| Progressive soul | |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1960s – early 1970s, United States |
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Progressive soul (often shortened toprog-soul; also calledblack prog,black rock, andprogressive R&B)[1] is a type ofAfrican-American music that uses aprogressive approach, particularly in the context of thesoul andfunk genres. It developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s through the recordings of innovative black musicians who pushed the structural and stylistic boundaries of those genres. Among their influences were musical forms that arose fromrhythm and blues music's transformation intorock, such asMotown,progressive rock,psychedelic soul, andjazz fusion.
Progressive soul music can feature an eclectic range of influences, from bothAfrican andEuropean sources. Musical characteristics commonly found in works of the genre are traditional R&B melodies, complex vocal patterns, rhythmically unified extended composition, ambitiousrock guitar, and instrumental techniques borrowed fromjazz. Prog-soul artists often write songs aroundalbum-oriented concepts andsocially conscious topics based in theAfrican-American experience,left-wing politics, andbohemianism, sometimes employing thematic devices fromAfrofuturism andscience fiction. Their lyrics, while challenging, can also be marked by irony and humor.
The original progressive soul movement peaked in the 1970s with the works ofStevie Wonder,Marvin Gaye,Curtis Mayfield,Sly and the Family Stone,Parliament-Funkadelic, andEarth, Wind & Fire, among others. Since the 1980s, both prominent American and British acts have recorded music in its tradition, includingPrince,Peter Gabriel,Sade,Bilal, andJanelle Monáe. Theneo soul wave of the late 1990s and early 2000s, featuring theSoulquarians collective, is considered a derivative development of the genre.
By the mid-1950s,rhythm and blues was transitioning from itsblues andbig band-basedjazz origins toward the musical forms that would be known more broadly asrock music.[2][nb 2] This trend was expedited by the exposure of young white listeners and musicians toAfrican-American music played by ambitious disc jockeys on radio stations in theNorthern United States.[2] However, partly in response to jealousy among veteran performers and prejudice in general, recording acts in the early rock era generally gravitated toward either one of the three stylistic influences from which the genre had primarily originated – R&B,country, andpop.[3]
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In the mid-1960s, several new musical forms arose that diversified rock. Among them was theMotown sound of Detroit-basedMotown Records, which released more refined and slick productions distinct from other R&B-leaning rock.[4] The music academicBill Martin traces the origins of progressive soul to Motown as well asRay Charles andJames Brown, whose recordings altogether span as early as the 1950s, while the jazz writer Rob Backus cites an early example inthe Impressions' 1964 song "Keep On Pushing".[5]Progressive rock, another emerging subgenre, utilized an eclectic range of elements such as exotic instrumentation fromclassical andfolk, along with highly developed lyrical concepts composed acrossalbum-length works. This trend emphasized the album format over thesingle and reachedmainstream culture withthe Beatles' 1967 albumSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Concurrently,psychedelic rock utilizedelectronic innovations with a harder sound primarily intended to induce or enhance the listener'sconsciousness rather than for relaxation, dance, or analytical listening.[4]
In the late 1960s, the structural and stylistic boundaries of African-American music were pushed further by thepsychedelic experimentation ofblack rock acts likeJimi Hendrix,Arthur Lee'sLove, andthe Chambers Brothers. The jazz trumpeter-bandleaderMiles Davis also made an impact with his wide-rangingfusion experiments, which incorporated elements from rock, electronic,avant-garde, andEastern music.[6] As withfolk rock earlier in the decade, jazz fusion was another emerging subform to concede rock influences in a parent genre that had otherwise been exclusive to a culturalelite.[4] These events inspired greater musical sophistication and diversity of influences, ambitious lyricism, and conceptual album-oriented approaches in blackpopular music, leading to the development of progressive soul.[7]
By the 1970s, many African-American recording artists primarily working in thesoul andfunk genres were creating music in a manner influenced by progressive rock.[8] According to music criticGeoffrey Himes, this "progressive-soul movement flourished" from 1968 to 1973 and demonstrated "adventurous rock guitar, socially conscious lyrics and classic R&B melody",[9] whileAllMusic says the genre was "flowering" in 1971.[10] Among the musicians at its forefront wereSly Stone (bandleader forSly and the Family Stone),Stevie Wonder,Marvin Gaye,Curtis Mayfield, andGeorge Clinton (bandleader forParliament andFunkadelic).[11] UnderBerry Gordy's leadership at Motown, Gaye and Wonder were reluctantly given artistic control to approach their albums more seriously in what had generally been a single-focused soul genre, leading to a series of innovative records from the two during the 1970s.[12] Similar to white prog musicians, black artists of this movement directed their creative control toward ideals of "individualism, artistic progression and writing for posterity", along with concerns related to theAfrican-American experience, according toethnomusicologist andUniversity of Colorado Boulder music professor Jay Keister. However, he notes that the pursuit of individuality sometimes challenged the collective political values of theBlack Arts Movement.[13] Himes categorizes the progressive soul movement as "left-wing" and "bohemian" in the sense of "any culture with amiddle class to produce young people who are more interested in the unfettered exploration of intellectual, artistic, sexual and political possibilities than in the mainstream goals of wealth, power and conformity"; he adds that this subculture among African Americans grew in proportion totheir emerging middle class.[14]
Many of the leading African-American musicians were riding theprogressive wave at the same time as white musicians, but with one major difference. If the overall imperative of the time was that music must progress, for African Americans it was more specifically that "our music must progress."
