Classic R&B Music: Album, Track and Artist Charts

Description of Classic R&B

R&B laid the foundation for rock 'n' roll. Emerging after World War II, R&B was a stripped-down, upbeat form that mixed jazz and the blues over a back-shuffle snare beat. The raunchy lyrical content continued a time-honored African-American tradition of setting sexual innuendos and double entendres to a danceable beat. This was not a male-dominated music form -- artists such as Ray Charles and Little Willie John shared the limelight with R&B pioneers Ruth Brown, Big Maybelle and Big Mama Thornton. In the 1950s, R&B artists incorporated more pop-oriented time signatures and lyrical topics, moving the infectious sound into the popular mainstream.

Classic R&B Key Tracks

Play/Add All

Play/Add	Track	Artist
	1. Why Can't We Come Together	Solomon Burke
	2. Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer	Stevie Wonder
	3. What Am I Living For	Chuck Willis
	4. It's Alright	The Impressions
	5. There Goes My Baby	The Drifters
	6. When Your Lover Has Gone	Ray Charles
	7. I Cried	Joey McIntyre
	8. (What A) Wonderful World	Sam Cooke
	9. Gabbin' Blues (Don't Run My Business)	Big Maybelle
	10. Do The Funky Chicken	Rufus Thomas
	11. Pledging My Love	Johnny Ace

Subgenres

New Orleans R&B

Filed Under

Soul/R&B > Classic R&B

Classic R&B Key Artists

Big Mama Thornton

The growling Big Mama only
had one hit, 1953's "Hound
Dog," but she would
influence a generation of
bluesy soul sirens.

Big Maybelle

Big Maybelle was one of the
most popular R&B/blues
shouters of the 1950s. Her
voice was as big as the
world. Her star faded in t...

Eddie Floyd

Renowned composer for
more celebrated singers
such as Wilson Pickett and
Otis Redding, he charted 12
times as a performer.

Hank Ballard

A charismatic and
sometimes raunchy R&B
frontman, Ballard had an
upbeat, rambunctious
gospel singing style. Ballar...

Ike and Tina Turner

This '60s duo may not have
found marital bliss, but they
rocked R&B and rock with a
nearly unmatched ferocity.
Tina's original name is An...

Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson was one of
the premier black vocalists
and performers of the late
'50s and the '60s. No other
singer of his generation s...

Johnny Ace

Before committing suicide
in 1954, up-and-comer
Johnny Ace loaned his
sweet vocals to several R&B
floor-burners.

Percy Mayfield

Recording for Specialty
Records in the early '50s,
Percy Mayfield went on to
be a hit songwriter for Ray
Charles.

Ray Charles

This national treasure has
combined Gospel with the
best of secular music to
help give birth to soul, rock
and hard bop. Charles' sil...

Rufus Thomas

All-around entertainer and
DJ Thomas had a string of
dance hits in the '60s and
'70s including, yes, "Do the
Funky Chicken."

Ruth Brown

Ruth Brown is best known
for her sultry vocal style,
which got more seductive
with each passing year.
Acknowledging her phen...

The Drifters

Despite a revolving door
line-up, the Drifters'
magnificent vocal strengths
carried their career from
the '50s into the '60s. Atla...

The Five Royales

Originally a gospel quintet,
their high-energy songs
morphed into raunchy R&B
and led to a slew of hits in
the 1950s.

Tina Turner

After a tumultuous
relationship, which Tina
Turner has described as
being marked by physical
and emotional abuse (clai...

Classic R&B

Description of Classic R&B

Classic R&B Key Tracks

Classic R&B Key Albums

Subgenres

Filed Under

Classic R&B Key Artists

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Classic R&B

Description of Classic R&B

Classic R&B Key Tracks

Classic R&B Key Albums

Subgenres

Filed Under

Classic R&B Key Artists

Electronics

Check out the latest Rhapsody compatible home audio systems and portable players.

Software

Download Rhapsody Software to manage all your digital music.

Need Help?

Visit our Help Center

Check out the latest Rhapsody compatible
home audio systems and portable players.