Soul

Soul

1. soul styles and the labels that represented them

   • Motown
     • 1950s, Detroit, Berry Gordy
     • recording of the rhythm track took place in three-hour time slots using the house band (The Funk Brothers) with vocals overdubbed separately
     • signed Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross
   • Stax
     • responsible for the 'Memphis soul' style - generally considered to be rawer than Motown (but with less commercial success)
     • studio operated in a similar way with a house band that provided the rhythm tracks for many artists
   • Atlantic
     • a larger record label
       • more links to big US labels
       • in partnership with Stax
     • Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield from UK
   • Philadelphia soul
     • Records had a polished, smoother sound with big string arrangements
     • Jackie Wilson, the O'Jays

2. originated in the larger cities of southern USA

3. mainly produced by African-Americans

4. sexual lyrics and social issues relating to black civil rights were avoided in Motown records to keep commercial success

   • some exceptions were made at the artists demands i.e. Marvin Gaye's 'What's going on?' album

5. 1950s-70s

6. instrumentation

   • vocals and BVs
   • drums/ bass/ percussion/ electric piano, electric organ, horn section (trumpet, saxes, trombone), string sections
   • large ensembles
     • guitars doubled up

7. influences

   • R&B
   • gospel
   • jazz singers (Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald)
   • psychedelic rock

8. production

   • early adoption of multitrack tape: four track then eight track
   • live recording of a band in a single room
     • DI guitars and basses used (avoided spill)
     • acoustic screens for separation
   • close mic drum recording
   • vocals overdubbed separately
   • high quality microphones (models still in use today)
   • echo chambers (to capture natural reverberation) and plate reverbs
   • classic compressors but with fairly gentle settings
   • often high-quality recordings with clear vocals and frequency reproduction (including deep bass)
   • stereo mixes with extreme panning (unconventional by today's standards)
   • electronic instruments - Hammond organ and Fender Rhodes
   • very little use of sound design through synthesis or extreme guitar effects - focus instead on the natural sound of the instruments

9. Soul beyond the 70s

   • became less fashionable in the 70s
     • released songs tended to be smooth ballads from artists like Barry White
   • In the 80s there was a revival of soul in the UK with bands like Simple Red drawing soul influences

10. main artists

    • Wilson Pickett
    • Otis Redding
    • Stevie Wonder
    • Marvin Gaye
    • Aretha Franklin
    • James Brown
    • The temptations