Articles, Reviews and Ramblings
Here is a list of old (some updated, some not) and new articles written by Sir Shambling and his friends:
All God's Chillun Got Soul - perosnal thoughts on blue eyed soul
20 Caribbean Deep Soul Masterpieces
What Is The Point Of This Website ~ Who Is Sir Shambling? ~ What Is Southern Soul?
Oxford American NEW
The renowned and highly repsected magazine "The Oxford American" have published an article by my great friend Greg Burgess and myself entitled "What Happened To Mississippi's Soul?". The article describes a series of possible reasons why the state of Mississippi never really became a center for Southern Soul like Alabama or Tennessee, despite it being the Home Of The Blues.
You can read it here.
The magazine has also published a text "tie-in" interview with Sir Shambling. This covers all sorts of angles on soul music and my involvement with it over the years. You can read it here.
There is a companion page to the interview on my own website which includes several tracks I mention in my replies to OA's questions. You can read it and listen here.
Greg Burgess
These are the articles written by my great friend Greg Burgess:-
Tom de Jong & Harry van Vliet
This is the first article written by Dutch soul experts Tom & Harry:-
The Surinam Soul Scene
with a personal postscript from Ben "the Balladeer"
Feurich. My thanks to all three authors.
Karl Tsigdinos
This is a seasonal look at black music - but perfect for any time of the year!
Karl Tsigdinos & John Glassburner
This is a series of articles written by my expert friends Karl and John. It covers the huge interrealtionship between Gospel and Soul music, and illustrates this by means of superb soundclips, fascinating text and rare illustrations. I'm very grateful to both authors.
The Soul Of Gospel Music Vol 2
Kevin Kiley
My great friend Kevin Kiley compiled and annotated his own concept CD for commercial release in 2001 but sadly it never happened. So here is his original 20 track selection of wonderfully soulful gospel tracks, informative notes and great illustrations.
In his second article Kevin considers what soul is, what tugs at his heart strings, what moves him emotionally. He illustrates the breadth of his musical taste and knowledge by choosing a series of tracks by artists known primarily as rock musicians but whose vocals or the songs they sing move him - so that he is affected in his soul.
In his third article Kevin considers artists who don't sit comfortably in any of the soul, rock, blues, or country formats. He concentrates of thier soulful side in "Roots Music".
Roots Music NEW
Pete Nickols
Long time author and music connoisseur Pete Nickols has prepared an article which first describes deep soul and then highlights songs and singers that characterise the genre. A thoughtful and informative piece with some excellent soundclips and illustrations. I'm grateful to him for his efforts.
Deep Soul : Towards A Definition
Pete has now written all the parts of a detailed and informative history of one the most important studios in Alabama where some of the best southern soul of the 60s and 70s was cut.
Quin Ivy And His Norala And Quinvy Studios: Part 1 The Early Years UPDATED
Quin Ivy And His Norala And Quinvy Studios: Part 2 1966 - Percy Sledge's Year UPDATED
Quin Ivy And His Norala And Quinvy Studios, Part 3: The Busy First Six Months Of 1967 UPDATED
Quin Ivy And His Norala And Quinvy Studios, Part 5 – 1968 – Atco drop South Camp but Ivy opens his new studio plus a Nashville office UPDATED
Quin Ivy And His Norala And Quinvy Studios, Part 6 – 1969 UPDATED
Quin Ivy And His Norala and Quinvy Studios, Part 10 – The Swamp Dogg Quinvy Productions (Part 2 – Z.Z. Hill, Swamp Dogg himself and Bette Williams) NEW
Quin Ivy And His Norala And Quinvy Studios, Part 11 – 1971-1973 The final years of Quinvy NEW
As the title says Pete's second article describes 10 mid-tempo deep soul songs. To many people the word "deep" automatically means "ballad" but Pete makes it quite clear that the term should really be used to describe the emotional impact of the singer - whatever the pace of the track.
Pete has written a companion piece to my survey of "blue eyed soul" entitled "Brown Eyed Soul" in which he discusses the issues which surround this music. There are some excellent soundclips and illustrations.