Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Name	Blue-eyed soul
Bgcolor	orange
Color	black
Stylistic origins	Soul musicPop music
Cultural origins	1960s, United States
Other topics	List of blue-eyed soul artists }}

Blue-eyed soul (also known as white soul or pop soul) is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B; that was similar to the music of the Motown and Stax record labels. The somewhat controversial term was coined during racial segregation in 1960s America at the time of the music genre's emergence in popular music culture.

The term continued to be used in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly by the British music press, to describe a new generation of white singers who adopted elements of classic soul music. To a lesser extent, the term has been applied to singers in other music genres that are influenced by soul music, such as urban music and hip-hop soul.

1960s and 1970s

Blue-eyed soul began when white musicians remade African American music for mass audiences. Often the music was diluted for its new audience, a move that angered some African Americans as cultural appropriation, but pleased others who felt the growth of their music genre was positive.

The regional beach music and Carolina shag trends that originated in the areas around North and South Carolina in the late 1950s were, at least partly, a manifestation of blue-eyed soul. Local white bands backed nationally popular black R&B; artists during their tours, and performed on their own at fraternity parties and other college social events. According to beach band historian Greg Haynes, artists such as Bonnie Bramlett and The Allman Brothers (originally known as The Allman Joys) began their careers on this circuit. Bill Deal and the Rhondels and The Swinging Medallions are beach bands which have charted nationally.

Georgie Woods, a Philadelphia radio DJ, came up with the term ''blue-eyed soul'' in the 1960s to describe white artists who received airplay on rhythm and blues radio stations. In the early 1960s, one of the rare female blue-eyed soul singers was Timi Yuro, whose vocal delivery and repertoire were influenced by African American singers such as Dinah Washington. Perhaps one of the most famous duos to be associated with the term were The Righteous Brothers, due to their emotive vocal style; their 1964 LP ''Some Blue-Eyed Soul'' was named after the term. Groups such as The Rascals (originally The Young Rascals) had soul-tinged songs, but it was the soulful vocals of Felix Cavaliere that gave them the blue-eyed soul sound. By the mid-1960s, British singers Dusty Springfield, Eric Burdon and Welshman Tom Jones had become leading vocal stars of the emerging style. Other notable UK exponents of blue-eyed soul included The Spencer Davis Group (featuring singer-organist Steve Winwood) and archetypal mod band The Small Faces, whose sound was heavily influenced by the Stax label's house band Booker T & the MGs. Blue-eyed soul singer, Chris Clark became the first white singer to have an R&B; hit with Motown Records in 1966. Most of the leading UK pop groups of the period – including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Who – regularly covered Stax and Motown tracks on record or in concert, and all of them have acknowledged the influence of Motown and Stax artists on their music. In 1967, Jerry Lee Lewis, whose latter days at Sun Records (1961–1963) had been characterized by R&B; covers, recorded an album for Smash entitled ''Soul My Way''. Delaney and Bonnie (Bramlett) produced the blue-eyed soul album ''Home'' on Stax in 1969.

Michael Sembello, who left home at 17 to tour with Stevie Wonder, wrote and performed on numerous blue-eyed soul hits for Wonder, Brian McKnight, David Sanborn, Bill Champlin and Bobby Caldwell. Todd Rundgren began his career in Woody's Truck Stop, a group based on the model of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He left the band to form the garage rock band Nazz in 1967.

Outside the Anglo-American scene, in Italy, Mina and Carmen Villani fused elements of soul music with the traditional Italian pop music. Carola and Doris were notable Scandinavian artists who were influenced by soul music.

