Southern Soul Rock
tagStarted 1970Peak 1972-1980Last big hit still activeFrom US South, United States
Located in 2 routes
Southern rock soaked in Stax/Muscle Shoals R&B: punchy horn sections, gospel-organ swells, greasy clavinet and funky backbeats under blue-eyed-soul vocals that wail and testify. Slide guitar trades licks with brass; grooves lean toward funk and dance rather than boogie. Sweaty, churchy, and built to make a roadhouse move.
History
Grew out of Macon's Capricorn scene in the early 1970s as Wet Willie and Delaney & Bonnie wedded Southern rock to deep soul and horns. Texan Delbert McClinton carried the roadhouse-R&B torch into the charts, and Atlanta Rhythm Section smoothed it for radio. The Black Crowes revived the swaggering soul-rock blueprint in 1990 with Shake Your Money Maker.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_Willie
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delbert_McClinton
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-black-crowes-mn0000771731
- https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/wet-willie/