Home » Music » R&B History » The All-Time Top 100 R&B Tunes - Part 6: 51 - 60

The All-Time Top 100 R&B Tunes - Part 6: 51 - 60

© Barney Quick

51.) Okie Dokie Stomp – Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (1954) There was a certain type of postwar Texas blues musician who was more apt to swing than to jump. Brown fits this description, and manages to even throw in a little country sensibility, perhaps owing to his Louisiana roots. His band is in fine shape here, purveying robust horn riffs, a big, solid beat and an all-around appropriate showcase for the guitar sound that was rocking the ballrooms of Houston at mid-century.

52.) Soul Man – Sam and Dave (1967) This frenzied and gospel-rooted duo from Miami had been cutting sides for Stax in Memphis for a little over two years when they fronted this exalted moment of testifying. Everything on this record, from the vocals, to drummer Al Jackson’s precision pushing, to Steve Cropper’s backwoods twang, to the mighty attack of The Memphis Horns, is rock-hard. It’s as if the purpose of the arrangement were to pare the tune down to the most honest level of expression possible.

53.) Choo Choo Ch Boogie – Louis Jordan’s Tympani Five (1946) This has all the staple elements of a Jordan masterpiece – sly, marvelously rhymed lyrics, the perfect tempo for jump, and, of course, Jordan’s wigged-out sax squeal.

54.) Tell It Like It Is – Aaron Neville (1966) This particular member of one of New Orleans’ most distinguished musical families had been cutting records for a few years by this time, but this is the outing that put that unique falsetto on the map. The rolling piano, the descending guitar-chord voicings, and the slow-soul beat perfectly summarize the state of Crescent City music in the years just before funk.

55.) Slip Away – Clarence Carter (1968) Granted, the subject matter (cheating) is tawdry, but Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins, David Hood and the rest of the Muscle Shoals house band articulate the song’s sentiments with sleazy eloquence. Carter’s groans take the whole effect over the top. And his sixth-hammer-on guitar hook sounds simple but is a gem without replica.

56.) Cry To Me – Solomon Burke (1961) The flamboyant former child radio preacher had been on Atlantic for a record or two when Jerry Wexler handed him this Bert Berns (“Twist and Shout,” “Hang On Sloopy,” “Piece of My Heart”) composition. Burke gets the chance to assert a range between a whisper and a wail. The aggressive tambourine, the piano – organ pairing and the churchy background vocals announce a new kind of r&b for the new decade.

The copyright of the article The All-Time Top 100 R&B Tunes - Part 6: 51 - 60 in R&B History is owned by . Permission to republish The All-Time Top 100 R&B Tunes - Part 6: 51 - 60 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.