If ARETHA FRANKLIN is the QUEEN OF SOUL, who is the KING?

[NightTrain]

James Brown:



Ray Charles:



Sam Cooke:



Marvin Gaye:



Al Green:



Curtis Mayfield:



Otis Redding:



Smokey Robinson:



The Temptations:



Stevie Wonder:

[Placebo]

1. James Brown.

No question.

[eleny]

2. Amen

[JVS]

3. He's the Godfather of soul, someone else must be the king

[Catherine Vincent]

4. Yeah, I'd say James Brown.

[AngryAmish]

5. Pelle Lindberg?

[NightTrain]

9. Who the hell is that?

:shrug:

[progressoid]

26. Are we talking about THE Pelle Lindberg?

As in Scandinavia's Pelle Lindberg and the Bluesblasters.

[immoderate]

6. Wilson Pickett

With honorable mention to:

Junior Walker.

--IMM

[yardwork]

7. Great pics!

Thank you NightTrain!

[guitar man]

8. Otis Redding AND Marvin Gaye

...in the same poll? Now how am I supposed to vote on that one?

:shrug:

[flamingyouth]

14. I agree - it's a toughie

I picked Otis because I do love him so. :D

[guitar man]

15. I finally picked Otis

"I've Been Lovin' You Too Long" is just so powerful.....

[hickman1937]

10. usta love Lew Rawls.

I just googled him, and he seems to have disappeared. Mentioned, but buried in other peoples stuff. WTF?

[mark414]

11. i said marvin gaye

because james is already the godfather!

[hickman1937]

12. BTW, why doesn't anyone ever mention

The Four Tops? Are they only beloved in the Detroit area?

[njdemocrat106]

13. Godfather James!

I'm 24, but I pretty much love all those guys! Sweet soul music!

[msgadget]

16. I can't choose!

Aretha Franklin and James Brown have been named together so often they're a pair already. And, somehow I can only categorize her with him or, maybe, Ray Charles or Otis Redding, also sytlists.

A lot on the list were crooners and would have as their queens female 'voices'.

You know what this means, don't you? MORE PICTURES, PLEASE!

:bounce:

[hickman1937]

17. I don't want to get Flamed, but

Gladys Knight was always, on her worst, day better than Aretha. Pure sweet sound. I could listen to her sing the phonebook.

[msgadget]

30. You read my mind!

James Brown and Aretha Franklin get a lot of credit but there are so many better singers and song stylists out there. Okay, now duck, here they come to get us! :nuke:

[ZoCrowes]

18. Oh tough one

Ray Charles was the originator, the genius and the father of it all. That man could pretty much do no wrong. Had more sheer musical talent in his little finger than my entire band combined. Not only that he was a cool motherfucker. Just finished his memoir and LOVED it. There is a live version of You Don't Know Me from 1964 that almost brings me to tears every time I listen to it. It's on the Rhino Handmade In Concert. Pricey but WELL worth it.
http://www.rhinohandmade.com/browse/ProductLink.lasso?Number=7826
It's a sampling from various live albums from his Atlantic and RCA years. Most of it is out of print except for this volume. Every performance on here is amazing.

BUT

Marvin Gaye was...dude he was Marvin Gaye. Let's Get It On may be the best album to come out of the 70s. It's one of the few albums that I consider perfect (Revolver, Bringing It All Back Home, The Joshua Tree and Definitely Maybe round out the list for me.) Here, My Dear may be one of the most moving albums I've heard.

BUT

Sam Cooke probably had the best voice. I could listen to his gospel work with the Soul Stirrers all day long. Its so full of power that it gives me chills just thinking about it. The show from Miami's Harlem Square Club is mindblowingly good. Probably the greatest R&B live album of all time (even better than the first James Brown Live At the Apollo)

I grew up listening to Smokey, The Temptation, Jackson 5 etc. so R&B makes up a huge part of my life.

If I had to choose just one though it would probably be Brother Ray. He was a HUGE influence on the other two as well as Aretha.

[NightTrain]

19. Kick for the daytimers

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

20. The world "Rei" is King in Portuguese and is pronounced EXACTLY like Ray.

Guess what I voted.

[jukes]

21. marvin gaye

the king is dead, long live the king!!

[blondeatlast]

22. Toughest. Damn. Poll. Ever.

I abstain.

[Phillycat]

28. I know, it was hard!! But I had to pick Marvin.

James Brown was very, very good at what he did. But he couldn't do all the different things Marvin could do. Plus Marvin's voice was a miracle of nature.

[johnnie]

23. So many good ones

But without a doubt in my mind it's Brother Ray. He even walked with soul.

[Magrittes Pipe]

24. Andre Williams.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. I Went With Al Green

But, i wanted to vote twice so i could add Marvin Gaye. Those two are a toss up for me.

I don't think it's James Brown, because he's more funk than soul. And i didn't even think about any of the groups, so you didn't say "kings" you said "king". (I'm a huge Temptations fan.)

Stevie went way passed soul music when he was still in his mid-20's, so he's not a soul musician either. Way more diverse than one style.

So, it's Al, but with Marvin right there.
The Professor

[Zuni]

27. Otis Redding is my personal fave

[Z_I_Peevey]

29. I know I should say James Brown,

but somebody had to throw a vote to Sam Cooke. He was so awesome.