After all the mid and late 60s race riots and destruction of cities, I was in no mood for Motown music (I was in my mid to late teens at the time). I just never enjoyed “soul” music.
No Stax?
booker t and the mgs dude! booker t!
Ernie Isley is one of the most criminally underrated guitarists, the solo on Who’s That Lady is smokin’.
Innervisions was much better (and much less PC) than Songs In The Key of Life, every song is a classic.
There were awesome black singers back in the 60’s and 70’s. What happened other than rap and hip hop?
Earth Wind & Fire - That’s the Way of the World
I adored earlier R&B and soul music. I looked at this list hoping to find something, but I just have to admit I hate everything on it.
No Ohio Players? Just for the album covers alone.
<< 4. Sly and the Family Stone, ‘There’s a Riot Goin’ On’ (1971) >>
That’s my pick. Dark, acid funk.
O’jays, Live from Daryl’s House: Backstabbers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvt7ufNfq1g
and: Love Train
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSlO_g6-ZXM
Ahh. Great, great music.
Different times.
>>Still, not all genres made the move. R&B and soul music, for one, was still pretty much a singles game as the ‘60s turned into the ‘70s.
Eh.
In the 30s and 40s (and into the 50s) you could be ALBUMS of 78s.
Then in the late 40s were competing formats (LPs and 45s). 45s were even issued in boxed sets or sleeved ALBUMS.
Eventually 45s becames the format of jukeboxes and a way to sell singles to young people.
Artists like Frank Sinatra may have sold sinlges (and he was the heartthrob of bobbysoxers in the 40s) but he increasing aimed for the adult market (especially as Elvis and Little Richard took the charts and Frank couldn’t rely on singing the hit parade or trying to sing in the current stytle).
Albums for the youth market might have the hit singles collected and some cover songs or throwaway filler. The first few Beatles albums had a lot of cover songs. Good for gigs in Germany or the Cavern Club but it meant much of the money from album sales went to songwriters and publishers. They took to writing on the road to keep up with management demand for more product. But it was at a time that they were “hot” (on the charts and in their drive to write songs).
Anyway it was awhile (as the author admits) into the 1960s before albums (in certain genres) were “strong” (original and all killer no filler).
The charts don’t mean much today. A single artist can “own” the “top 10” now because their album is streaming end to end millions of times. But the public still seems into singles as much or more than ever.
Just providing some background and commentary...
Lots of great stuff from Motown and Atlantic Records.
One of the albums I had that I wore out the grooves on, was Bloodstone - Natural High, loved that album, although I only the title track got any airplay, it was very eclectic with different styles.
Interesting post.
If anyone’s interested the May, 2021 issue of Mojo has a major story on Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On. Never liked it myself but can appreciate how others would.
Just the titles of some on the list bring back the moods and feelings of those days. Always true of music. The Back Stabbers, Love Train, Shaft. Corny but evocative of the era.
Curtis Mayfield was so underappreciated by many at first. Notice Keep On Pushin’ (which he wrote for the Impressions and released in 1964) was on the cover of Bringing It All Back Home. Bob Dylan greatly admired him from the start.
And somehow Sly produced classics while out of his mind on drugs. After the label set up studio hours, paid for the sound staff and musicians and all was ready he usually wouldn’t even show up. So the label paid for building a studio at his home so he’d be on time to arrive since he was already there.
Thanks for posting this.
I guess they are excluding Funk, which explains no Parliament or Funkadelic.