60 Fun Facts About Soul Music

Soul music, a blend of gospel and rhythm and blues, originated in African-American communities in which period?

The phrase "soul music", meaning gospel-style singing with secular lyrics, was first attested in 1961.

Which singer, a contemporary of Sam Cooke and James Brown, is counted a soul forefather thanks to crossover hits such as 1957's "Reet Petite"?

Berry Gordy wrote hits for him before founding Motown; he was known for his dramatic delivery.

Which nickname was given to James Brown?

He was also billed as the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business and Soul Brother No. 1.

Sam Cooke was lead singer of which gospel group before controversially going secular?

He first recorded pop under the alias Dale Cook, but his voice was too recognisable for the disguise to work.

Sam Cooke's 1957 recording of which song launched his pop career?

His 1962 "Bring It On Home to Me" has been called perhaps the first record to define the soul experience.

Sam Cooke died in 1964 after being shot by whom?

The shooting took place at a motel in Los Angeles; the circumstances remain disputed.

Berry Gordy founded Motown in 1959 with a family loan of how much?

Smokey Robinson encouraged him; his first label was called Tamla because his preferred name was already taken.

Before founding Motown, Berry Gordy had a brief professional career doing what?

He dropped out of high school to box, then worked at a Lincoln-Mercury plant, before writing hits for a rising Detroit star.

Motown's original Detroit headquarters and studio, at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, was known as what?

The former photographer's studio ran 22 hours a day; it is now the Motown Museum.

Motown's house band, largely uncredited until a 2002 documentary, was known as what?

Standing in the Shadows of Motown identified 13 members, including bassist James Jamerson.

Which songwriting and production trio were rarely off the charts writing for the Supremes, the Four Tops and Martha and the Vandellas?

Their departure over royalties in 1967, along with the Detroit riot, preceded Motown's move to Los Angeles.

How many number-one singles did the Supremes have on the Billboard Hot 100?

They started in 1959 as the Primettes, sister act to the Primes, who became the Temptations.

Motown remained independent until it was bought by which company in 1988?

PolyGram bought it in 1993 and Universal Music absorbed PolyGram in 1999.

Stevie Wonder became the youngest solo artist to top the Hot 100 at 13 with which single?

He had signed to Tamla at 11 as Little Stevie Wonder.

Stevie Wonder is the only artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year with three consecutive releases. Which three?

He was also the first Black musician to win the award.

Smokey Robinson led which Motown group from its 1955 origins until 1972?

They began as the Five Chimes; he left to concentrate on being Motown's vice president.

Stax was founded in Memphis in 1957 under what original name?

It became Stax in 1961, combining founder Jim Stewart's surname with that of his sister Estelle Axton.

The name Stax was formed from the surnames of which sibling founders?

Jim Stewart, a country fiddle player, started the label in a garage.

Stax's racially integrated house band, whose 1962 instrumental hit was "Green Onions", was called what?

Two white members and two Black members made them unusual for the segregated South.

Which Stax house-band guitarist co-wrote "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" with the singer who recorded it?

He also co-wrote several of Wilson Pickett's hits.

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was begun on a rented houseboat in which California town?

He recorded the whistling ending just three days before his plane crashed on 10 December 1967.

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" made chart history in 1968 as what?

The album of the same name was also the first posthumous number one on the UK Albums Chart.

Who wrote and first recorded "Respect", before Aretha Franklin's 1967 version made it hers?

His 1965 original was a man's plea; Franklin flipped the gender with her sisters Erma and Carolyn.

According to engineer Tom Dowd, whose idea was it to spell out "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" in Aretha's version?

The "sock it to me" refrain, sung by her sisters, became a household expression.

Aretha Franklin was crowned "the Queen of Soul" on stage at Chicago's Regal Theater by which radio personality?

She went on to win 18 Grammys and was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1987.

Aretha Franklin won the first eight Grammys ever awarded in which category?

She won the category every year from 1968 to 1975.

Aretha was first noticed as a gospel singer at which Detroit church, where C. L. Franklin was pastor?

C. L. Franklin was a nationally famous preacher; she signed with Columbia at 18 before Atlantic revived her career.

Writer Peter Guralnick argues soul "started, in a sense" with the 1961 success of which Solomon Burke record on Atlantic?

Guralnick saw the pairing of Burke and Atlantic as the first thing resembling a movement.

Solomon Burke was crowned with what title in a 1963 ceremony at Baltimore's Royal Theatre, and wore a cape and crown on stage ever after?

He was also known as the Bishop of Soul, having been consecrated a bishop at birth by his grandmother.

Which 1965 breakthrough hit did Wilson Pickett co-write at the Stax studio in Memphis?

The house band's guitarist and drummer built the rhythm track with producer Jerry Wexler.

Atlantic Records was founded in 1947 by Herb Abramson and which Turkish-born music lover?

