the soul capital of the world?
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but born in Memphis
I still ride for the Memphis/Detroit tag team...those 2 cities invented it simultaneously, and brought it to the world on a HUGE scale...
well, I'm just going by what it said on the original question...
As I have already proved. The GREATEST soul music comes from NYC. If someone wants to argue that the greatest funk music comes from Cleveland or NOLA, I'm ready to listen.
Sorry Detroit and Chicago, but if your groups were any good they would have gone to NYC.
Ray Charles,Aretha,Otis Redding were from the south.... not NYC (which I'm sure you're well aware of)
There should be a regional DJ competition where DJs spin 2 hours of the best 45s from their state and a panelist of British judges breaks it down Simon Cowell style.
Ray Charles is from Georgia. He recorded in LA before going to NYC to record for a NYC with a NYC producer. Soul music was invented by Ray Charles in NYC. All you all are playing catch up.
Aretha is from Detroit, and left as soon as she had musical aspirations. He vision was first realized in NYC with the song Soulville. She then extended that vision when she signed to an independent NYC record label and her NYC producer recorded her for one song in Muscle Shoals. All of her other soul hits were recorded in NYC usually with NYC studio musicians, tho it is true some Southern musicians came up to record with her.
Otis Redding was from Georgia. He recorded in Memphis. He recorded for a Memphis label that was all but owned by the same NYC label that Aretha would record for.
Where they are from means nothing in this discussion.
Pound for pound, greatsest for greatest, Atlantic Records released more soul music than Detroit and Chicago combined.
Sure some soul stars played at little Detroit armature hour clubs. And they all played at the Regal in Chicago, but they were nothing until they played at the Apollo in NYC. Why? Because NYC was the greatest soul city.
As the original poaster, I took "pound for pound" to mean "per capita" in a sense.
IE: The world's best flyweight boxer might not beat the 10th ranked heavyweight, but he's a better boxer "pound for pound". Number of releases should be considered but shouldn't by any means be the only thing looked at. Maybe there should be similar divisions here. Major cities, Big cities, Minor cities.
That being said, there's a good case to be made for Chicago as it combines sheer VOLUME of QUALITY output and managed to weave the music into the culture of the city, which I think is immensely important. Did any New York soul brothers and sisters feel a personal connection to Aretha Franklin's Atlantic sides? No, that was commercial music recorded for a national audience.
IE: The world's best flyweight boxer might not beat the 10th ranked heavyweight, but he's a better boxer "pound for pound". Number of releases should be considered but shouldn't by any means be the only thing looked at. Maybe there should be similar divisions here. Major cities, Big cities, Minor cities.
That being said, there's a good case to be made for Chicago as it combines sheer VOLUME of QUALITY output and managed to weave the music into the culture of the city, which I think is immensely important. Did any New York soul brothers and sisters feel a personal connection to Aretha Franklin's Atlantic sides? No, that was commercial music recorded for a national audience.
Haha.
"That was the most booohhhhring, ab-surd, worthless performance I've..." (audience boos) "...look mate, I've played jukeboxes a toss more worthwhile than your selection there. Pants. Absolutely horrid."
wow...I must have missed this one...I could actually hear simon saying this...haha
no...we'll tell you what you meant! it's bigger than you now...let the dust settle...after breck and dante list discographies of their perspective champions...and we can all decide
besides didn't we already book simon, james trouble, giles peterson, and keb darge to judge the 2 hour "rep your soul city" dj competition?
Almost the entire stables of Invictus, Hot Wax, Ric Tic, Golden World, Ollie McLaughlin's labels (Carla, Karen, etc.) and Revilot.
And if ya want me to name names:
The Parliaments, Andre Williams, the Fantastic Four, J.J. Barnes, the Flaming Ember, Steve Mancha, Dennis Coffey, the Capitols, Deon Jackson, the Dramatics, Gino Washington, Angelo Bond, Darrell Banks, 100 Proof Aged In Soul, Chairmen Of The Board (they came from all over, but I believe they were based in Detroit when they had their hits), Eighth Day, the Holidays, Jimmy Delphs, the (Fabulous) Counts for starters.