Among the prog-rock characteristics shared in black progressive music of this period were extended composition, diverse musical appropriation, and making music for the purpose of concentrated listening as opposed to dancing.[15] Progressive soul vocalists incorporated complexpatterns in their singing, while instrumentalists used techniques learned from jazz.[16] Unlike theEuropean art music resources used by progressive white artists, who tended to distinguish their extended compositions with song-basedsuites, African-American counterparts favoredmusical idioms from both African-American andAfrican sources, including the use of an underlying rhythmicgroove to unify an extended recording. Altering instrumental textures were also used instead as a way of signifying a change in thesection of an extended track. Applications of these elements featured in songs such as Funkadelic's "Wars of Armageddon" (1971) andSun Ra's "Space Is the Place" (1973).[15] The contemporaneous album-length works ofIsaac Hayes were often extended and elaborately composed R&Bjams characterized byleitmotifs and his spoken interludes (known as "raps").[17]
Progressive soul musicians also used a variety of non-traditional influences, much like the Beatles had in the 1960s.[4] Clinton'sParliament-Funkadelic collective prominently used influences frompsychedelia alongside those from Brown and the Motown sound.[18] Both Clinton's collective and Sun Ra applied thematic concepts associated withAfrofuturism andouter space mythology.[13] Some artists borrowed elements from European-American traditions to augment a song's lyrical idea. For example, Wonder added pleasant-sounding instrumental textures from astring ensemble to "Village Ghetto Land" (1976), lending a sense of irony to the song's otherwise bleak critique of social ills in urban ghettos.[19] Mayfield's socially- and politically charged 1970 albumCurtis featured both the extended prog-soul song "Move on Up" and orchestral-laden works like "Wild and Free", which employedharps to produce distinctivetimbres.[20] Gaye's 1971 albumWhat's Going On was composed as a social-protestsong cycle unified by both rhythmic and melodicmotifs.[13] Clinton also explored the African-American experience and drew on "Black Power" literature as well as the music ofBob Dylan and the Beatles, pointing specifically to the latter's element ofnonsense on songs like "I Am the Walrus" (1967). However, Clinton's themes were more party-centric, influenced by contemporarystreet culture, and often incorporated lowbrow elements ofabsurdity andtoilet humor similar to theexperimental rock musicianFrank Zappa's recordings withThe Mothers of Invention.[21]
TheSan Francisco music scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s was "a workshop for progressive soul", according to cultural anthropologist Micaela di Leonardo, who credits the radio stationKDIA with showcasing the music of local acts like Sly and the Family Stone andTower of Power. Popular with thehippie audience, Stone's songs appealed to tolerance, peace, andintegration along racial and social lines, while his leadership of the Family Stone made them among the first racially- and gender-integrated popular acts.[22] The Philadelphia stationWDAS-FM, which had been progressive rock-oriented in the late 1960s, changed to a progressive soul format in 1971 and over time developed into an important media source for the African-American community.[23] Progressive soul stations played extended soul recordings past the typical single length, as was the case with the nine-and-a-half-minute-longTemptations single "Runaway Child, Running Wild" (1969).[24] Hayes' 1969 recording of "Walk on By" is considered a classic prog-soul single.[25]
In discussing the exemplary prog-soul albums of this period, Himes names Hendrix'sElectric Ladyland (1968), the Temptations'Cloud Nine (1968), Sly and the Family Stone'sStand! (1968), Gaye'sWhat's Going On (1971), Funkadelic'sMaggot Brain (1971), Mayfield'sSuper Fly (1972),War'sThe World Is a Ghetto (1972),Earth Wind & Fire'sHead to the Sky (1973), and Wonder'sInnervisions (1973).[9] Martin also cites albums from Wonder (Innervisions, along with 1972'sTalking Book and 1976'sSongs in the Key of Life) and War (The World Is a Ghetto, along with 1971'sAll Day Music and 1973'sWar Live), as well asthe Isley Brothers (3 + 3 from 1973 andHarvest for the World from 1976).[26] The 1975 albumsThat's the Way of the World (by Earth, Wind & Fire) andMothership Connection (by Parliament) are other notable releases, with the latter a concept album culminating Clinton's Afrofuturist musical aspirations.[27] Wonder's mid 1970s albums are also highlighted byThe Times writer Dominic Maxwell as "prog soul of the highest order, pushing the form yet always heartfelt, ambitious and listenable", withSongs in the Key of Life regarded as a peak for its endless musical ideas and lavish yet energetic style.[28] Backus notes among the genre's many politically charged works to include the Temptations song "War" (1970), the LPs ofGil Scott-Heron, andthe O'Jays' "Rich Get Richer" (from the 1975 albumSurvival).[29]
