Bill Withers
The R & B’S Northern Soul
The term Northern Soul was termed by Dave Godin, a journalist for the “Blues and Soul” magazine back in 1968. Godin came up with the term when helping employee’s stock music on the shelves of his record shop in London England. As newer music Rhythm and Blues (R&B) music was arriving, he wanted to be able to differentiate the smoother sounds of early R&B from the newer funkier sounds that was hitting the airwaves. The term northern soul now refers to the golden oldies of Rhythm and Blues that are played at many of the most popular nightclubs in Northern The United States was flooded with R&B musicians, however, in England opened another new venue for R&B artist to make it big, and biog they did England today.
Back in the 60′s when most clubs where changing up their beats to the more modern genres of music, many Northern England nightclubs chose to keep the rare soul music beats. This has not slowed business down for these well-established clubs today, if anything it brought in more patrons then ever before. Patrons knew what they liked and did not feel the need to follow the fads of the time.
Northern Soul music played a huge role in the beginning of the DJ culture in England. The United States was filling up with R&B artist and England opened up a whole new venue for artist to not only collect on but for some make it big in the music industry who wouldn’t of had a chance otherwise in the States due to the huge amount of R&B artists already circulating. Artist like Tammi Lynn, The Fascinations, The Velvelettes, The Tams, and many others made top hits in the UK due to the love of the Northern Soul.
So just who makes up the Northern Soul genre one may ask, the answer is simple yet vast, as thousands make up the Northern Soul genre. This genre includes top R&B artist to one hit wonders. Northern Soul music isn’t a style, voice, musical instrument choice, or even topic of song, northern soul music is a feel, a beat, and the ability to dance to it. Some of the Northern Soul choices are very rare and even hard to come by today, others more popular, some had a slow groove beat while others have a upbeat tempo.
Remember Kool and the Gang, Bill Withers, or Gwen Guthrie; they all added to the Northern Soul movement in northern parts of England as well as several hundreds to thousands of more R&B artist. Names such as Randy Crawford, Bobby Womack, Gerald Levert, and even the O’Jays still play a part of the dance floors in nightclubs around the world. More current artists such as Kenny G, Whitney Houston, and Chaka Khan also play a large role of the northern soul genre. If the feet can be put to the beat of the Rhythm and Blues, more then likely it has become a part of the Northern Soul genre.
About the Author
Tex Johnson runs the highly popular R&B and Rare Soul Grooves
website featuring Soul Music TV. Want to watch FREE 24 hour
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Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine
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The Best of Bill Withers: Lean on Me $4.29 Not to be mistaken with Bill Withers’s Greatest Hits or even the 1994 best-of with which it shares its name, Lean on Me nevertheless shares much with those two earlier retrospectives–notably the likes of such ’70s soul-pop gems as the title track, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lovely Day,” and “Use Me.” Like the earlier Lean on Me, this remastered selection includes 18 tracks, 13 of which overlap with th… |
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Cottage Garden Digital Music and Jewelry Box Plays Lean on Me by Bill Withers $39.99 The Digital Music Box Collection from Cottage Garden is a line of music boxes with digital sound, unique design and themes for Grandmother, Friends, Sisters, daughters, and inpirational. This particular box features a dark silver finish with a 6 x4 frame which houses a Friend insert. Within the velvet lined box is a clear, digital recording of Lean on Me by Bill Withers which activates as the l… |
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Cottage Garden Digital Music and Jewelry Box Plays Lean on Me by Bill Withers $39.99 The Digital Music Box Collection from Cottage Garden is a line of music boxes with digital sound, unique design and themes for Grandmother, Friends, Sisters, daughters, and inpirational. This particular box features a wavy wood finish with a 6 x4 frame which houses a Friend insert. Within the velvet lined box is a clear, digital recording of Lean on Me by Bill Withers which activates as the lid… |
