By: Rita Rebaza Music 1040
Soul Music According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Soul is: Music that arose out of the black chronicle experience from the inner cities of Americathrough the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, seculartestifying,"due to: Urbanization:Surging employment during World War II accelerated the migration of the rural areas to cities and helped create a younger, more urban black audience. Commercialization:By 1946 the decade-long dominance of swing musicwas fading, but the demand for exciting dance music remained. Segregation: Around 1965, soul associated with struggles for black identity and dignity.
Soul History (40s) R&B artists broke away from the big band formulato perform in small bands and emphasize blues-style vocals and song structures. Electric guitar and bass was incorporated to the bands to add volume and intensity, making the new sound ideal for radios and jukeboxes. Billboardmagazine coined the term rhythm and bluesto rename its "race records"chart in 1949, reflecting changes in the social status, economic power, and musical tastes of African Americans. Due to the apparition of new record labels and radio stations marketing black musicians, R&B attracted young white audiences andled directly to the popularity of rock and roll.
1950s Overshadowed by rock and roll singers, like Elvis Presley, R&B performers took soul sound and expand it: The Detroit (Motown) style, a driving, energetic soul style combining R&Bwith southern gospel music sounds. Southern soul(memphis/ New Orleans), style that relies on syncopated rhythms, raw vocals, and blaring horn sounds. New York, Philadelphia/Chicago soul, a light gospel-influenced sound with a slush orchestral sound and doo-wop-inspired vocals. Psychedelic soul, a blend of psychedelic rock and soul music. Blue-eyed soul, music performed by white artists.
1960s Sam Cooketransformed the soul genrein the '60s and '70s."His ability to sing boldly about social concerns in songs like "A Change is Gonna Come"made him an important figure during the Civil Rights Period. Motown(Detroit), Atlantic (NY/Memphis), and Stax(Memphis) emerged to contribute in the development of this genre making its sound and lyric ideal for radio and jukeboxes, and influential during the civil rights era. His influence reached important soul singers such as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and Al Green. Electric guitar, drum, and basswere also added to give volume and intensity to the music. Artists like James Brown and Sly & the Family Stoneevolved a new, funky style that emphasized intense rhythmic interplay between vocals, horns, guitar, and drums.
1970s to Date 1970-1980 By the early 70s, soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock sowing the seeds to new genres in the 80s such as quiet storm soul, rock, funk, disco and eventually hip hop. 1990 to date By the early 90s, neo soulappears as a new sub genre of soul by blending: 1970s soul-style vocals Instrumentation with contemporary R&B sounds, hip hop beats and poetic interludes. Uses a heavy dose of a warm, gospelorganic sound (produced by the Fender Rhodes or Wurlitzer electric piano) over a mellow, grooving interplay between the drums and a muted, deep funky guitar sound.
Style Features Catchyrhythms, stressed by handclaps and improvised body movements. Call and responsebetween the soloist and the chorus. Gospel-ish moan, yearning tone, and pleading vocal sound. Melisma,improvisational additions, and melodic embellishment. 12 bar, 3 line lyric style, repeatsthe same musical notes, phrases and rhythm throughout the song. Gentle and smooth, to raspy and harsh tone. Convey a varied range of emotions. Infuses a wide variety of instruments together such as: piano drums guitar bass horn trumpet and saxophone
Macy Gray Biography Studied classical piano for seven years. Enrolled in USC's screen writing program Wrote lyrics for a musician friend's original songs. Grammy Awardwinning, R&B, Jazz, and soul singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. Original name Natalie McIntyrebut borrowed her stage name from a Canton, Ohio, neighbor. Born in Canton, Ohio on September 6th, 1969. Her music style is influenced by Billie Holiday, Betty Davis, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Bob Marley, old-school hiphop and white rock & roll. Became singer by coincidence. After the singer failed to show up in a demo session, Gray recorded them herself, in spite of her distaste for her own voice. Her distinctive raspy voice give her the opportunity to sing jazz and pop standards with a band in hotels around Los Angeles, and to sign a record. Currently, Gray has released 8 albums, one live album, and three compilation albums, being the most important Oh How Life is (1999). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okkhxmcjdzm (Live at Java Soulnation 2013)
