Swear to Tell the Truth for Tuesday, June 9th, (1:00-2:30 pm)
This week, the promised followup special covering Chicago Soul. We cover a period extending from 1961 to 1975 but most of the recordings are from the sixties. Soul music combined elements of gospel, R&B, blues and, especially in the south, country music. In Chicago, the blues element was more pronounced and singers like Tyrone Davis, Syl Johnson and Lee “Shot” Williams were performing blues before they became known as soul artists. If you doubt that the transition was meaningful, think about Syl Johnson’s initial response when he was asked to perform and record blues again. He thought that he and his music were being dissed by the new blues community. Of course, “soul”, like “blues”, was a marketing concept as much as it effectively defined a genre of music.”Soul” describes music whose characteristics are at least as diffuse as blues.
We’re short of time. Let’s conclude by saying there was a lot of blues in Chicago soul music.
On the Show:
Young Holt Trio – Syl Johnson – Jerry Butler – Ricky Allen – Gerri Taylor – Harold Burrage – Lee “Shot” Williams – Mamie Galore – Otis Clay – Tyrone Davis
Listen to the program at FM 93.3 in Hamilton or on CFMU online at cfmu.msu.mcmaster.ca. The program will be available to stream or as a podcast until July 7th.
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To reach us with comments or queries, write us at sweartotellthetruth@gmail.com.
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Next week (June 16th)
Juneteenth
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