The Meaning of Soul: Black Music and Resilience since the 1960s

Emily J. Lordi

Duke University Press (AUG 14) Softcover $25.95 (224pp), 978-1-4780-0959-7

Nostalgia-fueled interest in retro music and contemporary artists’ expressions of “black resistance, joy, and togetherness” are at the heart of today’s soul music revival, and Emily J. Lordi’s nuanced revisionist history The Meaning of Soul redirects the traditional focus on male artists and civil rights themes, offering a more sophisticated definition of what soul artistry entails.

To challenge existing “gender politics of soul historiography,” Lordi highlights the stories of female and queer voices, from musical icons, like Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin, to lesser-known musicians, like Carla Thomas and Flying Lotus. She authoritatively documents how soul artists reframed the definition of black masculinity to include quieter explorations of male “interiority,” flamboyant fashions, and opulent musical experimentation.

The book also delves into soul artists’ soaring creativity and musical craft. Lordi shows soul music to be much richer and more complex than has been acknowledged in mainstream and academic literature. From the joyful psychedelic trippiness of Rotary Connection’s albums, featuring Minnie Riperton and her five-octave operatic range, to the lengthy songs and lush orchestration of Isaac Hayes’s albums, Lordi documents soul musicians’ “virtuosic survivorship” and expressions of artistic and personal freedom.

Soul is grounded in themes and techniques of black church worship: many musicians honed their chops in gospel choirs, ad libbing “sermonettes.” While there are obvious examples, like James Brown’s well-honed collapse-cape-and-resurrection finales, Lordi provides others, delving into specific lyrics, recordings, and performances of performers from Mahalia Jackson to Marvin Gaye.

The Meaning of Soul is a thoughtful, lively journey through rich musical archives that expands the definition of what it means to be a soul artist.