I Try Album: Oh How Life Is. Epic. 1999 (3:59) Producer: Andrew Slater Writer: Macy Gray, Jeremy Ruzumna, Jinsoo Lim, David Wilder. Genre: Basic pop, R&B/soul style (gospel influence). Tempo: Moderate walking pace tempo. Form: ABAB. Verse-chorus-verse. Instruments: Electric guitars, electric organ, bass, and drums accompaniment. Lead Vocal: Gospel style. Raspy voice and pleading tone. Auxiliary sounds (melisma). Backup vocals: A subtle use of vocal harmony (soft to loud pitch). Follow the leader vocal. Features Intro: romantic keyboard sound. Even beat subdivisions (break). Mild rhythm syncopation Unique gospel-ish organ sound throughout the sound. Mellow backbeat in drums throughout the song. Electric rhythm guitars. Soft bass string Invokes deep emotion and soft dance movement. Lyrics:The singer feels fulfilled if she is with his boy. Passionate love ( Here is my confession, may I be your possession, Boy I need your love, kisses and such! ) Chart: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand # 1, British Hits # 6, American Billboard # 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq6rgiidtqe
Finally Made Me Happy Album: Big. Geffen. 2007 (3:09) Producers: Macy Gray, will.i.am, Ron Fair. Writer: Macy Gray, Moses, O'Neil, Meldal-Johnsen, Indrizzo. Genre: Soul, jazz. Tempo: Wry mid tempo R&B ballad. Form: Section length vary (ABABB). Harmonic structure of the song. Instruments: Piano (will.i.am), drum, base guitars, organ, cello, viola, drums, trumpet (The Black Eyes Pea's Printz Board) and saxophone. Vocal leader: Silky voice, sensual improvisation (melisma). Backup vocal: Natalie Cole. High pitch voice, doo-wop/gospel style. Auxiliary sounds. Features: Intro: soft drum backbeat plus verse. Mild rhythmic syncopation. Major key tonality Drums keep strong backbeat with a faint keyboard in the background. Electric guitar playing a few notes. Enters with a jazzy piano solo (break) and carries the melody with the keyboard and drum sound in the background. Horn section plays with a predominant trumpet sound in the middle and the end of the song. Brief mellow cello and viola sound in the background. Ended with a aggravated key piano sound accompanied with a high pitch back up vocal. Lyrics: The singer express cheerful/satiric emotion after her boy left her ( Baby, you finally made me happy when you walk out the door. For all the times you made me cry, now all I feel is joy ). Chart: UK club chart # 18. Failed to reach the top in Billboard Chart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvkf-0l7uei https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhn_28isnbg
Kissed It Album: The Sellout. Island. 2010 ( 3:44) Writers: Gray, Cross, Franklin, Simon. Genre: R&B, neo-soul, pop-rock, drum and bass. Tempo: Moderately Fast Tempo. Form: Section length vary (ABABCB). Harmonic structure of the song. Instruments: Electric guitar (Velvet Revolver), drum (cymbal), electronic piano, organ, synthesizers, drum machine and tambourine. Vocal leader: Silky voice, brief rapping style, improvisation (melisma). Backup vocal: Gospel style. Call and response. Clapping hands. Features: Intro: strong beat drum followed then by an undulated drum machines and guitar sound). Beat played by drums accompanied by clapping hands to keep the beat Even beat subdivisions. Mild rhythmic syncopation. Major key tonality. Drums keep strong backbeat with a faint keyboard in the background. Keyboard/synthesizer and drum machine enters and play briefly in the background. Ornamental electric guitar sound over a mellow drum-keyboard-tambourine sound. Ended with an moderately aggravate stopping sound produced by the guitars and drums. Delivers a boogie stomp and invoke dance movement. Lyrics: The singer expresses necessity of love despite of being neglected by her boy ( I was gonna leave you. Then you kissed me. I don t wanna fight. Baby, kiss it. Cause I miss it. Make it alright ). Chart: Italian Airplay Chart # 62. Billboard Chart # 38. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okkhxmcjdzm (Live at Java Soulnation 2013) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zkcclsohuc
Bibliography "About Macy Gray." Viacom International Inc. http://www.mtv.com/artists/macy-gray/biography/ Anderson Jesse. "Early R&B Soul Music History." http://jesseandersonblues.com/early%20r&b%20soul%20music%20history/ "Big, The Album." Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. October 15, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/big_(album) Cahoon Brad. "Rhythm and Blues Music: Overview." New Georgia Encyclopedia. November 12, 2014. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/rhythm-and-blues-music-overview "Macy Gray." Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. November 13, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/macy_gray "R&B History." R&B Music Hall of Fame Museum. http://www.rbhalloffame.com/r-b-history/ "The Sellout Album." Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. October 29, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_sellout_(album) "Oh How Life is, The Album." Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. August 15, 2015 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/on_how_life_is Google Images