MovieChat Forums > Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002) Discussion > Psychedelic soul

Psychedelic soul

posted 14 years ago by WarpedRecord
9 replies | jump to latest

The Temptations' "Cloud Nine" seems like a natural combination of soul and psychedelia, but it's a fusion that was relatively short-lived. Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone and Parliament/Funkadelic continued the soulful psychedelic sound in the '70s, and Prince picked up the torch and continues to run with it.

Any other examples of psychedelic soul or – more to the point – why there seems to continue to be a great divide between rock and soul? As a person who loves both sounds, I've always thought they were a perfect mixture.

[–] Endy7 14 years ago

Many artists in Isreal are experimenting with psychedelic soul sounds right now... cool stuff.

As far as rock and soul mixture then King's X, Living Colour and T.M. Stevens have done it very successfully. Glenn Hughes is constantly making great soul-rock records. But that stuff was a lot more common in the 60's.. Jeff Beck group with Rod Stewart, Spencer Davis Group and many many others used that combination a lot.

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Thanks very much for the recommendation in Israel, of all places. There's a lot of experimentation going on in unlikely pockets of the world.

I'm very familiar with most of the artists you've mentioned. I was just thinking of Living Colour this morning, in fact. I know they're back together, but I haven't checked out the album they released last year yet.

Lenny Kravitz and Macy Gray are two more current artists who mix psychedelic rock with soul. Some of their stuff is a mixed bag in my view, though.

EDIT: Here are a few other names through the eras: Sly and the Family Stone, Blood, Sweat and Tears (especially the first album with Al Kooper, not the later stuff with David-Clayton Thomas), Rufus with Chaka Khan, Arthur Lee with Love, a late-'70s disco band called Instant Funk that was quite psychedelic.

[–] Endy7 14 years ago

Israel has a very cool movement going on, specially in Tel-Aviv. Very hip place, full of bohemians, soul, funk, reggae, afro beat, jazz, blues, psychedelia etc. are pretty popular.

There's one very interesting artist called Kutiman, he mixes all those sounds together.

http://www.myspace.com/kutiman

http://www.amazon.com/Kutiman/dp/B000WIHS8M

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Thanks so much for those links. That Kutiman is amazing! He's a real renaissance man, taking the best of all his influences and fusing them together into a unique whole.

I'm so often bored or discouraged when I listen to recent music, but that guy give me hope for the future. Thanks again.

[–] Endy7 14 years ago

You are welcome man. I really dig that kind of stuff and every time I'm in the Mediterranean area, I always discover some serious talent. Often those artists are totally unknown and many of them don't even want stardom but they are seriously world class musicians.

But from US I'm always happy to see Richie Kotzen. What an amazing talent. One of the best guitar virtuosos yet an soul vocal god. Very unique combination. People mostly know him because of other projects but his solo stuff is very good, great blazing rock guitar meets Motown grooves.

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

Richie Kotzen is amazing! Thanks for passing that name along. I had never heard of him before. I'm listening to his tunes on his Web site now.

How are you discovering these people? I must admit that I'm not as adventurous in searching the Internet for new talent, and when I do I'm usually not that impressed. I still rely on radio, and I haven't heard either of these guys there. There's so much generic junk these days. It's good to hear someone who relies on good old-fashioned voice and guitar.

Thanks again for the recommendations.

[–] Endy7 14 years ago

Music has been my passion as long as I remember. When I was a kid, instead of homework I was reading band biographies and searching for cool music... I've spent a lot of time on it. And as a hobby musician I've always been in contact with knowledgeable folks who can recommend good stuff. It's more of an obsession really.

[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

That's terrific! I used to have the drive and the interest to seek out innovative and interesting new music, but I can't say I've found too much lately that truly impresses me (other than the the artists you've turned me on to). That's a blanket statement, of course, but I also have a huge assortment of music from the '60s through '80s that I continue to listen to, and recent stuff tends to get put on the back burner ... generally way back there. But keep on listening, because you're clearly on the right track.

[–] shempXIV 12 years ago

Rotary Connection (featuring Minnie Ripperton!)

Eric Burdon & War

...must think later...tired...sleep now...