Chicago soul and Related Topics

Al Green (1973), one of the genre's major pioneering artists

Soul music

Popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Ray Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles

James Brown was known as the "Godfather of Soul"

Sam Cooke is acknowledged as one of soul music's "forefathers".

Solomon Burke recorded for Atlantic in the 1960s

Aretha Franklin is widely known as the "Queen of Soul"

Marvin Gaye shifted to a soul sound with his 1971 hit "What's Going On"

Levi Stubbs singing lead with the Four Tops in 1966

Soul singer Otis Redding was an electrifying stage presence

The key subgenres of soul include the Motown style, a more pop-friendly and rhythmic style; deep soul and southern soul, driving, energetic soul styles combining R&B with southern gospel music sounds; Memphis soul, a shimmering, sultry style; New Orleans soul, which came out of the rhythm and blues style; Chicago soul, a lighter gospel-influenced sound; Philadelphia soul, a lush orchestral sound with doo-wop-inspired vocals; as well as psychedelic soul, a blend of psychedelic rock and soul music.

Jackie Wilson

American soul and rock and roll singer and performer.

In 1966, Wilson scored the first of two big comeback singles with the established Chicago soul producer Carl Davis with "Whispers (Gettin' Louder)" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher", the latter a No. 6 pop hit in 1967 that became one of his final hits.

Memphis soul

Most prominent strain of Southern soul.

Memphis soul sound is different from the Motown sound from Detroit or the lighter sound of Chicago soul.

Betty Everett

American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling "Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)", and her duet "Let It Be Me" with Jerry Butler.

She recorded for various small local Chicago soul labels, before she was signed in 1963 by Calvin Carter, A&R musical director of fast-growing independent label Vee-Jay Records.

Chicago

Most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the third-most populous city in the United States, following New York City and Los Angeles.

Traditional Potawatomi regalia on display at the Field Museum of Natural History

An artist's rendering of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871

Court of Honor at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893

Men outside a soup kitchen during the Great Depression (1931)

Protesters in Grant Park outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention

Downtown and the North Side with beaches lining the waterfront

The Chicago Building (1904–05) is a prime example of the Chicago School, displaying both variations of the Chicago window.

Replica of Daniel Chester French's Statue of the Republic at the site of the World's Columbian Exposition

Downtown Chicago and the Chicago River during January 2014 cold wave

Map of racial distribution in Chicago, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people:

The National Hellenic Museum in Greektown is one of several ethnic museums comprising the Chicago Cultural Alliance.

The spire of the Copernicus Center is modeled on the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

Ferries offer sightseeing tours and water-taxi transportation along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.

The Magnificent Mile hosts numerous upscale stores, as well as landmarks like the Chicago Water Tower.

Carl Sandburg's most famous description of the city is as "Hog Butcher for the World/Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat/ Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler,/ Stormy, Husky, Brawling, City of the Big Shoulders."

Chicago Half Marathon on Lake Shore Drive on the South Side

Daley Plaza with Picasso statue, City Hall in background. At right, the Daley Plaza Building contains the state law courts.

When it was opened in 1991, the central Harold Washington Library appeared in Guinness World Records as the largest municipal public library building in the world.

The University of Chicago, as seen from the Midway Plaisance

WGN began in the early days of radio and developed into a multi-platform broadcaster, including a cable television super-station.

The former Harpo Studios in West Loop, Chicago was home of The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1986 until 2011 and other Harpo Production operations until 2015.

Aerial photo of the Jane Byrne Interchange, opened in the 1960s

Chicago Union Station, opened in 1925, is the third-busiest passenger rail terminal in the United States.

Amtrak train on the Empire Builder route departs Chicago from Union Station

Prentice Women's Hospital on the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Downtown Campus

Chicago's culture includes the visual arts, literature, film, theater, comedy (especially improvisational comedy), food, dance, including modern dance and jazz troupes and the Joffrey Ballet, and music, particularly jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, gospel, and electronic dance music including house music.

Major Lance

American R&B singer.

Cover art for the short CD collection titled The Very Best of Major Lance

Together they developed a distinctive, Latin-tinged sound which epitomised Chicago soul in contrast to music recorded elsewhere.

Harold Burrage

American blues and soul singer, pianist, songwriter, and record producer.

Burrage's only national hit as singer was the 1965 Chicago soul song "Got to Find a Way", which reached number 31 on the US Billboard R&B chart.