# 60s & 70s Soul Music



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

As a child of the 1960s & 70s, I grew up listening to all of the classic soul artists on the radio. I never took a deep interest in any one artist, but I always enjoyed the music.

A little later on I bought albums by Stevie Wonder. And much later I got into Curtis Mayfield. I still love these guys. Lately I've been into Donny Hathaway, listening to his first two studio albums, and the live album. His music and musicianship is inspiring.

My question is, what do you consider to be the finest albums, and who are the most significant artists well known or more obscure from this great era of black popular music? And just for the pure enjoyment factor, what are some of your favorite soul numbers and hit songs?


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## Biwa (Aug 3, 2015)

I love Soul music, too.

Recently I've been groovin with

Labelle - Nightbirds









Isley Bros - 3+3









Marvin Gaye - Collection


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I forgot to mention Gil Scott-Heron. Of course he was blacklisted from commercial radio due to the political nature of his lyrics. I got into his music about 15-16 years ago. It's Your World, and Winter In America are probably my favorite albums.

Here are a couple of favorite tracks of mine.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

starthrower said:


> And just for the pure enjoyment factor, what are some of your favorite soul numbers and hit songs?


I like Sam & Dave: Soul Man, You Got Me Hummin', I Thank You, Hold On, I'm Coming. Shucks, there are so many others. 
James Brown: It's a Man's World, Ain't That a Groove, Cold Sweat, Good Foot. Again, many others.
Otis Redding: Mr. Pitiful. Of course, Dock of the Bay. 
Taj Mahal: She Caught the Katy
Percy Sledge: When a Man Loves a Woman. The hit was supposed to be the demo track, but the feeling was so authentic, they stayed with it. 
Aretha Franklin: Think, Natural Woman. 
Buddy Miles: Them Changes. 
The Temptations: My Girl. 
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles: I Second That Emotion
I don't know if white groups count, but Cold Blood was great. Of course, Tower of Power goes without saying. They both respected the soul tradition and developed it into jazz and funk.

I could go on, but I think this is enough for now.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I love the tune Jaco did with Sam & Dave.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

starthrower said:


> I love the tune Jaco did with Sam & Dave.


Oh, shucks, there's the Brecker Brothers and David Sanborn! I didn't even have to look that up; you can't miss that sound.

Just as an aside, I don't know if you ever encountered the group Dreams, from one of the first times the Brecker Brothers jumped out of their studio anonymity, in an obscure R&B/Jazz group titled Dreams, with Billy Cobham on drums, produced by Steve Cropper. _Don't Cry My Lady_ may not be exclusively black soul, but it is a great soul song.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I've heard of Dreams. Not even 30 listeners to that tune on YouTube, so I guess the album is pretty obscure. Six or seven years ago I met Randy Brecker after a show and I had a brief conversation with him. I really felt bad for him about the loss of his brother. They are both extraordinary musicians!


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## Biwa (Aug 3, 2015)

Curtis Mayfield's Superfly soundtrack is often buzzing around in my head. I guess you'd call that an earworm. Definitely one of my favs.

A few weeks ago, Shaft (1971) was on TV. I hadn't seen that one in years. I often come back to the music of Issac Hayes, though.

And... Can't forget "Every Woman" Chaka Khan. Ok Ok... I know it's Disco, but...
with a voice like that...who cares! 




I grew up listening to this wonderful music on radio's finest WTLC. Great memories! :cheers:


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

starthrower said:


> As a child of the 1960s & 70s, I grew up listening to all of the classic soul artists on the radio. I never took a deep interest in any one artist, but I always enjoyed the music.
> 
> A little later on I bought albums by Stevie Wonder. And much later I got into Curtis Mayfield. I still love these guys. Lately I've been into Donny Hathaway, listening to his first two studio albums, and the live album. His music and musicianship is inspiring.
> 
> My question is, what do you consider to be the finest albums, and who are the most significant artists well known or more obscure from this great era of black popular music? And just for the pure enjoyment factor, what are some of your favorite soul numbers and hit songs?


60s & 70s soul music huh? That's dark but if you really want to plunge head-first into the heart of darkness itself, listen to this...






