregate development of the soul genre out of gospel and R&B. The elements are as follows:

 

The Vocals

The lead vocals in soul have to have a strong gospel influence complete with many gospel vocal techniques. These vocal techniques can consist of vibrato (a regular pulsating change of pitch); coloratura (or the coloring of a melody with runs, trills, leaps and other voice projection techniques); sostenuto (the sustaining of a note over a long period); singing in legato, subtly connecting notes and phrases in a smooth manner; and melismas (the singing of one syllable while moving between different notes in succession).

Call and response is a technique whereby the lead singer (or the Preacher) sings out the call while the backing vocals or the congregation respond to the lead vocalists calls. This was a technique adopted from field hand hollering. The lead vocalist has to be very skilled and has to put his whole heart and soul into the music, whether down on your knees begging and pleading or just light as a feather in joyous exhilaration, the lead singer has to mean it.

 * Experienced vocal technique of gospel singing

* Call & response gospel choir technique

  

The Strings

Depending on the label and the region the strings start to take a more integral part in the sound of soul music. This is particularly evident with Atlantic, RCA/Victor, and Tamla/Motown. In this type of soul music, the strings seem to flow around the band and singers and take a foundational role. In the early 60s, the strings sometimes take on the leads in the intros, verses, and the choruses or play middle instrumental parts. This is very different from the older R&B use of strings which was very tempered if even they were used at all.

* Strings are used more often, depending on the label and/or region.

 

The Brass

The brass is also dependent on the region, label, studio, and musicians’ influences. Some labels have fully integrated orchestrated strings with the brass, some have limited brass support or solo accompaniments and then other labels rely solely on the brass section without strings.

Brass is used in a number of ways. Some have the brass as rhythmic support using stabs (quick syncopated blasts) and riffs (the playing melodically harmonic chords or phrases) or pans (the sustaining or extending a harmonic chord) and then some use the brass in fully elaborate arrangements and syncopations.

The brass section has a more active role in soul music alternating between harmonic syncopated brasses and then more supportive as a foundation that sometimes carries the melody, counter melodies or instrumental breaks. This is all depending on the regional aspect of soul, of course. With labels like ABC – Para, Memphis’ Stax, the studio at Muscle Shoals, or New Orleans’ Fury have brass that is the primary foundation without the use of strings in small and/or large combos. Motown also makes frequent use of a strong, complex arranged brass section with special attention baritone saxophones.

In soul music in general, the brass, usually of horns and saxophones, was now branching off into the use and experimentation of other brass instruments. Usually, in older R&B music there might be a trumpet (sometimes coronet), an alto sax, tenor sax and maybe a baritone sax, sometimes a trombone but on the whole horn sections were traditionally small consisting of one to five players.

Starting in the 60s soul artists started trying out all sorts of horns like cornets, Fluegel horns, French horns, trombones, tubas and other rare brass instruments including flutes. The saxophones remained in the mix with experimentation with soprano and baritone saxophones as well as the traditional alto and tenor saxophones. The tenor and baritone saxophones take on a particularly gregarious role in early soul music.

 * Brass arrangements are more elaborate, depending on the label and/or region.

* New brass instruments, rare to R&B and gospel, are tried out.

 

  The Guitar

 

The guitar starts exhibiting greater independence switching between a rhythmic-harmonic supporting role and to flat out carrying the lead. The guitar becomes very versatile in the 60s showing a wide range of uses. The guitars start experimenting with fuzz, distortion, overdrive and other interesting effects. The rhythm guitar begins collaborations with one or more guitars to come up with some interesting syncopated effects. With the use of new Latin beats, the guitar is pivotal in supporting the beat and also harmonically mapping out the song with its use of arpeggios (a chord broken into a sequence of notes).

* Guitars prominence, experiments with effects, syncopation with rhythm guitars.

 

The Organ and Keyboards

The organ takes on many new roles in soul music. The organ steps up giving that gospel edge ala Ray Charles the Father. Sometimes the organ plays harmonic support giving a song a gospel feel. Other times the organ leads the rhythm section of a song mimicking the vocal parts.  Most of the time, the organ is playing blues and jazz-influenced trills, phrases and flourishes whether leading or backing. Little by little the tinkering and banging piano so prominent in early R&B music gradually changes its role to a more harmonically supportive instrument much like the role of the strings.

* Organ versatility, gospel presence, jazz & blues flourishes.  

