madison blogs
September 2007
Can white men sing the blues?
Good music is good music in my opinion, I don’t look at black and white when it comes to soul music, and even the most die hard Northern Soul Fan would lend ear space to the likes of Steve Winwood or Dusty Springfield.
The terms ‘blue-eyed soul’ and ‘white soul’ were first used in the 1960s to describe white singers whose style was heavily influenced by soul, rhythm and blues, Stax and Motown. Rumour has it that Georgie Woods, a radio personality with WDAS in Philadelphia, came up with the term blue-eyed soul to describe white artists receiving airplay on black R&B radio stations. And no, not all the artists actually have blue eyes!
Blue-eyed soul artists in the 1960s included: The Righteous Brothers, The Rascals, Steve Marriott, Eric Burdon, Dusty Springfield, Van Morrison, The Box Tops, Joe Cocker, Spencer Davis Group, Chris Farlowe, The Action, Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, Janis Joplin and Tony Joe White. In the 70s and 80s, soul music flourished, and blue-eyed soul artists such Hall & Oates, Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald, Robert Palmer and Tower of Power all developed their style of soul/rhythm and blues.
Today there are many blue-eyed soul artists such as Amy Winehouse, Kyle Jason, Marc Broussard, James Hunter and Robin Thicke keeping the fires burning, generating a throwback to the future of soul!
Can white men write the blues?
This white man can write, sing, play and produce the blues! If you’re not familiar with the name Dan Penn, he was a major song writing force during the 60s. He is also considered to be one of the great white soul singers. Unfortunately, he has a meagre recorded output, preferring the relative anonymity of song writing & producing. He wrote classics such as: Dark End of the Street, Do Right Woman, Do Right Man, I’m Your Puppet, You Left The Water Running and also produced The Letter and wrote Cry Like A Baby for the Box Tops.
Essential white soul!
Do right man by Dan Penn
Penn's voice is a gruff malleable instrument, capable of tremendous emotional twists and turns, but it's the depth of his sincerity that stands out on tunes such as Cry Like A Man, It Tears Me Up and You Left The Water Running. On his touching rendition of Do Right Woman, Do Right Man, he achieves a dark, poignant intensity of expression that can even hold its own with the classic Aretha Franklin rendition we all know and love. But then, there isn't a single tune on this album that doesn’t have that classic aura, this is the real deal!
The evolution of Robin Thicke by Robin Thicke
The Evolution of Robin Thicke is the second solo album from the critically acclaimed, Grammy award winning songwriter and producer of records for such artists as Michael Jackson and Christina Aguilera. With a voice of purity, passion and soulfulness, Robin brings to life the stories and emotions of the last two years of his life. It is an album that tells the tales of love, loss, temptation, redemption and finding hope when all the odds are against you. Robin Thicke: “My greatest desire with this album was to write songs that were completely honest and sing them with the emotion I was feeling when I wrote them, so that whoever listens to my music is brought as close to my experiences and life as possible.”
Sat 13th Dec 2008