You running for the hills yet? :lol:


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I like Curtis Mayfield a lot. Live, and Roots are my favorites. The strings on the studio albums bug me, but I still love this track.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

D'Angelo - Black Messiah


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

starthrower said:


> Six or seven years ago I met Randy Brecker after a show and I had a brief conversation with him. I really felt bad for him about the loss of his brother. They are both extraordinary musicians!


Wow, you've heard of Dreams? That seemed to be one of those insiders-only bands. Yes, Mike's death was a great loss. He had his own saxophone style and provoked a slew of imitators.

Speaking of sax players, you can't speak of soul music without at least mentioning King Curtis. He was right in the middle of everything. 




And then there's Maceo Parker from the James Brown Band. Before Public Enemy's Fight the Power got legitimized at the Academy Awards, there was Soul Power '74. 



 (It also got sampled in J Lo's Get Right.)


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Biwa said:


> A few weeks ago, Shaft (1971) was on TV. I hadn't seen that one in years. I often come back to the music of Issac Hayes, though.


I think I've played his version of Never Can Say Goodbye a million times. He was great at covers.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I dig Maceo Parker. I have some of his CDs. Including this one.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

starthrower said:


> I've heard of Dreams. Not even 30 listeners to that tune on YouTube, so I guess the album is pretty obscure. Six or seven years ago I met Randy Brecker after a show and I had a brief conversation with him. I really felt bad for him about the loss of his brother. They are both extraordinary musicians!


check out their Just be ourselves, written by Don Grolnick. It's not soul music, actually something that resembles more the Canterbury sound. Grolnick was a brilliant composer.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

starthrower said:


> I dig Maceo Parker. I have some of his CDs. Including this one.


I know that one well. I used to do yard work with that on my Walkman. His style was so basic, but he always knew where to put the notes.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Excellent thread! I'll just repeat: Marvin Gaye: Heard it Through the Grapevine, Let's Get it On ("We're all sensitive people" he sings, "with so much to give", as he and she [deleted]), Sexual Healing, and the genre-bursting What's Goin' On, and Mercy Mercy Me. One could go on for hours about Stevie Wonder, another master of the genre, and yet a genre-burster also. Smokey Robinson: Ooh Baby Baby, Tracks of my Tears, Tears of a Clown, Goin' to a Go Go, Cruisin'. And here are some fine singles: Barbara Lewis: Hello Stranger; Len Barry: 1-2-3; The Undisputed Truth: Smiling Faces; L.Welch: Since I Fell for You.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2016)

This one gets me every time:









Features Bootsy Collins on bass.





Probably my favorite soul album--Maggot Brain. One of the reasons Detroit is the soul capital.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2016)

Even though this is by Gamble and Huff in Philly (their very first effort, I believe), this song became the anthem of Detroit in its day and I think it was calculated to.





And speakin' o' Bootsy.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Let's not forget the Isley Brothers, another genre-bursting group. Here they channel Dave Mason (or he channeled them): That Lady.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2016)

Ok, I'm bleeding over into the 80s, so sue me.





This is the song that made me want to be a bass-player. Bless you, B.B. Dickerson, wherever you are.





Another reason that Detroit is the soul capital of the world.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2016)

Reminds me of growing up on Indiana Street and Fenkell just south of the Lodge. You get carjacked down there now.





Boy, did Justin Bieber rip this guy off or what??? Lock, stock and barrel. He should have grabbed a handful of Holman's talent while he was at it.





Van McCoy song.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2016)

The guy who mastered this, Bob Dennis, was my teacher in recording. Everything I know, I learned at his knee. he mastered EVERYTHING that Motown put out from '64-'68 and then went to Hot Wax/Invictus to work for Holland-Dozier-Holland. He also mastered the Honey Cone, Eighth Day, Chairmen of the Board and you name it. He still has a recording school and studio in the old GM Records building where everybody recorded who wasn't signed to Motown (Bob worked the lathe at Hitsville). George Clinton still records there and I worked there and recorded there. Everybody recorded there. Collision Records was the sister label of GM because of the bumper shop that was attached to the studio--and it still is--Motor City Collision. Just drove by there today.










