The northern soul of R&B

The term Northern Soul was named by Dave Godin, a journalist for “Blues and Soul” magazine in 1968. Godin came up with the term when he helped file music from employees on the shelves of his record store in London, England. As newer music came along, Rhythm and Blues (R&B), I wanted to be able to differentiate the softer sounds of early R&B from the newer funk sounds that were hitting the radio waves. The term northern soul now refers to the golden Rhythm and Blues classics that are played in many of the most popular nightclubs in the northern United States. It was flooded with R&B musicians, yet in England another new venue opened for R&B artists to do it in a big way. , and in a big way they did it today in England.

In the 1960s, when most clubs were switching their beats to more modern musical genres, many nightclubs in the north of England chose to keep the weird rhythms of soul music. This has not slowed down the business of these well established clubs today, if anything, it has attracted more clients than ever. Customers knew what they liked and did not feel the need to follow the fashions of the time.

Northern Soul music played a huge role in the beginning of DJ culture in England. America was filling up with R&B artists and England opened a whole new place for artists to not only collect, but also for some to succeed in the music industry who would not have had the opportunity otherwise in the United States because of to the enormous number of R&B artists already circulating. Artists such as Tammi Lynn, The Fascinations, The Velvelettes, The Tams and many others achieved great successes in the UK due to the love of Northern Soul.

So who composes the Northern Soul genre, one may wonder? The answer is simple but broad, as thousands make up the Northern Soul genre. This genre includes the best R&B artists to wonders of a hit. Northern Soul music is not a style, voice, choice of musical instrument or even a theme song, Northern Soul music is a sensation, a rhythm and the ability to dance to it. Some of the Northern Soul options are very rare and even hard to come by nowadays, some more popular, some had a slow pace while others have an upbeat pace.

Remember Kool and the Gang, Bill Withers or Gwen Guthrie; all joined the Northern Soul movement in the north of England, as well as several hundred or thousands of other R&B artists. Names like Randy Crawford, Bobby Womack, Gerald Levert, and even the O’Jays are still on the dancefloors of nightclubs around the world. More current artists such as Kenny G, Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan also play an important role in the northern soul genre. If your feet can be set to the beat of Rhythm and Blues, chances are it has become part of the Northern Soul genre.