The most soulful soul songs

November 23, 2014 • 6:09 am

Wikipedia has about as good a characterization of “soul music” as I could find:

Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. It combined elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and often jazz. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States – where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax labels were influential during the period of the civil rights movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa.

According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is “music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying”. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the soloist and the chorus, and an especially tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds.

The “soul” come not only from the “black experience” (which, after all, isn’t uniquely black in many of the romantic soul songs like several shown below), but mostly from the “especially tense vocal sound”: the urgency of emotion inspired by culture, oppression, and the irremediable sadness derived from the blues. Well, what can I say? I was young and in my music-loving prime during the heyday of soul music (roughly 1960-1970), which has now transmogrified into rap, a genre that has long outlived its novelty. I danced many miles to this music.

What I show below is Professor Ceiling Cat’s selection of the Most Soulful Soul Music. This is not what I consider the “best” soul music—although every song here is terrific—but the songs that are the most passionate, the most “tense,” as Wikipedia calls it. (I’ll put up my choice of the best two soul song tomorrow. Hint: they both have the word “baby” in their titles.)

As I have tons to do, and you don’t want to read much about this (but I hope you’ll listen), I’ll just put up a few words and the salient information on each song. Some of these I’ve posted before as individual songs.  As always, feel free to mention your Most Soulful Soul Songs in the comments.

I’ve used live versions when available, but some of the live ones below are lip-synched, and I’ve been unable to find good live versions of some songs. These are listed in no particular order.

“Ask the lonely“

You can make a good case that Levi Stubbs, the lead singer of the Four Tops, was the most soulful of all soul singers. His voice had an urgency and plaintiveness that was unmatched. Here, in a live recording of “Ask the lonely,” which has crummy video but good audio, is his most soulful song and, to my mind, one of the best soul songs ever performed live.

Release date: 1965
Songwriters: Ivy Jo Hunter, Mickey Stevenson

“Bernadette”

One of the Four Tops lesser-known hits, it’s still one of the most soulful. Stubbs can barely contain himself as he extols his inmorata.

Release date: 1967
Songwriters: Holland-Dozier-Holland (Motown’s greatest songwriting team)

“Try a little tenderness”

“Dock of the bay” was certainly Otis Redding’s greatest hit, but this one is at least as good, and is more soulful as it builds to a fierce climax. This is a stunning performance.

Release date:1966
Songwriters: Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, Harry M. Woods

“Give me just a little more time”

Does anyone remember this one, performed by Chairmen of the Board? It came out in late 1969, the tail end of the great soul-music era. The soul crescendo begins at 2:10, culminating in the “brrrr”!

Release date: 1969
Songwriters: Holland-Dozier-Holland, Ron Durbar

“It’s a shame”

One of the Spinners’ biggest hits, this has a classic Funk Brothers beginning, with a guitar riff segueing into a drumbeat resembling a heartbeat. The soul intensifies when the lead singer (not sure who; there were several) lapses into falsetto at 1:10 and then gets down at 1:57 and then again at 2:25.

Release date: 1970
Songwriters: Stevie Wonder, Lee Garrett, Syreeta Wright

“Night train”

James Brown, as The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business, was full of soul—so full that he successfully pulled off his schtick of pretending to be overcome by the music when singing onstage, then having his assistant come onstage, put a cape over him, and lead him off, whereupon Brown would throw the cape off and return to his singing. (I always wanted to do this during a science talk, as “The Hardest Working Man in the Science Business”). Of all his songs, though, this performance of Night Train, at the famous T.A.M.I. Show, is perhaps the most soulful. It’s a classic.

Release date: This song has a complicated history (see link above, beginning in 1940). Brown’s version was released in 1961 and the version below was recorded three years later.
Songwriters: Oscar Washington, Lewis P. Simpkin, and Jimmy Forrest

“Heat wave”

There’s no question that of Motown’s “girl groups,” Martha and the Vandellas was the most soulful, although as a soloist Aretha Franklin (“Respect’) came close. And this is, without doubt, their most soulful hit. It reached #1, and everyone who knows soul music knows this one. I suspect that, among oldsters like me, it’s a karaoke tune (I’ve never done that and never will!)

Release date: 1963
Songwriters: Holland-Dozier-Holland (of course)

“A change is gonna come”

There are several great songs that express the aspirations of the civil rights movement (Blowing in the Wind, People Get Ready [A fantastic song]), but this, written and performed by the great Sam Cooke, is to me the most moving. His voice fairly bursts with indignation and frustration. It’s one of the greatest soul songs ever released, and the one that Spike Lee chose to accompany the ending of his movie “Malcolm X,” as Malcolm walks toward the auditorium where he’ll be assassinated.

Release date: 1964
Songwriters: Sam Cooke

 

52 thoughts on “The most soulful soul songs”

  1. Nailed a couple of my all-time favorites, you did, Professor Ceiling Cat: “Try a Little Tenderness” and “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Both are in my iTunes library, and I listen to them often still.

