What is soul music doing on a twang website you wonder? I am by no means a music historian nor a music scholar, but I believe that soul and twang are intrinsically connected. Both are sung from the heart. They both reach deep into the mind and soul to talk about those things that we don’t always want to talk about. Sometimes its love, sometimes its escape and sometimes its bitter, ugly truth. Put to melody, they speak to us in ways we never thought possible. All through the beauty of song. You can be anybody and relate to this type of music. Its just something that is so utterly human its wonderful. Stylistically they do differ and I don’t think I need to get into it to explain the differences. Played back to back, I’m sure we could all pick out the differences between a soul song and a twang song. Sometimes the differences are as simple as where regionally they originate or who wrote and/or sang them. All this being said, I think we can all agree that these two styles meet quite comfortably in the blues. Whereas twang leans heavily on the guitar and soul leans heavily on the vocal, in the blues the guitar and vocal accompany each other on a more even playing field. Though I’m sure some would argue that the guitar is the stronger element in the blues. Enough about twang and blues, let’s talk a little soul…
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Earlier in the year we ran a giveaway promotion for Marc Broussard’s “S.O.S.: Save Our Soul” CD where I solicited your picks for best soul songs of all time. There were some great recommendations. As I started to make my compilation as promised I found that there was no way I was going to fit them all on a single disc. So I opted to release the picks in two sets with slightly different themes. The first, which you will find here, is set to love and heartbreak songs… those with a softer tempo. But don’t think they’re all soft. As you know with soul music, sometimes there ain’t nothin’ soft about it. I named part one “The Seranade” in honor of Aretha Franklin’s “Soul Seranade”.
Look below to see if any of your picks made the list. You should notice Stevie Wonder’s “All In Love is Fair” (kimberlu) and Clarence Carter’s “Slip Away” (Mayer). A few of the others will surface in the next set.
Soul Collection: The Seranade
- “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green
- “Cruisin'” by Smokey Robinson
- “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke
- “Can’t Nobody Love You” by Solomon Burke
- “I Believe In You (You Believe In Me)” by Johnnie Taylor
- “I Forgot to Be Your Lover” by William Bell
- “If You Got a Heart” by Bobby “Blue” Bland
- “Soul Seranade” by Aretha Franklin
- “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” by Donny Hathaway
- “All in Love Is Fair” by Stevie Wonder
- “All I Could Do Is Cry” by Etta James
- “That’s How Strong My Love Is” by Otis Redding
- “It’s Hard to Believe” by The Impressions
- “Love Is a Five Letter Word” by James Phelps & Pete Fountain
- “Harry Hippie” by Bobby Womack
- “Slip Away” by Clarence Carter
- “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” by James Brown
- “If I Were Your Woman” by Gladys Knight & The Pips
- “What Is This?” by Rance Allen
- “A Song for You” by Donny Hathaway
- “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge
- “Georgia On My Mind” by Ray Charles
- “At Last” by Etta James
As usual, I put together a “Soul Collection: The Seranade” iMix at the iTunes store for song previews. Which of your favorites didn’t make the list?
About the author: Washington, D.C. area creative by day. Music is my muse. I host Twangville’s weekly Readers‘ Pick.