Soul Music of the 1960s influence on Civil Rights-Julie Demuynck

The 1960’s in America were years that saw change. It is during this decade that the work of civil rights activist was finally being addressed by legislative authorities. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 24^th amendment, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were all passed into law during this time period. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and other key activist spoke out about the inequalities in America and worked to stop it by giving speeches, boycotting, etc. At the same that King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, other leaders were fighting the inequality in a differently with music. Although its exact birth location is unclear, soul music emerged in the 1960s. It combined the sound of gospel and rhythm and blues into a funk and disco sound. Soul music “arose out of the black experience in America” according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The music of Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, James Brown and other key soul artists spoke out against the time period and helped to build the identity of civil rights activists.

The birthplace of soul music is an ambiguous topic (Maultsby). Many believe that northern inner cities like Chicago, Detroit, and New York City should be attributed as the birthplace of soul because people of these cities were the key audience of many songs. However others attribute Ray Charles, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin to be the creators of the genre and all were from small southern cities.

Ray Charles release of “I Got a Woman” in 1954 was the first time soul music made an appearance in America, which is why Ray Charles is a credited the inventor of the genre. However, it was James Brown that gained popularity and spread the genre across the nation. Brown is often referred to as the “Godfather of Soul” because of his contribution to the genre. Aretha Franklin was the first female singer of the genre and is often called the “Queen of Soul” or simply the “Queen.”

A soul singer must express like the title of the genre suggests his soul and emotions through his voice. The audience must be able to not only hear the singer’s voice, but also have the feelings that the lyrics and tone of song suggests. Soul music often begins slow and soft and builds into a strong and loud climax as the singer becomes more emotionally intact with the song, although there are exceptions to this generalization. There is often a guitar, bass, drum, piano, and specific to soul music, horn instruments. Soul music often involves call and response sections in the songs between the singer and the audience. It was created to gather a considerable amount of different people together and give them all a type of music that they could relate to both spiritually and culturally. The gospel sound of the genre gave individuals a feeling of comfort because they could identify with the sound since it was the music they were raised to. However, the R&B’s style of expressing all emotions allowed singers to express the struggle that everyone was facing. This feeling of collectiveness is one reason why the genre spread so rapidly.

Not all soul songs were about the civil rights movement. Many were about women, hometown cultures, etc; however, the genre is often categorized by being the soundtrack of the civil rights movement because the key songs of the movement happened to be soul songs. The genre of soul music evolved over time. It began with Ray Charles and his soft, more rhythm and blues than gospel sounding music and evolved into James Brown’s funk music with screaming, horns, and call and response sections. Soul music varies from artist to artist and even from song to song from the same artist. On these grounds, the soul genre inadequately describes all soul music because it would be impossible to have a common link between every single soul song that could be used to define the genre.

Aretha Franklin is the most well known female artist of the genre. Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, where she taught herself how to play the piano. Franklin’s father was a preacher, and she felt a deep connection with the church. Many of Franklin’s songs have a strong gospel influence in them because of her childhood (Flory). Franklin has been awarded eighteen Grammy Awards throughout her life. Two of these awards were for her number one single “Respect.” The song was originally recorded by Otis Redding in 1965, but Franklin’s cover in 1967 brought the song’s popularity to new heights. The song was recorded on Franklin’s album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. Franklin’s cover included Redding’s blues feel, but also added a more pop sound. A tenor saxophone was added to the band, and Franklin’s vast vocals allowed for the crossover from Redding’s blues tune to Franklin’s soul music.

Franklin has stated that to her the song was to support the feminist movement for women’s rights and equality. However the lyrics also apply to all people that feel they do not get the respect they deserve from their spouse, boss, country, etc. The song’s lyrics are about a woman demanding that she’s “got to have a little respect.” Franklin’s voice is strong and powerful without any hesitation or shakiness in her tone. The woman in the song knows what she wants, and she is not going to stop until she receives the respect she deserves. This song was the number one song on the billboard charts in 1967 because so many individuals felt that they were not getting the respect they deserved. This song helped to create the identity of the 1960’s because people were no longer willing to compromise their basic rights, a key argument in the fight for civil rights. People listened to Martin Luther King Jr’s speeches and acted upon them, some more peacefully than others. Malcolm X and his followers sought African American equality similar to King however, they chose to show their anger and attitude in a violent way compared to King.

