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3 Albums - 6 Artists. James Brown Jackie WIlson Ben E King Jimmy Ruffin The Drifters The Three Degrees Soul music was born in the late 1950s and was a fusion of rhythm and blues, blues, rock and roll, and gospel music. Indeed, its emergence is often defined as the 'secularization of gospel'. Like gospel music, Soul is characterized by two types of song - up tempo numbers sung collectively and made to move to, and slower, quieter songs of yearning and reflection. Many soul artists originated from the Southern states of America and cut their musical teeth in gospel groups. Controversially, these artists took gospel songs and changed the lyrics to more secular themes like love and personal struggle. The pioneers of soul include James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke - all featured in this collection. The origin of the term 'soul' has been hotly debated since its inception. In the 1950s, jazz musicians describing the essence that had been taken out of the genre after years of commercialization used the word. In the sixties, 'soul' and 'essence' became a powerful signifier of African-American identity in the Civil Rights Movement. In terms of racial integration in America, soul played a pivotal role. It gave black artists the opportunity to reach out to white audiences opening up a world of African American music to them. African American songwriter, Berry Gordy set up Tamla Motown as a hit factory aiming at white suburban American teens. The development of soul as a genre also allowed for some truly racially integrated working practices and relationships. For example, one of the greatest soul labels, Stax Records in Memphis had seen black and white people working together from its very beginnings, as Stax historian, Rob Bowman explains: “…virtually from the beginning, Stax Records was racially integrated in the studio, in the front office, and by the midway point in its history, at ownership level. All this took place in Memphis, Tennessee, a city that as late as 1971 elected to close its public swimming pools rather than allow black and white kids to swim side by side in the scorching heat.”