119 replies to this topic

[Swede]

I was thinking we actually miss a real soul thread on this forum. Not only was soul a great influence for Led Zeppelin, but also to bands like The Who, Humble Pie, The Band and The Rolling Stones. I listen to a lot of early soul and r'n'b (not to be confused with todays "r'n'b" scene). Most clubs and bars I visit play a lot of this kind of music and I purchase a lot of 45's in these genres. It always work great on the dancefloor. Few songs can beat the groove in a really great soul number. Many of these artists has a great voice and are fab vocalists, and it was all before everyone tried to wail a top of each other.

I do like some of the 70's soul as well, but I am not too found of funk. However, I think the early 70's work by Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield is excellent though.

Here are a couple of favourites of mine:



Bobby Freeman with C'mon and Swim. It was written by Sly Stewart of Sly & The Family Stone fame. It's also Sly who plays the excellent lead guitar in this one.




Betty Everett - You're no good, Betty are mostly famous for her big hit Shoop Shoop Song, but this one is ten time better I think.




The Flirtations - Nothing But A Heartache. American group who moved to UK in the late 60's due to the popular northern soul scene. This is a classic among northern soul fans.

Edited by Swede, 23 September 2010 - 10:17 AM.

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

Well, I know absolutely nothing about this genre! Whoops! Maybe I better do a bit of "Soul Searchin" then eh?

Anyway, adding to the good stuff you posted, here's one which I like

[Swede]

^^ As in every genre, there's a lot of junk, but if you know where too look and what to look for, there's lots of cool stuff.

Betty Harris was a great artist within the New Orleans r'n'b scene. I will post another Betty Harris tune and a couple of other artist from the New Orleans area. If you're foot don't start tappin' then you defo need to do a little "soul searchin'" LOL

Benny Spellman - Fortune Teller
My band took the name from this single by Benny. It has the typical New Orleans rhythm which I really love. It's definitely where funk got it's roots from too.





Betty Harris - Mean Man
Awesome groove in this song. I really like the heavy brass, sounds almost like a trombone! This one's get me on dancefloor in a hurry!






Roger and The Gypsies - Pass The Hatchet
Seriously, one of the greatest drum intros in history! "Ooh, pass on the hatchet baby!". And listent to the bass, fuckin' awesome!!!




"Let me chop it, let me chop it! UH!"

Edited by Swede, 24 September 2010 - 02:04 AM.

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

Swede, those tunes were absolutely swingin'! (especially "Fortune Teller") and you are a genius for naming your band after that gem of a tune! So cool!!!! And yep! My feet were kept tapping all the time! And I guess they don't call it "Soul Music" for nothing then!

And I think you'll be moved by this one. And like someone on you tube very rightly pointed out, Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin might have been soul royalty but then again there was the lost queen of soul, Betty Harris!



And ummm...I was basically (when I was in my teens) a sort of "music knuckle head" when I thought rap and soul and r'n'b were all sub-genres!

Edited by Kiwi_Zep_Fan87, 24 September 2010 - 06:49 AM.

[Swede]

Yeah, Cry to me is a great tune. Rolling Stones used to cover that tune.

I am pretty used to be explaining what sort of r'n'b I like to people, cause if I only use the term r'n'b they think it's the new slick hip hop/soul stuff that I like, which obviously is not the case.

[Jahfin]

Benny Spellman - Fortune Teller
My band took the name from this single by Benny. It has the typical New Orleans rhythm which I really love. It's definitely where funk got it's roots from too.

Thanks for the clip. Believe it or not, it's the first time I've ever heard any Benny Spillman. I first heard his name long ago in a Jimmy Buffett song called Saxophones. I'm fairly well-versed in Doctor John but Benny Spillman, Irma Thomas and "Frogman" Henry? Not so much...

I cut my teeth on gumbo rock
Benny Spellman and Doctor John
Sweet Irma Thomas and Frogman Henry
Use to boogie woogie all night long

Roger and The Gypsies - Pass The Hatchet
Seriously, one of the greatest drum intros in history! "Ooh, pass on the hatchet baby!". And listent to the bass, fuckin' awesome!!!



"Let me chop it, let me chop it! UH!"

Thanks for this one as well. My intro to it was this version by Southern Culture on the Skids:

[Swede]

^^ Cool, I have never heard SCOTS's version of Pass The Hatchet. I think the New Orleans soul/r'n'b scene have had a lot of influence on rock music, especially from the south. Among the many labels, Minit, was probably one of the most important. I dare say, what Phil Spector were for Motown, was what artist/producer Allen Toussaint was for Minit. Allen wrote and produced some really great singles during the late 50's through the 60's and on to the early 70's.

It was from Irma Thomas (daughter of Rufus Thomas of Walking The Dog fame), The Rolling Stones picked Time Is On My Side and got their first hit.




I don't remember any song from the top of my head by Clarence "Frogman" Henry for the moment, but other popular tracks from Allen Toussaint and his label are Lee Dorsey's Get Out Of My Life Woman, Ride Your Pony, Working In A Coalmine and Aaron Neville's Over You.

[Swede]

Got to post this great B-side to "Crying In The Chapel" by Carol Fran. I really love the sound of this New Orleans soul single, although recorded in NY City. The piano and horns are just awesome!

