Who's your favorite rhythm and blues artist (pre-soul)

[GoogaMooga]

The man who invented the genre, Fats Domino:




This one ought to be his signature, not "Blueberry Hill":

from https://www.billboard.com/articles/colu ... -hits-list

10. Fats Domino – "Blue Monday"

No, it doesn't have anything to do with New Order, but it has everything to do with the Garfieldian view of the first day of the working week. "Blue Monday how I hate Blue Monday / got to work like a slave all day," Domino moans, and the hammering, repetitive piano chords seem to echo his malaise.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

Fats Domino and the 5 Royales for me, thanks.

[Goat Boy]

Bo

[BARON CORNY DOG]

Bo

I thought about Bo and Little Richard but they’re a bit overtly rock and roll. Or at least that’s what I like about them.

[Jimbo]

Little Richard
Little Anthony and the Imperials
Sam Cooke

[GoogaMooga]

Bo

I thought about Bo and Little Richard but they’re a bit overtly rock and roll. Or at least that’s what I like about them.

Yeah, they are sort of borderline, aren't they. Although Little Richard was definitely R&B before he moved to Specialty.

I think Fats is one of the most important artists of the century, not just the 1950s.

[Muskrat]

Too many choices, but I went with Fats, Little Richard and Jackie Wilson. Some of those -- Sam Cooke, definitely, Jerry Butler, Brook Benton, define "soul" to me. And the second Drifters, by my account, are pop (and I love them none the less for it).

[GoogaMooga]

Fats, Little Richard, and Sam Cooke for me.

[NMB]

Sam Cooke, Bo Diddley and Little Richard in that order.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Ray Charles doesn’t count?

[GoogaMooga]

Ray Charles doesn’t count?

Ray Charles invented soul with "I Got a Woman" and is known as the Genius of Soul. Yes, he did R&B before that, but it's not what he is known for. By the same token, Sam Cooke could be considered more soul than R&B, too.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

I ask because a lot of these artists verged into soul.

[GoogaMooga]

I ask because a lot of these artists verged into soul.

Yes, you are right, a number of them did. My criterion was did they leave a significant enough mark as R&B artists.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

Ray Charles it is!

[Neige]

I voted for Screamin' Jay, the Coasters and Etta James as personal favourites (even if they're less influential than say, Ray, Fats, Bo or Mr. Penniman.

... and I miss Louis Jordan in the list.

[GoogaMooga]

I voted for Screamin' Jay, the Coasters and Etta James as personal favourites (even if they're less influential than say, Ray, Fats, Bo or Mr. Penniman.

... and I miss Louis Jordan in the list.

Louis Jordan was jump blues, though.

[sloopjohnc]

I picked Little Richard, Bo Diddley and Lee Dorsey.

[sloopjohnc]

I ask because a lot of these artists verged into soul.

Yes, you are right, a number of them did. My criterion was did they leave a significant enough mark as R&B artists.

But that wasn't the question. The question was who was your favorite.

[NowhereMan]

I voted for Sam Cooke, but I wouldn't say he was pre-soul, if anything he defines soul. (If you asked Marvin, Aretha, Al Green, Otis ect. they'd have said the same)

[GoogaMooga]

I voted for Sam Cooke, but I wouldn't say he was pre-soul, if anything he defines soul. (If you asked Marvin, Aretha, Al Green, Otis ect. they'd have said the same)

Yes. But he made enough of a mark in R&B that I thought to include him.