And I'm sticking with the relative hitmakers - all these acts had some degree of success, and I wouldn't be getting anywhere by naming obscurities. Sure, most of these people never became superstars, and quite a few of them worked at Motown in some capacity, but they did prove that there was life in Detroit beyond Hitsville U.S.A..
well, I'm just going by what it said on the original question...
As I have already proved. The GREATEST soul music comes from NYC. If someone wants to argue that the greatest funk music comes from Cleveland or NOLA, I'm ready to listen.
Sorry Detroit and Chicago, but if your groups were any good they would have gone to NYC.
Ray Charles,Aretha,Otis Redding were from the south.... not NYC (which I'm sure you're well aware of)
There should be a regional DJ competition where DJs spin 2 hours of the best 45s from their state and a panelist of British judges breaks it down Simon Cowell style.
Ray Charles is from Georgia. He recorded in LA before going to NYC to record for a NYC with a NYC producer. Soul music was invented by Ray Charles in NYC. All you all are playing catch up.
Aretha is from Detroit, and left as soon as she had musical aspirations. He vision was first realized in NYC with the song Soulville. She then extended that vision when she signed to an independent NYC record label and her NYC producer recorded her for one song in Muscle Shoals. All of her other soul hits were recorded in NYC usually with NYC studio musicians, tho it is true some Southern musicians came up to record with her.
Otis Redding was from Georgia. He recorded in Memphis. He recorded for a Memphis label that was all but owned by the same NYC label that Aretha would record for.
Where they are from means nothing in this discussion.
Pound for pound, greatsest for greatest, Atlantic Records released more soul music than Detroit and Chicago combined.
Sure some soul stars played at little Detroit armature hour clubs. And they all played at the Regal in Chicago, but they were nothing until they played at the Apollo in NYC. Why? Because NYC
was the greatest soul city.
Christ, I hope this is a joke.
If not, we need a "Lost In The Sauce" graemlin up here immediately.
well, I'm just going by what it said on the original question...
As I have already proved. The GREATEST soul music comes from NYC. If someone wants to argue that the greatest funk music comes from Cleveland or NOLA, I'm ready to listen.
Sorry Detroit and Chicago, but if your groups were any good they would have gone to NYC.
Ray Charles,Aretha,Otis Redding were from the south.... not NYC (which I'm sure you're well aware of)
There should be a regional DJ competition where DJs spin 2 hours of the best 45s from their state and a panelist of British judges breaks it down Simon Cowell style.
Ray Charles is from Georgia. He recorded in LA before going to NYC to record for a NYC with a NYC producer. Soul music was invented by Ray Charles in NYC. All you all are playing catch up.
Aretha is from Detroit, and left as soon as she had musical aspirations. He vision was first realized in NYC with the song Soulville. She then extended that vision when she signed to an independent NYC record label and her NYC producer recorded her for one song in Muscle Shoals. All of her other soul hits were recorded in NYC usually with NYC studio musicians, tho it is true some Southern musicians came up to record with her.
Otis Redding was from Georgia. He recorded in Memphis. He recorded for a Memphis label that was all but owned by the same NYC label that Aretha would record for.
Where they are from means nothing in this discussion.
Pound for pound, greatsest for greatest, Atlantic Records released more soul music than Detroit and Chicago combined.
Sure some soul stars played at little Detroit armature hour clubs. And they all played at the Regal in Chicago, but they were nothing until they played at the Apollo in NYC. Why? Because NYC
was the greatest soul city.
Christ, I hope this is a joke.
If not, we need a "Lost In The Sauce" graemlin up here immediately.
No shit..and as far as Stax being "all but owned" by a NYC company, I call bullshit...Shady acquisition moves does not constitute "ownership" in the true sense of the word. I aint buying this "Stax is NYC" bullshit. Otis' soul output is a product of Memphis. Hell, he was a Little Richard imitator more or less before he recorded in Memphis..and Aretha recorded soul music before she was on Atlantic. Also, Atlantic was copying/exploiting and importing the southern soul sound...they didnt invent it in any sense...yeah they got the records in the shops and you cant front on that, but please dont come on here and tell us the music wouldnt have been created if it wasnt for NYC.
well, I'm just going by what it said on the original question...
