Growing up in the 60's was a cool time, but it was also very
confusing at times. In a time when they would play Johnny Cash and James Brown
on the same radio station, we never had time to think about the races of the
artists, and as kids we couldn't care less. All we knew was that, as Arthur
Conley once sang, “if you like good music,” we were fairly unaware of what the
singers of our fave songs looked like unless they appeared on American Bandstand.
But just as dozens of young bands were trying to be the next
Beatles, it’s a sign of just how popular Soul and R&B were in the
mid-Sixties that lots of bands were adopting the sounds emanating out of Motown
and Stax.
Here are a couple of examples of what I'm talking about. In 1967
“Expressway to Your Heart” became the first of the catchy soul records that
would come to epitomize Philly Soul. But brothers Charlie and Richie Ingui, the leaders of the Soul Survivors, weren’t
black at all, like we probably all assumed.
And then there was “Girl Watcher” in 1968, a hooky recording
that neatly channeled a middle ground between the polished pop of Motown and
the rough-around-the-edges Stax sound. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who
always assumed The O’Kaysions were a black band,
not this group of nerdy white guys.
Which just goes to show: You just never know, and you should never judge musicians by the way they sound!
Thanks to Rich Arithmetic for all his input on this post. I would have screwed the whole thing up without his help!