 

The Rhythm Section

The rhythm section goes through a great change, affected by each region that takes place throughout soul music’s development and lifespan.

 * The rhythm section experiments with Latin & World Beats.

 

The Drums

The drums in soul music start out heavily influenced by R&B, eight to the bar, boogie-woogie but slowly adopt either a face paced gospel beat or a slower blues triple meter beat. The drums were doing funky fills and tricks and were given more freedom to try new things. The bass drum started to drop in funky bombs during a groove or just pound away four on the floor.

Depending again on the region and label the beats were diverse indeed yet mostly all soul beats at the time, benefitted from new recording technologies and techniques.

Motown had mostly fast-paced, crisp beats for most of the hits and occasional triple meter slower beats for the ballads. Atlantic had big orchestral and jazz room facilities with access to many differing instruments.

Stax was more laid back, as was the studio sounds of Muscle Shoals or the New Orleans flavored Fury label. These southern labels offered a more blues based beat.

* Faster gospel like beats for dance songs and slow blues rhythms for ballads.

* Drum rhythms get funkier, inventive fills, bass drum and overall technique.

 

 

 The Percussion section

In the beginning soul as a genre began to experiment with Latin rhythms such as rumba, cha cha cha and clave rhythms. In percussion there is a Latin rhythmic concept called clave (not to be confused with the rhythm instrument) please see my article on the concept of clave.

The percussion section becomes fully integrated in the early days of soul. In addition to the drums, there are now congas, bongos, cow bells, woodblocks, tambourines, triangles, marimbas, bells, chimes and many more Latin rhythmic instruments. Much of early soul has a Latin tinge, that is using a clave or semi-clave beat, a rumba beat or a hybrid Latin rhythm.

* Percussion becomes standard in soul, utilizing a wide variety of Latin & World instruments.

 

Much of Atlantic’s output would explore these Latin beats, whereas Motown had a faster upbeat four/four pulse. Stax had a more laid back beat that could either be straight forward or a slower triple meter blues beat more akin to the southern Muscle Shoals or New Orleans beats.

 

 

Soul Criteria Quick List

* Knowledge of gospel singing

* Call & response gospel choir technique

* Strings are used more often, depending on the label or region.

* Brass arrangements are more elaborate, depending on the label and/or region.

* New brass and non-brass instruments are tried out.

* The rhythm section experiments with Latin & World Beats.

* Guitars prominence, experiments with effects, syncopation with rhythm guitars.

* Organ versatility, gospel presence, jazz & blues flourishes.  

* Faster gospel like beats for dance songs and slow blues rhythms for ballads.

* Drum rhythms get funkier, inventive fills, bass drum and overall technique.

* Percussion becomes standard in soul, utilizing a wide variety of Latin & World instruments.

 

Disclaimer

The following songs are merely suggestions. I have researched songs from many sources that are generally accepted as measures of the popularity, sociology, theory and all around mystique of music otherwise known as musicology. The songs here are songs that were popular in 1960 and 1961 and that have since grown popular throughout the decades of the 20th Century. There were a lot of unknown and/or uncharted gospel and early sixties R&B songs that didn’t make the list which is provided on an R&B top 40 list.

 

Soul Blog #7 – Soul Over Time

 

Soul & the passage of Time

Soul music would go on to last many decades past the sixties. Overtime definitions can get fuzzy over the passage of time. What starts out as a specific term for a “new” sound can become a general or a catch-all phrase with the passage of time where the term has lost its original definition. This has happened to terms like Soul, R&B, Rock & Roll. The soul of the sixties sounds considerably different than the seventies, eighties or nineties.

Soul would go on to produce many great artists and groups that would last several decades. Initially, soul was influenced by a number of Gospel-flavored R&B songs that manifested into Ray Charles and his “I’ve Got A Woman” and also in to songs by Little Richard, James Brown, Etta James, Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, Ruth Brown in the mid-fifties; soul music got its king in Sam Cooke starting in the late fifties along with soul men like Jerry Butler, Jackie Wilson, Solomon Burke, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Gene Chandler and Ben E. King.

