Before anyone starts ranting that RnB has no place on the scene ...
I'm posting up this topic as I wanted to know members opinions on how they decide what is or what isn't an RnB tune when they hear it at a Northern Soul night.
The roots of Northern Soul can be traced back to early 1960s Mods who listened to American Black Music, and in particular RnB. As someone who discovered the joy of Northern Soul through this route, I'm tired of the continual slagging off that the RnB genre of soul gets on the forum. So my questions are:-
I find it frustrating that some tend to define RnB in terms of the few tunes they've heard like Betty O'Brien, Barbara Dane or indeed Marie Knight which ARE NOT RnB. I believe this confusion have come about because DJs renowned for their RnB influenced sets, such as the great Roger Banks, happen to play the aforementioned tunes. Who knows, but the fact Roger may play them doesn't make them RnB.
The trouble with using the term RnB is that everyone's definition seems to be different. Historically RnB is firmly rooted in American Blues of the early 20th century and spawned a multitude of great musicians, from Blind Willie McTell and Skip James, to Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, through to legends such as John Lee Hooker and B. B. King.
IMO the defining boundaries of RnB became blurred in the 1960s, not only with the advent of the "Motown" sound, but also the with emergence of white bands heavily influenced by traditional Black American music.
I feel RnB is all to often used on the NS scene just to described any sort of 60s sound with a short, punchy beat that doesn't fit into the mould of the more polished 60's Soul sound. By way of example, I've been told on several occasions that Mickie Champion's "What Good am I" and Ronnie Forte's "Whisky Talkin'" are RnB. Aarrgh - these are great Northern Soul records, but they're not RnB.
I'm not saying I'm right or wrong, but I use the term RnB on the Northern Soul scene to describe 1960s "snappy" music with a "Blues" influence (not sure how else to explain it). Right, or wrong, using this as my definition, my favourites RnB influenced records that I think have a rightful place on the scene include:-
Cleo Randle "Big City Lights"
Amanda Love "Calling Me Her Name"
Betty Everett "Please Love Me"
Jimmy Ricks "Oh What a Feeling"
Little Johnnie Taylor - "Somewhere Down the Line"
Big Daddy Rogers "I'm a Big Man"
Willie Mitchell "That Driving Beat"
oh.. and absolutely anything by Sugarpie DeSanto, Etta James, Mitty Collier, indeed most of the Chess ladies.
Oh jesus - I'm gonna get shot down now by someone saying none of the above have anything to do with RnB - Oh well, I'm open to hearing what everyone has to say on this subject and I've got the Kevlar on in case it gets nasty (see Al, I remembered).
Before anyone starts ranting that RnB has no place on the scene ...
I'm posting up this topic as I wanted to know members opinions on how they decide what is or what isn't an RnB tune when they hear it at a Northern Soul night.
The roots of Northern Soul can be traced back to early 1960s Mods who listened to American Black Music, and in particular RnB. As someone who discovered the joy of Northern Soul through this route, I'm tired of the continual slagging off that the RnB genre of soul gets on the forum. So my questions are:-
1) How do you define RnB
2) What are your favourite RnB influenced songs
---------------------------------------------------------
Here's my response.
I find it frustrating that some tend to define RnB in terms of the few tunes they've heard like Betty O'Brien, Barbara Dane or indeed Marie Knight which ARE NOT RnB. I believe this confusion have come about because DJs renowned for their RnB influenced sets, such as the great Roger Banks, happen to play the aforementioned tunes. Who knows, but the fact Roger may play them doesn't make them RnB.
The trouble with using the term RnB is that everyone's definition seems to be different. Historically RnB is firmly rooted in American Blues of the early 20th century and spawned a multitude of great musicians, from Blind Willie McTell and Skip James, to Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, through to legends such as John Lee Hooker and B. B. King.
IMO the defining boundaries of RnB became blurred in the 1960s, not only with the advent of the "Motown" sound, but also the with emergence of white bands heavily influenced by traditional Black American music.
I feel RnB is all to often used on the NS scene just to described any sort of 60s sound with a short, punchy beat that doesn't fit into the mould of the more polished 60's Soul sound. By way of example, I've been told on several occasions that Mickie Champion's "What Good am I" and Ronnie Forte's "Whisky Talkin'" are RnB. Aarrgh - these are great Northern Soul records, but they're not RnB.
I'm not saying I'm right or wrong, but I use the term RnB on the Northern Soul scene to describe 1960s "snappy" music with a "Blues" influence (not sure how else to explain it). Right, or wrong, using this as my definition, my favourites RnB influenced records that I think have a rightful place on the scene include:-
Cleo Randle "Big City Lights"
Amanda Love "Calling Me Her Name"
Betty Everett "Please Love Me"
Jimmy Ricks "Oh What a Feeling"
Little Johnnie Taylor - "Somewhere Down the Line"
Big Daddy Rogers "I'm a Big Man"
Willie Mitchell "That Driving Beat"
oh.. and absolutely anything by Sugarpie DeSanto, Etta James, Mitty Collier, indeed most of the Chess ladies.
Oh jesus - I'm gonna get shot down now by someone saying none of the above have anything to do with RnB - Oh well, I'm open to hearing what everyone has to say on this subject and I've got the Kevlar on in case it gets nasty (see Al, I remembered).