History of Rhythm and Blues:
Rhythm and Blues, famously known as R&B is one of the most famous musical genres, whose root lies in the African American cultures. Since its origin in the 1940s, the genre has gone through many structural changes. Initially, the term ‘R&B’ was used to describe the musical recordings which were marketed to African-Americans. It was a replacement term for ‘race music’. But, since then this term has been used to depict various musical components.
In the early 1950s, the term was widely applied to blue records. But, in the mid-fifties, its definition changed and was popularly known as electric blues, soul music, and gospel. In the 1960s, the term again got a new definition i.e. rhythm and blues. As the seventies approached, the meaning changed again and people started using it to describe soul and funk music. And, it was the 1980s, when the ‘contemporary R&B’ got introduced. This new version of R&B had ingredients of hip hop, dance, electronic music, pop, soul, and funk. This version defeated its precursors in popularity and got global recognition due to the famous artists Mary J Blige, Mariah Carey, Usher, Beyonce, Whitney Houston, and R Kelly. With the offset of the 90s, R&B’s popularity reached its zenith. And in the year 2004, more than three-fourth of R&B songs that made its way to the top of R&B charts, eventually climbed the ladder to be on the Billboard Hot 100.
R&B and its appeal:
Since the beginning, the fans of R&B music have been constantly changing. In the forties, the audience included mostly African-Americans. But, with time, this musical genre got accepted by a wide range of audiences. The one thing that has made this musical genre so popular is the fact that it has evolved since its origin, which is quite necessary to attract listeners. This progress has kept things exciting and interesting and the audience never got bored with this genre and the performing artists.
Exciting features of R&B:
At the inception, R&B was all about the fusion of jazz and blues with a hint of rock n roll. The inseparable part of this genre is the presence of bass guitar. An R&B track without guitar tones is just simply unacceptable. The pentatonic scales are also an important part of this genre. The drums used, provide a heavy effect on the structure. And, the symbols & snares add spice to the flavor. The songs are mostly about the joys of love or human attraction.
The songs get their actual worth only with the presence of a soulful and calm vocal delivery as the genre puts more focus on vocals. With the change in time, this genre has also changed its components and in this 21st century technical effects, instruments, and auto-tune are widely used to design the setup. R&B artists such as Chris Brown, Drake, Ariana Grande, John Legend, and Pharell Williams have embraced these structural changes.
Let’s have a look at the top 10 R&B artists of all time and their most popular songs:
• Michael Jackson: ‘Remember The Time’ (1992)
• Stevie Wonder: ‘Rocket Love’ (1980)
• Smokey Robinson: ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me’ (1962)
• Ray Charles: ‘I’ve Got a Woman’ (1954)
• Aretha Franklin: ‘Respect’ (1967)
• Marvin Gaye: ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ (1968)
• Prince: ‘You Give Good Love’ (1985)
• Curtis Mayfield: ‘People Get Ready’ (1964)
• R. Kelly: ‘Bump N’ Grind’ (1994)
• Beyonce: ‘Ring The Alarm’ (2006)
History of Soul music:
The genre of Soul music had originated from the United States’ African-American community, way back in the 1950s. It is a combined genre of African-American gospel, R&B, and jazz. The genre has resemblance with R&B but the effect of gospel-music instruments is more dominating. Soul music used to rule over the charts of the US in the 1960s.
As the seventies arrived, Soul music turned into psychedelic soul due to the touch of psychedelic rock. The craze of disco and funk went down a little in the 1980s and soul artists turned towards electro music to reinvent this genre. And, in the year 1994, the people of the US witnessed the rise of the neo-soul. The genre had actually originated in Memphis and then spread across the entire southern US.
Soul music and its appeal:
Soul music has a stress-relieving factor to its set up. The calming nature of its structure casts a soothing effect on the listener’s mind and soul. Since the underlying concept of soul music has an emotional flavor; it stimulates the secretion of hormones that help in boosting the listeners’ immunization power. The soundscape of this genre has a curing appeal that works as a medicine for the heart. It is considered as one of the most preferable genres to keep people’s heart, healthy and working.
Exciting features of Soul music:
Generally, soul music is used to express a wide range of emotional experiences. To portray the different kinds of human emotions, soul artists use a variety of vocal tones that goes from being calm & smooth to hard-hitting and strong. People who like to experience thought-provoking and heartfelt emotions; soul music is just the perfect musical genre for them.
Since soul music borrows its rhythms from the 3 lines lyric style and the 12 bar that were the dominating features of the blues of the forties and fifties, it has a definite structure to the entire rhythm. This genre is also characterized by a call and response routine, which means that a singer gives a ‘call’ of a phrase and another singer, gives a ‘response’ to it.
A repetition factor works in soul music as well. The same notes, rhythms, and phrases keep repeating itself through the entire song. Instrumentation plays a major role in bringing out the flavor of the genre. Devices such as drums, piano, trumpet, saxophone, and guitar are used to make the set up interesting. The genre made its way to the path of fame through the performances of artists like Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and James Brown.
Let’s have a look at the top 10 soul music artists of all time and their most popular songs:
• Stevie Wonder: ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’ (1972)
• Marvin Gaye: ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ (1968)
• James Brown: ‘Please Please Please’ (1963)
• Otis Redding: ‘Mr. Pitiful’ (1964)
• Aretha Franklin: 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You’ (1967)
• Sam Cooke: ‘You Send Me’ (1957)
• Ray Charles: ‘What’d I Say’ (1959)
• Patti LaBelle: ‘On My Own’ (1986)
• Levi Stubbs: ‘Baby I Need Your Loving’ (1964)
• Wilson Pickett: ‘In the Midnight Hour’ (1965)
Difference between R&B and Soul music:
Many people get confused between R&B and Soul music. Some think that both are the same. But, this is not the case. There are certain components present in both genres that differentiate them from each other.
If the definitions of the genres are taken into consideration then it can be observed that there are some similarities and differences present among them. Each and every element of African-American music that doesn’t have the components of jazz, blues, or hip hop, is considered to be R&B. On the other hand, Soul music is one of the subgenres of R&B. It focuses more on African-American gospel fused with pop and rock & roll, call & response method, and emphasizes instruments like piano, drums, and guitars.
The concept of R&B mostly pivots the feeling of love. Soul music is also used to express love, but the range of emotions expressed in it is huge compared to R&B.
Almost all the R&B songs that were recorded between 1964 and 1980 are considered to be Soul music. But, the musical ingredients of some of the tracks do not match with the genre assigned to them.
This difference is so much more confusing as many R&B artists indulge in making soul music and vice-versa. And, the absence of a precise definition makes this subject even tougher.
