Examples of soul and Motown music in the 1960s

1. MUSC 1800: Popular Music
Dr. Matthew C. Saunders
Lakeland Community College
C-1078

2. The Mid-to-Late 1960s
• Instability in the world situation
– Viet Nam War
– Protest and Revolution (1968)
– Decolonization

3. The Mid-to-Late 1960s
• Expansion of
consciousness
– New spirituality and
revival
– Technology
– Rebellion against
conformity
– New individualism

4. Culture and Counterculture
• The 1960s and
“liberal” values
• However: Most
Americans did not
identify with the
counterculture.

5. Soul
• Soul: Synthesis of gospel and blues
– Secular music with clear models in sacred music
of black Protestant churches
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe: “I Saw the Light”
• Ray Charles: “I’ve Got a Woman,” 1954

6. Ray Charles
– Wide Range of Music
• Country: “I Can’t Stop Loving You,”
1959
• Tin Pan Alley: “Georgia On My
Mind,” 1951
• British Invasion: “Eleanor Rigby,”
1965
• Traditional: “America the
Beautiful,” 1976

7. Other Soul Artists
• Otis Redding
– “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” 1967
• Marvin Gaye
– “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” 1968
• James Brown
– “Say it Loud, I’m Black and Proud,” 1968
• Aretha Franklin
– “Chain of Fools,” 1967

8. Motown
• Founded 1959
• Berry Gordy
• Smokey Robinson
• Songwriters: Eddie
Holland, Lamont
Dozier, and Brian
Holland
• House musicians: The
Funk Brothers

9. Motown Stars of the 1960s
• Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
– “Shop Around,” 1960 (Gordy-Robinson)
• The Temptations
– “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” 1964 (Rogers-Kendricks)
• Diana Ross and the Supremes
– “Where Did Our Love Go?,” 1964 (Holland-Dozier-Holland)
• Martha Reeves and the Vandellas:
– “Nowhere to Run,” 1965 (Holland-Dozier-Holland)
• The Four Tops
– “Reach Out (I’ll Be There),” 1966 (Holland-Dozier-Holland)