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You will notice the incredible amount of difficulty I had in making this list because I excluded Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, Prince, Aaliyah and Ray Charles among others. Some of these artists may yet crack the Top 25 once I have more time to look at their songs and amend the list. (I may come back and turn this into a top 50, then top 75, then top 100. There is just waaayyyyy too much good Soul Music out there. I wish Jazz-Rap fusion, my favorite genre, had this many talented musicians working on it over the years.)
24. Gladys Knight and the Pips - "The Midnight Train to Georgia"
"The Midnight Train to Georgia" contains a lot of call and response. The response acts like the conscious thoughts of the narrator as she makes her decision to follow her loved one. The narration, though simple in terms of plot, moves along nicely with the usual climax and resolution. Especially for a song of average length, it has a great progression and completeness. Knight's narrative voice resonates with the response throughout the whole song. She punctuates each song with her emotion. Part of her ability to hit emotions comes from her control over her chest cavity to her diaphragm. Her singing creates a completeness similar to that found in the narrative.
At the height of the climax, her air retention and the ability to push her voice out creates a euphoric feeling of hope while she pursues her lover "in his world....and not in [hers.]" The trombones add a touch to her euphoria. Another quality of Knight's voice is her care and tenderness. On a lighter note, my favorite call and response in the song is "he kept dreaming (dreaming) oohhh someday he'd be the star (a superstaaa but he didn't get far," (from 1:38 to 1:50.) I don't know why, it makes me laugh.
Unfortunately, Gaye fell victim to some of the things he talks about in this song, including violence in the black community. He was killed by his father during an argument on April 1, 1984. His father was not charged for the murder, as he was acting in self-defense. The pain in both his community and inside himself shows here, especially at the 4:00 minute to 5:00 minute mark. The music slows down and his voice begins to shake as his eyes squint and look like he is about to cry. "What's Going on/ What's Happening Brother" is a song that probably still resonates in the black community and with the poor, as their socioeconomic status and the violence in their community has only increased since Marvin's days as a singer, largely due to racism becoming subversive rather than obvert.
The background singers play a large role in terms of breath and style, if not in terms of track time. Like Gaye's entry above, the beat will have your head bumping to the song and the lyrics and voice have a sad sweetness to them.
Short of Michael Jackson, Elvis and Johnny Cash, Barry White has probably the most recognizable voice in American Music History. The number 17 spot could have easily been any number of Barry White songs, including "Just the Way You Are" and "My First, My Last, My Everything." I decided to include "Can't Get Enough" because it gives you something you do not usually get with Barry songs, some (relatively) high notes that he hits with ease. The song also has a great build up to its chorus, and switches from singing to Barry talking with great ease. The tempo matches that upbeat feeling you get when your relationship reaches that "puppy" love stage and has not reached that "real" love stage. This is the era of "You Can't Get Enough" of that special lady you met just 7 or 8, or 5 or 6, or even 1 month ago. You can't keep your hands off this girl, you call her pet names, your friends call you whipped but you don't care, you have various inappropriate PDAs and, most of all, you are not afraid to throw on this song and embarrass yourself and your ladyfriend with your best Barry White impression.
As the song comes to a falsetto in the whistle register, the lyrics "you send chills down my spines" make the hair on your arms stand straight up. The saxophone does a lot to give the song some punch as the piano keeps the beat. The instrumentals and the singing go hand-in-hand in this one, with neither taking the lead, and it works real well.
lament. Whatever lover Michael had at the time of the song's release probably felt slighted by the concealment of their relationship. I believe, with the whispers, and lines like "ignorance is kind, there is no comfort in the truth, pain is all you find," Michael was talking about how hard concealing their relationship from the public was. Michael admitted in a 2007 interview he hid the fact he was gay for concern of his mother's reaction to the news. The song, then, is a caring lament. The vocals, sax, piano and drums all play subdued notes. Range is not the strength here: it stays in the same octave for most the song's course. The song itself is a whisper. The whispers of his sexuality had already started, and would persist until he was caught by a cop in a sting operation in 1998. 9. Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes - "If You Don't Know Me by Now" The singing and accompaniment in "If You Don't Know Me by Now," like the song at number 10, is soft and understated. Even when the song reaches a crescendo, it whispers to you. This whisper reflects the vulnerability of the narrator. When Teddy Pendergrass eventually goes from speech voice to chest voice, a trace of resilience becomes clear. He is frustrated, but despite the chorus "If You Don't Know Me By Now," he is not giving up on his love. If it were meant for an individual lover, I imagine this song made her cry before she apologized about her trust issues. The song is so sincere and definitely tugs along the trust of the listener. 8. Minnie Riperton - "Loving You" Minnie Riperton's voice in "Loving You" is so sweet it deserves to be played in a meadow with Snow White and all the woodland creatures. The producers felt so, too, which is why they added bird chirping to Minnie's swan song. Riperton mimics these sounds by using whistle register. The lyrics that best sum up this song is when Riperton says "we will live each day in spring time." Riperton uses nonsensical sounds which add to the mood and atmosphere. The instrumentals used in "Loving You" are the keyboard and the acoustic guitar. They, too,
