MOTOWN (Soul Music)

1. MOTOWN (Soul Music)

2. Early Soul Music • Developed in the 1950’s from African American “Gospel Music”. • After slavery was abolished in 1865, African Americans were not welcome in the same churches as White people. • They built their own churches and sing up-beat, joyful sounding songs while moving and clapping to the beat, and sang slow songs with a lot of emotion.

3. Early Soul Music • The first soul songs were created when Gospel songs were changed into secular songs. • Secular: not religious; Worldly. • Joyful, up-tempo songs were changed to soul songs, and slow gospel songs were changed to romantic love songs.

4. Early Soul Music • An example of this is a song by Ray Charles titled I’ve Got A Woman (Way Across Town) which is adapted from I’ve Got A Savior (Way Across Jordan).

5. Early Soul Music • An example of the slower style of this “crossover” music is Please, Please, Pleaseby James Brown. • This song changes the lyrics from longing for the love of Jesus to the love of a woman.

6. Early Soul Music • Another singer who changed gospel songs into soul songs was Sam Cooke. • His beautiful, yet powerful voice was first heard on his first crossover hit You Send Mein 1957.

7. Early Soul Music • Cooke’s song You Send Me was so popular that it replaced Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock at the top of the pop-music charts. • It was the first of 30 crossover hits before writing his last and final song A Change Is Gonna Come.

8. Early Soul Music • Before the song was released, Cooke was murdered in Los Angeles. • Even though his life was cut short, it opened up the way for many more African American soul singers.

9. Northern Soul: Chicago and Detroit • Most Popular type of soul in the 1960’s • Known as Motown Pop Soul. • Motown Record was established by Berry Gordy in 1959 in Detroit Michigan

10. Motown Records • Produced dozens of pop-soul hits that young Americans loved. • Had nearly 80 top-ten crossover hits from 1960-1969, and Motown’s house band, Funk Brothers, played on nearly all of them. • They also had female singers that were becoming huge stars. One of those was Etta James

11. Etta James • Born in Los Angeles, California in 1938. • Her career began to soar by 1960 due to her songsI’d Rather Go Blind and At Last. • She died in 2012, and is still considered one of the most influential singers in music.

12. Diana Ross • Born in 1944 in Detroit, Michigan • She formed the groundbreaking trio in the 1960’s called The Supremes. • The Supremes were very popular, with two of their biggest hits being Come See About Meand You Can’t Hurry Love.

13. Diana Ross: Solo Career • Diana began her solo career in 1969, putting out multiple number one hits, such as Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. • She also starred in movies including a movie music called The Wizwhich is an African American retelling of The Wizard of Oz

14. Motown Groups Motown was also known for its singing groups. Some would be women, but most were male singing groups. Two examples were The Foundations and The Temptations.

15. The Jackson 5 One of the most popular groups in Soul Music. All brothers, with young Michael Jackson with the lead vocals. Some of their most popular hits were ABCand I Want You Back

16. Southern Soul: Memphis • Two main styles of Soul Music were developed in the South: • Deep Soul: Stax Records • Memphis Soul: Hi Records

17. Stax Records: Deep Soul • House band was mixed-race and called Booker T. & the M. G.’s, and their horn section was called The Mar-Keys. • This house band played on dozens of recordings, including a song by Wilson Pickett In The Midnight Hour

18. Otis Redding • The house band also played for Stax’s biggest star, Otis Redding. • Otis’ greatest song was (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay, however, like Sam Cooke, he died in a plane crash before it was released.

19. Hi Records: Memphis Soul • Produced some of the most beautiful soul music ever released. • Added strings and smoother backing vocals. • Hi Record’s biggest star was Al Green. He released many crossover hits in the 1970’s, including his song Let’s Stay Together.

20. Other Artists from the South • 2 other important artists from the South are Aretha Franklin and Percy Sledge: • Aretha Franklin brought female gospel styles to soul music with her song Say A Little Prayer. • Percy Sledge had the biggest selling hit in soul music with When A Man Loves A Woman. • Both of these artists also recorded many of their hits in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

21. Aretha Franklin • Born in 1942 • Hit her peak in music between 1967 and 1968, and released hit after hit. This is what gained her the title of “Queen of Soul”. • The song that won her her first 2 Grammys was Respect, which was a cover of the song by Otis Redding.

22. Influence • Soul music went on to influence many different styles. • These included Funk, Hip Hop, and Contemporary R&B.

23. Funk Influence Developed when soul artists like James Brown and Stevie Wonder began extending the grooves in their soul music. Ex: Superstition; Stevie Wonder

24. Hip Hop Influence Soul Music influences Hip Hop when DJs would start rapping over soul and funk grooves and beats.

25. Contemporary R&B Developed from the singing styles of Aretha Franklin and Al Green. Artists such as Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey became some of the biggest selling artists of all time. Ex: When You Believe;Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey