Back to BookOverview
Motown Records, home to the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and so many more, dubbed itself "The Sound of Young America." Consistent with this, Smokey Robinson has described the early Motown mission as being in part about making not black music but a music that would cut across the divide of race, just by virtue of being great music. It was an ambition that synced up well with the times. With the Civil Rights movement changing American life in profound ways, here was a black music that was, just as Robinson described, for everyone.
But the Civil Rights movement, its ambitions and its achievements, did not satisfy everyone. Racism in America had deep roots, roots that would not be easily ripped out. As such, there were black men and women who felt keenly the frustrations of what the Civil Rights movement could not do, rather than what it managed in Martin Luther King's time. For this reason and others, the late 1960s and early 1970s registered a change in music, even at Motown: From the all-inclusive celebration that marked early Motown came a new, distinctly black voice, a voice that addressed black life very directly.
Perhaps more than any other artist, James Brown came on the strongest in this moment. From 1968's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" forward, Brown hit hard. It's difficult to imagine Hip Hop being the same powerful genre it became without Brown leading the way. This chapter delves into his career, his effect on Funk, Hip Hop, and everything else. But it also explores the wider changes in Soul music, at Motown, with groups like the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron, together with the emerging Funk and Hip Hop scenes. The all-for-one 1960s didn't last — but black music continued to as influential as it ever had been.
lesson:
The Rise of Black Pride
How did Social Soul reflect a new vision of African-American identity in the late 1960s and early 1970s?
lesson:
Seventies Soul: The Soundtrack of Turbulent Times
How did changes in the Soul music of the early 1970s reflect broader shifts in American society during that time?
Video
video:
Michael Jackson : Comments on James Brown, ABC News Archives
<p>Motown Records, home to the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and so many more, dubbed itself "The Sound of Young America." Consistent with this, Smokey Robinson has described the early Motown mission as being in part about making not black music but a music that would cut across the divide of race, just by virtue of being great music. It was an ambition that synced up well with the times. With the Civil Rights movement changing American life in profound ways, here was a black music that was, just as Robinson described, for everyone.</p> <p>But the Civil Rights movement, its ambitions and its achievements, did not satisfy everyone. Racism in America had deep roots, roots that would not be easily ripped out. As such, there were black men and women who felt keenly the frustrations of what the Civil Rights movement could not do, rather than what it managed in Martin Luther King's time. For this reason and others, the late 1960s and early 1970s registered a change in music, even at Motown: From the all-inclusive celebration that marked early Motown came a new, distinctly black voice, a voice that addressed black life very directly.</p> <p>Perhaps more than any other artist, James Brown came on the strongest in this moment. From 1968's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" forward, Brown hit hard. It's difficult to imagine Hip Hop being the same powerful genre it became without Brown leading the way. This chapter delves into his career, his effect on Funk, Hip Hop, and everything else. But it also explores the wider changes in Soul music, at Motown, with groups like the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron, together with the emerging Funk and Hip Hop scenes. The all-for-one 1960s didn't last -- but black music continued to as influential as it ever had been.</p>
video:
Race Relations
<p>Motown Records, home to the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and so many more, dubbed itself "The Sound of Young America." Consistent with this, Smokey Robinson has described the early Motown mission as being in part about making not black music but a music that would cut across the divide of race, just by virtue of being great music. It was an ambition that synced up well with the times. With the Civil Rights movement changing American life in profound ways, here was a black music that was, just as Robinson described, for everyone.</p> <p>But the Civil Rights movement, its ambitions and its achievements, did not satisfy everyone. Racism in America had deep roots, roots that would not be easily ripped out. As such, there were black men and women who felt keenly the frustrations of what the Civil Rights movement could not do, rather than what it managed in Martin Luther King's time. For this reason and others, the late 1960s and early 1970s registered a change in music, even at Motown: From the all-inclusive celebration that marked early Motown came a new, distinctly black voice, a voice that addressed black life very directly.</p> <p>Perhaps more than any other artist, James Brown came on the strongest in this moment. From 1968's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" forward, Brown hit hard. It's difficult to imagine Hip Hop being the same powerful genre it became without Brown leading the way. This chapter delves into his career, his effect on Funk, Hip Hop, and everything else. But it also explores the wider changes in Soul music, at Motown, with groups like the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron, together with the emerging Funk and Hip Hop scenes. The all-for-one 1960s didn't last -- but black music continued to as influential as it ever had been.</p>
