Southern soul

The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues (both 12 bar and jump), country, early R&B, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern black churches.

18 See also: Some soul musicians were from southern states: these included Georgia natives Otis Redding[3] and James Brown, Rufus Thomas and Bobby "Blue" Bland[4] (from Tennessee), Eddie Floyd (from Alabama), Johnnie Taylor, Al Green (from Arkansas).

[7] In 1966, the Shreveport-based Murco Records released "Losin' Boy" by Eddy Giles, which held a place on Cashbox magazine's Hot 100 for five weeks.

Atlantic was Ray Charles's home, and became an early exporter of the "Muscle Shoals Sound" by distributing Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman", recorded at Rick Hall's FAME Studios.

[10] The Stax label's most successful artist of the 1960s, Otis Redding, was influenced by fellow Georgia native Little Richard and the more cosmopolitan sounds of Mississippi-born Sam Cooke.

Other Stax artists of note included Johnnie Taylor, Soul Children, the Dramatics (from Detroit), Eddie Floyd, the Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, and Isaac Hayes.

[23] After 1990, southern soul music was still recorded and performed by singers such as Sharon Jones,[24] Charles Bradley,[25] Peggy Scott-Adams, Trudy Lynn,[26] Roy C, Sir Charles Jones, Barbara Carr, Willie Clayton, Bobby Rush,[27] Denise LaSalle, Gwen McCrae, Johnnie Taylor,[28] Omar Cunningham,[29] and William Bell.