mimic the chirps of the birds, both with single, uncomplicated chords. This song is great for a picnic with your sweetheart. 7. Mar vin Gaye - "Let's Get It On" "Let's Get it On" is bedroom theatrics at its best, just make sure you're fresh and awake enough to bring your A game. Anything less would be a disappointment and a black eye to this great, raunchy song. I'll keep the explanation short, because if you and your girl or guy are reading this article, you probably checked out after the first sentence, hit the link above and are getting it on right now. 6. Boyz II Men - "I'll Make Love to You" Changing direction from that kinky girl you know to the girl you are trying to wife, this song and the guys were featured on the episode "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" where Will (another native Philly guy) was supposed to get married (seriously?!?!? the series made it that far?) This song is perfect for a weekend get-away or a special occasion, meaning you should only play it for your guy or girl if you are serious about them. And definitely play this if your significant other is going through a difficult time. Music and touch can express in ways that words will never, and this song will say to that special person that you will comfort them. 5. Mar y J. Blige - "Real Love" Upbeat, fun and powerful, Mary J. Blige shows off her vocal range by switching from speech voice to belt voice without hesitation, and hitting those high notes with ease. Mary J. Blige is among the best all-time when it comes to hitting high notes in belt voice, if a couple steps behind contemporaries Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, who do not have the same strength in speech voice. Her ability to make this switch sends chills down a listener's spine (check out the last verse, from 3:24 to 3:50, where the voice switches about every two syllables. This switch takes extreme accuracy and talent.) The accompaniment also follows this pattern, and these few bars are the best (short of the song at number 1) of any part of the other songs on this list.
Skip the last 20 seconds, if possible, where both the music and Blige's voice take a turn for the worst. 4. Bobby Caldwell - "Open Your Eyes" Bobby Caldwell's voice makes "Open Your Eyes" smooth, strong and distinctive. Caldwell is able to jump up and down his vocal range and make smooth transitions during his triads. The instrumentals really let Caldwell go to work, as they stay in the background except for a piano chord that is repeated 3 or 4 times during the chorus. This is not to say the instrumentals do not add to the song's quality. The piano chords during the chorus do take something away, but the sax and single piano notes give the song that extra oomph to allow Caldwell's voice to shine. 3. Al Green - "Let's Stay Together" Trumpets are quite appropriate in summoning "Let's Stay Together" because the song is grand and timeless. Some funky guitar and piano play overtakes the trumpets. Those instruments continue except for the end of bars in the chorus. The song features a balance between the instrumentals and vocals, unlike most songs where either the vocals or the instrumentals take the lead. Al Green is at his best when he is hitting a crescendo on a single word, as he does many times over in "Let's Stay Together." And as this short song goes on, so too does the listener go deeper and deeper and deeper into loving it. 2. Rober ta Flack - "Killing Me Softly With His Song" You have probably heard the Fugees' version of "Killin Me Softly." Many other versions exist, the most notable among them is Roberta Flack's (which, in itself, is a cover of what is now a pretty unknown song.) "Killing Me Softly" was written by Lori Lieberman as a reaction to the first time she heard Don Mclean (best known for his song "American Pie") in concert. Roberta's version of the song sounds much different than the original because of its intimacy. The delivery is much different than the Fugees' version because Roberta's voice is so sweet and soft instead of the powerful way in which Lauryn Hill delivers it. Flack's singing
matches the words better than Lauryn's. It also gives our spines and our hearts a jump when she reaches the crescendo near the end of the song ( 3:24 to 3:52) after staying in speech voice for the beginning. The back-up singing and instrumentals do add some to the song, but Flack was smart enough to let her piano-playing and voice do most of the work. 1. Sam Cooke - "Change is Gonna Come" "Change is Gonna Come" is incredibly powerful, it sounds like a symphony or the score to a dramatic musical. It alone was the reason I changed this list from Soulful Love Classics to Top 25 Soul and R&B songs. The story behind its origin is that Sam Cooke heard Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" and decided, if a white man could write such a moving song about race relations, he must do the same. The song was released in 1963, just before race riots and the Civil Rights Movement came to their height. Over time, "Change is Gonna Come" evolved into the unofficial anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. Cooke's voice perfectly displays the suffering of African-Americans and, ultimately, the hope for change. The way Cooke ends his bars with an abrupt stop brings each statement to a poignant end. The instruments sigh after Cooke ends his phrasing and add to the song's hopeful sorrow. And, while it sounds like a symphony, the lyrics Cooke wrote make the song very personal. These dynamics will make you more attached to it even as you listen for the millionth time. Unfortunately, such a hopefully tragic song also had a tragic end. The song was released posthumously after Cooke's death by gunshot in 1964 and was also played at the funeral of Malcolm X a couple months later.