On 1 February 1975, Tower of Power became the first white/mixed act to appear on ''Soul Train''. Also in 1975, David Bowie, another early white artist to appear on ''Soul Train'', released ''Young Americans'', a popular blue-eyed soul album. It featured the funk- inspired "Fame", which became Bowie's first #1 hit in the US. Hall & Oates' 1975 ''Silver Album'' (real title ''Daryl Hall & John Oates'') includes the ballad "Sara Smile", long considered a blue-eyed soul standard, as well as "She's Gone", another soulful hit. Average White Band is a Scottish funk and R&B; band who had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980, their biggest two being "Pick Up the Pieces" from their 1975 best-selling album ''AWB'', and "Cut The Cake" from their 1975 album of the same name. Boz Scaggs' 1976 "Lowdown", which featured Scaggs' laid-back vocals and a smooth funky groove, peaked at #3 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart (and reaching Top 5 on the R&B; chart). In April 1976, The Faragher Brothers became the first all-white ensemble to make an appearance on ''Soul Train''.

In 1978, The Bee Gees topped R&B; album charts with their ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack, along with several songs from the album, including "Stayin' Alive", "Night Fever", and "You Should Be Dancing", which originally charted back in 1976. The Bee Gees again had a hit album on the R&B; charts in 1979 with the ''Spirits Having Flown'' album along with its three pop #1 singles, "Too Much Heaven", "Tragedy" and "Love You Inside Out".

Other blue-eyed soul of the decade include the hits "How Long" by Ace (Paul Carrack, lead vocals), three hits by Ambrosia, "How Much I Feel", "Biggest Part of Me", and "You're the Only Woman", and Bobby Caldwell's soul standard "What You Won't Do (Do for Love)".

1980s and later

George Michael brought soul influences into his pop music, and was the first white solo artist to sing a duet with Aretha Franklin, in their hit ''I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)''. Michael was the first white male vocalist to hit #1 on the US R&B; album charts, with his debut album ''Faith''. His fourth single from the album, ''One More Try'', hit #1 in the US Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop charts. In 1989 he became the first white artist to win the American Music Award for Favourite Male Vocalist and Favourite Album (''Faith'') (Soul/R&B;). Annie Lennox, of the Eurythmics, was often cited as possessing "soul", and went on to record ''Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves'' with Franklin. Around the same time, audiences were struck by the soulfulness of Teena Marie, who exclusively wrote and performed R&B; and funk, as well as Michael McDonald, who is also frequently described as a 'blue-eyed soul' artist.

Hall & Oates' chart success was at its highest when their singles got heavy airplay on urban contemporary radio, as was the case with ''I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)'', ''One on One'', ''Say It Isn't So'', ''Adult Education'', ''Out of Touch'', ''Method of Modern Love'' and ''Everything Your Heart Desires.'' Most of those singles charted high or at #1 on the R&B; and dance charts. Simply Red scored one of the most successful blue-eyed soul ballads of all time in 1986 with ''Holding Back the Years''.

Other blue-eyed soul hits of the 1980s include: Phil Collins' cover version of ''You Can't Hurry Love'', Culture Club's ''Church of the Poison Mind'' (1983), The Style Council's ''Speak Like a Child'', (1983) Eurythmics' ''Missionary Man'' (1986), and Steve Winwood's ''Roll With It'' (1988). As the decade drew to a close, British artist Lisa Stansfield had considerable success on R&B; radio, scoring three #1 R&B; hits, the most popular being ''All Around the World''

A backlash ensued in the late 1980s as some black people felt that white people were cashing in on the popularity of their music. However, the extent of the backlash was not universally agreed upon. In 1989, ''Ebony Magazine'' published an article exploring whether white people were "taking over" R&B.; The article featured various members of the music industry, both black and white, who believed collaboration was a unifying force, and there was agreement that the future of R&B; was not compromised by the contemporary urban sound. A similar article in ''Ebony'', written in 1999 highlighted conflicting opinions about the "blue-eyed" influence; however the source of contention was not about the artistic merit of blue-eyed soul, but rather the economic inequality that persisted in American life and within the music industry. In the late 1990s, artists such as Jon B., Jamiroquai, and 98 Degrees have continued the blue eyed soul movement.

