Sweet Soul Music

Soul music is well named!
It is a genre that will reach you no matter what—great dance music as well as something wonderful to listen to.

It has its origins in the US in gospel music and rhythm and blues. Catchy rhythms, handclaps, and a call and response between the lead and backing vocalists are important hallmarks of soul.

It is linked with great record labels such as Motown, Stax and Atlantic.
Artists such as The Supremes, The Temptations, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, were very influential and helped spread soul music around the world in the 60s.

By the 70s, global movements such as Northern Soul developed, which favoured a heavy beat and fast tempo.

Soul music continued to evolve, and other subgenres began to appear, such as funk, psychedelic soul, progressive soul, Motown sound, Southern soul and Philadelphia soul.
All great sounds!
Prominent artists at this time included Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, Bill Withers, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, and Stevie Wonder.

In this discussion, let’s share our favourite artists and songs from soul music and its subgenres from its origins to the present day, and certainly feel free to dance!

All our threads now stay open for as long as they are being used and enjoyed; you are very welcome to stop by at any time.