As I have already proved. The GREATEST soul music comes from NYC. If someone wants to argue that the greatest funk music comes from Cleveland or NOLA, I'm ready to listen.
Sorry Detroit and Chicago, but if your groups were any good they would have gone to NYC.
Ray Charles,Aretha,Otis Redding were from the south.... not NYC (which I'm sure you're well aware of)
There should be a regional DJ competition where DJs spin 2 hours of the best 45s from their state and a panelist of British judges breaks it down Simon Cowell style.
Ray Charles is from Georgia. He recorded in LA before going to NYC to record for a NYC with a NYC producer. Soul music was invented by Ray Charles in NYC. All you all are playing catch up.
Aretha is from Detroit, and left as soon as she had musical aspirations. He vision was first realized in NYC with the song Soulville. She then extended that vision when she signed to an independent NYC record label and her NYC producer recorded her for one song in Muscle Shoals. All of her other soul hits were recorded in NYC usually with NYC studio musicians, tho it is true some Southern musicians came up to record with her.
Otis Redding was from Georgia. He recorded in Memphis. He recorded for a Memphis label that was all but owned by the same NYC label that Aretha would record for.
Where they are from means nothing in this discussion.
Pound for pound, greatsest for greatest, Atlantic Records released more soul music than Detroit and Chicago combined.
Sure some soul stars played at little Detroit armature hour clubs. And they all played at the Regal in Chicago, but they were nothing until they played at the Apollo in NYC. Why? Because NYC
was the greatest soul city.
Christ, I hope this is a joke.
If not, we need a "Lost In The Sauce" graemlin up here immediately.
No shit..and as far as Stax being "all but owned" by a NYC company, I call bullshit...Shady acquisition moves does not constitute "ownership" in the true sense of the word. I aint buying this "Stax is NYC" bullshit. Otis' soul output is a product of Memphis. Hell, he was a Little Richard imitator more or less before he recorded in Memphis..and Aretha recorded soul music before she was on Atlantic. Also, Atlantic was copying/exploiting and importing the southern soul sound...they didnt invent it in any sense...yeah they got the records in the shops and you cant front on that, but please dont come on here and tell us the music wouldnt have been created if it wasnt for NYC.
No, no, I am joking.
I think the basic question is a joke.
There is no soul capitol or creator or greatest.
I just thought it would be fun to argue for a city, and I thought NYC would be easy, and I thought I did a good job. I said I was joking in most of my posts.
Atlantic was a great label and that greatness extended to their realization that Stax, Muscle Shoals, Fame, Dixie Fliers and Miami had/were great studio bands that their artists would do well to work with. I'm thinking that Atlantic signed Otis and gave him to Stax to record for. Maybe I have him mixed up with someone else.
Soul is to big for anyone city to claim.
I was hoping that Harvey would make an impassioned case for NOLA. They have as much claim to being the greatest soul/funk city as anyone else.
Even though the mix idea was in jest...lets do this..1 hour mix, no more or no less than 6 big hits ( #10 or higher on the Billboard R&B chart), the other 45 minutes repping the other gems from the respective cities...Ill give the Memphis mix a try.
Also, for a record to be claimed by a city it must have a combination of 2 of the following...artist, studio/label, producer, and or songwriter have to based in the respective city. For example, The Dramatics would not be eligible as a Memphis record because it only meets one of the criteria (label). Any other guidelines need to be met?
I have several Philly and NOLA mixes here (and one Chitown mix...)
One Philly funk, one general Philly soul and one Philly Northern soul.
THree NOLA funk mixes (four if you include the Lee Dorsey mix) , two NOLA soul mixes, and the one Chitown soul mix is a personal fave.
My (relative) silence on this matter contains more passion than a million record discographies ever could.
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