News — southern soul

(A book by E. Mark Windle. Publication date 15 July 2019. Pre-order facility available now). I doubt it was just a moment-in-time thing. Thirty years on, my memory of first hearing Someday echo across the dancefloor at an all-nighter and stopping this young teenager dead in his tracks has not faded. It wasn’t a recording which necessarily broke the mould upon ‘rediscovery’ on the early 1980s northern soul scene. The new open-minded approach and healthy appreciation for musical diversity had already seen to that, whether it be mid tempo, beat ballads, latin soul, early R&B or others  - and the...

It's a bit of a tradition these days for me to provide progress reports of writing projects at particular milestones, partly to inform of course but also for personal reflection on the process and to praise contributing individuals who help 'make it happen'. So then, here we have the Spring update now that The Tempests book is nearly complete. On the whole, the majority of the book is there and the main text has now been proof read. Still-to-dos include some final image copyright permissions and heaps of boring stuff (indexing, pagination etc). The manuscript will be heading to the...

True enough, in the 1960s several recording acts from the eastern seaboard embraced soul music. For some perhaps it was initially as a happy accident. Travelling African-American R&B singers on the circuit arrived in town without a backing band and needed some local talented musicians to support them. Later, musical repertoire would occur more by design. The uniqueness of The Tempests lay in the fact that this homegrown North Carolina outfit known for soulful lead vocals, an unusually large and loud horn section, tight rhythm and heavy bass lines, could claim some commercial success and much critical acclaim. It seemed...

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...