By the early sixties, Soul becomes a thing, a term, a description of a new form of popular music. Family owned labels pop up like Motown & Stax which began to compete with the bigger record labels who were pushing soul music like ABC/Paramount, Atlantic and RCA/Victor. Soon there is a myriad of soul artists that flooded the sixties airwaves giving us names like Mary Wells, Martha & the Vandellas, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & the Supremes from the Motown camp; Carla & Rufus Thomas, Booker T & the MGs, Otis Redding, Wilson Picket, Sam & Dave & Isaac Hayes in the Stax and Muscle Shoals Camp;

And then 1967 came around to introduce us all to the Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin. This seemed to be the pinnacle years of soul 1967 to 1970 with lots of great songs and lots of experimentation. Soul as a genre would go on to spawn new genres like psychedelic soul, funk and then in the seventies Disco while still maintaining its own identity.

 

Soul Blog #10 – Ray Charles – The Father of Soul

The Architects of Soul

Ray Charles – The Father of Soul

The Genius – Brother Ray

Ray Charles was influenced by and a master of many forms of music Americana such as the many forms of music that made up Jazz (swing, Bop and Pop), Blues, R&B (including Jump Blues and Rock & Roll), Gospel music, and even Country & Western music (containing various forms of Folk, “Hillbilly”, Western Swing and Stomps) as well as the piano styles of barrelhouse, boogie-woogie and stride.

Ray broke one of the biggest taboos of spiritual music which was combining “sacred music” (Gospel Music) with “secular” (risque or explicit) lyrics, mixed with elements of R&B. He practically invent Soul music with his 1954 #1 R&B hit “I’ve Gotta Woman” which was one of the first songs to feature this hybrid of music. Gospel lyrics were generally religious, spiritual or sacred that went with an upbeat, energetic tempo.

There was much controversy over Ray Charles’s innovation to play gospel-styled R&B music with secular lyrics.  This new style of music caused quite an uproar in the church, the black community and later the media, political spheres and of course parents.

The music was uplifting and had lyrical topics that applauded modern life encompassing subjects such as love, infatuation, desire and of course the insinuation of sex.  Soul music would go on to have lyrics expressing other topics that have been frowned upon by the many religious authorities of the time.

Gospel music is very upbeat and energetic music that came out of Black Churches in America. The music is very rousing and is a source of divine inspiration when played by both bands and choirs in church. Rhythm in soul music of the 60s is very important to the genre. The music makes one want to dance with its moderate to fast beats utilizing many rhythmic instruments and styles. Soul music would go on to change in the late 60s and early 70s influencing offshoot genres like psychedelic soul and funk music.

Many people point to Ray Charles as having started the musical genre of soul. With the song “I’ve Got a Woman” early in 1955 just as R&B was becoming mainstream, Ray broke the rules by writing “secular lyrics” to a Gospel styled song. Now Ray Charles is not only considered the “Father of Soul” but he is also a true “Genius” a master and a significant contributor to genres of Jazz, Blues, R&B and Gospel music. Ray followed all this up with “What I’d Say” late in 1959 just before the soul era of the sixties hit the mainstream, a true song ahead of its time.

“I’ve Got a Woman” caused quite a stir when it first came out in various religious communities across the US especially in the Christian Pentecostal evangelical communities. Black and white critics rose up and warned of the evils of rhythm and blues music, the mixing of races or that rock & roll was the devils music. Culturally speaking, rock & roll was blurring the lines of race as more white teenagers continued to tune into R&B music, things were changing in the fifties.

Soul Blog #11 – I Got A Woman

The Architects of Soul

 

Ray Charles – I Got A Woman

The year of 1955 started out with Ray Charles and his first gospel/R&B crossover hit “I Got A Woman” an R&B #1 (on January 22nd) hit in January, which was a song built on the Southern Tones “It Must Be Jesus”, to which Ray added improved lyrics. The song is a great example of using gospel-styled music mixed with “secular” lyrics (that is, not religious or non-sacred lyrics) which caused quite a stir within the black gospel communities when it first came out. This song captures a bit of that bad-boy image of who he has a woman “way over” town, who’s “good to me”, giving him love, money, and gifts.

Due to its mixture in gospel, R&B, and jazz, this song would be considered a precursor to a new genre that would soon be called “Soul”. Ray Charles would later go on to be considered the “Father of Soul” music, a genre that was to manifest in the early 60’s along with the song “What I’d Say” in late 59′.  However, in 1955, I consider Ray Charles to be one of the seven “Architects of Rock & Roll” who with this song helped orchestrate the musical phenomenon Rock & Roll. (see article of the Seven Architects of Rock & Roll) The song, “I Got A Woman”, was rated #235 on the Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

(One of the) Father(s) of Rock & Roll

Ray Charles, not only was he an “architect” of Soul Music, but he also was one of the founders of rock & roll. He took a secular lyric (dirty line) and added it to sacred rhythms and syncopated call & response between solo and choruses of Gospel Music. Ray Charles was influenced by groups like the Pilgrim Travelers singer Jesse Whitaker and his influence on Ray Charles’ “Soul Singing”. Ray Charles following in Nat King Coles footsteps branches out with his own new style by combining gospel music with “secular lyrics”, in other words, non-sacred suggestive or explicit lyrics.