Sly Stone was "the first superstar" of progressive soul, according toBillboard journalist Robert Ford, who noted his ability to "pack people into [Madison Square Garden] whenever the mood struck him".[30] In the wake of Sly and the Family Stone's politicized and pessimistic hit albumThere's a Riot Goin' On (1971), a wave of similarly fashioned soul songs began to dominate the radio. By the release of the band's 1973 LPFresh (featuring the million-seller "If You Want Me to Stay"), Vernon Gibbs ofCrawdaddy! had proclaimed Stone "the founder of progressive soul".[31]
Also hugely popular, Wonder and Gaye's progressive soul albums sold millions of copies during the 1970s.[32] Wonder's series of albums in particular were conceived with high artistic aspirations and proved much celebrated, winning the musician manyGrammy Awards and transforming his career.[13] Gaye'sWhat's Going On eventually proved among the most acclaimed albums in history, and Earth, Wind & Fire'sThat's the Way of the World (with the help of its hit single "Shining Star") was among the most successful black-music records at the time, leading album sales for 1975 with more than 1.1 million copies.[33]
Progressive soul's name and rise in the mainstream were both reported in 1975 byBillboard andBroadcasting magazine, which said the "relatively new" genre was impactingpop radio across the US and reaching "an ever-broader audience".[34] The latter magazine cited the commercial breakthroughs of Earth, Wind & Fire andthe Blackbyrds (with their radio hit "Walking in Rhythm"). The continued success of the O'Jays with their hit "For the Love of Money" (1974) was also discussed, withGamble and Huff's production highlighted for the use of "voicephasing and a variety of electronic effects that rival somespace rock efforts by white musicians".[35] According toStereo Review's Phyl Garland, Earth, Wind & Fire was "the leading exponent of progressive soul" through the end of the decade.[16]
Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective achieved a corresponding success as a concert attraction, selling out large arenas and auditoriums while performing in sprawling fashion, with musicians dressed in eccentric costumes.[36] As Keister chronicles, by the mid-1970s, Clinton had conceived an "elaborate stage show designed for his touring group called P-Funk, presenting his dual projects as a single, collective entity"; he "ruled over several dozen musicians in a tour that resembled aBroadway show, with a sizable budget fromCasablanca Records that he never would have imagined just a few years earlier when his touring musicians were forced to improvise costumes out of garment bags from the dry cleaners". TheP-Funk Earth Tour concerts climaxed with the highly popular conceit of a spacecraft-like prop (theP-Funk Mothership) landing on stage and Clinton strutting down its ramp to greet the live audience as his alter ego,Dr. Funkenstein (who resembled a flamboyantly dressed, extraterrestrialpimp).[37]
In February 1975, Parliament-Funkadelic played a co-billed show withOhio Players andGraham Central Station at New York City'sRadio City Music Hall. Reporting on the concert forThe New York Times, Ian Dove said that all three groups represented "a fair cross section of the progressive soul genre", while adding that soul in general had become "the trendy rage indiscotheques".[38] The original wave of progressive soul was "short-lived", however, with Himes noting its decline by the late 1970s.[39] In Mayfield's case, he withdrew from public life after a series of lawsuits and poorly receiveddisco albums.[40] Parliament-Funkadelic also fell into disarray with mismanagement of its various musical projects, drug abuse among many of its members, and Clinton's professional disputes with their record label, culminating in the end of the collective's original run by 1981.[41] Stone suffered a similar fate, as legal and drug issues interfered with his productivity and presence in the music industry throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.[31]
