The thing about soul – soul in the musical sense – is that you’ve either got it or you haven’t. You only have to listen for a moment to know that Jerry Butler, who died this week, had soul.

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Gene Allison was the accidental star who became a one-hit wonder in 1957 with his gospel-tinged debut single You Can Make It If You Try.

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This comedy song by The Clovers warns against the perils of not one but two of pop music’s traditionally favourite pastimes – sex AND booze.

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Full disclosure: not being a jazz buff, I had never heard of Lou Donaldson who died this week at the ripe old age of 98. This is his masterpiece. (more…)

Leroy Van Dyke’s first job as a livestock auctioneer inspired the song that brought him to fame back in 1956.

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Moving on from yesterday’s Ray Charles post, but not completely… in the early ’50s he went down to New Orleans to work with Guitar Slim, and this was the result.

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Barrett Strong had the first hit for Tamla-Motown when he sang the original version of Money (That’s What I Want) in 1959.

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Beautiful song, beautiful voice, beautiful boy… Ricky Nelson was only 17 when he sang this back in 1958. (more…)

Jackie Wilson was one of the first R&B superstars back in the ’50s but his music had a second lease of life thanks to Van Morrison and Dexys Midnight Runners in the ’70s and ’80s.

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I discovered this rockabilly classic 20 years late when it was re-released on the dependably punk-adjacent Chiswick label in 1978. And it has quite the story behind it.

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