BLUE-EYED SOUL

'Blue-eyed soul' (also known as 'white soul') is a term used to describe R&B or soul music performed by white people.
The term is a misnomer, in that the artists don't all have blue eyes. The term doesn't refer to a distinct style of music, and the meaning of ''blue-eyed soul'' has evolved over decades. Originally the term was associated with mid-1960s white artists who performed soul and rhythm and blues music that was similar to the raw, expressive music of the Motown and Stax record labels. Many blue-eyed soul singers have been described as ''sounding black'' because they had a full voice with a throaty, resonate timbre. The term continued to be used in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly by the British to describe a new generation of singers who co-opted elements of the classic Stax and Motown sounds. To a lesser extent, the term has been applied to singers in other music genres that are influenced by soul music (such as dirty pop, urban music, and hip-hop soul).

Contents

1960s and 1970s

1980s and later

Notable artists

1960s and 1970s

1980s and later

United States

United Kingdom

Poland

Australia

Canada

External links

1960s and 1970s

Blue-eyed soul began when southern United States white musicians remade black music to play for mass audiences, due to segregation laws that prevented blacks from performing for whites. Often the music was diluted for its new audience, a move that angered many African-Americans. Elvis Presley sang songs written by black artists when the black artists' performances were not allowed on the radio. British vocalist Dusty Springfield and Welsh singer Tom Jones became major catalysts for emerging soul musicians in Europe. The regional beach music and shag music trends in the areas around North and South Carolina in the late 1950s and 1960s is, at least partly, a manifestation of blue-eyed soul. Local white bands backed nationally-popular black R&B artists at their road gigs, and performed on their own at fraternity parties and other college social events. The widespread popularity of the Carolina shag enabled many bands to keep their careers into the 2000s. According to ''beach band'' historian Greg Haynes, national artists such as Bonnie Bramlett and The Allman Brothers (as The Escorts) began their careers on this same college ''kegger'' circuit. Bill Deal and The Rhondells and The Swinging Medallions are beach bands which have charted nationally.
The terms ''blue-eyed soul'' and ''white soul'' were first used in the 1960s to describe white singers whose style was heavily influenced by soul and rhythm and blues. Blue -eyed soul artists in the 1960s included: The Righteous Brothers, The Rascals, Steve Marriott, Eric Burdon, Dusty Springfield, Jerry Lee Lewis, Van Morrison, Tom Jones, The Box Tops, Joe Cocker, Mitch Ryder, Tony Joe White and Roy Head. Lewis, whose latter days at Sun records (1961-3) had been characterised by R&B covers, recorded an album for Smash entitled "Soul My Way" in 1967, immediately prior to his successful switch to mainstream country. In some cases (most notably The Flaming Ember and The Rascals), the artists initially ''passed'' as black singers on the radio - deliberately in many cases, to avoid alienating receptive black radio audiences. Georgie Woods, an air personality with WDAS, Philadelphia, came up with the term ''blue-eyed soul'' to describe white artists receiving airplay on R&B radio stations. Delaney and Bonnie (Bramlett) produced the classic 'blue-eyed soul' album "Home" on Stax in 1969. [1]
In the 1970s, soul music flourished, and artists such as Richard Rudolph helped pave the way for what is known as blue-eyed soul. Notable artists at this time included Hall & Oates, Elton John, David Bowie, Van Morrison, Bobby Caldwell, Boz Scaggs, and Michael McDonald. Tower of Power were the first white act to appear on the soul music show ''Soul Train'', on February 1, 1975. Elton John appeared on the May 17 episode. A notable album of this time is Hall & Oates' ''Silver Album'' (real title ''Daryl Hall & John Oates'') (1975) includes the classic ballad ''Sara Smile'' (long considered a blue-eyed soul standard), ''Camellia'', ''Alone Too Long'', ''Out Of Me Out of You'' and the funk love song ''Nothing At All''.

1980s and later

In the 1980s, artists such as Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald and Rick Astley scored blue-eyed soul hits, as did Steve Winwood, an artist heavily influenced by 1960s soul. Boy George, although not having the ''black voice'', was considered a blue-eyed soul artist because much of the music of Culture Club fit in the genre of R&B. Around the same time, audiences were shocked by the soulfulness of Teena Marie. While also celebrated as mainstream popular and rock stars, Hall & Oates' chart success was at its highest when their singles got heavy airplay on urban contemporary (black) radio, as was the case with "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)", "One on One", "Say It Isn't So", "Adult Education", "Out of Touch", "Method of Modern Love" and "Everything Your Heart Desires". Most of those singles charted high or at number-one on the R&B and dance charts. A backlash ensued in the late 1980s as some African-Americans felt whites were cashing in on the new popularity of their music. This backlash was so strong that in 1990 ''Ebony Magazine'' ran an article deriding whites singing black music. At the top of their list was a young Mariah Carey (who is in fact multiracial) and Céline Dion. Dion, while having a powerful voice, has built a career in the mainstream popular and adult contemporary genres and is not usually considered a blue-eyed soul artist.
Later artists who have been labelled blue-eyed soul include Christina Aguilera; Jon B.; Remy Shand; Joss Stone; American Idol winner Taylor Hicks; Marc Broussard and Anastacia. Robin Thicke gained some notoriety after his single "Lost Without U" became the first by a white male artist to reach #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart since George Michael's "One More Try" (1988).

Notable artists

1960s and 1970s

★ The Action

★ The Animals

★ Bee Gees

★ David Bowie

★ The Boogie Kings

★ The Box Tops

★ Eric Burdon

★ Bobby Caldwell

★ David Clayton-Thomas

★ Joe Cocker

★ The Flaming Ember

★ Janis Joplin

★ Tom Jones

★ Steve Marriott

★ Van Morrison

★ The Rascals

★ The Righteous Brothers

★ Boz Scaggs

★ The Spencer Davis Group

★ Dusty Springfield

★ Timi Yuro

1980s and later

United States

★ Christina Aguilera

★ Anastacia

★ Jon B.

★ Michael Bolton

★ Bonnie Bramlett

★ Marc Broussard

★ Bryan Duncan

★ Hall & Oates

★ Dan Hartman

★ Taylor Hicks

★ Hernando's Hideaway

★ Eddie Hinton

★ JoJo

★ Tynisha Keli

★ Crystal Lewis

★ Teena Marie

★ Michael McDonald

★ Katharine McPhee

★ Shaun Murphy

★ Bonnie Raitt

★ Robin Thicke

★ Elliott Yamin

★ Ace Young

★ Justin Timberlake

United Kingdom

★ Paolo Nutini

★ Lisa Stansfield

★ Simply Red

★ Rick Astley

★ Culture Club

★ Go West

★ Tom Jones

★ Level 42

★ George Michael

★ James Morrison

★ Alison Moyet

★ Robert Palmer

★ Jamie Scott

★ Joss Stone

★ Paul Weller

★ Amy Winehouse

★ Steve Winwood

★ Paul Young

★ Jay Kay

★ Lewis Taylor

Poland

★ SiStars

Australia

★ Renée Geyer

★ Daniel Merriweather

Canada

★ Chromeo

External links

★ Blue-eyed soul Definition and examples on Allmusic.com

★ Blue eyed soul... Section on Soulwalking.co.uk

★ The Birth of Blue-eyed Soul Section on The Righteous Brothers site (have to click on menu)

★ Blue-Eyed Soul Section on Musicmatch.com

★ [2]Blue Eyed Soul Blog