some ofyou are practically pro's on soul sounds...hell, some of you may very well be pro's. i'm trying to find older soul artists that i may not know about. now, obviously, many of the big names i'm familiar with but i recently realized i do not know ONE song by earth wind and fire! so, upon this realization, i decided i have to increase my soul collection. i've got a bunch of jackie wilson, stylistics, delfonics, chi-lites, james brown, marvin gaye, aretha, gladys knight and other big names but i need some help here. i'm looking for that 50's sound, specifically, and i just don't know much about where to start. any help is appreciated!

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[Edited 9/21/04 15:30pm]

SassyBritches said:

Eddie And Ernie was a great soul duo in the mid 60's and early 70's. They were more popular in England. Fans of theirs includes David Bowie and Lou Reed. Eddie Campbell was my father and was the lead singer and cheif songwriter. I ran a thread on them quite a while back. Anyway, there is a compilation cd of theirs out now titled "Eddie and Ernie/Lost Friends." If you love soul music, check this out. If you type in www.soulwalking.co.uk, it'll take u to there webpage. It has a little mention of yours truly. My dad is the one who is standing up in the pics. The whole cd is excellent, but the standout track is titled "Standing At The Crossroads" written and sung by my dad. Motown great James Jamerson is playing bass on the song.

blackguitaristz said:

very cool! thanks for the link...but it is not working.

blackguitaristz said:

Remember, u must type in www.soulwalking.co.uk to get to it. It won't connect u from the org. At the bottom of the page, it'll say "Find any artist" and then type in "Eddie and Ernie" and they're webpage will come up.

More links to get you started...
http://www.rhythm-n-blues.org/
http://www.digitaldreamdo...ts50s.html
http://www.angelfire.com/...super.html

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

I highly recommend this box set, Atlantic Rhythm and Blues, 1947 - 1974. Since you're interested in the '50s and lesser known R&B the first four discs cover the years 1947 thru 1960. The next four discs go from 1961 thru 1974.

The '50s era of this box consists of artists like Joe Morris, Tiny Grimes, Stick McGhee, Ruth Brown, The Clovers, Joe Turner, The Cardinals, Laverne Baker, Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters, Al Hibbler, The Coasters, Solomon Burke, Carla Thomas, Ray Charles, et. al.

Atlantic was called The House That Ruth Built, referring to Ruth Brown. And God knows it was a musical dynasty. All 8 discs have a total of 202 songs. Whadaya know, AMG actually got a couple of these reviews right:


"This eight-CD set should be a part of any collection that presumes to take American music — not just rock & roll or rhythm & blues — seriously. Atlantic Records was one of dozens of independent labels started up after the war by neophyte executives and producers, but it was different from most of the others in that the guys who ran it were honest and genuinely loved music.

Coupled with a lot of luck and some good judgment, the results trace a good chunk of the history of American music and popular culture.

Disc one opens with cuts which slot in somewhere midway between jazz, bop, and "race" music (as the term was used then). Disc two is pure, distilled R&B, the stuff filling the airwaves of black radio and the jukeboxes in the "wrong" parts of town in 1952-54. Surprisingly, the material on Disc three, covering 1955-57, isn't very different in content or character from Disc two, despite the fact that it covers the period when white teenagers were starting to listen to and buy these records in large numbers.

It's only with Disc four that one sees the consequences of the late '50s — Ray Charles in his final days with the label, juxtaposed with the Drifters in their post-1958 incarnation and the start of the company's relationship with Stax/Volt Records. Disc six (1965-67) is practically a mini-tribute to Stax/Volt, filled with the best-known sides of Eddie Floyd, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Booker T. & the MG's. Discs seven and eight run from the late '60s and the heyday of Aretha Franklin to some great early-'70s soul, including Roberta Flack and the Spinners. The booklet, with a full sessionography and biographical notes on each artist, would be worth 20 bucks on its own."


And speaking of Ray Charles, I also highly recommend this 3 disc set, The Birth Of Soul, also from Atlantic which covers the years '52 thru '59. And there's a song on this set called "Heartbreaker" that would be (musically) easily recognizable when listening to Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker":



AMG review:

"The title isn't just hype — this absolutely essential three-disc box is where soul music first took shape and soared, courtesy of Ray Charles' church-soaked pipes and bedrock piano work. Brother Ray's formula for inventing the genre was disarmingly simple: he brought gospel intensity to the R&B world with his seminal "I Got a Woman," "Hallelujah I Love Her So," "Leave My Woman Alone," "You Be My Baby," and the primal 1959 call-and-response classic "What'd I Say." There's plenty of brilliant blues content within these 53 historic sides:

Charles' mournful "Losing Hand," "Feelin' Sad," "Hard Times," and "Blackjack" ooze after-hours desperation. No blues collection should be without this boxed set, which comes with well-researched notes by Robert Palmer, a nicely illustrated accompanying booklet, and discographical info aplenty."

When it comes to box sets of '50s R&B, these are two essentials.

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[Edited 9/21/04 17:14pm]

The Complete Stax/Volt Singles (1959-1968)

A nudge out of your time frame but great soul music nonetheless.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm