R&B Then and Now.

[JimK]

Care to expand?

Expand or expound?
Me & others have gone off this before. It's easier to put out a mass produced product than taking a chance on something else. It's the McDonald's business mold: For the LCD, it only needs to be but "so good".
Now others will chirp in & say "...you're not looking in the right places, good stuff is out there if you know where it's at".
I'm basing my argument solely on POP music...the Pop music that played outta my parents' '60s Rambler was Motown, Beatles, Sly, Chicago, Santana, etc.
To find something of similar quality, today...you do need to do some diggin. My point is you didn't need to dig back then...it was front and center.

Anyway, continue...

 

[Turock]

These guys (Sonia Dada) are quite good:

 

[cassanova]

When I tell someone that I like R&B and they say stuff like R. Kelly and Beyonce I have to tell them haha no I mean like Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Sam Cooke, Brooke Benton...you know, real R&B.

Do they give you the same dumb blank expression like "who the hell are they?" like I do when you tell them that?

 

[tycobb73]

Another "music was better way back when" thread. They'll be saying that about this decade in 30 years.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Another "music was better way back when" thread. They'll be saying that about this decade in 30 years.

Touché.

 

[BluesDawg]

These guys (Sonia Dada) are quite good:

You're not kidding!

 

[ERIC31]

IMO, when people stopped learning how to play instruments and started programming synths and drum machines is when the "soul" went out of it. Urban music started being all about the producers "creating" the music with no musicians and having some good looking "singer" sing over the top. That's most of what passes for modern R&B these days. Too bad.

Exceptions to the rule are people like Brand New Heavies, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, etc. REAL artists!

 

[whocaresnotme]

Raphael Saadig!: Very cool and "old school". Thanks for the link.

 

[bassist4dalord]

Then > Now. End of story.

 

[mccartneyman]

It's all relative.
Listen to No More Kings. Modern hybrid soul/funk.
More of the classic vibe: Sharon Jones & the Dapp Kings & James Hunter

 

[jerry]

For me, a lot of it has to do with technology. Back in the 80's as soon as producers were able to sit in a room of MIDI keyboards and drum machines, they started cutting out live rhythm sections. Most of the old R&B [and rock] was done with most of the musicians playing in the same room groovin' at the same time, you will never get that feel sending files around the country for people to add their parts, or with one producer building the song up from loops.

 

[pedro]

It's all relative.
Listen to No More Kings. Modern hybrid soul/funk.
More of the classic vibe: Sharon Jones & the Dapp Kings & James Hunter

+1 on Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. I mentioned them earlier but they deserve the exposure.

Another +1 on the Eryka Badu mention. My son sent me this one sometime ago. Not much of tune but I love it anyway.

 

[Richland123]

Rafael Saadiq on PBS TV

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[T-Funk]

What has happened to R&B from the 70's, 80's?

In my opinion, R&B started to lose its creativity and soul when the music became mostly based on keyboard and sample technology in leu of live musicians (bassists, drummers, horn sections,etc.).

Which brings me to another point, where are the R&B bands today? I miss the days when R&B bands such as EWF, Ready for the World, P-Funk, etc. were prevalent in the industry.

 

[T-Funk]

IMO, when people stopped learning how to play instruments and started programming synths and drum machines is when the "soul" went out of it. Urban music started being all about the producers "creating" the music with no musicians and having some good looking "singer" sing over the top. That's most of what passes for modern R&B these days. Too bad.

Exceptions to the rule are people like Brand New Heavies, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, etc. REAL artists!

+1