Getty Image. 1901. Photo of Margaret Murray Washington.

Black woman Margaret Murray Washington gave an address during the Louisiana Purchase exhibition, titled “The Songs of Our Fathers.” In this address, she demarcates soul music as “words and music voiced together with the deepest feelings.”¹ This was in 1905, during a time when hearing the words of a black woman was not extremely common, even the article was stated to be written by ‘Mrs. Booker T. Washington is a white soldier. This was the earliest definition of soul music that I could find, from an African American source.

Soul music is an African-American genre established in the 1960s.³ It’s a fusion between Gospel, Jazz, Rhythm, and Blues. Many different singers across the genre attempt to achieve a spiritual ascendance. Big names like Ray Charles, Etta James, and Sam Cooke spearheaded the genre. Billboard topper “A Sunday Kind of Love”⁴ by Etta James, to me, represents the spirituality that soul music represents. Typical Christian denominations, that James subscribed to meet on Sunday. In the song she sings of wanting to meet a lover on Sunday, to keep her warm throughout the week. In my opinion, she’s talking about God here. Someone that you’re closest to on Sunday. Take a listen to the song below.

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In the latter half of the 1960’s you can hear a marked difference in Soul music. The influence of gospel increased, but the influence of the blues fell. You hear a more distinctive Southern style; it becomes more rugged and less polished. As you hear in the recording by Etta James, it’s almost an aria sung by her while backed by a rhythm section. In this recording by James Brown “Out of Sight”⁵   you can hear a very large difference in how the two songs sound. This difference in sound is defined as “Mowtown.” The latter better signifies the soul scene in the 1970’s.

Although Soul Music is a relatively new genre, I have a feeling that it’s going to stay. We’ve got popular black artists pioneering the genre. Artists like Lauryn Hill and Mary J Blige are bringing it into pop culture. We’re getting gospel style music with secular lyrics. We see it all over the country too, places like New York, Chicago, and New Orleans are the first places that come to mind.