Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed of American pop as a whole. More than any other performer, she epitomized soul at its most gospel-charged. Her astonishing run of late-'60s hits with Atlantic Records -- "Respect," "I Never Loved a Man," "Chain of Fools," "Baby I Love You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Think," "The... [+] Read More

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Dave Bartholomew is the multi-talented figure behind a majority of classic New Orleans R&B of the '50s and the self-proclaimed inventor of the "Big Beat." Bartholomew has over 4000 songs in his enormous catalog and is responsible for arranging and producing timeless records by Shirley & Lee, Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, and especially Fats Domino.... [+] Read More

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The most popular exponent of the classic New Orleans R&B sound, Fats Domino sold more records than any other black rock & roll star of the 1950s. His relaxed, lolling boogie-woogie piano style and easygoing, warm vocals anchored a long series of national hits from the mid-'50s to the early '60s. Through it all, his basic approach rarely changed.... [+] Read More

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In the world of early rhythm & blues and doo wop, Hank Ballard was the very definition of earthiness. Though influenced by high-energy gospel vocal groups, Ballard's music with the Midnighters couldn't have been more diametrically opposed in terms of subject matter: his lyrics were filled with raunchy double-entendres that left little to the... [+] Read More

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While not nearly as well remembered by the general public as either Sam Cooke or Otis Redding, singer Jesse Belvin was in many regards a performer of equal stature whose career was also cut far too short by tragedy. At the time of his death, Belvin was moving in the much the same direction as Cooke (he was even on the same record label, although... [+] Read More

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One of the original rock & roll greats, Little Richard merged the fire of gospel with New Orleans R&B, pounding the piano and wailing with gleeful abandon. While numerous other R&B greats of the early '50s had been moving in a similar direction, none of them matched the sheer electricity of Richard's vocals. With his bullet-speed deliveries,... [+] Read More

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Although she never had many hits, Maxine Brown was one of the most underrated soul and R&B vocalists of the '60s. During the '60s she released a series of singles for Nomar and Wand, with only a couple of songs -- "All in My Mind," "Funny," "Something You Got," "Oh No Not My Baby" -- managing to become either pop or R&B hits. Despite her lack of... [+] Read More

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Earthy, rootsy, robust, from the heart....

A powerful, yet soulful, mesmerizing vocalist and songwriter, Michele Lundeen effortlessly blends classic roadhouse blues, Memphis soul, jump swing, Roots rock, sultry-campy jazz and funk into a satisfying musical stew. While her energetic style is truly all her own, Michele has been compared... [+] Read More

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They called Atlantic Records "the house that Ruth built" during the 1950s, and they weren't referring to the Sultan of Swat. Ruth Brown's regal hitmaking reign from 1949 to the close of the '50s helped tremendously to establish the New York label's predominance in the R&B field. Later, the business all but forgot her -- she was forced to toil as... [+] Read More

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The Moonglows were among the most important R&B groups of the 1950s, despite the fact that they only had a handful of hits among fewer than 50 recorded songs, in a history that lasted just six years, in sharp contrast to such acts as the Orioles and the Drifters, who were together across decades and recorded huge bodies of work.
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Varetta Dillard was one of the great unknown blues shouters of the 1950s. A two-time winner of the Apollo Theater's amateur competition, she recorded solo and as a part of a duo that she shared with vocalist/pianist H-Bomb Ferguson. Signed by Savoy in 1951, her singles included "Easy Easy Baby" in 1952 and "Mercy, Mr. Percy," her theme song, the... [+] Read More

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Of the major '60s soul stars, Wilson Pickett was one of the roughest and sweatiest, working up some of the decade's hottest dancefloor grooves on hits like "In the Midnight Hour," "Land of 1000 Dances," "Mustang Sally," and "Funky Broadway." Although he tends to be held in somewhat lower esteem than more versatile talents like Otis Redding and... [+] Read More

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