He had expected to become a diplomat until his ambassador father died in 1944, and sang backing vocals on "Shake, Rattle and Roll".

The session musicians who founded Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1969, after leaving FAME, were nicknamed what?

Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, Jimmy Johnson and David Hood backed everyone from Aretha to the Rolling Stones.

Muscle Shoals, home of FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound, is in which state?

Percy Sledge, Etta James and Wilson Pickett all recorded there.

Which songwriter-producer duo, with Thom Bell, are considered founders of the lush Philadelphia soul sound?

Their Philadelphia International label produced the O'Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes and the Three Degrees.

The Philadelphia studio musicians who scored a 1974 hit with "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" recorded under what name?

The track became the theme of the TV show Soul Train.

Al Green's early-1970s hits such as "Let's Stay Together" were made for which Memphis label, with producer Willie Mitchell?

Hi's rhythm section developed a surging soul style that carried the Memphis tradition into the 1970s.

Curtis Mayfield first found fame with which Chicago vocal group, writing "People Get Ready" for them in 1965?

He met Jerry Butler at 14 and joined the group; he went solo in 1970 and scored Super Fly in 1972.

Curtis Mayfield was paralysed from the neck down in 1990 when what fell on him during a Brooklyn concert?

The accident happened at Wingate Field in Flatbush on 13 August 1990.

Isaac Hayes won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1972 for the theme from which film?

He was only the third Black winner of a competitive Oscar, after Hattie McDaniel and Sidney Poitier.

Isaac Hayes later voiced which character on South Park from 1997 to 2006?

His 1969 album Hot Buttered Soul and 1971's Black Moses were landmarks of the era.

Marvin Gaye's What's Going On is narrated from the perspective of what kind of person?

Rolling Stone named it the greatest album of all time in its 2020 and 2023 lists.

Marvin Gaye was shot dead on 1 April 1984 by whom?

His 1982 comeback "Sexual Healing", made after leaving Motown for Columbia, had won him two Grammys.

James Brown's 1963 breakthrough album was a live recording made at which venue?

He financed the October 1962 recording himself because label boss Syd Nathan thought nobody would buy a live album.

Ray Charles's 1962 album that became his first to top the Billboard 200 was a set of what kind of songs?

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music helped integrate country, R&B and pop.

Ray Charles lost his sight by the age of seven, most likely because of what condition?

Friends and fellow musicians called him Brother Ray; the press called him The Genius.

The syndicated TV show Soul Train, which debuted in 1971, was hosted by which Chicago native?

It ran until 2006 and spawned a record label that became Solar Records.

The phrase "northern soul" was coined by which British soul collector and journalist?

He ran the Soul City record shop in Covent Garden and first used it in print in Blues & Soul in June 1970.

The northern soul scene grew out of late-1960s all-nighters at which Manchester club?

It then spread to Wigan Casino, Blackpool Mecca's Highland Room and the Golden Torch in Stoke.

The term "neo soul" was coined as a marketing category by which Motown executive in the late 1990s?

D'Angelo's 1995 debut Brown Sugar is widely regarded as the record that inspired the label.

Which electric piano sound gives neo soul its characteristic warm, organic character?

Wurlitzer pads over rim-shot drums and a muted funky bass complete the template.

The relaxed, soft-melody soul style of the late 1970s and 1980s, associated with Smokey Robinson and Peabo Bryson, is known as what?

It drew on fusion and adult contemporary as disco and funk faded.

Songwriter, arranger and producer Allen Toussaint was the principal architect of the soul sound of which city?

He worked with Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe and Lee Dorsey; the Meters later carried the sound into funk.

Stax was forced into closure in late 1975 after a problematic distribution deal with which company?

The death of the label's biggest star in 1967 and the loss of Atlantic distribution in 1968 had already shaken it.

Ray Charles is often credited with popularising soul through a run of hits starting with which 1954 single?

Bobby Womack said of him: 'Ray was the genius. He turned the world onto soul music.'

Ray Charles acknowledged the influence on his singing of Jesse Whitaker, vocalist with which gospel group?

Little Richard, who inspired Otis Redding, and James Brown were equally influential on the genre's birth.

Which 1960 debut single by Ike and Tina Turner crossed over onto the pop charts?

They toured the Chitlin' Circuit with the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.

Which singer is known as 'the Soul Queen of New Orleans'?

She recorded on the Minit/Instant labels alongside Ernie K-Doe, Benny Spellman and Chris Kenner.

Atlantic Records' Turkish-born co-founder sang backing vocals on which Big Joe Turner hit?

He also wrote songs for Ray Charles and the Clovers.

Before his father's death in 1944, Atlantic Records' co-founder had expected to pursue which career?

He founded the label three years later with his friend Herb Abramson.

Which Oakland horn band found 1970s mainstream success as a blue-eyed soul act alongside Hall & Oates?

The same decade saw the rise of funk bands like Parliament-Funkadelic and the Meters.