redandwhiterag 
An artist whose most famous record, the one with which he is most associated, was the first he ever recorded. But Percy Sledge should be appreciated for far more than ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’, even if the track did help shape southern soul and establish the great Muscle Shoals studios. One of the truly great voices of soul music.
One of the great innovators in popular music, it would be extremely remiss not to include him in an R&B Primer – so here he is!. An artist who managed to avoid record industry pigeon holing, he succeeded in any genre that he chose to address. One of the few who genuinely deserve the ‘genius’ tag, he provided a wealth of great material over a period of 30 – 35 years.
One of the younger generation of Blues players – it could be argued that Cray more than any other individual was responsible for the revival of guitar based blues that began in the 1980s. Another of the artists that the Primer admires who deviates from the pure Blues form – in his case by incorporating soul and rock influences – his vocals in particular are smoother than many of his contemporaries. He hit big in 1983 with the album “Bad Influence“, although he had recorded an earlier debut record (“Who’s Been Talking“) which was reissued on the back of the success of the Bad Influence set.
Born Ruth Alston Weston, ‘Miss Rhythm’ is perhaps best known by younger audiences through her role as DJ Motormouth Mabel in the John Waters film Hairspray; in the 1950s however, it’s not too extreme a position to suggest that the wonderful Atlantic Records label was built almost entirely around her early R&B successes. From around 1949 through to the end of the 1950s, Ruth had a string of R&B successes, although when the hits tried up in the early 60s, the industry was quick to forget about her as she worked as a domestic to make ends meet. Through Hairspray, her role in the Broadway revue Black and Blue and various appearances in TV sitcoms (yes really!) she gradually got herself back to the top of her profession, her status as a pioneer assured and acknowledged, not to mention her work advocating the rights and royalties of her musical friends and colleagues.
Included as one of the great pioneers, a man who took control of his own career, wrote much of his own material and paved the way for those who followed. He was also undeniably a superb vocalist and a forerunner for many of the talents for whom he both set the standard and broke down the boundaries of a still white dominated record business.
Although Shirley has produced some wonderful material over the years, you sort of get the feeling that it’s is a career that perhaps should have reached greater heights. Early on, her talent and vocal prowess had been favourably compared to Aretha and, although that’s perhaps a little audacious, only a cursory listen to some of her material will indicate why some commentators got a little excited. Certainly, her range, raw power and accuracy don’t suffer in the comparison.
A man who played the blues with flair, sophistication, technical brilliance and a sense of humour, Aaron Thibeaux Walker was born in Linden, Cass County, of Cherokee Indian descent. His trademark was the cool, telling West Coast licks which emanated from his guitar – there have been few who have done the job better. Throughout his career, he was backed by bands of excellent quality, bands which included players of the stature of tenor Original Sourceplayers ‘Bumps’ Meyers and Jack McVea and the bassist Billy Hadnott, who was good enough to tutor Mingus.
Steve Bellamy is a fellow ex-Sheffield native (that’s Sheffield, UK!) with a wealth of stories around the music, lifestyle, the business that made rhythm and blues – go to the R&B Editorials section in the R&B Primer main menu above to reminisce with him (if you’re not already here)! They are dated to the time of the original submissions (apart from this entry, obviously) and are not fully checked for accuracy. Any errors, please be kind and report and I will correct them.
The Sheffield Esquire was the first club to play R&B type sounds in the North of England. It started life as a Jazz club in the 40’s and is still going as some sort of dance club to this day. The heyday for the Mojo is considered to have been 1960-1966/7 and was long considered a rival to the Esquire.
London had the Scene club and Sheffield had the Mojo and the twain never met. After all why should we go all the way to London (by BR no less) when we had Violet May’s record emporium (still regarded as the best Mod record outlet in the UK), Burtons tailors, La Favarita coffee shop, City Hall hairdressers and a plethora of Boots the chemist branches. We were set for life. TV really wasn’t something that had any consequence. After all, as far as ‘our’ music was concerned it was a wasteland. Programs like “6-5 special” “Thank Your Lucky Stars” and the truly horrible ‘Top of the Pops’ were as blinkered to ‘soul’ music as Hercules the dray horse on Steptoe and Son.
I never set out to become “a mod”, there just wasn’t anything else to be. It’s 1961 and you either identified yourself with your father’s generation – short back and sides with brillcream, trousers with turn-ups, cigarettes with beer, the BBC light service radio with the quickstep, and the working men’s club with your Dad and his mates on a Saturday night. “Or” you rebelled. Rebellion in those days was painted in black and white. My school forbade long hair so we grew long hair. Cuban heel boots were not allowed so we wore them. The Beatles and Stones were considered the antichrists so we listened to them, idolised them and emulated them. Dad was old fashioned, we were modern. Anything he liked we hated. We were mods. Maybe not the mods you know but we had to start somewhere, right.
“Any problem in the world can be solved by dancing” – James Brown
‘Out on the floor each night I’m really moving
The band is wailin right, I feel like groovin
The chicks are out of sight, and I am approvin
The crowd is in tonight beggin for more
While I’m getting my kicks out on the floor’