I had this 45. Revilot was a small by highly influential Detroit soul label. A lot of big soul acts came out of Revilot including the Parliaments.


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## Harmonie (Mar 24, 2007)

Oh gosh, I love me some 60s/70s soul music. I like pretty much anything from that era, but I do especially love soul and r&b of all flavors from the era.
















Admittedly, I don't really know more obscure artists, I haven't explored it enough.



Manxfeeder said:


> Oh, shucks, there's the Brecker Brothers and David Sanborn! I didn't even have to look that up; you can't miss that sound.
> 
> Just as an aside, I don't know if you ever encountered the group Dreams, from one of the first times the Brecker Brothers jumped out of their studio anonymity, in an obscure R&B/Jazz group titled Dreams, with Billy Cobham on drums, produced by Steve Cropper. _Don't Cry My Lady_ may not be exclusively black soul, but it is a great soul song.


Huh, I thought of Dreams as being more "Brass/Jazz Rock" along the lines of beginning Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, Emergency and the like. I've never really listened to their second album, though, I'll admit. Their first album has some songs I like quite a bit like Try Me and Dream Suite has some pretty awesome songs in its mix.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I just wanted to mention one modern day artist I really admire, and that's Michael Franti & Spearhead. Franti is controversial because of his political lyrics and criticism of the government, but hey, that's what an artist feels compelled to do. Speak the truth! Besides, he's got the musical talent to make it listenable. And the music is stylistically diverse incorporationg soul/rock/reggae. Spearhead was boycotted by corporate radio all throughout the Iraq war, but they played sold out concerts across the country.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

PS Thanks for all of the YT links! I'll listen to everything, as I am looking to pick up a few CDs. And go ahead and make some more suggestions.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)




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## Schubussy (Nov 2, 2012)

Curtis Mayfield is my favourite.






Also like Shuggie Otis





and Sly & The Family Stone


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Victor Redseal said:


> This is the song that made me want to be a bass-player. Bless you, B.B. Dickerson, wherever you are.


One of my cringeworthy memories was when I was in a soul band, and after practice a couple of us were hanging out in the front yard when a man came up who had been invited to dinner. He introduced himself as "I'm B.B. Dickerson." I guess he didn't think we recognized him, so he added, "The bass player from War." All I could blurt out was, "I play baritone sax." Stupid, stupid, stupid.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

I found quite a bit of really rare 50s and 60s American pop on youtube a few years ago.
Here are some names:

Barbara Lewis - How Can I Tell You
Barbara Mercer - Call On Me
O Nita Hammond - Mighty Fine (1962 Girl Group Singers Sounds)
STOP TAKIN ME FOR GRANTED - MARY WELLS
The Delicates - Flip Flip (1960)
The Brightones - Rumors (1964 Girl Group Sounds)
The Unisons - Losers Seem To Know (60 s Girl Group DooWop)


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Today is Super Tuesday, and with all this election-year vituperation, I wish they'd reintroduce the old song by the Staple Singers, Respect Yourself.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I love Pops Staples. By coincidence, I was listening to their Stax collection over the weekend.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Here's some soul out of Memphis.

Rufus Thomas was known as the World's Oldest Teenager, and he didn't take himself too seriously. Remember the Funky Chicken? 



And his Schlitz Malt Liquor commercial was especially memorable with those ridiculous pink shorts. 




His daughter Carla was known as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Here she is mixing it up with Otis Redding. 




Another group out of Memphis is Booker T and the MGs, here with Green Onions. 




There needs to be a mention of those who Don Cornelius called "The Might-tee Bar-Kays." Here's Holy Ghost. I'm a sucker for horn sections, though I think this one goes a little too long.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2016)

From Allentown, Jan & the Techniques consisted of two black lead singers with an all-white band. Really, that's how it often was in the studio anyway--just ask Wilson Pickett whose studio band in Mussel Shoals was white and he wouldn't record with anyone else. And many of the Motown **** Bros. lineups were sometimes majority white. The backing singers for this band were Ashford & Simpson along with Melba Moore.





One of the inexcusably underrated soul acts. Beautiful lyrics in this one.





