The term "blue-eyed soul" was coined in the early 60's by a Philadelphia DJ to characterize the records of white artists who were performing soul and R&B music.
The Righteous Brothers, one of the biggest acts of that decade with their hit "You've Lost that Loving Feeling," so embraced the term that in 1964 they actually used it as an album title. "Blue-eyed soul" was a controversial term and genre at its outset, and remains so even now, with some pleased to see soul music embraced by white artists and listeners, while others are angered with what they consider to be improper cultural appropriation and an unfair favoritism of white soul artists on the radio. (Tyrese, a SoulTracker favorite, has recently been very outspoken on that latter topic given the lack of radio play his number #1 album, Black Rose, has received).
The term "blue-eyed soul" was coined in the early 60's by a Philadelphia DJ to characterize the records of white artists who were performing soul and R&B music.
The Righteous Brothers, one of the biggest acts of that decade with their hit "You've Lost that Loving Feeling," so embraced the term that in 1964 they actually used it as an album title. "Blue-eyed soul" was a controversial term and genre at its outset, and remains so even now, with some pleased to see soul music embraced by white artists and listeners, while others are angered with what they consider to be improper cultural appropriation and an unfair favoritism of white soul artists on the radio. (Tyrese, a SoulTracker favorite, has recently been very outspoken on that latter topic given the lack of radio play his number #1 album, Black Rose, has received).
In the last 40 years, the UK has produced more blue-eyed soul artists than even the U.S., with Sam Smith only the most recent in a line that extends back to Stevie Winwood and Dusty Springfield in the 1960's. Perhaps the UK's finest "pound for pound" blue-eyed soul vocalist (notwithstanding the recent ascendency of Smith) is the famously red-haired Mick Hucknall of Simply Red.
Simply Red hit big out of the gate in 1985 with their debut album, Picture Book, and its hauntingly lovely lead single, "Holding Back the Years," which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In addition to that hit, another track from that record, "Sad Old Red," remains a personal favorite. It's a swingin' dose of live, jazzy soul that showcases Hucknall's range and the band's virtuoso musicianship. Also especially notable from the band's catalog is Hucknall's interpretation of the Bill Withers song "Grandma's Hands," which he performs at a slower tempo than the original, with bluesy piano and horn accents.
Whatever one's opinion about "blue eyed soul" as a genre, it's hard not to listen to these tracks and feel the genuine soul that Hucknall pours into them. It's great music on its own terms, no matter what label is placed on it.
By Robb Patryk