Country Soul
tagStarted mid-1960sPeak 1968–1975; 2015–present revivalLast big hit still active
Country Soul is the soulful side of country proper: slow-burning grooves, organ or piano warmth, deep lead vocals, and lyrics of regret, longing, endurance, or redemption. It usually carries more church and Memphis/Muscle Shoals feeling than straight Nashville polish.
History
The term became attached to the multiculturally forged regional sound around Muscle Shoals and related southern studios, but the style's influence spread much wider. Later revivalists from Chris Stapleton to Yola and The War and Treaty have refreshed its emotional grammar for modern audiences, proving that country's most persuasive voice is often the one that sounds like it has already lived through the song twice.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Muscle Shoals coverage
- Barry Beckett on country-soul influence
- GRAMMY Black-country discussion