The Mystery Of The Blue Eyed Soul Boys

[Sceneman]

they just kinda snuck up on ya , nobody plugged them as blue eyed ,and nobody flinched that they were white boys getting in on the black boys act . they just mingled in the records and played them altogether .

but are some blue eyed soul records IN or OUT ??

is for example 123 by leonard borisoff a blue eyed or a pop record ? 

some might say not soul but pop ,and strange there were few clones of 123 at the time .

Guy Stevens used to play them all together at the Scene club ,no big fanfares or special mentions ,they just mingled in as one.

[Steve G]

in.

 

Never had it so good - Ronnie Milsap. Great soul and fooled all the radio stations at the time too!

Edited June 23, 2013 by Steve G

[Guest Paul]

When I was a teenager I got it into my head that you had to be black to be a soul singer but as I grew up and learned more I realised that skin colour is not the best way to judge music (even soul music) or to decide how "authentic" it is.

Soul music is all about spirit and feel, emotion and expression. Most important of all, it's about conviction so realism is a necessary factor - either sincerity from natural feelings and life experiences or at least a deep understanding of those things.

 

You don't need to be black to have those feelings, experiences or understandings.

Having said that, most singers (more so today than ever) are like actors - playing roles in situations - so it's subjective as to whether a particular singer is "real" or is at least very believable. Many can convince us by playing the part very well, getting deep into character or living the story.

Like a second-rate actor, a fake soul singer (black or white) will come across as a pretender or an impostor.
 

The most obvious influence in soul music is the intensity and passion of gospel music but even that can be learned or copied rather than experienced. If a singer is influenced by Al Green or Howard Tate, for example, then he's inspired by the church spirit even if he doesn't know it.

 

Most of my favourite singers happen to be black but there's no way I could exclude Dan Penn or Eddie Hinton, for example, just because of skin colour. Or how can anyone say that records such as 'It Comes And It Goes' by Len Wade or 'Fool Me' by Billy Harner aren't soulful?

 

Eli "Paperboy" Reed is a soul singer because of his love and admiration for the real thing. And what about The Box Tops or Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes? They were soulful because they loved soul music so much.

 

If skin colour was the key factor, we'd have to consider how black an artist is or isn't. And how would we rate mixed-race singers such as the late Bob Relf? His father was black but his white mother Idabelle raised him.

 

Paul

Edited June 23, 2013 by Paul

[Andreas B]

If we're talking blue-eyed (personally dislike the term, but a catch-all is a catch-all) soul, THE MAGNIFICENT MEN should certainly be mentioned for being just that... Magnificent!