SOUL DEEP – A critique by Rob Moss.

When the news that the BBC were to commission a series on the history and development of Soul music was announced, the sense of anticipation and excitement amongst devotees was palpable. After virtually ignoring this music, as an art form, for over 40 years, the Corporation was finally going to apply their considerable resources, influence and money to the type of ‘in depth’ scrutiny and investigation usually only reserved for so called ‘mainstream’ entertainment. Finally, a major broadcaster would not only have access to information and images long denied to the world, but, more importantly, the will to find, share, expose and document these treasures. A giant void could now be filled – new pages added to the rich mural of musical, sociological and cultural history. Who cared if it had been inspired by a fast food advertising campaign, or that the producers knew little of their subject. Surely, the BBC would get it right. Wouldn’t they? Yes, of course they would – they possess the reputation of being the finest, fairest, most thorough news gathering organisation on the planet. But…sadly, the producers didn’t get it right. And what we got, in the main, was a disjointed, overly simplistic, poorly researched pastiche that was very disappointing, and lacked informed planning, knowledgeable insight, or historical credibility.

In hindsight, maybe the title could have provided a clue. ‘SOUL DEEP. The story of black popular music.’ seems to be contradictory and confusing. ‘Soul deep’ implies that the programmes in question would provide a detailed, thorough and exhaustive study of ‘Soul’ music – a term generally and universally understood to refer to the emotionally fuelled genre that emerged from America in the 1960s. In this context, it’s the word ‘deep’ that creates this impression. The sub title then provides a caveat which broadens the landscape to, presumably, include any and all aspects of black music the producers deem fit to include … or, as it transpires, NOT to include. And, therein lies the problem. What emerged was a progression, of sorts, with significant pieces ignored, or not covered in enough depth, and less significant developments overemphasized The use of the word ‘popular’ is interesting in the title too, because the vast bulk of the music featured certainly didn’t make the UK charts on initial release, and much of it only achieved success on the predominantly black driven R&B charts in America at the time. Hardly ‘popular’. It is a sad irony that many of the most memorable songs produced by Soul artists only received extensive attention when they were covered by white pretenders like The Blues Brothers and The Commitments, as well as many others, years later. As you might expect, no attention was given, in any part of this series, to the consistent plagiarism and outright theft inflicted on soul artists through the decades. On the contrary, artists like Big Joe Turner and The Valentinos suffered the ignominy of having their biggest songs shown being performed by white copyists in the programme, as if to prove credibility and popular acceptance - disgraceful.

Given the sheer size and geographical diversity of America, it is little wonder that many quite distinct and unique musical styles emerged in different parts of the country throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and that they all contributed to the hybrid sound that became Soul. Soul Deep’ failed to adequately address this variety, choosing instead to focus on a few selected artists and, mistakenly, credit them with far more influence than they actually exerted, within the larger milieu. No one could deny that Ray Charles made a significant contribution to the development of black music, and that he influenced many of his contempories and successors. But to imply that he almost single handedly ‘invented’ Soul music, or even that he could be regarded as a Soul artist at all, as this programme clearly did on many occasions, is preposterous. His conversion to the safer, and more profitable, climes of the popular charts was well under way by the time Soul music came to prominence. Sam Cooke is another important pioneer of musical creativity, entrepreneurship and commercial success who had an enormous effect on his own world and the music that came in his wake. But he wasn’t the only one. The first two episodes provided a general overview of the period that only focused on the more commercially successful artists, yet it completely missed many significant developments that were crucial to the creation of Soul. Close harmony singing had been a staple of black life for generations and became ingrained in popular black culture throughout the 1940s and 1950s in the style that became known as Doo Wop. Literally hundreds of groups provided songs in this style that enjoyed tremendous popularity in the black community throughout these decades and into the 1960s. Their influence on Soul harmony groups was immeasurable – yet… not a mention. One of the most significant crazes that swept the country, and quickly spread into the American mainstream, was a dance and song created by Hank Ballard called The Twist. It enjoyed widespread popularity in the early 1960s, yet, more significantly, lead to the creation of numerous other dances that epitomized and typified the Soul era. Another important aspect of black music ignored in this programme was the contribution made by the so called ‘Big voices’ of singers like Roy Hamilton, Chuck Jackson, Clyde McPhatter, Tommy Hunt and many others. Or the impact Detroiters like Marv Johnson , Little Willie John and Jackie Wilson had. Wilson, in particular, was one of the very finest talents to EVER perform, and is still regarded as not only one of the greatest artists of all time, but a compelling influence on current generations. He became a mere footnote in the episode about Motown. The list of icons continues…LaVerne Baker, Della Reese, Ivory Joe Hunter, Sreaming Jay Hawkins, The Dells, Ella Fitzgerald and even Chuck Berry … and the list goes on – supremely talented performers that weren’t even mentioned. Sad.