In the 2000s, Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone, Duffy, Natasha Bedingfield and Adele have enjoyed success in the American charts, leading to talk of a "Second British Invasion", "Female Invasion" or "British soul invasion". In 2007, soul artist Guy Sebastian recorded ''The Memphis Album'', a tribute album of soul classics, with many of the original Stax Records musicians, including Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Lester Snell and Steve Potts. Other artists who are a part of the genre in the mid to late 2000s' have included Christina Aguilera, Remy Shand, Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke, who enjoyed considerable success in the R&B; charts with the 2007 hit ''Lost Without U'', and ''Sex Therapy'' in 2009.

See also

1960s in music

British soul

List of blue-eyed soul artists

Plastic soul, a somewhat derogatory term for this phenomenon

References

External links

[ Blue-eyed soul] Definition and examples on Allmusic.com

Blue eyed soul... Section on Soulwalking.co.uk

The Birth of Blue-eyed Soul Section on The Righteous Brothers site (have to click on menu)

Blue-Eyed Soul Section on Musicmatch.com

Category:Soul music genres

cs:Bílý soul de:Blue-Eyed Soul es:Blue-eyed soul fr:Blue-eyed soul hr:Blue-eyed soul it:Soul bianco he:וייט סול ja:ブルー・アイド・ソウル pl:Biały soul simple:Blue Eyed Soul sk:Biely soul sr:Blue-Eyed Soul sh:Blue-eyed soul th:บลูอายด์โซล vi:Blue-eyed soul

Carl Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a former Jamaican-born, UK-based, singer, best known for his song "Kung Fu Fighting", which hit number one in both the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. The R.I.A.A. awarded gold disc status on 27 November, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Selling Single in 1974. It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

This homage to martial arts films has overshadowed the rest of the singer's career, resulting in his appearance on cover versions of the song. Douglas did release two other singles ("Blue Eyed Soul" and "Dance The Kung Fu", which was sampled by DJ Premier in his 2007 remix of Nike's 25th Air Force One anniversary single "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)", featuring Kanye West, Nas, KRS-One and Rakim ) but he has gone down in recording history as an example of a one hit wonder.

He was at one time managed by Eric Woolfson, later the primary songwriter behind The Alan Parsons Project.

In 1998, a re-recording of "Kung Fu Fighting", billed as Bus Stop featuring Carl Douglas, reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart.

He now resides in Hamburg, Germany where he runs SMV (Schacht Musik Verlage), a publishing company that coordinates films, documentaries, and advertisements.

See also

Kung Fu Fighting

Biddu

List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart

List of artists who reached number one in the United States

List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart

List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

List of disco artists (A-E)

List of performers on Top of the Pops

References

External links

Official website

Fan site

Category:1942 births Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jamaican male singers Category:Living people

de:Carl Douglas es:Carl Douglas fr:Carl Douglas ko:칼 더글라스 it:Carl Douglas hu:Carl Douglas ja:カール・ダグラス pl:Carl Douglas pt:Carl Douglas fi:Carl Douglas th:คาร์ล ดักลาส

Douglas "Doug" Band (born October 1972) is an aide and counselor to former President Bill Clinton.

Early life

A native of Sarasota, Florida, Band is an alumnus of Pine View School and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida with a major in English and a minor in Ethics. As an undergraduate at Florida, Band was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He later attended Georgetown University's graduate school at night to earn a master's degree in liberal arts and then he earned a law degree at night from Georgetown University Law Center.

Career during presidency

Douglas J. Band serves as counselor to President Clinton. He began working in the White House in 1995 working with Cheryl Mills as an unpaid intern in the White House Counsel's office. Band has been with President Clinton since then. Prior to his role as Counselor to President Clinton, Doug served in the White House Counsel's office for 4 years, becoming a Special Assistant to the President before he was made one of the youngest Deputy Assistants ever to serve a President. Band concluded his final year in the White House in the Oval Office as the President's Aide.