Another underrated artist, I'm a huge Laura fan and her version of 'Jimmy Mack" with LaBelle on backing vocals is utterly top notch!


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2016)

Detroit again (okay, Ann Arbor) but with a touch of New York as the Rationals do a Goffin-King beautiful soul song. Marvelous vocal performance by Scott Morgan.





Jackie's first release as a solo artist (he came out of Billy Ward & the Dominoes, taking Clyde McPhatter's place). He was originally discovered in a Detroit talent show held by LA impresario Johnny Otis (Shuggie Otis's old man). When Berry Gordy heard Jackie singing in a Detroit nightclub he signed him to his fledgling Motown/Tamla label in 1959 and wrote this song for him to record. And the world would never be the same.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2016)

Brook Benton does a Tony Joe White song. How is it that this man is not in the rock and roll hall of fame??










Another of the great soul classics that came of Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It was written by a couple of producers that worked there--Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, a couple of white boys looking to cash in on the soul craze. They peddled the song to a number of big name soul acts who all turned it down. Finally, James and Bobby Purify came to the studio to record and they offered them the song and James and Bobby said sure. we'll record it! And it put them forever on the musical map.





RIP Maurice White. One of the greatest soul bands of all time.





One of those forgotten soul bands but a great tune.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

From an excellent album:






From another excellent album:


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

And where would we be without these gems?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

During the 60s Tamla Motown's emphasis was on singles or Greatest Hits sets but this Smokey Robinson & The Miracles album from 1965 had quality running all the way through it.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2016)

Carl Carlton in the 70s covering Robert Knight's 60s soul tune.





Same guys who did "Bread and Butter" did this nice, little soul tune sometime around '69.





The Dorians were a Canadian rock/soul band discovered by Floyd Jones, a Detroit-area A&R man, who co-wrote a slew of songs which they recorded at and for GM Records which I mentioned in another post. Recorded at the old GM studios building, this came out about '69 and was re-released the following year on Big Tree Records.

PS - The Rationals lead singer was Terry Morgan. Scott was his brother. Something was bugging me about that.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2016)

Manxfeeder said:


> One of my cringeworthy memories was when I was in a soul band, and after practice a couple of us were hanging out in the front yard when a man came up who had been invited to dinner. He introduced himself as "I'm B.B. Dickerson." I guess he didn't think we recognized him, so he added, "The bass player from War." All I could blurt out was, "I play baritone sax." Stupid, stupid, stupid.


I probably would have stood there staring stupidly and for want of knowing what else to do, would have then genuflected, thereby making myself look like the stupidest azz on planet earth.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)




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## Guest (Mar 4, 2016)

Devora Brown was trying to break into the songwriting business since the early 40s. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Devora and her husband, Jack, tried their luck pitching her songs in New York's Tin Pan Alley but no one there was receptive. With the help of notables as Louis Jordan and Lionel Hampton, the Browns landed in Detroit, which was a musical Mecca at that time, where they decided to found a publishing company that would publish Devora's songs which were based on R&B. With the help of Devora's brother, the three of them formed Trianon Publishing.

Next, Devora and Jack needed to find musicians to record Devora's songs. They rented studio time at Vogue Records which had state-of-the-art facilities and met up with a bandleader named Artie Fields. Jack walked around the studio looking at the equipment and asking a lot of questions to the engineers about microphones, tape recorders, mixing boards and what not. He did this because Trianon wanted their own studio and if they got one, Jack, an accountant by trade, would be the producer/engineer and he needed as much knowledge as he could get because he had zero experience in the recording business.

With Fields and his 16-piece orchestra, a handful of singers, a few cheap mikes and a Magnacard tape machine, Trianon founded their own label. Fields joked with Devora that her songs would make them a fortune so they decided to call the label Fortune Records. The year was 1947.