video:
The Merv Griffin Show
<p>Motown Records, home to the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and so many more, dubbed itself "The Sound of Young America." Consistent with this, Smokey Robinson has described the early Motown mission as being in part about making not black music but a music that would cut across the divide of race, just by virtue of being great music. It was an ambition that synced up well with the times. With the Civil Rights movement changing American life in profound ways, here was a black music that was, just as Robinson described, for everyone.</p> <p>But the Civil Rights movement, its ambitions and its achievements, did not satisfy everyone. Racism in America had deep roots, roots that would not be easily ripped out. As such, there were black men and women who felt keenly the frustrations of what the Civil Rights movement could not do, rather than what it managed in Martin Luther King's time. For this reason and others, the late 1960s and early 1970s registered a change in music, even at Motown: From the all-inclusive celebration that marked early Motown came a new, distinctly black voice, a voice that addressed black life very directly.</p> <p>Perhaps more than any other artist, James Brown came on the strongest in this moment. From 1968's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" forward, Brown hit hard. It's difficult to imagine Hip Hop being the same powerful genre it became without Brown leading the way. This chapter delves into his career, his effect on Funk, Hip Hop, and everything else. But it also explores the wider changes in Soul music, at Motown, with groups like the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron, together with the emerging Funk and Hip Hop scenes. The all-for-one 1960s didn't last -- but black music continued to as influential as it ever had been.</p>
video:
What’s Going On
<p>Motown Records, home to the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and so many more, dubbed itself "The Sound of Young America." Consistent with this, Smokey Robinson has described the early Motown mission as being in part about making not black music but a music that would cut across the divide of race, just by virtue of being great music. It was an ambition that synced up well with the times. With the Civil Rights movement changing American life in profound ways, here was a black music that was, just as Robinson described, for everyone.</p> <p>But the Civil Rights movement, its ambitions and its achievements, did not satisfy everyone. Racism in America had deep roots, roots that would not be easily ripped out. As such, there were black men and women who felt keenly the frustrations of what the Civil Rights movement could not do, rather than what it managed in Martin Luther King's time. For this reason and others, the late 1960s and early 1970s registered a change in music, even at Motown: From the all-inclusive celebration that marked early Motown came a new, distinctly black voice, a voice that addressed black life very directly.</p> <p>Perhaps more than any other artist, James Brown came on the strongest in this moment. From 1968's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" forward, Brown hit hard. It's difficult to imagine Hip Hop being the same powerful genre it became without Brown leading the way. This chapter delves into his career, his effect on Funk, Hip Hop, and everything else. But it also explores the wider changes in Soul music, at Motown, with groups like the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron, together with the emerging Funk and Hip Hop scenes. The all-for-one 1960s didn't last -- but black music continued to as influential as it ever had been.</p>
video:
Role as an Artist, Social Leader, and Businessman
<p>Motown Records, home to the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and so many more, dubbed itself "The Sound of Young America." Consistent with this, Smokey Robinson has described the early Motown mission as being in part about making not black music but a music that would cut across the divide of race, just by virtue of being great music. It was an ambition that synced up well with the times. With the Civil Rights movement changing American life in profound ways, here was a black music that was, just as Robinson described, for everyone.</p> <p>But the Civil Rights movement, its ambitions and its achievements, did not satisfy everyone. Racism in America had deep roots, roots that would not be easily ripped out. As such, there were black men and women who felt keenly the frustrations of what the Civil Rights movement could not do, rather than what it managed in Martin Luther King's time. For this reason and others, the late 1960s and early 1970s registered a change in music, even at Motown: From the all-inclusive celebration that marked early Motown came a new, distinctly black voice, a voice that addressed black life very directly.</p> <p>Perhaps more than any other artist, James Brown came on the strongest in this moment. From 1968's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" forward, Brown hit hard. It's difficult to imagine Hip Hop being the same powerful genre it became without Brown leading the way. This chapter delves into his career, his effect on Funk, Hip Hop, and everything else. But it also explores the wider changes in Soul music, at Motown, with groups like the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron, together with the emerging Funk and Hip Hop scenes. The all-for-one 1960s didn't last -- but black music continued to as influential as it ever had been.</p>