Post-presidential activities

Band has served as counselor and chief advisor to President Clinton since 2002, becoming the key architect of Clinton's post-presidency, and overseeing the 1,200 employees of both the William J. Clinton Foundation and the President's personal office. In his current role, Band has traveled to nearly 100 countries, over 2,000 cities, and has helped and advised several heads of state transition out of public office into private life. He created and built the Clinton Global Initiative that has raised $46 billion dollars for 1,200 philanthropic projects around the world. To date, CGI has impacted 200 million people in over 150 countries. President Clinton has credited Band with being the originator of CGI and has noted that "Doug had the idea to do this"

Band was responsible for negotiating with the Obama administration for then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to become Secretary of State. He also played a key role in negotiations leading to the release of American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee on August 4, 2009, accompanying Bill Clinton to Pyongyang along with his brother Roger. He currently serves as Clinton's representative to the White House and other governments, organizations and businesses around the world.

Personal

Doug serves on the Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board, as an advisor to Avenue Capital Group, a trustee on the Oklahoma National Memorial Museum, and Vote Vets. Band was a member of the Board of Directors for the USA Bid Committee in its effort to bring the FIFA World Cup to the United States in 2018 or 2022.

Band also serves on the faculty of New York University as an adjunct professor.

He and his wife Lily live in New York City. Clinton gave a toast at Band's wedding.

Band's physician brother Roger Band serves as Clinton's personal physician on overseas trips.

Band is the youngest of four children of David and Myrna Band.

References

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Category:University of Florida alumni Category:Clinton Administration personnel Category:Assistants to the President of the United States Category:Georgetown University Law Center alumni

Till Brönner (born May 6, 1971 in Viersen) is a German jazz musician, trumpet player, singer, composer, arranger and producer. He has a unique jazz approach influenced by bebop and fusion jazz, but also modern pop music, movie soundtracks (especially old German movies), country music and even German pop songs. His trumpet playing is primarily inspired by the listening experiences of Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie and Chet Baker. His most influential teachers were Bobby Shew and the internationally renowned chop doc Malte Burba.

Till was raised in Rome and received classical trumpet education at the Jesuit boarding school Aloisiuskolleg in Bonn followed by a study of the jazz trumpet at the music academy in Cologne under professors Jiggs Whigham and Jon Eardley.

History

1989 - 1991: Member of the Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combination & Brass.

1991 - 1998: At the age of only 20 he became solo trumpet player of the renowned RIAS Big Band Berlin under Horst Jankowski and Jiggs Whigham.

1993: First solo album "Generations of Jazz" (with Ray Brown, Jeff Hamilton, Frank Chastenier and Gregoire Peters) which won several awards: "''Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik''" and "''Preis der Deutschen Plattenindustrie''". Brönner worked with a lot of musicians of international fame such as Dave Brubeck, James Moody, Monty Alexander, Aki Takase, Joachim Kühn, Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, Johnny Griffin, Ernie Watts, Klaus Doldinger, Nils Landgren, Al Foster and others.

1998: First album on Verve ("Love") with his first appearance as a jazz singer. Concert tours in Japan and a Gold Disc Award by the Japanese "Swing Journal".

1999: Song writer and producer for Hildegard Knef's album "17 Milimeter".

2001: Movie soundtrack for "Jazz Seen" (a movie about the jazz photographer William Claxton).

2002: Featured on single "Don't Let 'Em" by Rosie Gaines also featuring Snoop Dogg & Bootsy Collins.

2003: Concert tour with the soul singer Joy Denalane.

2005: The album "That Summer" reached rank 17 in the German pop charts. He's now the best selling German jazz artist of all times.

Brönner also wrote the movie soundtrack for Pepe Danquart's "Höllentour" (English title: "Hell On Wheels"; a movie about the "Tour de France" bicycle race). The soundtrack was nominated for a German Movie Award in the category "Best Music Score".

