I’ve always loved real soul music, starting from being a kid in Detroit. In the early sixties, I paid no attention to the Beatles and the so-called British Invasion. Motown, Stax, and King Records were the inspiration that helped get me through my adolescence. The music of Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Mary Wells, and Aretha as heard on Detroit black radio stations, WJLB and WCHB, entered my body and climbed up my spine like a kundalini rush … and I was a Jewish boy from the suburbs.
The first “white” album I ever bought was The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Thank you, YouTube, for all the rare classic soul music performances that I’m finding these days. Unfortunately, for the most part, what passes for soul music today (neo-soul?) sounds a lot like the meandering pop music dribble that you’d hear on American Idol, in my opinion, the cultural Spawn of Evil.
Here’s my top ten list of amazing soul performances that I’ve been finding.
1) The year 2006 brought two terrible losses for American soul music: James Brown the Godfather of Soul and The Wicked Mister Wilson Pickett. Here’s a live performance of Pickett doing his version of Don Covay’s classic “Land of 1000 Dances.” In 1965, it hit #1 on the R&B; charts and #6 on the pop charts, his biggest hit ever.
2) In the early sixties, I used to sneak out of my parents’ house and take a bus to downtown Detroit’s Fox Theater to see “Mr. Dynamite” James Brown perform. Back then, I was one of the few whiteys in the audience, but no one minded. They knew that I came for the love of the music. Here he is in a 1971 Paris performance backed up by the smoking hot funky Collins brothers, Catfish and Bootsy, respectively on guitar and bass. And most people forget that he could play one bad-ass organ.
3) Many music critics believe that Curtis Mayfield’s score for the hit “blaxploitation” movie “Superfly” was one of the greatest film soundtracks of all time. Unlike other “blaxploitation” soundtracks, “Superfly” didn’t glamorize the gangster life. It was the dead honest truth about the hardships of urban life and it sadly still rings true today.
4) Another prime example of urban songwriting truth is Marvin Gaye’s post-Motown masterpiece “What’s Going On.” (Gaye’s “Trouble Man” soundtrack is another great one)
5) 1980’s “Blues Brothers” movie was not only a seminal comedy of the period, it was the ultimate white boy homage to all things soul music with stellar performances from James Brown, Steve Cropper, and this stand-out version of “Think” by the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin. Here’s the whole Aretha scene from the movie.
6) Arthur Conley was a forgotten master of the Memphis sound. His performance of “Sweet Soul Music” says it all about the genre. (Conley co-wrote this song with Otis Redding.)
Like many forgotten soul music performers he died in Europe where he was most appreciated in his later years.
7) Fats Domino was the King of New Orleans Rock and Roll. Here’s a beautiful clip from a fifties rock film, “Shake, Rattle, and Rock”, of the Fat Man singing and playing his signature barrelhouse piano on a version of his hit, “Ain’t That a Shame.
8) Mary Wells was Motown’s greatest and most soulful female singer. The Temptations’ David Ruffin was her male equivalent. Here’s a rough and ready performance of “Bye Bye Baby” from the Motor Town Revue (as it was known back then). The biggest tragedy is that she’s almost forgotten today.
9) Sam Cooke was the ultimate soul crooner. He died too soon, shot to death at a Los Angeles motel in 1964. Here he is at his peak with his hit song, “You Send Me.”
10) Here’s Otis Redding singing “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, the performance that launched his career and his legend.
SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Pickett
“Soul Legend Wilson Pickett Dies at 64”, Jonathan Cohen, Billboard Magazine, URL: (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001882031)
“Arthur Conley”, Jason Ankeny, AOL Music, URL: (http://music.aol.com/artist/arthur-conley/3951/biography)
http://www.otisredding.com/main.php4#
