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Blue-eyed soul (also calledwhite soul[1]) isrhythm and blues (R&B) andsoul music performed byWhite artists.[2] The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly blackMotown andStax record labels. Though manyR&Bradio stations in the United States in that period would only play music byBlack musicians, some began to play music by white acts considered to have "soul feeling"; their music was then described as "blue-eyed soul".[3][4]
Georgie Woods, a Philadelphia radio DJ, is thought to have coined the term "blue-eyed soul" in 1964, initially to describethe Righteous Brothers, then white artists in general who received airplay onrhythm and blues radio stations.[4][5][6] The Righteous Brothers in turn named their 1964 LPSome Blue-Eyed Soul.[7][8] According toBill Medley of the Righteous Brothers, R&B radio stations who played their songs were surprised to find them to be white when they turned up for interviews, and one DJ in Philadelphia (unnamed by Medley but probably Georgie Woods) started saying "Here's my blue-eyed soul brothers", and it became a code to signal to the audience that they were white singers.[9] The popularity of the Righteous Brothers who had a hit with "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is thought to have started the trend of R&B radio stations to play songs by white artists in the mid-1960s, a more integrative approach that was then popular with their audience.[3] The term blue-eyed soul was then applied to such artists asSonny & Cher,Tom Jones,Barry McGuire, andRoy Head.[10]
White musicians playing R&B music, however, began before the term blue-eyed soul was coined. For instance, in the early 1960s, one of the rare female blue-eyed soul singers wasTimi Yuro, whose vocal delivery and repertoire were influenced by African-American singers such asDinah Washington.[11]
Lonnie Mack's 1963 gospel-infused vocals earned him widespread critical acclaim as a blue-eyed soul singer.[12]Len Barry, former lead singer onthe Dovells, recorded blue-eyed soul hits in 1965 and 1966 for Decca Records in the US and released by Brunswick Records: "1-2-3", "Like a Baby", and "I Struck It Rich", a song he wrote with Leon Huff of the Philadelphia International Records producers, Gamble and Huff. Groups such asthe Rascals had soul-tinged pop songs,[13] but it was the soulful vocals ofFelix Cavaliere that gave them the blue-eyed soul sound.
By the mid-1960s, British singersDusty Springfield,Eric Burdon, andTom Jones had become leading vocal stars of the emerging style. Other notable UK exponents of blue-eyed soul includedthe Spencer Davis Group (featuringSteve Winwood),Van Morrison, and archetypalmod bandthe Small Faces, whose sound was heavily influenced by the Stax label's house bandBooker T. & the M.G.'s. Blonde, blue-eyed soul singerChris Clark became the first white singer to have an R&B hit with "Love's Gone Bad" with Motown Records in 1966. In 1969,Kiki Dee became the first British artist to sign and record with Motown. Some British rock groups of the 1960s – such as the Spencer Davis Group,the Rolling Stones ("My Girl"), andthe Who ("Heat Wave") – covered Motown and rhythm and blues tracks.[citation needed]
In 1967,Jerry Lee Lewis, whose latter days atSun Records (1961–63) had been characterized by R&B covers, recorded an album for Smash entitledSoul My Way.Elvis Presley releasedFrom Elvis in Memphis in 1969, an album of blue-eyed soul, southern soul and country soul.Delaney and Bonnie (Bramlett) produced the blue-eyed soul albumHome on Stax in 1969.[14]Michael Sembello, who left home at age 17 to tour withStevie Wonder, wrote and performed on numerous blue-eyed soul hits for Wonder,Brian McKnight,David Sanborn,Bill Champlin, andBobby Caldwell.Todd Rundgren began his career in Woody's Truck Stop, a group based on the model of thePaul Butterfield Blues Band.
