Winners: most soulful soul song

January 15, 2016 • 1:30 pm

Twelve days ago I put up my selection of what I considered the most soulful soul songs of our era. (This was, of course a purely subjective choice, and I limited myself to fourteen songs.) Readers were asked to vote, and since over a week has passed, I’ll show the results below. Sadly, there were only 292, but there was a clear winner from the readers, even though they voted wrong:

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I’m glad every song got at least one vote, but of course the correct choice came in second: Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come“. I was surprised that “When a Man Loves a Woman” (still a great classic) took the top spot, and that my second favorite, “Ask the Lonely,” came in a miserable ninth, garnering only 7 votes. Maybe you should listen to it again!

24 thoughts on “Winners: most soulful soul song”

  2. In my opinion, “A Change is Gonna Come” is a wonderful song, but not by far Sam Cooke’s best. It all depends on what you value most–the lyrics or the music itself, I think. I like soul with a strong backbeat–you know something you can dance to. All the songs were very good examples of soul music–there are so many good songs from that era that I couldn’t just choose one as my favorite.

  3. I’ve been listening to “Ask the Lonely” for the last week, along with a “Try a Little Tenderness,” “A Natural Woman,” “This Old Heart of Mine,” and “When a Man Loves a Woman.” I added these to a playlist and have been listening on walks.

    I like “A Change is Gonna Come”, too. It’s soothing and moving.

  4. Maybe an age thing again but you are correct on this one. The results are surprising.

  5. My cat Gus and I really enjoyed the excuse to listen to all these great tunes! Gus likes Stevie Wonder.

  6. Close to Christmas, Billy Bragg was interviewed on CBC. Bragg talked about Levi Stubbs. If he should ever hear the voice of God, Bragg said, he expects that it’ll sound like the voice of Levi Stubbs.

  7. On NPR’s Fresh Air, Terri Gross recently interviewed Carole King, who wrote Natural Woman. It’s worth a listen.

    She did demos of songs she wrote to demonstrate to potential buyers how they might be sung including her ideas for the instrumentals.

    They played some of her demos back-to-back with the popular versions – the part I found most interesting.

  8. Oh gosh, somehow I missed this. My favorite is Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.” He hits a note there that just makes me shiver.

    2. Good choice! My favorite Otis Redding song though is “Glory of Love” – check it out if you haven’t listened to it lately!

  9. If you were to poll about the most sorrowful soul song, I’d vote for Patches by Clarence Carter. *sniff*

  10. I can name many more but here are three of my favorites “Confidental” by Sonny Knight;　”Will you love me tomorrow” by Carol King,” and Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers. And there are seveal by Johnny Mathsis which stll bring tears to my eyes.

  11. “When a Man Loves a Woman” is a fine soul song, but Percy drowned it in the bathos. Numbers 2 and 3, by Sam and Otis, are legit contenders for the crown.

  12. Maybe the terrific “A Change is Gonna Come” didn’t come in first because it was the only one that wasn’t specifically about romantic love. I know I tend to equate soulfulness in music with sensuality.

  13. I shouldn’t be commenting on this post since I stopped listening to popular music sometime back in the 1950’s, so I apologize. But, if you want real singing by really accomplished singers, opera is the way to go. And, the goddess of opera singers? Renee Fleming. And, Merilee agrees with me. Two against the world. Ok, I’ll chastise myself.

    1. Well, I just sampled about dozen of Renee’s songs on Spotify. Many are in that high-pitch range with a vibrato that seems Oprah-y to me, but my untrained ear has no way to discern if she’s any good. I don’t doubt your word on this; I just don’t know what I’m listening for–the qualities that make it nuanced. Sure the pieces could be moving, especially if heard in person, but why do they also feel remote to me? What am I missing? I’d like to think that I’m not afoul in the taste department, even if my ear is untrained. So, what grips you and Merilee about Opera?

      1. This may sound sexist, but just look at her. She’s gawed awful beautiful. And her singing ain’t bad either. If only you’d seen her last year as The Merry Widow. Usually, one expects opera singers to be, shall we say, a little on the, uh, spacious side. Not an excess pound on her. Ok, so I’m a male chauvinist pig. But then, why does Merilee agree with me? And, I might add, so does my ex-wife.

    2. Marian Anderson had a lot of soul in that contralto of hers, especially when singing from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after the DAR barred her from Constitution Hall.

  14. Oops, I forgot to vote, but A Change is Gonna Come is my favorite, too. It is the most heartfelt & intense anthem of the civil rights era. Still is relevant today.

    Sam Cooke came to a sad end too soon.

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