Can anyone else name a song that combined soul and country?

I took the inititive to start a new thread because I felt the Chi-Lites thread was being derailed.

A few songs I can think of are:
A Sweet Little Woman Like You-Joe Tex
Release My-Esther Phillips
My Pledge Of Love-Joe Jeffery Group
Sail On-Commodores
Oh Girl-Chi-Lites
Patches-Clarence Carter

 

damn, you beat me to it!

 

Already mentioned this one in the other trhead, but I'll move it over here to make it official:

Drift Away--Dobie Gray.

 

Slow Hand--Pointer Sisters. Conway Twitty scored a #1 country single with "Slow Hand" with practically the same arrangement as the Pointer's version.

 

Buddy Miller has done some tunes that would qualify. Has anyone heard his version of, "That's How Strong My Love Is?"

 

Dobie Gray made some great lp's in the '70's that combined his souful voice with some great country songs and musicans. Troy Seals, Reggie Young, Weldon Myrick, Buddy Spicher, Charlie McCoy and others play on the records. There's A Honkey Tonk Angel ( Who'll Take Me Back In) from the lp Loving Arms MCA-371, is especially good!

 

This was the one I thought of as well. Most folks only know Dobie Gray from that one song but I always am reminded of the Drift Away album he cut in Nashville back in '73. It was really a solid album with really good songs on it, great Nashville session musicians. "The Time I Love You the Most", "City Stars" are a couple of other really great tunes on that album. I've still got it and never paid a penny for it - won it off a local radio station at the time. I don't think it's in print anymore, unfortunately. Trivia question: anyone know who played the classic guitar riff on "Drift Away"??

 

Depends on how you define "combining soul & country", but the following records by soul artists had a country influence:

Rainy Night in Georgia - Brook Benton
Midnight Train To Georgia - Gladys Knight & The Pips
Just Out of Reach - Solomon Burke

This may be a stretch, but there's also "Deep River Woman", the duet by Lionel Richie & Alabama.

 

Oooh, boy--that's a great one. One of my biggest sweet spots. As Grant's list reflects, I think the two tend to cross more often on ballads--the most common ground between good soul and country being honest, raw-boned human emotion.

Or, EMO, as the kids say, I guess.

Who was first? Ray probably invented it long before the Country Sounds pair came out in 62. Charlie Rich's Lonely Weekends hit in 1960, and he was surely doing it in Memphis clubs from 1958 on.

His pre-countrypolitan catalog is full of examples:
Mohair Sam, Lonely Weekends, Who Will the Next Fool Be . . . etc.

Dark End of the Street (James Carr, Aretha, Flying Burrito Brothers, Dan Penn) Maybe the greatest country soul song ever written.

Polk Salad Annie-Tony Joe White (another one who's whole catalog pretty much fits the category--even Soul-Francisco)

Eddie Hinton-
Breakfast in Bed
Cover Me
Dear Y'all
300 pounds of Hongry

Take Time to Know Her-Percy Sledge

Mother In Law Ernie K-Doe

Speaking of which:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/23/arts/music/23POPL.html

doug

 

Heard it on record, and live. He definitely does it justice.

Brings to mind Don Dixon's various covers of soul classics, on record and live, though Dixon came at things more from the pop/rock side of the ledger.

doug

 

A few more:

"Fairytale" by the Pointer Sisters ... more country than soul

"The End of the World" by Skeeter Davis ... the only song ever to make the top 5 of the pop, country, R&B AND easy listening chart (#2 pop and country, #4 R&B, #1 easy listening)

"Never Had It So Good" by Ronnie Milsap .. from 1965, written by Ashford & Simpson, made the R&B charts

"Stuck on You" by Lionel Richie

"Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley ... more soul than country

 

How about:
"Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusy Springfield
"Me & Bobby McGhee" by Janis Joplin
"Ode to Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry

 

Really?

I guess if he'd put it "country and soul" it would've meant just white people . . . but then you've got Charlie Pride to deal with. ''

While I'm at it, I'll add:
All the Way-Raisins in the Sun

It's Rainin' - Jim Dickinson

Wild Horses - Stones


doug

 

Heard Dobie Gray on a "cavalcade of stars" Christmas fundraising bill in Nashville around 1979.

He's a preposterously talented singer--straight country, soul, pop. Not much he couldn't sing as far as I can tell. People with his kind of talent should be stars forever.

Never expected to hear him live--one night I'll never forget.

doug

P/S For the Drift Away guitar riff, my wild-ass guess would be Mac McAnally.

 

Actually, no. The songs I listed are the ones that just happened to come to mind.

Color doesn't matter! Add those Elvis tunes!

 

Not Mac McAnally, but the guitarist also once played on an Elvis record (maybe more than once).

 

This is the funkiest country album in the universe! This stuff smokes! No wonder they call her the "Tina Turner of Country":

 

Speaking of Tina, she was pretty country.

 

Have A Little Faith In Me-John Hiatt

Nutbush City Limits-Ike & Tina

Love & Happiness-Amazing Rhythm Aces

Hey, Baby - Bruce Channel

Two More Bottles of Wine-Delbert McClinton (or Emmylou)

A GIANT GEM OF THE GENRE: Treat Her Right- Roy Head & the Traits

doug

 

Wow! I was just helping to save the Chi-Lites thread from being hijacked. I never realized this thread would take off so quickly!

I guess this is a popular subject.

 

I think some of the Charlie Rich songs he did for Sun may fit the bill. I also feel what Elvis did on his "Elvis in Memphis" sure put some soul on some county standards. That's for sure!