A rock beat with jazz chords
Motown Soul.
The upbeat Motown sound combined a Blues beat, R & B and chords that make
you feel wistful or sad on top of a rock beat. During the 1960s, Motown
achieved massive success for a small record company with 80 records in the Top
Ten US Billboard record chart!
In my teens, Motion was the
Big Thing at the discos. I remember it all well, just the way music brings back
our strongest memories. I only need to hear one of those soul classics to be
back there speedily in time, dancing away to those fun tunes. There was
something about those guitar riffs.and funky beats.
I later learned that Motown
used a brilliant live band. One of the keys to the Motown successes were the live
band by quality musicians The Funk
Brothers led by on bass. These
musicians played on more number-one records than other iconic pop artist such
as The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys combined. Their
bass player James Jamerson often
played his instrument with only the index finger of his right hand, and created
many of the basslines apparent on Motown songs such as The Supremes 'You Can't
Hurry Love'.
Some of the
best loved Motown souls sounds were by the singers The Four Tops and The
Temptations.
The Four Tops - 'I can't help myself' , 'Same Old Song', 'Reach
Out', 'Baby I Need Your Lovin',
The Temptations - 'Get Ready', 'Just My imagination', 'I can’t
Get Next to you', 'Ain’t Too Proud to beg, 'You’re my everything',
At the time there was also
underground sounds of Pirate radio - to seek out music and have ownership of
the music that made it our chart. Pirate
radio then out at sea, such as Radio Luxemburg, sought lesser-known music and aimed
to have ownership of the music that made it our chart.
Northern Soul. The other
night I watched the film Soul Boy about the north of England soul scene. Northern
Soul started in the north of England with all night dance sessions were often
an escape from humdrum realities. Recordings
most prized by fans were by lesser known artists, usually in limited releases
by small labels. Famous venues for all nighters were the Wigan Casino and the
Twisted Wheel in Manchester.
The film sound track
includes Back Street by Edwin Starr, Soul Time by Shirley Ellis, Stick by Me
Baby by The Salvadores and Tear Stained Face by Don Varner.
Funk
After Motown
James Brown took R&B and soul to
a new rhythmic sound with his song 'Cold
Sweat' which showed the world that the future would be with funk. With the bass and drum locking the whole band
became the beat with the emphasis on the first beat of the bar (rather than the
second and fourth beats). The sound became
more intense with less and with the groove more important. The melody or song
danced and rode on top of the groove.
Brown was
followed by LA bands Earth Wind and Fire
and Sly and the Family Stone.
Larry Graham went wild slapping and playing his
bass like a drum. Stevie Wonder has
the ultimate soul/funk hit with his groove on massive Superstition.
UK bands
such as the Rolling Stones and Led
Zeppelin borrowed the funk grooves. Then there was the funkiest UK band, Scottish
band The Average White Band, who
were the funkiest and topped the US charts with their album picking Up the
Pieces.
In the 70s
the disco sound, which was easy to dance to, went massive and ruined funk's
heartbeat. Disco had little syncopation
with computerized beats. Funk had to adapt to survive and stay currant.
In the 80s Prince produced pop, rock and funk
crossover sounds. Next direct from black
culture, came the new Hip Hop sounds.
Northern
Soul nights are still popular today. The groove is also alive and well today in
2014 with artists like Daft Punk, Nile
Rodgers and Farrell Williams and the huge hits Happy and Get Lucky.