Jack kept the recording setup simple partly because he didn't have the expertise or budget to get too creative and partly because he knew from his talks with more experienced engineers that a sparse setup would give the records a more visceral impact. Often only a single microphone or two would be used to capture all the voices and this would go directly to the final tape whether it was mono or stereo. The same with the instruments. Jack would simply monitor the gain and volume levels to make sure nothing was being recorded too low or too hot. By recording with a single mike going directly to the tape (instead of passing through a mixing console which adds noise) the signals were very up close and vibrant-dripping with emotion. What Fortune recordings lacked in pizzazz they made up for with warmth. This was at a time when ultra-slick production values were still a ways off. Fortune's production values were perfect for that time. Before there was Motown, there was Fortune.

They recorded all kinds of music including the first recordings ever done by Skeeter Davis, rockabilly pioneer Skeet McDonald, John Lee Hooker, the Flaming Embers (who later would be known as the Flaming Ember--no plural--by the time they signed with Hot Wax), Nathaniel Mayer, Andre Williams, rockabilly artist Johnny Powers (who went onto become the first white artist signed to Motown)--even polkas. They released mostly 45s but also albums. They sold them strictly through the store in the front area of their studio.





In the early 50s, Nolan Strong was lead singer of a doo-*** band called the Diablos. They all attended Detroit's Central High School and consisted of Nolan Strong (main tenor) and his friend, Bob "Chico" Edwards (guitar), the Diablos also consisted of Juan Guitierriez (2nd tenor), Willie Hunter (baritone) and Quentin Eubanks (bass). They recorded a demo for Fortune Records when its office was still located on Linwood just across the street from Central High but later admitted to the Browns that they had no money to pay for it and had done it just so they could hear themselves on record and were sorry for their deception. Devora Brown then signed them to a recording contract where they quickly became the pride and joy of Fortune Records. In 1954, Juan Guitierriez was replaced by Nolan's brother, Jimmy. Eubanks was replaced with George Scott in 1959 but sometimes alternated bass duties with J.W. Johnson. By 1960, Chico Edwards had left the band but would work with Nolan again in 1972. The band released 20 singles from '54 to '64. Songs as "The Wind" (1954), written by the band and "Mind Over Matter" (1962), written by the Devora Brown, became number 1 regional hits. "Mind Over Matter" was not a Diablo project but a Nolan Strong solo album.

Smokey Robinson claimed his biggest influence was Nolan Strong. In 1954, the Diablos released perhaps the most etheric doo-*** song ever--"The Wind":






Laura Nyro loved the song and cut her own version with LaBelle backing her:






Nolan never got the fame he deserved. Motown offered him a contract but he turned it down and stayed with Fortune which was too small to get him the national exposure he needed and was already more or less a spent force. He died in 1977 and age 43 and is buried at Westlawn Cemetery just outside of Detroit and his headstone sits about 75 feet from Jackie Wilson's.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2016)

Nathaniel Mayer was quite a colorful character int he Detroit music scene. At an Eastpointe record store called Melodies & Memories, if you go into the back area where the blues records are, you'll see Nathaniel's autograph. He's no longer with us. When I mentioned it to the proprietor, he kind of made a face and said the trouble with Nathaniel was that when you saw him and his posse coming, you had to hide everything that wasn't nailed down or it left with them.

Fortune came along at a time that enabled it to document that moment when doo-*** became soul.





Andre Williams, as far as I know, is still around and still recording. He's a dirty, earthy dude. He just a dirty old man and damned proud of it. And he's a rock n roll pioneer.





From Andre's album "Silky" an album he made with Detroit band, the Dirt Bombs. Punk rock had nothing on this and, in fact, was influenced by it. If you don't have a copy of "Silky" then you don't know what soul or rock and roll is about.





Johnny Powers came from East Detroit (now Eastpointe) and recorded for Fortune, Sun and Motown (the only musician ever to record for both Sun and Motown). This song was his hit. It was recorded at the Fortune studio but leased out to Fox Records. Johnny was a country artist but became a rocker after hearing fellow Detroit music legend, Jack "Leroy" Scott. Both Johnny and Jack are still alive and still performing. I've never seen Johnny but I've seen Jack a few times. jack never recorded for Fortune.





The 5 Dollars were another doo-***/soul band signed to Fortune. In fact, they were the first band Andre Williams recorded with although i don't think he was with them when they recorded this one.