During the 1980s, artists who made recordings in the genre includedPrince,[42]Peter Gabriel,[43]Sade,JoBoxers, andFine Young Cannibals.[44] The latter three groups are cited by Himes as spearheading the movement's rebirth in the UK, which other acts likeKane Gang andthe Housemartins would join by 1988.[44] However, in a piece forThe Washington Post the following year, he proclaimed that the original movement's expansion of R&B's "musical and lyrical boundaries" remained unrivalled.[40]
By 1990, younger American artists were renewing the progressive-soul tradition. These includedChris Thomas King,Terence Trent D'Arby,Lenny Kravitz,Tony! Toni! Toné!, andAfter 7.[9] More emerged as the decade ensued, including the British singersSeal andDes'ree, and AmericansMeshell Ndegeocello andJoi.[45]Spin magazine's Tony Green credits the latter two artists with pioneering the prog-soul revival that would peak by the early 2000s.[46]
At the start of the 21st century, the leading artists of progressive soul were theSoulquarians, an experimental black-music collective active from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Often marketed under the term "neo soul", their members recorded collectively at New York'sElectric Lady Studios and includedD'Angelo,James Poyser,Q-Tip,J Dilla,Erykah Badu, andRaphael Saadiq (formerly of Tony! Toni! Toné!).[47] Himes, who citesBilal,Jill Scott, andthe Roots as a Philadelphia-based correlative within this collective, adds that they took "the progressive-soul tradition of Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and Prince and [gave] it a hip-hop twist".[42] The commercial success of artists marketed as neo soul, such as Scott, Badu, andMaxwell, helped lend the genre credence as the modern manifestation of progressive soul in both mainstream and subcultural milieus through the 2000s.[48][nb 1]
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While having debuted with a popular R&B single for amajor label, Bilal soon turned more to progressive soul and jazz performance, recording albums likeLove for Sale (which alienated his label and went unreleased) andAirtight's Revenge (released in 2010 on an independent label).[50] In discussing the latter work,Exclaim! journalist David Dacks says the singer's variant of soul is "utterly contemporary, meaning it's a mix of everything that's come before while adding a raft offuturistic sonic touches. At its heart is the classic,album-oriented prog soul of the '70s, with a strong, jazzy undercurrent, but it's much more than that. Bilal's reedy, Sly-meets-Prince voice runs down metaphysical and personal subjects overtop a continuously changing musical landscape ..."[51] According to the music journalist Chris Campbell, Q-Tip (through his group work inA Tribe Called Quest, his own solo career, and other productions) "introduced a form of jazzsampling andbohemian chic that heavily influenced the neo-soul and progressive soul movements".[52]
Along with Bilal, prog-soul singer-songwriters in the 21st century have includedDwele,Anthony David,[53] andJanelle Monáe.[54] Monáe's work features Afrofuturist aesthetics andscience fiction concepts, including narratives written around theandroid persona Cindi Mayweather, described byPopMatters critic Robert Loss as "a mechanical construction composed for the usefulness of others". Loss adds that her use of various genres, both individually and in combination with each other, "serves a progressive ideology" and acts as "a response toW. E. B. Du Bois' critical notion of 'double consciousness', wherein the African American is constantly aware of self and the self as seen by whites".[55] Saadiq's 2011 prog-soul albumStone Rollin' prominently utilizes theMellotron, an old-fashioned keyboard most often played in progressive and psychedelic rock, and evoking whatAllMusic's Andy Kellman describes as "diseased flutes and wheezing strings".[56]Alicia Keys performs in a similar form of soul as Monáe on the 2020 song "Truth Without Love" (from the albumAlicia), described byMojo magazine's James McNair as "astro-soul".[57] Writing in 2021,Gigwise critic Lucy Wynne remarks that progressive soul is "very on-trend at the moment", noting theLeon Bridges albumGold-Diggers Sound in particular.[58]
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