This was prepped as a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). It has remained in place through recent revisions, but may up being removed in favor of a chapter about a different performer and track that feels like a better fit for the book. We'll see....
An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!
ARTHUR CONLEY: Sweet Soul Music
Written by Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Arthur Conley
Produced by Otis Redding
Single, Atco Records, 1967
Do you like good music? Well, of course you do! Arthur Conley's durable 1967 call-to-waivin'-arms was co-written by Conley with the legendary Otis Redding. It was based in large part upon Sam Cooke's "Yeah Man," combined with elements of Redding's "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" and an opening nicked from The Magnificent Seven. Its litany of then-contemporary soul giants--Lou Rawls, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, and Redding himself, with a lyrical nod to the Miracles' "Going To A Go Go"--leads to a coronation of James Brown as "the king of them all, y'all."
"Sweet Soul Music" was Redding's first of two crossover pop hits as a songwriter in 1967, a # 2 hit followed in short order by Aretha Franklin's annexation of Redding's "Respect," which she R-E-S-P-E-C-T'd all the way to the top of the Hot 100. "Sweet Soul Music" remains an exhilarating statement of intent, at least as fulfilling a celebration of music as anything that ever had "rock 'n' roll" in its title.
What is soul music? I won't even attempt an answer. I'll just direct you back to records by all of the acts named above, plus Solomon Burke, the Impressions, Fontella Bass, Carla Thomas, 45s on Stax and Volt, on King, on SAR, on Atco, Atlantic, Tamla, Gordy, and Motown, maybe going back to Chess and Aladdin, certainly going forward to Philadelphia International, T-Neck, Curtom, and more. One might not think of the theme from The Magnificent Seven as an example of soul music, until Arthur and Otis make it soul. Because they could. Sing it, Otis. Sing it, Arthur.
Do you like good music? You've come to the right place. Oh yeah!
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Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/
If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.
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