Is R&B on Life Support?

[GrtGzu]

I saw this article and wondered the same thing...Here's the link:
http://blackamericaweb.com/132916/is...rge-weighs-in/

[smark21]

Too bad the article and interview doesn't really dive into the topic in any depth.

[soulster]

Too bad the article and interview doesn't really dive into the topic in any depth.

For real! It also just made me once again realize my mortality when he had to explain who the Soul Survivors were. I guess James Brown, Sarah Vaughn, Stevie Wonder, and Miles Davis are no longer R&B 101. I commonly run into people who do not even know who Stevie Wonder is these days, but they sure know 'Lil Wuss...I mean 'Lil Wayne. That makes me very sad.

[Soul Sister]

I agree with Tom, for me it has to be "James Brown" who was long before any of the others mentioned in R & B, and long before Philadephia International Reords ever existed. Plus James Brown had the best live show you could see in the 50's & 60's in R&B/Soul Music's biggest era.

They mentioned Sarah Vaughn ???... She was a Jazz story teller.

S.S.
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[thomas96]

Interesting article, but as said it didn't really say much about the topic! Also, him saying Stevie Wonder is the #1 R&B artist really surprised me. His iconic stuff isn't so much rhythm & blues as it is funk with R&B influence. Stevie is his own genre in my opinion. #1 R&B for me would be either James Brown or Otis Redding.

[midnightman]

R&B has gone through a lot of transformations to be dead. People seem to think R&B was born in the 1960s...

[soulster]

Well, we now have a generation or two that think R&B started with R Kelly.

[Soul Sister]

I feel it was born in the 1940's with artists like Louis Jordan and on....................


S.S.
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[Nothing But Soul]

I feel it was born in the 1940's with artists like Louis Jordan and on....................


S.S.
***

Glad to see you mention Louis Jordan, S.S. He was one of the founding fathers of both R&B and rock and roll. He was the largest selling black artist of the forties and had a tremendous influence on artists that came after him [[Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and B.B. King to name just three). Today, however, he is all but forgotten, which I think is a shame.

[Soul Sister]

Yes, true that Nothing But Soul. He was one of Ray Charles, Little Willie John, and James Brown's favorites too. His influence was wide.
He even gave Estelle Young her stage name and made a hit record from it "Caldonia". Estelle had a whole big revue with M.C., comedians, dancers, and singers she took on the road with her, she herself was a shake dancer and unusual contortionist. "Caldonia's Revue" started out a lot of talented kids such as Redd Foxx, Jack McDuff, Ernestine Anderson, Ruth Brown, Big Maybelle, and Jimmy Scott come to mind. She was like a Mother to these kids, in fact everyone thought she was Jimmy's real Mother because she took him on solo gigs to and he helped her a lot in general. They'd set up tents in the deep south, and work clubs on the Chitlin` Circit in the mid west, south, and east coast.

Louis Jordan was the most famous for the "Jump Blues" style that gave birth to R & B and later R & R. No doubt.

S.S.
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[arrr&bee]

You realize of course that by the title of this post folks are sending in donations...and i ain't retuning em...[we're in the money]hehehehehehehehehe!!!!!

[keith_h]

I completely agree with all your comments on Louis Jordan who is a big favourite of mine, but I would add three more names onto the list of founding fathers of R&B; Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris and Joe Turner. Browns' wonderful voice must have been a massive influence on Jackie Wilson and Elvis. Harris was unique, possessing a voice that could strip wallpaper, and I love the line that someone once used on him, which said he sang the blues with all of the finesse of an elephant breaking wind. Most people think of Joe Turners 50s Atlantic tracks, but he was recording in that style in the 30s and 40s.

[Nothing But Soul]

I completely agree with all your comments on Louis Jordan who is a big favourite of mine, but I would add three more names onto the list of founding fathers of R&B; Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris and Joe Turner. Browns' wonderful voice must have been a massive influence on Jackie Wilson and Elvis. Harris was unique, possessing a voice that could strip wallpaper, and I love the line that someone once used on him, which said he sang the blues with all of the finesse of an elephant breaking wind. Most people think of Joe Turners 50s Atlantic tracks, but he was recording in that style in the 30s and 40s.

You're right, Keith, Big Joe Turner, Roy Brown and Wynonie Harris are all worthy of mention for their contributions to early R&B and for paving the path to rock and roll. Another significant artist from that time period was Amos Milburn. Berry Gordy tried to revive Milburn's career with the 1963 Motown album The Return of the Blues Boss [[MT-608) but that effort was to no avail.

[keith_h]

Nothing But Soul, how could I forget Amos Milburn !? I have his original version of 'Chicken shack' and the album he did for Motown, on which he recut that track, and I much prefer the latter. It has a fuller arrangement, the tempo is slowed a little and the backbeat is more pronounced, giving it an almost funky feel.

[keith_h]

I thought I would add two very worthy figures onto the list of founding fathers of R&B, Buddy Johnson and Roy Milton. Listen to these, they move like crazy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7lL_FV9vTU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g9ZHa7cCsY

[Nothing But Soul]

[QUOTE=keith_h;180829]I thought I would add two very worthy figures onto the list of founding fathers of R&B, Buddy Johnson and Roy Milton. Listen to these, they move like crazy!

Keith, Buddy Johnson and Roy Milton were certainly worthy contributors to early R&B, but not many people remember them today.

Even though Buddy knew how to rock, his lasting legacy is undoubtedly a ballad he wrote, "Since I Fell For You." Besides the hit pop version by Lenny Welch, that song has been covered hundreds of times by a virtual who's who of recording artists.

Although not nearly to the same extent, Roy Milton's "RM Blues" has been covered a fair number of times as well, most recently by Stevie Ray Vaughan's brother Jimmie Vaughan.

[keith_h]

Even though Buddy knew how to rock, his lasting legacy is undoubtedly a ballad he wrote, "Since I Fell For You." Besides the hit pop version by Lenny Welch, that song has been covered hundreds of times by a virtual who's who of recording artists.

Nothing But Soul, what a great, timeless song that is. My first introduction to it was via Laura Lee on Hot Wax, but my fave has to be by Mavis Staples.

[keith_h]

Sorry, the first paragraph of my previous post should have appeared as a quote from Nothing But Souls' post.

[scatman44]

Remember, the interview came from a radio show, which is on limited time! To mention the origins and seeds behind Black Music Month is something rarely talked about!

I don't do too much quarreling with Nelson George. "The Death Of Rhythm and Blues" is as good of a book as there ever was written. I would love to see it updated!