video:
Theme from Shaft
<p>Motown Records, home to the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and so many more, dubbed itself "The Sound of Young America." Consistent with this, Smokey Robinson has described the early Motown mission as being in part about making not black music but a music that would cut across the divide of race, just by virtue of being great music. It was an ambition that synced up well with the times. With the Civil Rights movement changing American life in profound ways, here was a black music that was, just as Robinson described, for everyone.</p> <p>But the Civil Rights movement, its ambitions and its achievements, did not satisfy everyone. Racism in America had deep roots, roots that would not be easily ripped out. As such, there were black men and women who felt keenly the frustrations of what the Civil Rights movement could not do, rather than what it managed in Martin Luther King's time. For this reason and others, the late 1960s and early 1970s registered a change in music, even at Motown: From the all-inclusive celebration that marked early Motown came a new, distinctly black voice, a voice that addressed black life very directly.</p> <p>Perhaps more than any other artist, James Brown came on the strongest in this moment. From 1968's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" forward, Brown hit hard. It's difficult to imagine Hip Hop being the same powerful genre it became without Brown leading the way. This chapter delves into his career, his effect on Funk, Hip Hop, and everything else. But it also explores the wider changes in Soul music, at Motown, with groups like the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron, together with the emerging Funk and Hip Hop scenes. The all-for-one 1960s didn't last -- but black music continued to as influential as it ever had been.</p>
video:
Freddie’s Dead
<p>Motown Records, home to the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and so many more, dubbed itself "The Sound of Young America." Consistent with this, Smokey Robinson has described the early Motown mission as being in part about making not black music but a music that would cut across the divide of race, just by virtue of being great music. It was an ambition that synced up well with the times. With the Civil Rights movement changing American life in profound ways, here was a black music that was, just as Robinson described, for everyone.</p> <p>But the Civil Rights movement, its ambitions and its achievements, did not satisfy everyone. Racism in America had deep roots, roots that would not be easily ripped out. As such, there were black men and women who felt keenly the frustrations of what the Civil Rights movement could not do, rather than what it managed in Martin Luther King's time. For this reason and others, the late 1960s and early 1970s registered a change in music, even at Motown: From the all-inclusive celebration that marked early Motown came a new, distinctly black voice, a voice that addressed black life very directly.</p> <p>Perhaps more than any other artist, James Brown came on the strongest in this moment. From 1968's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" forward, Brown hit hard. It's difficult to imagine Hip Hop being the same powerful genre it became without Brown leading the way. This chapter delves into his career, his effect on Funk, Hip Hop, and everything else. But it also explores the wider changes in Soul music, at Motown, with groups like the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron, together with the emerging Funk and Hip Hop scenes. The all-for-one 1960s didn't last -- but black music continued to as influential as it ever had been.</p>
Print Journalism
article:
Gil Scott-Heron: And now, for a fascinating and demanding dialogue…
GIL SCOTT-HERON aims to be a catalyst. Not a leader of revolutions, but an insistent elbow in the ribs, nudging people off their fence to bring them a little bit closer to the essence of their problems. He likes that word essence; uses it a lot. He uses all words a lot. They are his stock in trade. He's not loud or dramatic, but he's sure of himself and sure of what needs saying and sure as hell not afraid to say it. A conversation with Gil is a fascinating if demanding dialogue. Nothing's thrown away. He's attentive and analytical of...
article:
James Brown: Mister Messiah
JAMES BROWN will die on the stage one night, on the moving staircase of his own feet in front of a thirty-piece band; and then who knows what may be unloosed between black Americans and white? In Baltimore or Washington or Detroit, cities where the very peace between them has a quality of angry breathing, merely the presence of Brown has been reckoned to equal 100 policemen. Harlem, on the sweltering night after an atrocity, he can cool by one word. At the end of each performance he sings the chorus "Soul Power" over and over again with bass guitar...