 

Soul Blog #12 – James Brown

 

The Architects of Soul

 

James Brown – God Father of Soul

Mr. Dynamite – Soul Brother #1

James Brown grew up near Augusta, Georgia where he learned his craft and how to be crafty. He would get into minor trouble as a kid, however, he had various talents including boxing, playing the guitar, piano, and harmonica that got him out of trouble. He entertained the troops stationed at Camp Gordon, nearby and entered into talent contests, winning many, While doing a stint at the juvenile detention center in Toccoa, Brown joined a gospel quartet singing and playing music and catching the eye of Bobby Byrd from the Gospel Starlighters. After parole, James Brown joined the Starlighters which became the Famous Flames.

 

“Please, Please, Please” 1956, “Try Me” 1958, “I’ll Go Crazy” 1960, “Think” 1960, “, “Lost Someone” 1961, “Baby You’re Right” 1961, Night Train” 1962, “Prisoner of Love”1963, “Out of Sight” 1964,  “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” 1965, “Cold Sweat” 1967

Another great innovator of soul that came out of gospel and the vocal R&B (Doo-Wop) styles was James Brown referred to as “The God Father of Soul”. James Brown would not only be an architect of soul but would also be the founder of funk music in the late 60s.

 

Soul Blog #20 – Little Richard

Early R&B Influences

Little Richard

The King or Rocking & Rolling and Rhythm & Blues Soulin’

Little Richard – (inspired Otis Redding) – One of the architects of Rock and Roll, he is also an influence on soul music as well. A Pentecostal enthusiast, Little Richard, was literally bombastic. His influence to soul music is unmistakable on songs like “Lucille” a R&B number one and Pop #21 and it’s B-side “Send Me Some Lovin'” a US #54, R&B #3.

 

Early Life

Richard Wayne Penniman known as Little Richard is one of the Architects of Rock & Roll and also helped R&B crossover to the white audience in the mid-fifties. He also was a major influence in the genres of Soul and Funk in the sixties. He began singing in church (Baptist & Pentecostal) as a child in Macon, GA. and learned the saxophone and later boogie-woogie piano.  He was mostly influenced by Gospel artists such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe (who gave him his first gig), Mahalia Jackson, Marion Williams and Brother Joe May who encouraged him to become a preacher. Throughout his life, he would temporarily retreat from Rock & Roll to devote time as a preacher first starting in 1958.

At age 15, Little Richard left school and joined Dr. Hudson’s Medicine Show in 1948 where he performed in full time in traveling show where he first learned and performed “Caldonia” (made famous by Louis Jordan). His family was strictly religious and did not allow him to listen to the “devil music” of R&B. He then joined several bands and vaudevillian acts sometimes performing in drag (dressed as a woman) and toured the Chitlin Circuit. He became a fan of R&B music influenced by Roy Brown and Billy Wright who he emulated, with his high energy shows and eventually met and joined Wright’s band.

In 1951, Little Richard signed on with RCA records and recorded 8 sides including the Atlanta regional hit “Every Hour”. He then toured with several bands in the Blues circuits and signed and recorded more sides with a minor label. Little Richard fell on hard times after his disillusionment with the music business and after his father was killed outside his own club.

 

Architect of Rock & Roll

He soon bounced back with a new band called the Upsetters where he achieved fame with his signature crossover song “Tutti Frutti’ which went to #17 on the Mainstream charts and #2 on the R&B charts late in 1955, ushering in the Rock & Roll craze.

He went on to have a very successful career with many hits including the crossover hits “Long Tall Sally”,  (#6 and R&B #1), “Rip It Up” (a #17 also an R&B #1), and the title song from the movie “The Girl Can’t Help It” starring Jane Mansfield, in 1956; “Lucille” #21 and R&B #1, “Jenny Jenny” a pop hit #10 and R&B #2, “Keep On Knocking” from the movie Mr. Rock & Roll starring Alan Freed (a #8, R&B #2), in 1957; and “Good Golly Miss Molly” another #10 pop hit and #4 R&B in 1958.