"Fortune Records is the great secret record company in the history of Detroit rock 'n' roll. They're the missing piece in the Detroit rock 'n' roll historical equation. Any discussion... without mentioning them is totally inaccurate and incomplete." -Cub Koda


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Dr Johnson said:


>


My Guilty pleasure:tiphat:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Reminds me strongly on a member of TLC:tiphat:


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2016)

But we're not quite through with the Fortune legacy. Nolan Strong had a cousin who signed to Motown and recorded the original version of "Money (That's What I Want)" co-written by Gordy. But he decided performing and recording were not for him. He wanted to write songs so he teamed up with producer Norman Whitfield. His name was Barrett Strong and he and Whitfield wrote the following songs among many others:

-Ball of Confusion
-Cloud 9
-I Wish It Would Rain
-Papa Was a Rolling Stone
-Just My Imagination
-Psychedelic Shack
-I Can't Next to You

Strong also wrote:
-I Heard It Through the Grapevine
-Smiling Faces Sometimes
-Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me
-Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
-War (Edwin Starr song)

He has also written songs for Queen Latifah and 50 Cent. Strong still lives in the Detroit area. Motown left a lot of talent behind when they moved to LA.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Dramatics - Whatcha See is Whatcha Get (1972)


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

I LOVE MUSIC O`JAYS

This song of musically progressive, it seems to really lift off the ground somehow.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2016)

This was a pretty big hit for Grand Funk but this is the original version by Soul Brother Six from New York or Jersey or somewhere out east. I grew up on this one because my older siblings had this 45 and played it to death. Popular song in Detroit.





Any discussion of soul music without including this one is a sham.





I was about 9 or so when this came out and I had no idea what it was about. I thought he was talking about his dad being some guy in shabby duds with his clothes in a bundle on the end of a stick. And for some reason people in the woods kept getting lost and would come knocking on their door at night trying to get directions back to the nearest highway. I deduced this was a bad thing because the kids were supposed to be in bed because there was school the next day. Obviously, I didn't grow up on the streets.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

Man, you all have unearthed some treasures here. Great stuff. This stuff remains some of my favorite music to this day. I'm glad I got to grow up with it.

You should all check out a radio show called Rhythm Review, on WBGO FM in Newak, NJ. It runs from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM every Saturday. The host is a guy named Felix Hernandez, and his knowledge of this music is encyclopedic.

You can listen free at this website: http://www.wbgo.org/?gclid=CO-I-9jHp8sCFRCRaQodvZ4M_w


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

Pugg said:


> My Guilty pleasure:tiphat:


I don't think there's any reason to feel guilty about Dusty In Memphis.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2016)

A Detroit area entertainment rag called the _Metro Times_ recently held a poll on the greatest song to ever come out of Detroit and this song took #1. That's better than the poll held online by Melodies & Memories where Jack White was voted the greatest vocalist, musician and songwriter ever to come out of the Motor City. Yeah......rrrrrriiiiiiiight. Two Detroit Lions--Mel Farr and Billy Sims--are heard on this track at the beginning where all the dudes are talking. The popping drum sound you hear was a kind of conga or bongo that Marvin made himself. James Jamerson was found drunk in a bar when they needed a bass overdubbed into the mix and he couldn't stand upright. So Marvin laid him on the floor and made him comfortable, handed him his Fender P-bass and James played that way--believe it or not. Marvin hate the opening sax line of the song and told the sax player how much he didn't like it. "Hey, man," he replied, "I'm just gettin' warmed up." Marvin said if that was his idea of warming up maybe he should do it at home. But they finished the recording and, by the time the song was mixed, Gaye had no time to re-do the sax so, as much as he hated it, he left it in. It has to be one of the most immortal and recognizable sax lines ever played.





Features legend Wild Bill Moore on sax. Moore was one of the original rock n rollers from the late 40s and recorded a very famous early rocknroll number in 1947 called "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll." Berry Gordy thought Gaye made a huge mistake hiring this old-school sax man for a new sound but fans ate it up.