The impact of Motown acts on the R&B and pop charts of the 1960s was phenomenal. Unprecedented levels of musical creativity, commercial success and international exposure made this independent company the envy of every other record company in America. More importantly, it’s style of music was mimicked too. Inevitably, this lead to literally thousands of artists, producers and company executives attempting to emulate ‘The Motown Sound’ and grab a share of their success. The impact of this small, Detroit based company on the worldwide music industry continues to this day. Yet ‘Soul Deep’ produced what is quite possibly the most insular, inaccurate and misdirected portrait of the label ever. In addition, the producers managed to omit huge swathes of musical history in a decade that is still regarded, from many different standpoints, to be one of the most exciting, creative and innovative periods of the modern age. The same flawed technique was applied - focus on one artist and attempt to explain the entire period through their story. In this case it was The Supremes, and once again, it just did not work. How on earth can a documentary be made about Motown without at least mentioning The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Edwin Starr plus many others? These people were fundamental to the growth and success of the company. Incredible. And what we got was the usual air brushed, sanitized, PR Department approved version of Supreme history with very little new footage and the usual sycophantic testimonials. A poor attempt was made to describe a non existent rivalry between Chicago and Detroit (then why did most of the Motown musicians play on Jackie Wilson’s “Higher and Higher” plus many others ?), scores of significant contributors, like Van McCoy, Phil Spector, the inhabitants of the Brill Building in New York, to name a few, were again ignored and the opportunity to reveal the real changes that the explosion of Soul created was lost. For the first time every major pop label invested heavily in black music, black radio substantially increased its market share and hundreds of small, independent labels had a chance to enjoy real success at the national level. Paradise lost.

‘Soul Deep’ was comprised of six episodes – two were mediocre, three were poor, one was brilliant. The Southern Soul segment featured previously unseen footage of Otis Redding and James Carr that, singularly, justified the entire series. Coverage here was proportionate, informative, well researched and fair. Stax Records featured heavily, as did the Muscle Shoals studios. Interviews were incisive and well researched. The Atlantic Records connection in both was accurate and cleverly presented. The impact of social and political developments that affected music production in the South was captivating and the dramatic re creations were believable. No surprise to learn then that, for once, a true and credible Soul connoisseur was consulted. Bravo Colin Dilnot. The last two episodes in the series were undoubtedly the worst. The idea that Soul music devolved from its gospel based, emotional intensity into some form of primeval, bass driven babble, in the shape of Funk, is absurd. Equally inaccurate is the suggestion that Funk dominated the 1970s, or that Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder or The Temptations were Funk artists. Funk emerged as a credible and demotic form of musical expression but was dwarfed by the incredible popularity and longevity of Disco, and to a slightly lesser extent, the Philly Sound. Neither was mentioned or even credited and this omission severely challenges the series’ credibility. The truth is that the vast majority of Soul singers and performers were forced to adapt to the sound and style of disco to prosper and survive. One check of the R&B charts or the line ups on ‘Soul Train’ will confirm this. Glaring omissions again. No mention of Hi Records or the phenomenal success of Al Green, no O’Jays, Harold Melvin, Stylistics or The Spinners, and not an Invictus production in sight. The final episode attempted to show not only how Soul has influenced modern artists, but how it still exists in the current era. It ran into the usual problem that the uninformed or unaware fall into – it confused colour with contour. So Whitney Houston was portrayed as a ‘Soul singer’ only for Clive Davis, her producer, and president of her record company. to look directly into the camera and stridently announce that she had been groomed as an out and out pop singer! It all went downhill from there. The plot had been well and truly lost.

Many soul fans may have enjoyed this series, and given the dearth of coverage the subject has received over the years, this is understandable. Being thankful for small mercies and all that. But, in the right hands, this could have been a fantastic series, full of meaningful insights, discerning prospective and invigorating discoveries. The fatal flaw that underscored its almost total inability to come to grips with this fascinating subject was the lack of passion, intimate knowledge and familiarity with the subject. And this lies squarely at the feet of the producers. Soul Deep? Soul Shallow more like.

Post Script: The series is accompanied by a double cd that ‘highlights’ much of the music featured in the series. Strange thing is, ALL the material used has come from one company - the Universal back catalogue. This begs several leading questions. Did Universal have an unhealthy input into the choice of music used? Did the cd precede the making of the series? Weren’t there other companies willing to contribute material? Did the producers apply fair and unbiased consideration to the choice of material? And finally… should the Guiness Book of Records be contacted to report the ‘most number of times a hit record has been re sold to the public’? “Baby love”

Rob Moss
June, 2005

www.hayleyrecords.co.uk



orig posted in the forum - comments and discussion on this article can be found here
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