Little Richard’s shows were filled with energy and enthusiasm and helped hype up R&B as the supposed “new” genre of Rock & Roll. His reputation helped the notoriety and outrageousness of Rock & Roll which caused a lot of controversies, especially with the parents of white teenagers and young adults who flocked to the excitement of his shows and recordings.

 

God & Gospel Music

After several incidents on tour with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, Little Richard decided to give up Rock & Roll and become a minister. The incidents that led him to the decision was that first, he became nervous about the “red hot engines” of his airplane while flying to Australia; he witnessed a “red hot ball of fire” in the sky during the performance (which may have been the launch of the Russian spacecraft Sputnik 1); and discovering the his return flight (which he missed) crashed into the Indian Ocean. He also felt that he was cheated out of money by his record company Specialty and ended his contract while giving up his royalties to Specialty.

He then studied theology and began preaching with his ministry (1958 to 1961) while occasionally performing and recording Gospel music, where he had some success in England.

 

60s Comeback

He returned to secular music in 1962 when he toured the U.K. with Sam Cooke opening for him. At first, he wanted to only play Gospel music which gave him a tempered response from the audience. Then on the second show after an enthusiastic response to Sam Cooke as the opening act, he broke into “Long Tall Sally” (with Billy Preston on organ) and the crowd went wild. The rest of the tour was filled with hysteria as he returned to his old hits.

Little Richard then began headlining tours with The Beatles and the Rolling Stones who he befriended and mentored in 1963 and 1964. He starred in his own TV show called the “Little Richard Spectacular” He then returned back to recording and performing in the states where he recruited Jimi Hendrix into his band along with Billy Preston. He released “Bama Lama Bama Loo” in 1964 and “I Don’t Know What You’ve Got But It’s Got Me” an R&B #12 hit featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar.

Soul Blog #21 – Drifters #1

The Drifters #1

 

Clyde McPhatter Era

The Drifters started out as a group for Clyde McPhatter in 1953, the lead tenor who had a lot of success singing in Bill Ward’s The Dominos since 1950. Initially Clyde McPhatter wanted to have the Mount Lebanon Singers, a gospel group to sing back up, McPhatter was intentionally trying to blend gospel with secular music. The gospel group consisted of William “Chick” Anderson, Charlie White, and Dave “Little Dave” Baugham as the tenors, David Baldwin baritone (Author James Baldwin’s brother), and James “Wrinkle” Johnson as bass. They attempted a recording session of four songs June 29, 1953, but the idea was aborted by Ahmet Ertegun and recruitment for the Drifters re-commenced.

After some trial and error the line-up of the new group became gospel vocalists, Bill Pinkney (first tenor) of the Jerusalem Stars gospel group, Andrew Thrasher (second tenor), his brother Gerhart Thrasher (baritone), and Willie Ferbee (bass) with Walter Adams on guitar. The Drifters went into the studio a second time to record “Money Honey” backed with “The Way I Feel” with much success.

 

Money Honey”

“Money Honey” – R&B #1 – 10/31/1953

“Money Honey” was the Drifters very first top 10 R&B hit on Halloween 1953. A catchy R&B ditty, “Money” is a splendid example of early rock & roll.  It’s all there, the tinkling and banging piano, the sparse horn accompaniments, the “ooh-bop-shoo-wop”, the blaring tenor sax solo and the vocal shouting.

 

The bass singer Ferbee left the group; Walter Adams the accompanist died and was replaced by Jimmy Oliver. Gerhart Thrasher went up to tenor, Andrew Thrasher went down to baritone and Pinkney dropped all the way down to bass. This line-up released “Such a Night” an R&B #2 hit in March – 3/13/1954,

 

Such a Night” b/w “Lucille”

“Such a Night”– R&B #2 – 3/13/1954

“Such a Night” another great R&B classic featuring Clyde McPhatter’s range was a great follow up to “Money Honey”.  The b-side of “Such a Night”, “Lucille” would go on to be a fundamental influence on future-genre soul music.

b/w “Lucille” – R&B #7 – 3/6/1954 – “Lucille”, the b-side to “Such a Night”, was a song recorded during a session with an older group of back-up singers who are not the same as those on the A-side. The songs tempo is in triple or 6/8 meter which chugs along like a typical R&B ballad yet the vocals are sung in a strong gospel manner hinting to where the future of R&B was heading. McPhatter’s vocals are truly gospel inspired, just check out the gospel styled embellishments that Clyde takes liberty on almost every phrase, either verse or chorus, its inspirational!

