SOUL/R&B
SOUL/R&B is a broad category that encompasses much of non-sacred African American music.Its reach spans from the early vocal hits by Sam & Dave such as "hold on coming" and "Soul Man" to Ray Charles "What'd i say to the mid-1970s radio-ready soul/pop of the Delfonics "Didn't I Blow Your Mind" and Al Green's "Let''s Stay Together." and all the way to the modern R&B of Beyonce and Usher. The category is united by emotive vocals,hints of funk and, of course, ample doses of pure, impassioned soul.
R&B laid the foundation for rock 'n' roll.Emerging after world war 11, R&B was a wide stripped-down, upbeat form that mixed jazz and the blues over a back-shuffle snare beat.The raunchy lyrical content continued a time-honored African-American tradition of setting sexual innuendos and double entendres to a danceable beat.This was not a male-dominated music from artists such as Ray Charles and Little Willie John shared the limelight with R&B pioneers Ruth Brown, Big Maybelle and Big Mama Thornton. In the 1950s. R&B artists incorporated more pop-oriented time singnatures and lyrical topics, moving the infectious sound into the popular mainstream.
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