Soul

Soul on vinyl: Motown, Stax and the great voices

In short: Soul is the music of gospel and rhythm & blues that conquered the charts in the sixties – with voices such as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. Soul is one of the biggest sections at the Vinyl Room: you’ll currently find 1,246 records here, many of them from the seventies.

What is soul?

Two labels stand for the two poles of soul: Motown in Detroit with the elegant pop soul of the Supremes, the Miracles and the Temptations – and Stax in Memphis with the raw Southern soul of Otis Redding and Booker T. & the M.G.’s. In Chicago, Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions shaped the sound, and in seventies Philadelphia the Philly sound arrived with big strings. Isaac Hayes, Bill Withers and Millie Jackson carried soul through the seventies.

What to look for

Many soul originals are US pressings, for example on Motown, Tamla, Gordy, Stax or Atlantic. In England, Motown records came out from 1965 on their own label, Tamla Motown – a collecting field of its own today. Label, catalogue number and runout together tell you whether you have a first pressing.

From our stock

First pressings

Motown & Tamla

Stax

New in

→ Funk & soul on vinyl · Atlantic · How to spot a first pressing · Grading explained · Plattenparty on YouTube

FAQ

What’s the difference between Motown and Stax? Motown from Detroit stood for smooth, elegant pop soul, Stax from Memphis for raw, earthy Southern soul.

What is Tamla Motown? The label on which Motown records came out in England from 1965.

What is northern soul? An English scene of the seventies that danced to rare American soul singles of the sixties. Many of these singles are sought-after collector’s items today.