Berry Gordy hated Marvin doing all this socially conscious stuff. Gaye had a good career doing love songs and pop songs and he did not like Marvin messing with a successful formula but Marvin said that with everything happening around them neither he nor Motown could pretend like it wasn't there. When Berry heard these finished products, he hated them. He was convinced they would fail huge. He hated all the scat singing saying that died in the forties. Kids would never go for it and Motown would become a laughing stock but Marvin had done so much for the label that Berry couldn't tell him no you cannot put this crap out. He relented and deferred to Marvin but voiced his displeasure. The songs turned out to be not only some of the biggest hits of the huge number Motown had already charted but were some of the biggest hits of that era and won Motown huge accolades for finally getting serious about the social issues instead of all the insipid love songs they were forever putting out.

I think deep down Gordy knew Marvin was right all along. If he really really thought the songs would fail, he would have nixed it. Gordy knew that Motown needed to do something new, that millions of blacks were looking to them and waiting. That they needed songs that told the world about the black American experience and told of their hopes, dreams, fears, tragedies and triumphs. Gordy could write and arrange songs but he didn't grow up in an era of socially conscious music and had no idea how to proceed. He knew that if anyone at Motown could do it, it would be Marvin, but Gordy had no idea what Marvin would do in response. When he heard the recordings, he was disappointed and thought it was not good enough but he had nothing better to offer and had to go along with it. I don't know if Gordy ever admitted he was wrong--probably--but he very definitely was wrong.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2016)

This powerful Barrett Strong number was recorded and released in 1971 as a continuation of the socially conscious era that Marvin Gaye had ushered into Motown. When the Temptations began to record it, the producer was not in a good mood and kept demanding take after take. He would stop takes halfway through yelling at the singer and the singer yelled back. Finally, the band was ready to storm out of the studio. The producer said, "Before you go, let's try it one last time and see if you can get it right." They did. It turned out, the producer wanted a certain strained anger and resentment in the singer's voice to give it the proper emotion, some real and not faked. He pushed their buttons to get them angry to the point where they were infuriated. Then he made them do the final take. When he the singer sang, "It was the third of September..." he heard the anger and strain he wanted in the voice. That's how earnest the people at Motown were to get everything just right. That's why they were so successful. They were perfectionists.

Another thing Motown producers routinely did was to complete a final mix and then the producer would get into a car made by one of the Big 3. It was fitted with a special receiver while the studio had a special transmitter. The producer would drive around Detroit on side streets, main streets, expressways, etc. while the assistant in the studio played the mix. They had walkie-talkies and the producer would tell the assistant, "Bring up the bass and lead vocal, throw a bit more delay on the kick drum, less reverb on the backing vocals, put the sax section in the right speaker and the guitar in the left." And so on. The rationale was that most people would hear these songs on their car radios for the first time and so the songs had to be mixed especially for riding around in a car. The car radio was an ordinary car radio, nothing fancy because most people would not have anything fancy. In so doing, Motown created a whole new set of production values.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

When it came to Southern soul this man matched the mighty Otis:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Dr Johnson said:


> I don't think there's any reason to feel guilty about Dusty In Memphis.


As Smokey Robinson would say, I second that emotion.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)




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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

A Latimore song recorded by many artists. This version is my favorite, beautiful piano playing.

*O. V. Wright - Let's straighten it out *





*Isaac Hayes - By the time I get to Phoenix *





Best wishes


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## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

Some great ones already posted, including some of my favourites by Marvin Gaye but here's another one.






Surprised that nobody's mentioned the late, great Teddy Pendergrass, although Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, of which he was a member, has been mentioned. Here's one of my faves.






Another great song and group.






Finally, a song that means so much to me for many different reasons and was also on the soundtrack for one of my favourite ever films, Spike Lee's 'Crooklyn'. Here's to 'Ooh Child' and The Five Stairsteps.






Happy listening.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

The Edwin Hawkins Singers - You Can't Please Everybody


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## Petwhac (Jun 9, 2010)

This is an amazing performance of the Bee Gees song.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

Finest Albums!....Ooh yeeeerrgh! Get a load of Walk on by on this lp.










And Blue Monday People here....


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Here is some hard driving rock/soul/R&B music that I had on 8-track then vinyl and now CD:


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