2006: Release of his most recent album "Oceana", recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Larry Klein (former producer of Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Peter Gabriel). Guest stars on "Oceana" are Madeleine Peyroux, Luciana Souza and the singing top model Carla Bruni. In July he played at the famous Jazz Festival in Montreux (Switzerland). He has a guest appearance on Madeleine Peyroux's album "Half the Perfect World" and Vienna Teng's current album "Dreaming through the noise"

2007: He wins the "Echo Award" (equivalent to the Grammy Award) in Jazz Production (National and International). European concert tour with the band project REUNION, feat. Chuck Loeb, Eric Marienthal, Till Brönner, Jim Beard, Tim Lefebvre, Dennis Chambers and Michael Franks (special guest). In March 2007 he produced "The jazz album" for legendary classical singer Thomas Quasthoff, featuring pianist Alan Broadbent and drummer Peter Erskine. The album wins the "Echo Award" (equivalent to the Grammy Award) in the classical category and is nominated for a Grammy 2008.

2008: release of his new album "RIO". Produced by Grammy winner Larry Klein in Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles, with featured guest vocalists Vanessa da Mata, Kurt Elling, Melody Gardot, Annie Lennox, Aimee Mann, Sérgio Mendes, Milton Nascimento & Luciana Souza.

2009: nominated for a Grammy in category 47 for "Best instrumental Jazz solo" along with Terence Blanchard, James Moody, Pat Metheny, Gary Burton & Chick Corea for his Solo on the track "Seven steps to heaven" on the album "The Standard" by vocal group Take 6.

Discography

1993 ''Generations of Jazz''

1995 ''My secret Love''

1996 ''German Songs''

1997 ''Midnight'' (with Michael Brecker and Dennis Chambers)

1998 ''Love''

2000 ''Chattin with Chet (A Tribute to Chet Baker)''

2001 ''Jazz Seen'' (O.S.T.)

2002 ''Get Well Soon'' (Bob Brookmeyer)

2002 ''Blue Eyed Soul'' (feat. Mark Murphy)

2004 ''That Summer''

2004 ''Höllentour'' (O.S.T.)

2006 ''Oceana'' (feat. Carla Bruni, Madeleine Peyroux, Luciana Souza)

2007 ''The Christmas Album'' (feat. Curtis Stigers, Yvonne Catterfeld, Frank McComb, Kim Sanders, Don Grusin)

2008 ''RIO'' (feat. Vanessa da Mata, Kurt Elling, Melody Gardot, Annie Lennox, Aimee Mann, Sérgio Mendes, Milton Nascimento & Luciana Souza)

2009 ''Midnight''

2010 ''At The End Of The Day'' (Island)

Live-DVD

2005 A Night In Berlin

External links

official web site (in English, German)

[ Till Brönner] at Allmusic

Till Brönner at All About Jazz

Biography and Discography at JazzEcho (all tracks as RealAudio) (in German)

Till Brönner at laut.de (in German)

MySpace Till Brönner MySpace

REUNION website

Bam Bam Music / Management

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:People from Viersen Category:German jazz trumpeters Category:The X Factor judges Category:Jazz fusion trumpeters

de:Till Brönner es:Till Brönner fr:Till Brönner lb:Till Brönner pl:Till Brönner pt:Till Brönner sv:Till Brönner cs:Till Brönner

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Name	Billy Vera
instrument	guitar piano
Birth date	May 28, 1944
Birth place	Riverside, California
official website	www.billyvera.com }}

Billy Vera (born William McCord; May 28, 1944) is an American singer, actor, writer and music historian.

Life and career

Vera was born in Riverside, California. He began his singing career in 1962 as a member of the Resolutions. He went on to write several songs throughout the early 1960s, writing for the likes of Barbara Lewis, Fats Domino, The Shirelles and Ricky Nelson. He also wrote the garage band classic, "Don't Look Back", performed by the Remains.

