THE DNA OF SOUL

13 — SOUL BECOMES A MUSICAL TOOLKIT

Once you start listening to Funk and Soul from the perspective of a DJ or producer, something changes. You stop hearing the record as one complete composition, and you start hearing the ingredients.

The drum-break, bassline, horn stab, guitar lick, percussion loop of vocal drop. And this is one of the reasons Funk and Soul became so important to Hip-Hop.

Musicians had created music that could survive being dissected and reconstructed.

The arrangements often contained strong instrumental sections where the drums, bass and grooves were exposed.

The musicians left space and all of these things made the music incredibly useful to DJs and producers.

The record was no longer just something you listened to. It was something you could dig into, it was something you could deconstruct and rebuild.

The musicians created the ingredients and the sampler would eventually turn those ingredients into building blocks.

14 — THE SOUL NEVER DISAPPEARED

As Funk emerged, Soul didn't disappear. It simply continued evolving.

Soul fed Funk.
Soul, Jazz & Funk fed Jazz-Funk.
Funk and Jazz-Funk fed Disco.
Funk fed Electro.
Soul and Funk became fundamental ingredients of Hip-Hop.
And the influence of Soul continued into House, New jack swing, R&B, Neo-Soul and modern Pop.

The records changed. The technology changed. The production techniques changed. But the blueprint of Soul remained..

The fundamental core of Soul became raw material for future musicians. And eventually, the record collector became just as important as the musician.

DJs and producers began digging through forgotten or obscure records looking for breaks in the archives of Soul and Funk.

Eventually labels began reissuing forgotten recordings, and a new generation of enthusiasts began discovering music that had been sitting in the collectors crates for decades.

Previously unobtainable or hard to find records that provided the hooks for the hits of the day, were back on the press and were filling the shelves of record collectors across the globe.

The old became new again.

15 — THE LOOP

This is where the story comes full circle.

A musician records a drum break in 1969.
A DJ discovers it decades later.
A producer samples it.
An MC waxes lyrical over it.
Another producer hears it and searches for the original break.
Then the producer finds the record that influenced the original.
Then he finds the musician responsible for the break
Then another.
And another.

And suddenly, one record leads to another.
One drummer leads to another.
One bassline leads to another.
One sample leads to another.
And eventually you realise that the history of modern music isn't a straight line.

It's a loop.

And that’s the beauty of digging. You aren't simply looking backwards. You're connecting the dots.

CONCLUSION — THE SOUL OF THE GROOVE

Soul was never simply a genre. It was a transformation.

Rhythm & Blues gave it the rhythm.
Gospel gave it the spirit.
Blues gave it emotion.
Jazz gave it the musical prowess.
The Civil Rights movement gave it a voice.
Detroit gave it polish.
Memphis gave it grit.
James Brown stripped it all back to its bones.
And that was the Funk.

But the story didn't end there.
Those old Soul records would be found by the DJs.
Producers would turn them into the building blocks of modern music.
And a new generation of enthusiasts would dig through crates searching for the sounds that Soul musicians created generations earlier.

The Soul didn't disappear, it became part of the DNA. And when you hear it, you hear it everywhere.

Because the history of modern music isn't a straight line. It's a loop.

RECORDS WORTH DIGGING

Lucky 7’s of Soul

7 BRIDGES TO SOUL

The Flamingos — Their Hits Then And Now
Ray Charles — I Got a Woman
Ruth Brown — Miss Rhythm
Sam Cooke — Encore
Sam Cooke — Shake
Solomon Burke — The King Of Rock N' Soul
James Brown — Excitement aka Good, Good, Twistin' With James Brown, aka Shout And Shimmy

7 MOMENTS OF MOTOWN MAGIC

The Supremes — Where Did Our Love Go
The Temptations — The Temptations Sing Smokey
Martha & The Vandellas — Dance Party
Marvin Gaye — What's Going On
Stevie Wonder — For Once in My Life
Four Tops — Reach Out
The Miracles — The Tears Of A Clown

7 SOUTHERN SOUL SENSATIONS

Booker T. & The M.G.'s — Green Onions
Otis Redding — Hard To Handle
Sam & Dave — Soul Man
Wilson Pickett — 634-5789
Aretha Franklin — Respect
Al Green — Let's Stay Together
Ann Peebles — 99 Lbs