R&B » Soul » Chicago Soul

Of the three major hotbeds for soul music during the 1960s, Motown had the hits and Memphis had the grit. Unfortunately, Chicago's fertile soul community is often left off the map -- and if it's recognized at all, it's mostly for the accomplishments of Curtis Mayfield, both as a member of the Impressions and later as a solo act. The Chicago Soul scene obviously fostered a variety of production styles, but its best-known hits -- including "The Monkey Time" by Major Lance, "Get on Up" by the Esquires, "People Get Ready" by the Impressions, and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" by Jackie Wilson -- featured a sound based on laid-back yet effervescent soul, with sweet vocals and a stinging horn section. Though Mayfield is rightly the central figure in the rise of Chicago soul, considering his work as a songwriter and producer as well as bandleader and vocalist, arranger/producer Johnny Pate and producer/A&R man Carl Davis deserve much credit for development of the sound. Often in tandem with Mayfield, Pate's productions for ABC-Paramount and Davis' productions (first for OKeh and later for Brunswick and his own label, Dakar) created a parade of definitive hits for Chicago's best soul singers: the Impressions, Major Lance, Jackie Wilson, Gene Chandler, Jerry Butler, the Chi-Lites, Barbara Acklin, and Tyrone Davis, among others. Though the Chicago sound continued on into the '70s, the collapse of many independent labels proved a tragic blow to the fortunes of many fine soul singers.