Who performed the very first soul song? A man or a woman? And how long was this?

Question

I love jazz and soul songs and I was wondering who was the first person who has thought of that ? Do you think rappers got inspired from that kind of music although rap is monotonous, it does tell a story and old jazz singers certainly could tell a story with a lot of feelings?

Answer 1

Soul, typically combining rhythm and blues with gospel, had its beginnings in the 1940s. You can hear this in recordings of Louis Jordan and Mahalia Jackson. However, in the late 1950s and 60s artists like Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and Little Richard . . . almost forgot the Godfather himself, James Brown . . . brought it to the mainstream. Aretha Franklin began recording "soul" in the late 60s. Leading the way for other female artists, like Gladys Knight. It's kind of difficult to trace because the "originators" changed their sound with the times. James Brown, for example, began recording funk.

Answer 2

That would depend on what was considered "soul" music. Egyptians peformed music that they believed was "soul" music. Now if you mean the music that sort of took of in the 1960's as soul music that would be hard to determine because again you have to define what you mean by soul. Now a days soul music is also referred to as Rhythm and Blues also.