I think it's a tie between James Brown and David Ruffin

Ray Charles (Robinson):

best soul singer?

Donny Hathaway
Sam Cooke
Marvin Gaye
Aretha Franklin

Bree8016 said:

Bree8016 said:

Definitely, and I'd like to add Patti LaBelle to the list.

kenlacam said:

Not only Patti but:
Gladys Knight
Al Green
Jerry Butler
Levi Stubbs (who I think had a better voice than David)
Paul Williams
Etta James

...add more.

I think Otis was called "the prince of soul" (along with Marvin).

Sam Cooke was "the king of soul".

Also:
Jackie Wilson
Ron Isley
Bobby Womack
Martha Reeves
Mary Wells
Candi Staton

...added to the list.

In addition to the names mentioned.....

Smokey Robinson

Nina Simone

There is no ONE that is the best.

ernestsewell said:

I'm just waiting for someone to come along and say Prince (you know it's coming) LOL

kenlacam said:

ernestsewell said:

Hence the names listed.

This question is very broad. I think it would be better to break it down into categories such as era (60s,70s,80s, etc), gender, labels (Atlantic, Motown, Philly International, Stax), subgenres (jazzy soul,southern/bluesy soul, hip-hop soul). I really don't think there is technically such a thing as the "best". I think it boils down to who you like. In regard to the orginial question, I would say Sam Cooke because he set the template.

And let's not forget T-Bone Walker.

exenn said:

He is a blues singer not soul.

To my ears, he's the beginning of soul and rock n roll.

exenn said:

Thats cool if thats what you feel but according to musical "experts" Ray Charles started soul and Little Richard started rock n roll. IMO the genesis for all of this is Louis Jordan. He was the inspiration for Ray Charles, Little Richard, and James Brown.

candy2277 said:

Experts or not, there were a lot of people who inspired what became soul/R&B/rock and roll. I also list people like Big Joe Turner as the beginning of rock and roll. And people like Roy Brown and Wynonnie Harris, their singing even predicted soul itself.

Well, what I feel is that it's all music, and every 'genre' feeds off what came before it. I was going to say that I felt like Nat King Cole was an early model for the 'soul' voice (at least in the influence he had on Sam Cooke on a core level), but some folks don't even consider his best-known work to be 'black music'. Again, just names we give things that exist just fine without being named.

exenn said:

Nat Cole is definitely a progenitor of soul music. Sam, Marvin, Ray, etc., were definitely influenced by Nat. I think Billy Eckstine, Little Willie John and Brook Benton also influenced what became soul music.
[Edited 8/13/09 11:59am]

my favorites are james brown and


[Edited 8/13/09 12:05pm]

I don't think there's just one ultimate...
But James Brown would be my #1 followed by Otis Redding and David Ruffin

They don't call him the The Godfather of Soul for nothing!

Don't ignore this guy:

Timmy84 said:

[Edited 8/13/09 16:50pm]

RnBAmbassador said:

Uh hell to the naw to Bobby Brown.

Well maybe I heard a typo @ Otis. I do know he's called "the king of southern/Memphis soul" tho.

Gotta add these guys to the list.

Timmy84 said:

First, soul music is a combination of gospel, jazz, and blues. So yes Nat Cole is an influence and just about any other jazz vocalist, gospel singer, or jazz musician. Who you want to say had a bigger influence is left to the individual interpretation. I still stand by Louis Jordan. He was one of the first to combine jazz and blues. Ray Charles took it further by adding gospel to the mix of blues and jazz and hence the creation of soul music.

Some info about Louis Jordan from the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame

Louis Jordan (vocals, saxophone; born July 8, 1908, died February 4, 1975)

He has been called the Father of Rhythm & Blues and the Grandfather of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In the Forties, bandleader Louis Jordan pioneered a wild - and wildly popular - amalgam of jazz and blues. The swinging shuffle rhythms played by singer/saxophonist Jordan and his Tympany Five got called jump blues or jumpin’ jive, and it served as a forerunner of rhythm & blues and rock and roll. In fact, it has been plausibly argued that Saturday Night Fish Fry, is worthy of consideration as the first rock and roll record, containing many of the genre’s key ingredients: a distorted electric guitar, an early use of the word rocking, party-themed lyrics, and danceable, uptempo music. Similarly, with their breathless, manic spoken delivery, both Look Out and Saturday Night Fish Fry - released in 1947 and 1949, respectively - can be seen as early examples of what would come to be known as rap.

Jordan’s appeal stemmed from his songs’ lively evocation of good times, performed in a swinging style that ranged from hot jazz to bluesy boogie. Jordan supplied a good deal of the slang of early rock and roll and directly influenced the freewheeling spirit of the music. In retrospect, Jordan’s used of syncopated shuffle rhythms in a small-combo context can be viewed as the bridge between big-band swing and rhythm & blues (and, by extension, rock and roll). His incorporation of electric guitar and organ proved a major stepping-stone from jazz to R&B, as well.

Jordan’s peers and contemporaries included Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby. He would come to have a huge influence on Decca Records labelmate Bill Haley. Ray Charles was another professed acolyte who acknowledged his debt by signing Jordan to his Tangerine label in the early Sixties. Other rock and roll figureheads whom Jordan profoundly influenced were Little Richard (who adopted Keep a-Knockin’ from Jordan’s repertoire), Roy Brown and Wynonie Harris. No less a rock and roll pioneer than Chuck Berry paid tribute to Jordan with this simple declaration: I identify myself with Louis Jordan more than any other artist.

Louis Jordan was one of many, he didn't single-handedly change the scene but he was one of music's builders, anyway, this was about best soul singers, so let's add this guy:





"Soul Brother #2"

Please let me add a couple of classic tracks:





Enjoy!