News — southern soul

Even by the standards of his peer group, soul man Bobby Womack led a turbulent, dramatic and complex life. Telling the story in his own words, the book’s opening pages set the tone for the torrid ride ahead. Caught in bed with his teenage step-daughter, Womack is chased down by his wife Barbara who gives him a new side-parting with a bullet from her gun. That Barbara is Sam Cooke’s widow and step-daughter Linda goes on to marry Bobby Womack’s brother Cecil sets a high bar for tortuous relationship dynamics among musical folk. Cooke is pivotal to Womack’s story and...

The passing of Edwin James Balbier a couple of years ago went virtually unnoticed in UK northern scene circles: indeed few outside of the industry will recall his name. Yet, this individual would be the unwitting driving force behind one of the most popular soul re-issue (if brief) label imprints of the 1970s, even if it was the company’s younger soul music enthusiast employees who shaped the nature of the label arm of the operation. Balbier’s initial interests did not lie in soul music, but more generally in the oldies market. Born in 1930, the Philadelphian had an early career...

The DJs, producers and label owners WLAC DJs Gene Nobles and Herman Grizzard are often cited as the first who braved plugging black music in Nashville in the 1940s, largely through playing jazz records. Individual DJs pivotal to the story of the development of R&B and soul included Morgan Babb and Ted Jarrett at WSOK through the 1950s, then Bill “Hoss” Allen and John “R” Richbourg at WLAC in the 1960s and early 1970s. These DJs extended their role to other related industry activities, including record promotion, label ownership and production, cementing the R&B sound in Nashville’s music history.  ...

The Spidells were formed in 1962, by four students from Tennessee State University. This R&B vocal harmony group was comprised of Billy Lockridge (lead and second tenor), James Earl Smith (senior student, second lead and first tenor), Nathaniel Shelton (tenor), Lee Roy Cunningham (baritone / tenor) and Michael Young (bass / baritone). Sam Jones, of The Astors from Memphis, remembers being introduced to them by Larry Lee at the Club Del Morocco as early as 1962. Lee was associated with the group at that time, perhaps as part of the supporting band but also as songwriter.   Author collection.  Their...

Nashville based Stop Records Inc. was perhaps an unlikely source of rare soul. The label was founded around 1967 by session guitarist and producer Pete Drake. An Augusta, Georgia born and raised son of a Pentecostal minister, he moved to Nashville in the late 1950s to pursue his dreams as a musician. Several country, folk, pop and religious hits featured Drake on guitar including Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man”, Bob Dylan’s “Lay, Lady, Lay” and Elvis’ take on “How Great Thou Art”. By 1970, Drake was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Walkway of Stars. Drake may...