Soul blues - Definition and Overview

Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the early late 1960's and 1970's and combining eliments of soul music and urban contemporary music. Singers and musicians who grew up listening traditional electric blues (Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James etc...), soul singers (such as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Otis Redding) and Gospel music wanted to bridge their favorite music together. One of the pioneers of this style was Bobby Bland and the song "The Thrill Is Gone" by BB King was a hint for future trends in this subgenre. Additional musicians in this style include ZZ Hill, Otis Clay, Latimore, Little Milton, Johnny Adams, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett Bobby Rush and Johnny Taylor. Bobby Bland continues with this style. This is a sub-genre within the blues genre which is very popular with African American audiences but less known by white audiences.