    1. Right on. These were the first two must-haves that came to mind as soon as I saw the title of this post. Otis Redding and Sam Cooke — the yin and the yang, the alpha and the omega, the baddest and the coolest of R&B.

      1. As a fellow soul aficionado, Otis Redding (in general)and Sam’s “A change is gonna come” came to mind immediately for me as well.

        If Jerry had been in Chicago during 1960-70, He might also have included The Dell’s. There 1966 Cadet album “There is” is absolutely brilliant with two massive hits, “Stay” and “Oh what a night”. Lead singers Johnny Funches, Marvin Junior, and Johnny Carter were the very “best of the breed”.

  4. “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops.
    “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge.
    I know, people will say that these are obvious choices. I don’t care.

    1. Yes, obvious, but nevertheless great choices, as are all of those by Professor CC. I would add other obvious choices, like Soul Man by Sam and Dave, and Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, by the Temptations.

      “Bernadette” is at the top spot of my soul Itunes playlist. I STILL can’t get over James Jamerson’s bass line – almost no one was playing like that in pop music at the time it was recorded.

  5. My two favorites are (no particular rendition)
    Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone
    and
    Midnight Train to Georgia

    Thanks for the list – a good start to the day!

    2. Two terrific additions to PCC’s list, as well as Doug’s two. I’d add To Love Somebody as performed by James Carr – his version has beautifully understated intensity, if that’s not an oxymoron.

  6. The most electrifying soul performance I’ve ever seen is Joan Osborne singing “What Becomes of The Broken Hearted” with the Funk Brothers:

    Joan Osborne

    Pretty well proves you don’t have to be black to have soul.

        1. Check out absolutely anything by Beth Hart, and if you have any taste for great blues/soul music you will be impressed.

  7. A guess about the two forthcoming songs?
    Ooo baby baby, by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and Baby Love by the Supremes?(with a nod to Baby I Need Your Lovin’ by the Four Tops)

    1. And if Be My Baby by the Ronettes were considered soul, it would be another worthy choice. The Spectorization worked in this case, and Hal Blaine’s drum pattern was a perfect fit.

  8. All good choices. I can add many more, but here are some:
    Have You Seen Her, by the Chi Lites
    You Don’t Know Me, by Ray Charles
    Brick House, by The Commodores
    I Can’t Get Next to You, by The Temptations

  11. I’ll second Ain’t No Sunshine and also add You’re No Good. Oh, and Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.

    I am always surprised how old some of these songs are, since it seemed like they were still in rotation ten years on. You pretty much have to listen to “classic” or “oldies” stations to hear anything more than a couple of years old nowadays. Still my definition of cool.

  13. Shirelles: but will you love me tomorrow
    More Motown than Soul perhaps.
    Dionne Warwick: pick from her large opus
    More pop than Soul perhaps.

  14. I love the Four Tops! Martha and the Vandellas, too.

    Here’s some passionate soul singing:

    Bobby Womack – Across 110th Street
    Dee Dee Warwick – The Way We Used to Do
    Justine “Baby” Washington – There he is
    Main Ingredient – Everybody Plays the Fool
    Heartaches – Doris Troy

    I could do this all day, so I’ll stop there.

  15. Agree entirely with
    A Change is Gonna Come. Sam Cooke at his best, which is pretty much unbeatable

    Add
    At the Dark End of the Street, James Carr
    Chain of Fools, Aretha
    You Don`t Know Me, Ray Charles (could be about 10 Charles songs, including Lonely Avenue and Unchain My Heart)

  16. I find it difficult to make the distinction between ‘Soul’ and ‘R and B’. My iTunes also does not know the difference, as it lists them together.

  17. I have to agree with all of the OPs choices, and most of the songs noted in the comments as well. From the OP A Change Is Gonna Come is my clear winner. It is enough to make you cry, especially with appropriate imagery.

    Though I love that era of soul, I also love ’70s soul. That is the era that I was dancing to soul songs most Friday & Saturday nights. Groups like Brick, Rose Royce, Commodores, Parliament, Marvin Gaye, The Brothers Johnson, Heatwave, Earth Wind & Fire and many more.

    Songs like,
    Dusic, We Don’t Wanna Sit Down.

    Wishing On A Star, Car Wash.

    I Feel Sanctified, Brick House, Just To Be Close To You, Zoom, Easy.

    Give Up The Funk, Flash Light, P-Funk, and who could forget, The Electric Spanking Of War Babies?

    Got To Give It Up (no more need be said)

    Strawberry Letter 23

    Always And Forever, Boogie Nights.

    Shining Star, Reasons (The live version of this song on the album Gratitude still has the ability to transport me back in time at a thoroughly visceral level that is nearly too poignantly nostalgic to bear.)

    And for a super-mega serving of cheese, everyone should experience Float On by The Floaters at least once in their lives. I personally have experienced it on the order of hundreds of times, I would guess.