In 1967 Vera penned a song entitled "Storybook Children" and brought it to Atlantic Records. The decision to place former gospel singer Judy Clay with Vera in a white-black duet to record the song was a commercial and artistic success and a subsequent album by Vera and Clay remains a highpoint for soul duet partnerships. He would have a solo hit later that same year with the Bobby Goldsboro penned "With Pen in Hand" which was also the name of his next album.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s Vera focused on songwriting including "I Really Got the Feeling" which was a number 1 hit for Dolly Parton. He also participated in several archival and music preservation projects, including fronting the band at the 1972 Reunion concert of Dion & the Belmonts.

Living in Los Angeles, and writing songs for Warner Brothers, Vera and his old friend, bass player Chuck Fiore decided to put together a band to play the local club scene. Modeling their band on 1950s Rock and roll bands, The Beaters were born. They featured a horn section, as well as a pedal steel guitar, along with drums, piano, Fiore's bass, and Vera's lead guitar and vocals. As a result of the buzz the band generated, Alfa Records offered them a recording contract. They recorded the band live, and in 1981 yielded the minor hits "I Can Take Care of Myself," which reached #39 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., and "At This Moment," which (initially) charted at #79.

By 1982, Alfa Records was out of business, but Vera and the Beaters continued to play the clubs of Southern California. In 1985, a producer from the TV show ''Family Ties'' was in the audience to hear the band play "At This Moment." The song was featured in the fall of 1985 as a backdrop for romantic interludes between characters Alex (Michael J. Fox) and Ellen (Tracy Pollan). Viewers responded by clamoring for the song, and in 1986, Rhino Records released ''By Request: The Best of Billy Vera & the Beaters'', which featured the song. The single became a number one hit in its re-release, and remained on the charts for 15 weeks.

Before "At This Moment," Vera had a small career in movies and television including appearances in ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai'' and soap opera ''Days of our Lives''. "At This Moment" propelled his movie career as he and the Beaters were featured prominently in the Bruce Willis movie ''Blind Date'' as well as a scene in the 1987 comedy film ''Adventures in Babysitting''. He would go on to star in one episode of a TV series, ''Wiseguy'' and would have several other roles on shows such as ''Baywatch'', ''Boy Meets World'', and ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' as well as being a guest on the 'Super Dave Osborne Show'. These roles would lead him into singing theme songs for TV shows, such as ''Empty Nest'' and ''King of Queens'', as well as voice acting on Cartoon Network cartoons. He served as band leader on Rick Dees' short-lived late night talk show "Into the Night" on ABC in the early 1990s.

During that period, Vera co-produced three Lou Rawls albums with his friend, Michael Cuscuna, for Blue Note Records, including At Last, which reached #1 on the Billboard Jazz Chart. Vera also produced Rawls's final album, Rawls Sings Sinatra, which remained on the jazz charts for over six months. Rawls recorded seven of Billy's songs, including "If I Were A Magician" and "You Can't Go Home." In 1990, Vera's tune, "Papa Come Quick (Jody & Chico)," was included on Bonnie Raitt's album, Luck Of The Draw, the biggest of her career, selling over five million copies.

Currently the Beaters are still playing the California club scene, and Vera continues his work as a music historian. He has helped produce, archive, and write liner notes for over 200 reissue albums and sets, from artists such as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Louis Jordan, Ray Charles, Louis Prima, and more.

Billy has been the voice for AM/PM Mini Mart commercials for the last 12 years and is one of the top voice over artists in Los Angeles. His song, "At This Moment" is included on Michael Buble's #1 CD, Crazy Love. Vera's last CD is ''Hopeless Romantic: The Best Of Billy Vera & The Beaters'', on Shout Factory Records, available on amazon.com and other sites. Billy's current CD, "The Billy Vera Story" on Rock Beat Records, is also available at all online stores.

Billy Vera also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the corner of Vine Street and Yucca Street, right in front of the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood, California.

References

External links

Billy Vera's website

Billy Vera on MySpace

interview on Just My Show

Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:People from Riverside, California Category:American actors Category:American male singers Category:American pop singers Category:Blue-eyed soul singers

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