Short story behind the recording of this single:

http://www.soundofne...com/1056~CD.htm

Fran next recorded in 1964, when Thibodaux band
leader/producer Reynauld Richard took her to New York to record for Port
Records. Several fine singles were recorded, the best perhaps being the
smoldering "Crying In the Chapel." The single was leased by Josie and
beginning to sell quite well. Unfortunately though, the rug got pulled out
from under Fran when RCA issued a version of the song by Elvis Presley.
(Presley actually apologized to Fran when they crossed paths in Las Vegas.)



Hope you like it as much as I do!

[Jahfin]

Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame Nominee Joe Tex:

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

I found these to be pretty cool. Love the tone of her voice! Feels so fresh and energetic!





The second one is really dance floor friendly! Pretty cool!

Edited by Kiwi_Zep_Fan87, 29 September 2010 - 08:59 AM.

[Footsteps of Dawn]

Heck yeah, thanks for starting this thread! I've been on a major Marvin Gaye kick recently, so this is right up my alley.

I really like this version of Heard It Through the Grapevine from Montreux in 1980...I like the big-ass band backing him up! I always thought Marvin knocked it out of the park on the original recording, but the instrumentation just never hit me like CCR's version did. This is like the perfect combination. I mean, it's not a rock-y sounding band - it keeps the original soul sound - but it just kicks everything up a couple of notches. (The intro's pretty funny, too...I love "Frankie," lol.)



Other than that, I too really like Curtis Mayfield, with or without The Impressions, and y'know, just the usual stuff they play on oldies radio...James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MGs, The Temptations, The Meters (guess they're more funk, but whatever)...yeah. I'm not really super up on the genre, but I do like it a lot and would love to learn more about it.

Love these videos - I'd never heard of Betty Harris, but she has a great voice! And I LOVE You're No Good - I forgot all about that song, but now that I heard again, I'm trying to stifle myself from singing it out loud (it's 1 am).

[Bong-Man]

[Swede]

Heck yeah, thanks for starting this thread! I've been on a major Marvin Gaye kick recently, so this is right up my alley.

I really like this version of Heard It Through the Grapevine from Montreux in 1980...I like the big-ass band backing him up! I always thought Marvin knocked it out of the park on the original recording, but the instrumentation just never hit me like CCR's version did. This is like the perfect combination. I mean, it's not a rock-y sounding band - it keeps the original soul sound - but it just kicks everything up a couple of notches. (The intro's pretty funny, too...I love "Frankie," lol.)



Other than that, I too really like Curtis Mayfield, with or without The Impressions, and y'know, just the usual stuff they play on oldies radio...James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MGs, The Temptations, The Meters (guess they're more funk, but whatever)...yeah. I'm not really super up on the genre, but I do like it a lot and would love to learn more about it.

Love these videos - I'd never heard of Betty Harris, but she has a great voice! And I LOVE You're No Good - I forgot all about that song, but now that I heard again, I'm trying to stifle myself from singing it out loud (it's 1 am).

Marvin was great. I love both his 60's and 70's music. Awesome voice.

The Meters were great too, I actually think there are a couple of The Meter's members backing up on Betty Harris "There's a break in the road".

[ally]

This place could do with a little soul at the moment so I thought I'd bump this up. Great thread Swede !

Edited by ally, 14 February 2011 - 01:38 PM.

[Jahfin]

[missytootsweet]

Gee ally, you are a very thoughtful person! Thank-you so much for pulling this old thread up.

And isn't Al Green fantastic? I love his 70's stuff. I also like Marvin.

Hey what do you think of this selection below? They say Marvin was truly in love with her.

But she died tragically of a brain tumor at,--I believe 24 years old. Anywho....



I love their expressions in this vid. So genuine! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!......missy

[ally]

Hi missy

Love Marvin and Tammi ! Love this guy too

[missytootsweet]

Yep, that's a good one ally! A jukebox classic I recall.

Here's another of my favorite soul/r&b bands, The Spinners.

I believe (as told in a couple Zep bio books) that John Paul Jones said it was important/a practice for him to emulate the sound coming out of Motown in the early sixties because he thought that was where the great bass lines were laid down (or words to that effect).



Now this is really a good Valentine's Day song!........ missy


P.S. I don't have a good ear for music, but on 2nd listen I think even I can hear the deep bass line in the background.
I wish a musician would tell me if I'm right, or hearing things, lol......missy

Edited by missytootsweet, 14 February 2011 - 03:13 PM.

[Jahfin]

Eddie Hinton figures prominently on the new Drive-By Truckers album which is being released tomorrow. Not only did they bring him to a lot of people's attention early on thanks to their song "Sandwiches For the Road" but they covered two of his tunes for Shake It Records' Dangerous Highway tribute to him last year which they've also decided to include on Go-Go Boots. Here's one of those songs, the first clip is Eddie himself, the second is the Truckers:

[missytootsweet]

Sorry, but it's almost criminal to have a soul thread with out Stevie.........so for your listening pleasure I present "Superwoman."




"But, very well, I believe I know you-very well
Wish that you knew me too-very well
And I think I can deal with everything going through your head" **

**all lyrics/music by Stevie Wonder