SouthernSoulSociety

Southern Soul 101

What the music is, where it came from and who to play first.

Ask two people what southern soul is and you may get two answers. Both are right, because the name covers two connected things.

The classic sound

In the 1960s and early 1970s a handful of Southern studios made soul records that sounded nothing like the polished pop coming out of Detroit. They were rawer and slower to boil, with gospel in the vocals and blues and country in the playing.

  • Stax Records, Memphis. Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Johnnie Taylor.
  • FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Where Aretha Franklin found her sound and Etta James cut Tell Mama.
  • Hi Records, Memphis. Al Green with producer Willie Mitchell.

The bridge

When mainstream radio moved on, the music did not stop. It kept going on small labels, Black radio in the Deep South, and the network of clubs and halls known as the chitlin' circuit. Malaco Records in Jackson, Mississippi, was the center of it. Z.Z. Hill's "Down Home Blues" in 1982 proved there was still an audience, and Johnnie Taylor, Denise LaSalle, Bobby Rush, Tyrone Davis and Marvin Sease kept it fed for years.

In the 2000s a younger group took over: Sir Charles Jones, T.K. Soul, Willie Clayton, O.B. Buchana, and Theodis Ealey with "Stand Up In It."

Today

This is what most people mean now when they say southern soul. It is grown folks' music: mid-tempo, built for dancing, with lyrics about love, cheating, paydays and weekends. The production borrows from R&B and hip-hop. Lately it borrows from country too.

The current wave is usually dated to 2022, when King George's "Keep On Rollin'" took off. Tucka, Pokey Bear, J-Wonn, Jeter Jones and West Love were already drawing crowds. Since then Tonio Armani, Mike Clark Jr., Cecily Wilborn, Marcellus The Singer and 803Fresh, whose "Boots on the Ground" set off a line dance craze, have joined them.

The business runs on live shows. Artists work nearly every weekend, at civic centers, fairgrounds, casinos and fields.

Words you will hear

Trail ride
A gathering, rooted in Black cowboy tradition in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, that pairs horseback riding with a party: DJs, food, zydeco and southern soul. Many current hits are written with trail rides in mind.
Line dance
A set of steps tied to one song that a whole crowd does together. A good one can keep a record alive for a year.
Stepping
Smooth partner dancing to mid-tempo records. A song "for the steppers" is made for it.
Chitlin' circuit
The historic network of venues where Black performers could work during segregation. The term is still used for the Southern club and festival circuit.
Jody
The man who is with your woman while you are away. A stock character in blues and soul since Johnnie Taylor's "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone" in 1971.
Soul blues
Another name for the same family of music, common among blues fans and at awards shows.

Ten songs to start with

  1. Otis Redding, "These Arms of Mine"
  2. Johnnie Taylor, "Last Two Dollars"
  3. Z.Z. Hill, "Down Home Blues"
  4. Denise LaSalle, "Trapped by a Thing Called Love"
  5. Sir Charles Jones, "Friday"
  6. Theodis Ealey, "Stand Up In It"
  7. Tucka, "Sweet Shop"
  8. King George, "Keep On Rollin'"
  9. West Love, "Work It"
  10. 803Fresh, "Boots on the Ground"

Then read our artist spotlights and check the calendar for a show near you.