Chicago Soul

by Robert Pruter

Curtis Mayfield. Etta James. The Chi-Lites. Chess Records. Jerry Butler. Fontella Bass. Chicago  was  soul music from the late 1950s through the late 1970s.  Chicago Soul  chronicles the emergence of Chicago soul music out of the city's thriving rhythm-and-blues industry and shows how it took the world by storm. The performers, A & R men, producers, distributors, deejays, studios, and labels that made it all happen take center stage. Robert Pruter packs each page with painstakingly detailed information sure to enlighten the fan and satisfy the obsessive. Recognized for almost thirty years as an unparalleled history of the subject,  Chicago Soul  documents the stunning rise and success of the Windy City as a center of the soul music business.

Genres: Music

464 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1990

Reviews

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe because the author's day job is the editor of an encyclopedia, this book also reads like a reference book. Organized mainly by record label, this is a detailed account of everyone who ever recorded anything that might be filed under soul. After a while though, it starts to gel together as some of the most important figures appear again and again. The chapter on dance crazes alone is worth it! Another cool thing about the book is that he goes all the way from the last days of doo-wop up til the early 80s ... there aren't many fans of, for example, Curtis Mayfield's songwriting and production work in the early 60s who appreciate the militant and meandering sounds of his later albums, but Pruter gives everyone a fair shake.

Also, this book made me re-think how the soul era ended. Other books had left me thinking that black people's taste in music changed... the end of the civil rights era, the hard poverty of the 80s and the Reagan 80s ideology making soul music seem corny and the more militant, or nihilistic hip hop taking its place. But this book tells the story of the business behind soul music, the small, independent record labels, and how they go out of business one by one. Without making any broad theoretical argument, Pruter shows how major labels scooped up the independents and then didn't know what to do with the artists. Soul music dies because the big media companies were incompetent. And thinking about it just now, I could argue that the same thing has happened to hip hop.

[Keith Carpenter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had great hopes for this book. As and avid fan of R&B and Soul of the 1960s it seemed like an inviting read. I hoped for a book that would illuminate the intricacies of soul music in Chicago and what distinguished it from Southern soul and the ersatz soul coming out of Motown. What the book had instead was a very granular, detailed report of the who performed/produced for the labels associated with Chicago at the time (Vee-Jay, Okeh, Brunswick, One-der-ful, Curtom, etc.). This could have been accomplished with a series of tables and charts with explanatory paragraphs instead of with a plodding, formulaic narrative. The best chapters of the book come at the beginning. Here the author places the emergence of the style in the city in an historical context with some interpretive excursions. Unfortunately, the early chapters fail to provide the necessary depth for the subject, but at least it gives us somewhere to start. It's surprising to me that this book is the product of a university press (Illinois) given the poor copy editing and shockingly inappropriate editorial comments that creep into the prose at times.

A major shortcoming of the book is the lack of a discography. This is inexcusable for a book of this type and should have been easily enough produced. Published in 1991 much of the music in question would have been available on cd or record at the time. Much of the music discussed is well known, but there are many instances of more obscure artists and songs surfacing.

Despite these many faults, the book does fill a hole in the literature. I'm glad that it's in my music library because if I need to learn more about Jerry Butler's output in the 60s I'll have a ready reference. Unfortunately, it does little more than provide unilluminated data.

[Bruce Raterink · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched and well written review of the Chicago soul 1960's and 1970's. The first half of the book, dealing with the major record labels and recognizable groups, was throughly engaging. Then I got bogged down a bit reading about the lesser known labels and completely unknown artists but I kept reading and it came back around to some very interesting information on more recognizable record labels and artists. I wish the organization of the book had been by artist rather than record label or producer because the same artists keep popping up throughout the book and it felt a little disjointed. Highly recommended for soul music fans.

[Mickey McIntosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Motown, Stax, James Brown and Aretha Franklin get the lion's share of attention of 60s soul music, but Chicago had a thriving scene as well. Well researched, this is an outstanding look at Chicago soul and all those who were a part of the scene. For all music fans.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good history of the Chicago soul scene

[Mills College Library]

781.64409 P972 1992

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

No fan of soul music, the city of Chicago, or the music business should pass this book up.