 

“Honey Love” topped the R&B charts in June – 6/19/1954, “White Christmas” an R&B #2 – Christmas of 1954 – 12/18/1954 (which peaked again R&B #5 – 12/24/1955 and crossover US #80 – 12/31/1955 and R&B #12 – 12/29/1956), “Whatcha Gonna Do” R&B 2 – 3/26/1955.

 

 

Clyde McPhatter was drafted into the army November 1954, Clyde’s first solo song “Everyone’s Laughing” backed with “Hot Ziggity” which he recorded at the (Pinkney) Drifters last recording session for “Whatcha Gonna Do”. Upon departure McPhatter mistakenly sold his share of the Drifters to the groups’ manager George Treadwell (former trumpeter and husband of Sarah Vaughan). With Treadwell in full ownership of the Drifters, he was able to higher the singers as hired workers and no share in the profits of the vocal group. The band became a revolving door for many, many under paid singers.

After McPhatter left he was replaced by David Baughan, the singer who was stepping in for McPhatter’s live performances as he was stationed in Buffalo. Baughan left in 1955 to form the Harps and then eventually joining Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters.

“Everyone’s Laughing” backed with “Hot Ziggity”

 

Johnny Moore Era

Johnny Moore joined the Drifters as lead tenor September 1955. He was formerly of vocal group the Hornets and a native of Selma Alabama. So at the end of 1955 the Drifters line-up was Johnny Moore – lead tenor, Gerhart Thrasher – 2nd tenor, Andrew Thrasher – baritone, Bill Pinkney as bass and guitar by Jimmy Oliver. This line-up recorded “Adorable” an R&B number 1 hit, backed with b-side “Steamboat” a #5 R&B hit. Then they released “Ruby Baby” R&B #10 – 5/12/1956 backed by “Your Promise to Be Mine”, “I Gotta Get Myself a Woman” R&B #11 – 9/8/56, B-side “Soldier of Fortune” (the arrangement is similar to the Platters “Great Pretender”.

 

“Adorable” R&B # 1 – 11/5/1955, b-side “Steamboat” R&B #5 – 11/12/1955

“Ruby Baby” R&B #10 – 5/12/1956 b-side “Your Promise to Be Mine”

“I Gotta Get Myself a Woman” R&B #11 – 9/8/56, B-side “Soldier of Fortune” – Arrangement similar to the Pretenders “The Great Pretender”

 

 

Bill Pinkney Departs

The Drifters were a very hard group to be in, they had all the pressures in fame as all the other acts did but they were as assembly line workers as an internal organization with Treadwell being an exploitive owner. As a musician you would think he would understand, maybe all too well. In any event bass man Bill Pinkney and baritone Andrew Thrasher left the group to form a short lived group called the Flyers with Bobby Hendricks. Tommy Evans (from the Ravens who was incidentally Jimmy Ricks’ replacement) replaced Bill Pinkney while Charlie Hughes replaced Thrasher.

The line-up of 1st tenor Johnny Moore, 2nd tenor Gerhart Thrasher, baritone Charlie Hughes and bass Tommy Evans were the last of the Johnny Moore era Drifters to record. They recorded “Fools Fall in Love” US #69 – 3/9/1957; R&B #10 – 3/9/1957 b-side “It Was a Tear”.

 

“Fools Fall in Love” US #69 – 3/9/1957; R&B #10 – 3/9/1957 b-side “It Was a Tear”.

 

 

The draft caught up with Johnny Moore and Charlie Hughes in 1957, so Moore was replaced by Bobby Hendricks and Hughes was replaced by Jimmy Millender. This new line-up of Bobby Hendricks as lead tenor, Gerhart Thrasher – 2nd tenor, Jimmy Millender – baritone and Tommy Evans as bass with Jimmy Oliver on guitar recorded “Drip Drop” a #58 – 8/11/1958 crossover hit.

The Drifters started doubling for other group names, capitalizing on their legacies as The Coasters or the Ravens in the summer of 1958. During a gig at the Apollo an argument broke out with Apollo owner Ralph Cooper, manager Treadwell then fired the entire group. George Treadwell then owner of the name Drifters impulsively hired a group called the Five Crowns on the spot and dubbed them the new “Drifters”.

