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78 RPM Records
A little before the second World War, the first commercial records were available. The records were seperated by skin color. Records by black artists were marked seperately from whate artists, known as "Race Records" -
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Rhythm and Blues
Louis Jordan was really big in this era, third most popular African American. -
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Atlantic Records
Brown recorded for the newly formed Atlantic Records, which became known, in a play on Yankee Stadium's slogan, as "The House That Ruth Built." Atlantic was founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abrahamson, who were later joined by famed producer Jerry Wexler. The label became home to the industry's top R&B and soul artists, including Solomon Burke, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and the Drifters -
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the Coasters and the Drifters
These two groups had the distinction of being produced by the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, two early Brill Building songwriters and producers who brought "uptown" sophistication to "downtown" R&B. -
"(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" by Ruth Brown
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Motown Sound
sprang from the creative efforts of two men: Berry Gordy, a one-time boxing promoter and would-be songwriter, and Smokey Robinson, a songwriter, singer, and Gordy's righthand man through most of the 1960s. Together, they helped create a legacy of music that appealed to both black and white audiences around the world. Thanks to a talented staff of studio musicians (dubbed the Funk Brothers), Motown's recordings had a distinctive sound that set them apart from other 1960s productions -
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"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" by Sly and The Family Stone
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Urban Contemperary
In the early to mid-1970s, the soul ballad style was given a funkier edge by Philadelphia-based songwriter/producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, with artists such as Billy Paul, the O'Jays, the Intruders, and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. The so-called Philadelphia sound was viewed by many as the rightful inheritor of the Motown crown, as Gamble and Huff incorporated sophisticated orchestral "sweetening" over a tight rhythm section and group vocals. -
The 1971 album, What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
provided a black perspective on current events, and Stevie Wonder (Steveland Hardaway Judkins), who had a string of critically acclaimed early 1970s albums, culminating in the multi-disc set, Songs in the Key of Life (1976). -
"Songs in the Key of Life" By Stevie Wonder
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Michael Jackson
Rock With You1982 album Thriller became the biggest-selling album of all time, and he was the first black artist to find stardom on MTV.Jackson's most important solo recordings include "Rock with You" (1979), "Thriller" (1982), " Billie Jean" (1982), "Beat It" (1982), and "Bad" (1987).
