Posted on 07/23/2020 1:47:27 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
God is love, the Bible says. Black American music began with this love. We asked Him, in our African call-and-response tradition, for strength and freedom. These Negro spirituals begat the blues, which begat jazz, rock n roll, R&B, and rap.
Today, much of the love expressed in classic songs seems as anachronistic as cassette tapes. The Hot 100 pop charts still have plenty of songs by black artists about sex, which has always been an essential thread in the emotional tapestry of music. But compared with past decades, when popular black artists consistently gave voice to humanitys most powerful emotion, far fewer chart-topping songs today discuss love as that alchemy of need, companionship and commitment transcending the physical.
These numbers show a coldhearted truth: The deepest forms of love are fading out of popular black music. Or as Lil Wayne said in his 2018 hit single Uproar:
What the f**** though? Where the love go?
Yes, we are quoting profanity up in this piece. Because while there has never been more vulgarity in black pop than now, there has never been less love.
Art reflects life. I think both men and women now are having a hard time buying into love and long-lasting love, said rhythm and blues singer and musician PJ Morton. His catalog of love songs, including Say So, the 2019 Grammy winner for best R&B song, resides outside the popular mainstream.
(Excerpt) Read more at theundefeated.com ...
India was the first such video I came across. She has beautiful eyes and her reactions are a joy to watch.
Of course with You Tube, you watch one type of video and soon you have gazillion suggestions for similar ones. So I check them all out. Some are better than others.
I was never a fan of the Beatles. When I first saw them on the Ed Sullivan show (I was 11 years old) the beat and the ‘difference’ in their presentation was fascinating. But as I grew older, all the songs seemed very shallow.
I do still like hearing ‘Blackbird’.
(My husband thinks their best years were 1964 to 1966.)
Black people have suffered from the same failure of the public ‘educational’ system as the rest of us have suffered.
Absolutely love the Spinners. The guitar intro and appearances during the rest of the song “it’s a Shame “ are my favorite, happiest, most uplifting notes ever.
RAP: Retarded African Poetry.
The Spinners are one of my favorite groups.
Wanna hear some real soul, check out the full version of The Love I Lost by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.
You can feel the emotion.
Black female singers of the 60s and 70s were awesome.
Roberta flack
Dionne Warwick
Marilyn McCoo
Diana Ross
Aretha
Valerie Simpson
Whitney Houston
12:45
We are willing to do anything and everything to get that, we will risk our heart, our health, our sanity to have it.
And today they are being told not only that it can not exist but that they should not even search for it. That the very wanting it is wrong. It is no wonder so many of them end up drugged and in counseling. You might as well tell people not to breathe as to tell them not to want their helpmate.
Yeah...like “let’s get it on” by Marvin Gaye? A real tender love song...and the classic heartfelt love song...Sexual Healinv...both songs sung at weddings worldwide.
Sexual healinG!
Very insightful.
Its such a shame and a reversal of progress black pop music had been one of the greatest influences to pull down the color barrier since the founding of the nation, and especially from the 50s thru mid-80s until the ugly and profane rap era.
I would add My Girl and (Goin to the) Chapel of Love off the top of my head.
Perfection, including the lyrics and the beautiful imagery of the video! Thanks for the link.
I might also add that one area where contemporary black singers are adding to the love is in gospel and Christian pop music. Thinking of Tauren Wells, Mandisa, many others.
Roberta and Aretha top of the top. Patti LaBelle should also be on your list. Tina Turner was the greatest, greatesr show woman. Saw her live in 1970 when she was still with Ike, and it was not hard to see why he felt so outshone (hence abusive). The crowd, both blacks and whites, went wild for her.
Chapel of Love by the Hitmakers (1958) is another one that I like. It was highly collectible, so it took me a long time to find a copy. Now, you can hear it on Youtube for free.
Loved the Righteous Brothers. Hope youve bee able to forgive My Girlwas that the Temptations or the Four Tops? Good times, R&B. I remember dancing to My Girl in a Dutch youth nightspot in Utrecht or Amsterdam in the late 60s! Dont remember whicn city, either, but I do remember the fellow I danced with!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.