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100 Songs That Have Moved Me | Song #022: "Soul Man" (1967)
Title: "Soul Man"
Artist: Sam & Dave
Composers: Issac Hayes, David Porter
Producer: Issac Hayes, David Porter
Release Date: September 1967
Peak Chart Position: #2 (Hot 100)
Album: Soul Man (1967)
Rolling Stone metadata:
Words from the artist:
How this song moves me:
The way to my heart is through a good bassline, and this song certainly provides this. Perhaps not the most iconic or sophisticated, it still rocks my socks off. Paired with the instantly familiar guitar riffs and the wonderful brass section, you have a song that you can't help but get down to.
And, of course, the lyrics are the embodiment of soul - not only the promise to show the best lovin' in the world, but the confident swagger behind those primal screams. This song wears its soul on its sleeve with great pride and a thrilling attraction, and that's what I like most about it =)
Artist: Sam & Dave
Composers: Issac Hayes, David Porter
Producer: Issac Hayes, David Porter
Release Date: September 1967
Peak Chart Position: #2 (Hot 100)
Album: Soul Man (1967)
Rolling Stone metadata:
Rank: #463
Blurb: For the follow-up to "Hold On, I'm Comin'," writer-producers Hayes and Porter decided to tinker with their formula: Porter asked singer Sam Moore to give him "the Bobby Bland squall," guitarist Steve Cropper came up with the licks that set up the familiar blast of the Memphis Horns, and — voilà! — another soul classic was born. "We had no idea how good we were," Hayes said of the partnership. (Source)
Words from the artist:
Co-author Isaac Hayes found the inspiration for "Soul Man" in the turmoil of the African-American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. In July 1967, watching a television newscast of the aftermath of the 12th Street Riot in Detroit, Michigan, Hayes noted that black Detroit residents had marked the buildings that had not been destroyed during the riots - most African-American owned and operated institutions - with the word "soul". Relating this occurrence to the biblical story of the Passover, Hayes and songwriting partner David Porter came up with the idea, in Hayes' words, of "a story about one's struggle to rise above his present conditions. It's almost a tune [where it's] kind of like boasting 'I'm a soul man'. It's a pride thing." (Source)
How this song moves me:
The way to my heart is through a good bassline, and this song certainly provides this. Perhaps not the most iconic or sophisticated, it still rocks my socks off. Paired with the instantly familiar guitar riffs and the wonderful brass section, you have a song that you can't help but get down to.
And, of course, the lyrics are the embodiment of soul - not only the promise to show the best lovin' in the world, but the confident swagger behind those primal screams. This song wears its soul on its sleeve with great pride and a thrilling attraction, and that's what I like most about it =)