  18. The most soulful 45 I ever bought was the 1968 re-issue of Edwin Starr’s ‘Stop her on sight(SOS)’ which came with the added bonus of ‘Headline News’ on the flip side.

  19. The 50s thru the 70s was probably the greatest period in music and will not be seen again. All of the Detroit sound going right along with the rock music and it continued to grow for 30 or more years.

    Today we are in a desert by comparison and it is probably true that technology killed it.

    1. I agree with most of that, except that last sentence.

      There is so much music being made these days, of every type imaginable, that it can be daunting to make the attempt to begin sorting through it to find the good stuff. But anytime I make the effort I readily find plenty of good stuff.

      We are drowning in music these days. It is impossible for more than a tiny fraction of the music made these days to be aired on popular radio, or even be available in a reasonably sized bricks and mortar “record store.” You’ve got to actively search for it, and that can be daunting, but there is a lot of great stuff being made all the time.

  20. Aretha will always be the Queen of Soul to me. I especially love her cover of Carole King’s “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman.” I also love Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman”–wow. And for Otis Redding, my pick is “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.” He hits a note or two there that makes a chill run up my spine.

    One of the things that attracted me to my husband (of 45 years) is that he owned a copy of the Four Tops Greatest Hits (I think it was–“Bernadette” was on it, anyway).

  21. I started off listening to Maori show bands (my parent’s records) which was as close as we got to soul, then.. a Ray Charles LP got me going when I took up playing drums and I never looked back.
    I saw the Four Tops in the mid sixties at the Auckland Town Hall NZ I was fifteen at the time. What was so special was that soul groups in their prime did not come down under very often.. so a big ups to them, it was a soul day out for this young fan.

      1. I have not as yet, but I will in my summer work break. Thanks. Always looking for night DVD viewing as we don’t have TV at the bach.
        I’m listening to Spotify at the mo,
        Straight Up Funk Soul- Drivetime
        I recommend to the Prof and other soul lovers.

  22. One last post from me. Jackie Wilson was one of my favorites. “Higher and higher” and Baby workout” meet the 1960 to 1970 time frame, and “Lonely teardrops” barely misses it. I watched “Leaving Las Vegas” last week and was pleased to hear an excellent cover of “Lonely teardrops” being done by Michael McDonald (of Doobie Brothers fame). I think I’ll go listen to it right now.

  24. Dyke and The Blazers “We Got More Soul”.

    The Rascals “Jungle Walk”. (Though Felix let the writer/guitarist do the lead vocal. Much better if he’d done it. But no better funk/soul guitar riff was ever recorded. )

  25. There’s a funked out version of “Try a Little Tenderness” in the Alan Parker film The Commitments — way cool, especially for a group of comprehensive-school-age Irish kids. (Then again, as the group’s manager, Jimmy Rabbitte, explains while showing the band a James Brown tape as a manner of instructional video: “Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: ‘I’m black and I’m proud.'”)

    1. Loved that movie!! Not to forget The Committmentettes ( back-up singers) and the father’s velvet-Elvis paintings. Great music, and the lead singer with the powerful voice was only 16.

      1. Loved ’em here, too — both the girl singers and the guy singing lead (Andrew Strong as “Deco” Cuffe). He put some Joe Cocker into that role. Luckily, not too much. Never go full Joe Cocker.

  26. there is a great collection put out by Hip-O Select that compiles ALL single releases by Motown from ’59-’72, (the Detroit years). A-Sides, B-Sides, hits, misses, recalled singles, radio edits….all of it. I think it’s about 1800 tracks in total. What strikes me is how good all the singers were. The Funk Brothers need no further introduction, but there were an incredible number of singers that only had one or two singles that didn’t or only barely charted, and in any era there are fabulous singers.

    FWIW, Kim Weston owns the Motown voice that speaks to me.

    Soul music didn’t end when Motown moved to LA. There is some fabulous Soul Music created today. Check out Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

  27. “A Change Is Gonna Come” This song is the result of a species that has not grown up. A powerful demonstration of when someone cries out against the inequities of humankind and challenges us to take courage in mutual respect.

    James Brown and Martha and the Vandellas make you forgot all the heartache and shocks that life on earth gives us.

  28. And lest we think this brand of music died before the ’80s, be sure to check out some of the recent work by St. Paul and the Broken Bones.

  29. My favorites were Martha & the Vandellas “Heat Wave” and The Shirelles “Please, Mr. Postman” and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”. Generally, I preferred the upbeat to the “slow dance” songs. And we can’t forget Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” is a wonderful song. And then there was Ike & Tina Turner’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. While Gaye & Ike weren’t exactly upstanding human beings, the music was wonderful.

    1. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was an Ashford and Simpson song that was a hit by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Are you perhaps thinking of the great “River deep, mountain high” By Tina Turner? (Ike wasn’t allowed in the studio by Phil Spector, although it was released as an Ike & Tina song.)

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