After splitting fromBig Brother and the Holding Company,Janis Joplin formed a new backup group, the Kozmic Blues Band, composed ofsession musicians like keyboardist Stephen Ryder and saxophonist Cornelius "Snooky" Flowers, as well as former Big Brother and the Holding Company guitaristSam Andrew and futureFull Tilt Boogie Band bassist Brad Campbell. The band was influenced by theStax-Voltrhythm and blues (R&B) and soul bands of the 1960s, as exemplified byOtis Redding andthe Bar-Kays.[15][16]
Joe Cocker, who sang soul-oriented covers of songs such as "With a Little Help from My Friends", was said by theChicago Sun Times to have "opened the door for all blue-eyed soul singers after him".[17]
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds andthe Grass Roots both had successful blue-eyed soul singles; the former with "Don't Pull Your Love" (1971) and the latter with "Two Divided by Love" (1971) and "The Runway" (1972). In 1973, the American bandStories and the Canadian groupSkylark had successes with their respective blue-eyed soul singles "Brother Louie" and "Wildflower". In February 1975,Tower of Power became the first white/mixed act to appear onSoul Train. Also in 1975,David Bowie, another early white artist to appear onSoul Train, releasedYoung Americans, a popular blue-eyed soul album which Bowie himself called "plastic soul".[18] It featured the funk-inspired "Fame", which became Bowie's first number-one hit in the US.Hall & Oates' 1975Daryl Hall & John Oates includes the ballad "Sara Smile", long considered a blue-eyed soul standard. "She's Gone", another soulful hit, was originally released in 1973 but did better as a re-release after "Sara Smile".Bobby Caldwell, one of the most notable purveyors of blue-eyed soul, released his enduring hit "What You Won't Do for Love" in 1978.[citation needed]
Blue-eyed soul music's chart success was at its highest when Hall and Oates' singles got heavy airplay onurban contemporary radio, as was the case with "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)", "Kiss on My List", "One on One", "Say It Isn't So", "Adult Education", "Out of Touch", "Method of Modern Love", and "Everytime You Go Away". Most of those singles charted on the R&B and dance charts, including some number-one hits. In 1985,Simply Red released "Holding Back the Years", one of the most successful blue-eyed soul ballads; "Money's Too Tight (to Mention)" and other singles by the group also performed well.[citation needed]
Other successful blue-eyed soul songs of the 1980s includePhil Collins'cover of "You Can't Hurry Love" (1982);Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (1982), "Time (Clock of the Heart)" (1982) and "Church of the Poison Mind" (1983); Dexys Midnight Runners' "Come On Eileen" (1983);the Style Council's "Shout to the Top" (1984);Teena Marie's "Lovergirl" (1985);Paul Young's "Every Time You Go Away" (1985);Eurythmics' "Missionary Man" (1986), andSteve Winwood's "Roll with It" (1988). As the decade drew to a close, British artistLisa Stansfield had considerable success on R&B radio, scoring three number-one R&B hits, the most popular being "All Around the World".[citation needed]
In the mid-1980s,George Michael found some success in the USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs with hit singles such as "Careless Whisper" and "Everything She Wants"[19] but it was not until he reinvented himself as a white soul singer with the release of his multi-platinum albumFaith (1987).[20] The album was notable for slowly climbing to the top of theTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it the first album by a white artist to hit the top spot on that chart, mainly due to thegospel-influenced singles that were released from the album, most notably "Father Figure" and "One More Try".[21][22] In 1989, he racked up three wins in the American Music Awards including Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album forFaith.[23]
Dance-pop singerRick Astley shifted to blue-eyed soul andadult contemporary in the early 1990s withFree, featuring the hit "Cry for Help".[citation needed]
Joss Stone received acclaim after releasing her first albumThe Soul Sessions in 2003. Scottish musicianPaolo Nutini whose first two albums influenced by soul music arecertified quintuple platinum by theBritish Phonographic Industry.[24]Adele's debut album19 was a global success.
A backlash ensued in the late 1980s as some black people felt that white people were cashing in on the popularity of their music. The extent of the backlash, however, was not universally agreed upon. In 1989,Ebony Magazine published an article exploring whether white people were "taking over" R&B. The article featured various members of the music industry, both black and white, who believed collaboration was a unifying force, and there was agreement that the future of R&B was not compromised by the contemporary urban sound. A similar article inEbony, written in 1999 highlighted conflicting opinions about the "blue-eyed" influence; however, the source of contention was not about the artistic merit of blue-eyed soul, but rather theeconomic inequality that persisted in American life and within the music industry.[25]
According to scholar Joanna Teresa Demers, the "successors [of Presley] in blue-eyed soul and white funk" embittered poetGil Scott-Heron, as it proved that "blacks were still being victimized bycultural appropriation, making their contributions to American history virtually invisible and inaudible." The "long tradition of white co-optation of black cultural identity" since Elvis amounting to "artistic theft" was, in Scott-Heron's words, "no new thing."[26]
Daryl Hall has described the term "blue-eyed soul" asracist, saying "it assumes I'm coming from the outside. There's always been that thing in America, where if you're a white guy and you're singing or playing in a black idiom, it's like: 'Why is he doing that? Is he from the outside, looking in? Is he copying? What's the point of it?' C'mon, it's music! It's music."[27]