It's been said that you can't teach soul. That statement may hold a lot of truth, but one must be careful not to exclude an entire group of people as not being soulful or incapable of performing excellently in this style. Are there certain elements inherent to a culture's music and art? Absolutely...just watch a group of people clapping to a song. Most black folks will clap on beats 2 & 4, most white folks on 1 & 3 - and a few folks from both groups will be lost on beat 3.66666. But I can't entirely agree with the statement because every great African American soul singer learned the craft by being immersed in it, growing up in it, walking it on the way to work, singing it in the church or bar - living it. And if music is an expression of internal emotions, can these emotions be only relegated in every case to a group of people? No. I think this is why "blue eyed soul" has always been interesting to me. These seem to be artists that were only content when expressing musically in a style previously known only to African American culture. They studied and learned to be more than proficient in it. They take elements of it and brew it into their songs and are quick to publicly acknowledge its influence.
#steppingdownfromsoapbox
Ok, I'm done - how about some music?
A few months ago I got re-acquainted with Hall & Oates as I watched their dvd, Our Kind Of Soul, which was very entertaining. I also spent an entire morning at work (shhhh!) in a H & O vortex, trading audio and youtube clips and teen-angst stories with a co-worker. Here's a nice gem - am I the only one that didn't know Hall wrote "Everytime You Go Away"? And listen to that opening...guitar, organ, drums taking back down to the blues...#SMOOCH!! Love it! And after that, enjoy "Children Go Where I Send Thee"...which totally reminds me of Steve Martin and his "family" singing and dancing in The Jerk.
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