Sam Cooke was born and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He grew up singing gospel music in church, and later created a gospel group called The Singing Children with his siblings. Eventually Cooke broke away from his family and started a solo career. He is said to be one of the founding fathers of soul music. On Cooke’s first album Ain’t That Good News a song was released that exemplified the Civil Rights Movement of the time. In 1964, the American public first heard “A Change is Gonna Come.” The song was not lighthearted like his previous releases, but instead was an emotional, serious song about Cooke’s opinion of racism in America during the 1960s.

The song’s lyrics inspired hope in the people fighting for the equality. It ‘s lyrics accounts of personal experiences that left Cooke feeling unwelcomed, judged, segregated, and hurt. Many people experienced these situations and related to Cooke’s lyrics. Although Cooke’s tone is weary sounding in the song, the lyrics are not just about the struggles that he faced, but also the change for the better that was going to happen. The lyrics that exemplify this tone are the ones Cooke chose to end the song with, “There have been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long/but now I think I’m able to carry on/It’s been a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come.” These lyrics inspire hope for the future, gather everyone that has ever felt oppressed together, and give a sense of hope for future. The lyrics inspire the listener to keep fighting because it will all be worth it when change happens.

In the late 1960s, a new political slogan for civil rights activists arose called black power. Black power stressed racial pride, self-reliance, and created a “political and economic clout,” (Paoletta). In previous years, activists like Martin Luther King Jr. all tried to change the country through nonviolent movements. In the later years of the decade a groups of people grew tired of fighting nonviolently while their opponents didn’t and killed key leaders like Dr. King. After countless deaths of nonviolent leasers, the black power movement began. Groups like the Black Panther Party and Malcolm X followers arose from this movement and fought for equality in a violent way in comparison with King’s movement.

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. The following day James Brown held a concert in Boston. The city of Boston’s government officials wanted to cancel the concert to prevent riots from breaking out across the city, but one councilman fought against the rest to have it televised and he won. Ironically, Boston was the only major city in the nation to not have riots that weekend. Brown dedicated the concert to King’s life, and he played for the first time “Say it Loud-I’m Black and I’m Proud.” This song symbolized the shift of the movement into the black power movement.

The lyrics of the song address the segregation and racism towards blacks in America during the time period. The song suggested the idea of black empowerment that was a key component of the black power movement. The song’s lyrics “We’re people, we’re just like the birds and the bees/we’d rather die on our feet/than be livin’ on our knees/ say it loud/ I’m black and I’m proud,” brought people together and filled them with pride in themselves, and faith that they could change society. The song relates to another key component of the black power movement that black people in America were proud of who they were and were not changing themselves to be accepted into the white society. Instead they were going to fight for the right to be their own society in America.

The song has a funk sound to it with the trumpet that is played after each line of the chorus “say it loud/I’m black and I’m proud.” Brown’s voice is powerful and excited sounding in the song, which also adds a funk sound to the song rather than a rhythm and blues like in some of his other songs. The song also features a call and response section, which is a key characteristic of soul music. Brown sings to the audience “say it loud,” and the audience responds with “I’m black and I’m proud.” Brown also had a trademark scream that was included in the majority of his songs including this one. His scream “evoked pain and violence rather than joy or possession by the spirit,”(Zuberi).

Soul music of the 1960s helped to shape the identity of civil rights activists because it was a way of expressing the emotions of the pain, suffering, hope, and determination that many individuals felt during the time period. Its combination of gospel and rhythm and blues gave people a feeling of comfort because it was a sound similar to what they listened to growing up. Soul music not only created the identity of the 1960s, but was also a major influence in the emergence of hip-hop, techno, and house music. Soul singer’ abilities to merge civil fight songs into their music “inevitably change the way most black artists would approach their craft,” (Nathan). Soul music is still sung today; most popularly heard in the songs of Mary J. Blige.

Work Cited

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Morrison, Nick. "Songs of the Civil Rights Movement." NPR:National Public Radio (2009): 1-3. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. .

Nathan, David. "R&B changed, charged by `60s." Billboard 107.5 (1995): 28. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.

Paoletta, Michael. "Black Power: Music of a Revolution (Music)." Billboard 116.22 (2004): 47. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.

Zuberi, Nabeel. "James Joseph Brown (1933-2006)." Popular Music & Society Oct. 2007: 551+. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.