The Transmigration of Soul

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how in a curious and prolonged interchange, soul music developed through innovations made by both Britons and Americans--blacks and whites--to emerge as the colorful, powerfully emotive style music fans treasure today. It traces the evolution of soul from its African roots in antebellum America to the British Invasion of the early 1960s, following its transatlantic path several times over as the blues of Mississippi and Memphis influenced the Beatles and the Fab Four subsequently inspired the songs of Otis Redding. The musicians of the Stax-Volt imprint are featured, as well as the British subcultural phenomenon of Northern soul.

From the Paper:

"The musical style known as "soul" has its roots in the southern experience in the United States, descending from an artistic lineage that began with the Negro spirituals of antebellum slavery. The spirituals, in turn, developed from the musical traditions of Europe and Africa, as the imported cultures of slave and master converged to create distinctly new song forms. A prominent example of this cultural fusion is the African bondsman's practice of adopting English balladry, wherein black songsters adapted British compositions to fashion their own renditions of Old World standards."

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