Greatest R&B/Soul artist/group of all time? *Poll*

Genius love company

Brother Ray for me

 

This

 

Gotta go with my man Stevie... BUT it would've been nice to see the criminally-overlooked Donny Hathaway on here... he was another genius like Stevie.

 

No Curtis Mayfield / Impressions either ??

 

I couldn't post everyone. Unfortunately some artists/groups were left out.

 

All are all-time greats regardless of genre but if I had to whittle it down to a Mt.Rushmore of greats it would be:

James Brown
Ray Charles
Otis Redding
The Temptations

 

I too went for the Temptations, purely because the OP asked for favourite. I was hovering between them, the Four Tops (Levi Stubbs voice never fails to move me) and Aretha Franklin. I play the Temptations the most (especially their Norman Whitfield era), but so many great artists mentioned (and a few not mentioned, Wilson Pickett anyone) that it's one of the most difficult polls I've come across.

 

Aside from her voice I don't see the appeal of Aretha's music. The only songs I've heard by her were amazing covers of other artist's music.
Give me some original songs to check out.

 

It was the voice I was thinking of. I Say A little Prayer and Respect were obviously covers, but they were so good, they totally outshone the originals, even though I really like Dionne and Otis. But the Temptations songs were, I think, mostly written for them, so I have to agree with your point.

 

For me...
Marvin Gaye
Otis Redding
James Brown
Al Green

in that order.

 

The Tempts had one hell of a run. (1964 - 1973) When listening to their music (albums) I felt an instant familiarity.
The only other time I ever felt that way was listening to the Beatles. It's like I knew all the songs but I didn't.
Which is strange because I didn't know any of their songs besides the major hits I heard on the radio.

 

Again, I know what you mean in general. But Smiling Faces Sometimes took me by surprise - I was stunned, and it's still one of my favourites of theirs. Norman Whitfield has a lot to answer for!! (Not forgetting Barrett Strong)

 

It's impossible to pick just one - there are so many great soul/r&b artists of great talent and feeling - a lot of them have already been mentioned. I was lucky enough to see Otis Redding and have a special place in my heart for him. Granted that Ray and Aretha are more than 'just' soul/r&b luminaries, but their contributions earlier in their careers were amazing, and IMHO cannot be denied. There are a number of great soul singers not at that level of fame who are also quite moving, to me at least. Syl Johnson, Ann Peebles were already mentioned - along with their Hi label mate Al Green. Give a listen to Bobby Powell, Otis Clay and Howard Tate!

 

They are all so good, but Al Green is my favourite. Just an amazingly soulful voice and his band is killer.

 

The Supremes, followed by the Drifters, Four Tops, the Miracles and Marvin Gaye in some order. Probably this one.

 

I chose Stevie, but I also think that George Benson should be on the list.

 

After a lot of thought, I picked James Brown, because he's one of the most important (and greatest) artists in the history of popular music- up there with Bob Dylan and the Beatles and Elvis and the Stones.

My next choice was Aretha. I fully agree with both the Mojo Magazine and Rolling Stone Magazine polls that voted her the greatest vocalist of all time..

But you can't go wrong with Stevie, Marvin, Brother Ray, or Rev. Green- all masterful artists in their own rights

 

Actually, some of Aretha's greatest recordings were covers, but she took them over and made them her own. I think the greatest version of "Bridge over troubled Water" is hers (Paul Simon seems to agree, as he put her recording of the song on his self-chosen retrospective of his work). Other great recordings include "Spanish Harlem", "The Weight", "Don't Play That Song", "Somewhere", "Until you Come Back to Me", "A Brand New Me", "Oh Me Oh My", "Night Life" and"You're All I Need to Get By". If you want songs that she recorded first that show off her greatness, try "Rock Steady", "Day Dreaming", "Good to Me as I am to You", and "Something He can Feel"

 

Love this song..

 

Out of all those songs you've just listed (By the way thanks) the only one I enjoyed was "Until You Come Back to Me". It's so damn good that I might never listen to the original again. jk lol
Everyhting else I can do without.

 

Please.

Why can't they all be great?

Are you so insecure in your musical tastes that you need to know what other people think are the greatest so that you'll be able to side with the majority?

Why can't you just ask about peoples favorites? Why do you have to create a competition between these talented artists?

 

I think these type of discussions are fun. Not because I think that music is a game or am keen on any of the artists winning or losing, but because many posts tell why the poster likes his/her favorite artist. Which motivate me to listen to artists and albums I wouldn't be listening to otherwise.

It also makes me think about my own taste, if a poll asks me to select one, and only one, artists/album/etc.

 

I couldn't disagree more. To me, if there was a single album that I'd use to illustrate soul music it would be I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You. Hands down the greatest soul album of all time.

And if there was a single performer who could bring together all the strands that informed soul it was Areatha. She's also a great piano player, her best performances almost always come when she's driving the band from the piano. In some ways she's like Ray Charles. A much better singer than Ray and someone who could have been a great jazz singer the way Ray could have been a great jazz bandleader (and kind of was in the 50s). But, Ray Charles wasn't a songwriter either for the most part. Almost all of his signature song were written by someone else or if they were written by Ray were re-writes of someone else's gospel tunes. There are a handful of exceptions like "What'd I Say." But there are signature Aretha originals too like "Dr. Feelgood."

 

I think Sam Cooke was almost as important as James Brown. No single individual did more to bring the techniques and modes of gospel music into pop than Sam, which basically made soul music (I know Ray cut "I Got a Woman" first). No one was more directly a model for his peers -- whether it was Otis Redding or Aretha Franklin or whoever (including his influence on people like Bobby Womack, who was kind of a Cooke protégé, Billy Preston, even say Mavis Staples and some of the younger singers who came up in gospel with Sam was gospel's first young sex symbol type star). I think because a lot of people only know Sam's poppiest, crossover work, both his sheer talent and his impact in his time on his peers is under appreciated.

He wasn't the kind of revolutionary musical figure JB was, and he died before he could really bridge the pop and gospel styles for white audiences (who were just starting to find their way to some harder edged gospel sounds at the time of Cooke's death), but he was the man.

 

Otis Redding...................but it's a tough choice. The whole list is great.

I want to put in mention for another favorite - William Bell. I'm sure he wouldn't make any list because he didn't have a lot of hits, but he's another outstanding singer.