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Blue-Eyed
Soul
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Just a few artists brought together under the somewhat arbitrary term of blue-eyed soul. The Primer isn't absolutely convinced that the label is particularly helpful, but it serves a pragmatic and practical purpose as a central repository for outlines on great artists not found elsewhere in the Primer biogs!
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The Young Rascals may well have been the 'original blue eyed soul band' - three part harmonies coupled with the drive and excitement of R&B; brought the sound to the charts with covers of Wilson Pickett, Sir Mack Rice and others.
Early hits included uptempo covers such as the Olympics 'Good Lovin' but they quickly established their own songwriting credentials, most notably on the radio favourite and #1 hit 'Groovin'.
 They were quick to experiment but continued to populate the pop charts with material of the quality of 'People Got To Be Free', which proved to be the last of their number one successes. Increasingly concerned that they be taken seriously as an album band, they indulged in lengthy jazz work outs and guests on their albums included Hubert Laws, Ron Carter and Alice Coltrane. They finally quit in 1972, but in the relatively short time they worked together, their two key players (Eddie Brigati and Felix Cavalieri) produced a body of work worthy of serious investigation. There are a number of greatest hit packages around, but the 2CD package "The Rascals Anthology 1965-72" on Rhino is the one to get. It covers the full range of their material and proves that the later recordings were criminally underrated at the time.
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Everyone knows the Righteous Brothers (Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield) but if you can get past the Ghost soundtrack and investigate a little more of their work, you'll be rewarded by some of the finest blue-eyed soul singing to be found anywhere.
They had pushed out a steady stream of rock and roll singles for Moonglow (such as 'Little Latin Lupe Lu') before Phil Spector saw them in concert in 1964 - the rest, as they say, is history.
It's hard to believe they were only with Spector until 1966. In such a short  time, they released a string of truly great singles, including 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling', 'Just Once In My Life', 'Unchained Melody', 'Ebb Tide' and 'Hung On You'. Even after leaving Spector, the hits continued for a while with 'You're My Soul And Inspiration' hitting the #1 spot.
They split in 1966, reforming periodically but not infrequently and have continued to have hits ('Rock And Roll Heaven' and 'Give It To The People' in 1974 for example), Medley also achieving success in duets (including a #1 with Jennifer Warnes in 1987 'Up Where We Belong').
The success of 'Unchained Melody' on the soundtrack to the film Ghost gave them another run of success and if you can forgive the fact that it was released on the back of such a manipulative film, "Unchained Melody" is a fine single CD compilation with all of the good stuff included. The Rhino released "Anthology 1962 - 74" is a good alternative, if it's still available.
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High octane, high energy performance and all out commitment - there was only one way Mitch Ryder knew hot to put his music across. Ryder hit the charts in the mid 60s at the time of the golden eras of Stax, Motown and others and you could hear it all in Ryder's music.  The explosive quality was there right from the start with his take on 'Jenny Take A Ride' in 1965 and he just never seemed to slow down.
The aforementioned 'Jenny', 'Sock It To Me Baby' and 'Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly' all made it into the top ten, not only putting Mitch and the Detroit Wheels on the map, but also paving the way for the high octane sound of the likes of Bob Seger and the MC5. However, by 1967, the group had split up, barely out of the starting gate.
"Rev Up: The Best Of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels", which you can find on Rhino, is a wonderful summary of the group's brief heyday. It contains all the hits, some rare B-sides and a little of Ryder's unjustly overlooked solo work - well worth the entrance fee.
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The fact that Joe Cocker hails from the same UK city (Sheffield) as the Primer does not of course merit automatic inclusion here - that he is one of the great, albeit gruff, stylists is however a more than adequate reason for an entry. Cocker has never written his own material and this has led to an output of varying quality over the years. There is however more than enough at the right end of the musical spectrum to warrant further investigation.
Early success came with the Grease Band (and cohort at the time Chris Stainton) and hits such as 'Marjorine', Beatles covers ('With A Little Help From My Friends' and 'She Came In Through The Bathroom Window) and a cracking version of Traffic's 'Feelin' Alright'. The hits continued throughout 1969 and 1970, highlighted by wonderful cover versions of Leon Russell's 'Delta Lady' and Penn and Oldham's 'The Letter'.
Cocker then embarked on one of the most ambitious touring schedules ever seen. "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", the recording momento of that tour, is a must purchase and includes superb live versions of  much of his best known work - it also generated a couple more hit singles in 'Cry Me A River' and 'High Time We Went'.
Cocker has recorded a tremendous number of albums over the years and whilst much of it can be overlooked, each decade has produced albums worthy of his talent. The 70s spawned "Stingray", the 80s "Sheffield Steel" and "Civilised Man" and the 90s a nicely put together 4CD anthology "The Long Voyage Home: The Silver Anniversary Collection". If you don't want to run to the Anthology, there are a number of compilations around of his earlier work and hits.
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Asbury Park, New Jersey may be noted primarily as the old stomping ground of Bruce Springsteen but it was also home to Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes, a band steeped in blues and horn based R&B.; Southside (John Lyon) is an excellent, expressive soul singer and over the years the Jukes have produced a number of high quality R&B; albums. Their first, "I Don't Want To Go Home", included the superb title track and 'The Fever', written for Southside by Springsteen. The 1977 follow-up "This Time It's For Real" was equally fine (it  included a great version of 'Without Love') but the early stand out album was "Hearts Of Stone", with the Springsteen title track, 'Talk To Me' and 'Trapped Again' just three of the highlights. The quality of the material tended to dip a little after "Hearts" but in 1991 they made a storming comeback with the fine "Better Days"; with Little Steven producing once again, with vocal and writing contributions from both him and Springsteen, this is a fine and powerfully committed R&B; album. If you just want one Southside CD, then "The Best Of" is the one to get, tracking his career through to "Hearts Of Stone". Given the nature of Southside's performances, the live albums "Havin' A Party" and "Reach Up And Touch The Sky" are also worthy of investigation.
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And don't forget others to be found elsewhere in the Primer, including:-
Dr. John
Boz Scaggs
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