R&B History
Barney Quick
Articles
The All-Time Top 100 R&B Tunes - Part 5: 41 - 50
More classic American music and the stories behind it.
The sad, dazzling story of the first white guitar god.
The golden moment of a fabulously talented group of writers, producers, singers and players in the City of Brotherly Love.
Big Band Leaders Who Helped Shape R&B
the seeds of this mighty music we love so much can be found in the swing era.
History and R&B: The Soulful Soundtrack to World Events
The political, economic and social context in which some of our favorite tunes were released.
Detroit songwriter Berry Gordy takes the entrepreneurial step and makes history.
Texas Guitar Slingers of the 1950s
A look at some of the fretboard titans from down in W country.
American Freedom, American Culture, American Greatness
A look at some reasons why this country is magnificent.
More Postwar West-Coast Labels
More key figures in the California black-entertainment boom of the late forties and fifties.
Covered by Rockers - Original R&B Versions of Some Classics
Often, the first artist to do a song that becomes a classic is an r&b singer who remains in obscurity. Meanwhile, the performer of the subsequent rock version becomes a star. This is a look at the originators of some gems we all know.
George Treadwell and Atlantic Records gave America eighteen years of cutting-edge r&b evolution with various combinations bearing this name.
The man who is mainly responsible for what you know about Chicago blues.
Atlantic's Early Years - A Closer Look
The beginnings of one of the most important r&b institutions of the last half-century.
R&B, Jazz, and Questions of Standards and Taste
Schools of thought have developed along sharp boundary lines on these matters of musical and cultural controversy. Where do you stand?
The hot guitarists of the late 1950s and the golden era of Windy City Soul.
The wiry, volatile guitar player from Mississippi who was associated with everything from the delta juke joint scene to the first rock record to The Wall of Sound.
The All-Time Top 100 R&B Tunes - Part 4: 31 - 40
Ten more in our most popular ongoing series. What do you think of the picks? Join the discussion.
Three people whose contributions to music helped shape musical attitudes and societal directions.
Berry Gordy, Jr. gives up boxing and assembly-line work and determines to make it as a songwriter, no matter who does or doesn't believe in him.
One of r&b's most imortant songwriting pairs.
The All-Time Top 100 R&B Tunes - Part 3: 21 - 30
Ten more indispensable gems of honesty, beauty and sublime fervor.
A look at the enigmatic, impossibly handsome pop idol and the demons behind the clean-cut image.
The first years of the Chess and Vee Jay dynasties which saw the rise of doo-wop and ever-more electric guitar.
A Classic Club Scene: Naptown's Indiana Avenue
To celebrate Indy 500 weekend, we look at that city's incredibly rich black-music heritage.
She has one of the most powerful voices in r&b and she's lived the most colorful life in a field brimming with colorful lives.
The second wave of singers, the J&M Studio Band, and two session pianists who ushered in the third wave of Crescent City r&b.
The World's First Rock & Roll Concert
How the night of March 21, 1952 changed life in America and caused a whole lot of trepidation at the Cleveland Arena.
In the 1950s, rockabilly kept Memphis on the musical map, and the seeds of classic Southern soul were planted.
Why The Genius ranks high on anybody's list of r&b giants, no matter how they define the term.
The label that oversaw the shift from swing to bop and jump.
The All-Time Top 100 R&B Tunes - Part 2: 11 - 20
This contributing editor's assessment of some of American music's most priceless moments.
How the turpentine camps and cotton farms of the Deep South provided the first wave of shouters, bangers and twangers on Maxwell Street.
The Great R&B Divas - The First Wave
A look at the distinguished careers, tumultuous lives and fiery spirits of Dinah Washington, Esther Phillips and Ruth Brown.
The King Records Story - Part 2
A wave of soulful, rocking talent from Detroit descends on Cincinnati, as does Georgia's James Brown.
A look at early key events, including a black-radio milestone and the making of the world's first rock & roll record.
The All-Time Top 100 R&B Tunes - Part 1: The Top Ten
A carefully thought-out ranking of the very best of black popular music from 1945 onward.
How the unique flavor of Lone Star r&b was cooked up in the ballrooms of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
How the second generation of r&b singers and players shaped a distinctive New Orleans sound.
Postwar Los Angeles - Central Avenue and Watts
A look at one of the hottest R&B scenes of the late 40s and early 50s.
The King Records Story - Part 1
The colorful characters behind the rise of the Cincinnati r&b powerhouse.
How the birthplace of jazz experienced a rockin' musical rebirth after World War II.
How a Turkish ambassador's son and a Jewish New York intellectual introduced r&b to white America.
Reverend C.L. Franklin And The Gospel Connection
A look at one of the key figures who gave American music its sublime fervor.
This talent scout, producer, impresario, drummer and bandleader has had an impact on every stage of American music development for the past sixty years.
The Role Of Radio - An Overview
How radio transformed a marginal form of American entertainment into a pop-culture wildfire.
How the Chicago-based Chess dynasty helped give birth to Berry Gordy's Detroit-based empire.
What Country and Southern Rock Owe To Classic Soul Music Pt. 2
How Alabama soul provided the roots for much of modern music.
What Country and Southern Rock Owe To Classic Soul Music - Pt. 1
All those long-haired cowboy types owe a debt of gratitude to the down-home soul shouters of the deep south in the 1960s.
Great Sax Honkers At The Birth Of R&B
An examination of the instrument - and players thereof - that dominated the emerging American black popular music at mid-century.