The history of soul music has been defined, first and foremost, by a
succession of exceptional vocalists. It is impossible to conceive of the
genre without them. This does not mean, however, that those who back
singers, those who play instruments--bassists, drummers, guitarists,
keyboardists and saxophonists--were reduced to nothing other than walk
on parts. If Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding were able to move
audiences, then their band members and arrangers, the likes of King
Curtis and Booker T. Jones, played a key role in creating tracks that
had commensurate emotional depth and technical ingenuity. These lesser
known figures have heightened our listening pleasure.
In Soul Unsung, Kevin Le Gendre celebrates the contribution made by
instrumentalists to soul. He analyses, in forensic detail, the inspiring
creativity and imagination that several generations of musicians have
brought to black pop, and highlights how they have broadened its sound
canvas by adopting unusual stylistic approaches and embracing the latest
available technology. This book offers insights into the state of
contemporary soul and its relationship with jazz, rock and hip-hop. It
is precisely because soul has not evolved in a vacuum that it has a
canon that is enviably rich in variety.
Soul Unsung shines a light on the plethora of mesmerising sounds that
constitute this heritage and explains why they affect the listener as
much as a great singer. Placing the focus squarely on the band, Le
Gendre sets out to change perceptions of one of the great forms of
expression to have marked popular culture in the twentieth century, so
that those who play are given, alongside those who sing, their rightful
place in the pantheon of contemporary music.
