Southern Soul

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Southern Soul is soul music from the southern states of the USA with typical characteristics.

The style is slower and more earthy than the danceable Motown Soul of the northern states , but it is driving and energetic. Rhythm'n'Blues is combined here with pulsating southern gospel . The era of the original Southern Soul began in the early 1960s and ended in the mid 1970s. Southern Soul is closely related to Memphis Soul. The two styles were largely represented by the same interpreters. Southern Soul was (or is) a bit rougher in contrast to the melancholy-soft Memphis Soul.

representatives

The Stax building in Memphis, rebuilt for museum purposes
Stax Records, Memphis

The most famous labels of this style of music were Stax Records in Memphis and Atlantic Records in New York . The two house bands of Stax were Booker T. & the MG's and The Memphis Horns , part of the group The Mar-Keys . Well-known artists from Stax and Southern Soul are Otis Redding , Wilson Pickett , Rufus Thomas , Sam & Dave , Carla Thomas , William Bell , The Staple Singers , Eddie Floyd , Candi Staton , Millie Jackson and later Isaac Hayes .

Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Another stronghold of Southern Soul was the region of Florence (Alabama) , Sheffield (Alabama) and Muscle Shoals , where many hits were produced in the Fame Studios of Rick Hall or in the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio . Some Stax artists such as Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding recorded there, as did Aretha Franklin , who was under contract with Atlantic Records.

Musical characteristics

Characteristics of the arrangement were that the voices in the mix were a bit further back (quieter) than in other contemporary R&B recordings, as was the use of brass instead of background singers. With regard to the sound, the focus on the lower part of the frequency spectrum is typical. Elements of gospel can be found in the question and answer singing (call and response), in the form of collective singing about the suffering of the main character and in the lively rhythm.

subjects

The content-related themes of Southern Soul are ostensibly human problems and dramas, moral concerns and conflicting life situations. It also includes abandonment, adultery, and love triangles. The peculiarity of these topics in Southern Soul is the recognizable endeavor to draw a basis for a better future from problem situations, defeats and setbacks. At the same time, the texts represent the struggle of the Afro-American population for social acceptance and political integration. Striving for the right life, for personal and social freedom connects the statements.

See also

swell