Portal:Rhythm and blues

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Wikipedia's Rhythm and Blues Portal

Introduction

Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within the African-American community in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to African Americans, at a time when "rocking, jazz based music ... [with a] heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of a piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American history and experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of societal racism, oppression, relationships, economics, and aspirations.

The term "rhythm and blues" has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s, it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music had contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used in a wider context. It referred to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. By the 1970s, the term "rhythm and blues" had changed once again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. (Full article...)

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Sons of Soul is the third album by American R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, released on June 22, 1993, by Wing Records and Mercury Records. It follows the success of their 1990 album The Revival, which had extended their popularity beyond R&B audiences and into the mainstream.

The band originally held recording sessions for Sons of Soul at several studios in California, including Westlake Recording Studios in Hollywood and Paradise Recording Studio in Sacramento. When they became jaded with the various people frequenting those studios, Tony! Toni! Toné! moved their sessions to Caribbean Sound Basin in Trinidad, where they ultimately wrote and recorded most of the album. It was produced entirely by the group, who worked with various session musicians and utilized both vintage and contemporary recording equipment.

Sons of Soul was recorded as an homage to Tony! Toni! Toné!'s musical influences—classic soul artists of the 1960s and 1970s. Its music incorporated live instrumentation, funk, and hip hop elements such as samples and scratches. Lead singer and bassist Raphael Wiggins handled most of the songwriting, which was characterized by quirky, flirtatious lyrics and reverent ballads. (Full article...)

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Cecil Gant (April 4, 1913 – February 4, 1951) was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist, whose recordings of both ballads and "fiery piano rockers" were successful in the mid- and late 1940s, and influenced the early development of rock and roll. His biggest hits were the 1944 ballad, "I Wonder," and “We’re Gonna Rock” (1950). Cecil Gant is considered the forefather of rock n roll due to his rocking style. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various rhythm and blues-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Usher was cited by Billboard as the no. 1 Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade, with 7 number-one singles that accumulated 42 weeks at the top. (from Contemporary R&B)
Image 2Chris Barber, one of the major figures in the early popularisation of the blues in Britain, playing at the Musikhalle, Hamburg, 1972 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 3The original line up of the Kinks, 1965 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 4Led Zeppelin performing at Chicago Stadium in January 1975
Image 5The instruments of the skiffle group the Quarrymen, who would become the Beatles (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 6The Jimi Hendrix Experience performing on Dutch television in 1967 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 7The Moonglows, 1956 (from Doo-wop)
Image 8Alternative R&B artist Frank Ocean performing at the Coachella Festival in 2012 (from Alternative R&B)
Image 9Lead Belly's recordings would be a major part of British R&B repertoires, although he never performed in the UK (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 10Alexis Korner in Hamburg in 1972 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 11Georgie Fame, leader of one of the most widely influenced R&B groups, in 1968 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 12Kathy Young with the Earth Angels performing Kathy's hit "A Thousand Stars" during the festival of this genre celebrated at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in May 2010 (from Doo-wop)
Image 13The Jam in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1982 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 14The Cleftones during their participation in the doo-wop festival celebrated in May 2010 at the Benedum Center. (from Doo-wop)
Image 15Alicia Keys ranked fifth on Billboard Artist of the Decade list. "No One" ranks No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs of the decade. (from Contemporary R&B)
Image 16Herman Santiago, original lead singer of the Teenagers (from Doo-wop)
Image 17The Ramones in Toronto (1976) (from Doo-wop)
Image 18Beyoncé was named by Billboard the most successful female act of the 2000s. (from Contemporary R&B)
Image 19Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac onstage in 1970 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 20Muddy Waters, a major influence on the movement, pictured in 1971 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 21Janet Jackson's Control, released in 1986, was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 1980s. (from New jack swing)
Image 22John Lee Hooker, whose visit to England was the anticipated R&B event of 1964, shown in 1978 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 23Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings at Middelburg in 2009 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 24The Animals in 1964 (from British rhythm and blues)