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I think these are the capitals of Soul in the country. Not to be confused with Blues, Jazz, Rock or Funk music. I stuck to places with 5 or more well-known acts. You might see people listed twice, for instance, Marvin Gaye is from DC, but did songs in the Motown sound early on.
Memphis: Stax Records, Otis Redding, Staple Sisters, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, Booker T and the MG's, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave, The Bar-kays, The Mar-Keys, Rufus Thomas
DC: Marvin Gaye, Roberta Flack, Willie DeVaughn, Toni Braxton, Raheem DeVaughn, Mya, Ginuwine, Tank
Philly: The Dells, The O'Jays, The Delfonics, The Intruders, Patti Labelle, Harold Melvin and the BlueNotes, Billy Paul, Hall and Oates, The Tramps, Teddy Pendergras, The Stylistics, Boyz II Men, Jill Scott, Jazmine Sullivan, Musiq Soulchild
Detroit: Motown Sound: Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Jackie Wilson, Four Tops, Martha Reeves, The Spinners, Edwin Starr, Lamont & Dozier, Aretha Franklin, Ray Parker Jr, Bebe & CeCe Winans, Dwele
Chicago: Chess Records, Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions, Lou Rawls, Fontella Bass, Chaka Khan, Chi-Lites, Otis Clay, Tyrone Davis, Earth Wind and Fire, The Emotions, Sam Cooke, Billy Stewart, Etta James, R.Kelly
Atlanta: Contemporary R&B: Usher, Monica, TLC, Bobby Valentino, Cee-Lo, Andre3000, Ciara, Toni Braxton, The-Dream, Xscape
I'm leaning towards Philly IMO, just with the diversity of talent from every era. Any other city you feel needs to be added?
Great idea for a poll. I'm a big fan of the 60s-70s era of soul music, and it's hard to top those great Motown artists. But I have a soft spot for the Philly Sound, so it gets my vote
I think it's between Detroit and Philly but what hurts Detroit is the lack of numerous or even a big R&B star the last 10 or 15 years or so. I may be wrong on that because I don't know where everybody is from. Philly has made noise from the 70s-00s. But you can't deny Detroit was a beast in the 60s and 70s. The Midwest (particularly Chicago, Detroit, and Ohio) was probably the best region for R&B in the 60s and 70s.
No James Brown, Al Green, Tina Turner, or Gladys Knight and the Pips?
Those are Soul's giants, but you can't really associate them with a city that's a soul capital, with the exception of Gladys, who is part of Detroit's scene and from Atlanta.
Those are Soul's giants, but you can't really associate them with a city that's a soul capital, with the exception of Gladys, who is part of Detroit's scene and from Atlanta.
Al Green was signed to a Memphis label and recorded a lot of his classic albums in Memphis in addition to later becoming an ordained minister at a Memphis church.
Al Green was signed to a Memphis label and recorded a lot of his classic albums in Memphis in addition to later becoming an ordained minister at a Memphis church.
Memphis is probably my favorite of the cities listed, but Memphis, especially Stax/Volt always had a rawer and blusier--and more hard R&B driven sound, especially due to backing bands like Booker T and the MGs and Barkays and producers like Issac Hayes. A lot of the sixties Memphis sound almost crossed over to some early funk easier than the more highly produced Motown and then Philly soul scenes. Just like how New Orleans kind of was more a city of earlier hard piano driven R&B and later funk with the Meters, rather than a classic soul city(though Irma Thomas was influential), but the style influenced Memphis and had similarities.
Don't get me wrong, I love Motown and the smooth Philly sound as well, but it's just a different breed than a lot of Memphis soul.
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