Bill Pinkney would later sue for the use of the name “The Original Drifters” which survived as a performing entity for many years thereafter with ex-Drifter members like the Thrashers or Bobby Hendricks joining and then leaving over the years. At many points since Clyde McPhatter’s departure there was confusion and heated moments because of the Drifters name and ownership of it. Now there would be two different Drifters names contending for attention, manager Treadwell’s the new “Drifters” and Bill Pinkney’s “Original Drifters”. This would cause a lot of problems and/or trouble in the future for many of the parties involved.

 

60s Soul Top 10 – 50’s Gospel Influences

60s Soul Top 10  –  50’s Gospel Influences

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Gospel Influences in the age of Rock & Roll

Soul slowly grew out of “rhythm & blues” with its mixing with gospel music during the hey day of the fifties, the rock & roll era. There are many examples of early soul coming out of gospel music that never made the charts. (For a listing of these, please see the expanded page for 60’s Soul – Gospel Influences).

 

 

It was Ray Charles the “Father of Soul” who first took a nice spiritual gospel type of song and then, oh no, he added, well, shall we say… non-secular lyrics to create and record the epic song “I Got A Woman”. The song was a first in many ways. It was Ray’s first  R&B #1 hit in the beginning of the year late in January, nineteen fifty-five, when all the ruckus was started. The controversial song would go on to be named #235 of the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest songs of all time.

Almost sixteen months later, James Brown the “God Father” of soul and the “Founder of the Funk” came out with this, begging on his knees, “Please, Please, Please”. The song was a #5 hit on the R&B charts in April of 56′. James Brown would go on to shape and develop pop music for the next 30 years.

Clyde McPhatter went solo after being in the hit groups the Domino’s and the Drifters, he got into the top 20 pop charts with the hit “Treasure of Love” in the early summer of fifty-six. He would be known as one of the “Founders of Soul”

The “Rocking Roll Icon” and “Founder of Rock & Roll“, Little Richard had a soulful side to his singing, like this early hit “Send Me Some Lovin’” in mid-April in 1957. Little Richard would explore gospel music and other spirituals after his semi-retirement in late 1957.

Another rising star behind Sam Cooke was “Mr. Excitement”, Jackie Wilson and his pioneering soul classic”Reet Petite” in November of 1957. Jackie Wilson would go on to be considered one of the “Founders of Soul”.

The “King of Soul” Sam Cooke would have a top 40 hit soul song triumvirate in the late fifties starting with “You Send Me” when it hit the top of both charts (US and R&B) at the end of 1957.

 

“The Iceman” cometh, “For Your Precious Love” this top 20 hit, coming in at #11 on the Billboard & top 10 in the R&B charts in the summer of 58′, Jerry Butler & the Impressions sang quite lovely and melodically precious song with this favorite.

One of the first few successful Lady’s of Rhythm & Blues was LaVern Baker. She had a top ten mainstream hit with this soulful ditty “I Cried A Tear”, early in fifty-nine.  Along with Etta James and Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker would make a one of a trio of “Ladies of Early-Soul”.

After singing in Billy Ward’s Dominos, and starting the Drifters, Clyde McPhatter had another top ten hit on which he sang on, except this was his second solo hit in the beginning of 1959, as well as topping the R&B chart a third time.  “A Lover’s Question” made Clyde to be, one of the “Founders of Soul” along with Cooke, Butler, Ballard, Little Richard and Jackie Wilson.

Jackie Wilson hit the top ten again in February of 59′ and topped the R&B chart, as well. The song “Lonely Teardrops” was considered a soul classic and #335 of the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest songs of all time.

The Drifters, in their second incarnation, came back with the Ben E. King penned and sung “There Goes My Baby“. The song was a smash hit in the summer of 59′ going to #2 on the main charts and number one on the R&B charts. The Drifters were a vocal R&B group that was not only one of the 2 most successful vocal groups of the rock & roll era, but also one of the pioneering groups of soul with many great lead singers moving through their ranks such as Founder of Soul, Ben E. King.

For this beginning section and intro to soul music, it is quite appropriate that we should end with the Ray Charles. This next song is one of the greatest most fun songs of all times for all ages. The song utilizes call and response that is tremendous fun. “What’d I Say” was a top ten crossover hit at the end of the summer of 1959 after topping the R&B chart.