| Brown-eyed Soul | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Soul music, Doo-wop, Blues, Rhythm and blues, Latin music, Rock and roll |
| Cultural origins | 1960s United States mainly by Latinos |
| Typical instruments | Guitar - Bass - keyboard - Drums - Horn section - Vocals |
| Mainstream popularity | Significant from 1960s through early 1980s |
| Derivative forms | Funk, Latin rap, contemporary R&B |
| Other topics | |
| Soul musicians | |
Brown-eyed soul is a subgenre of soul music or rhythm and blues created in the United States mainly by Latino in Southern California during the 1960s, continuing through to the early 1980s.[1][2][3] The genre of soul music occasionally draws from Latin, and often contains rock music influences.[1] Brown-eyed soul is a term used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by Latin-Americans, as opposed to the term blue-eyed soul, which refers to soul music performed by non-hispanic white artists.[4]
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Brown-eyed soul emerged from the 1950s simultaneously on the East Coast United States, in the Hispanic communities, and on the West Coast, in the much larger Hispanic communities. Chicago soul and Motown hits were crowd favorites at dances and clubs during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Latino artists began to draw inspiration from the Motown hits, and as a result, brown-eyed soul began sounding very similar to African American soul. Early brown-eyed soul artists owed little to traditional Latin and rarely performed in Spanish. [2]
Ritchie Valens, one of the original pioneers of brown-eyed soul music, also became one of the first brown-eyed soul artists to bring traditional Latin music and rock and roll influences into the genre. Latino groups on the East and West Coast also drew from the funk-influenced Philadelphia soul, or "Philly" soul. The West Coast Latin rock scene continued to influence brown-eyed soul artists as well.
Inspired by Ritchie Valens, 1960s and 1970s bands such as Cannibal & the Headhunters ("Land of a Thousand Dances") and Thee Midniters played brown-eyed R&B music with a rebellious rock and roll edge. Many of these artists drew from the frat rock and garage rock scenes. However, the large Hispanic population on the West Coast began gradually moving away from energetic R&B to romantic soul, and the results were "some of the sweetest soul music heard during the late '60s and '70s."[1] Despite the movement to smoother soul, War, Malo, El Chicano, and other brown-eyed soul bands of the 1970s continued to create soul more influenced by funk, rock, and Latin folk music. Funk-influenced brown-eyed soul anthems continued to breach the charts during the mid-1970s (e.g. Bloodstone's "Natural High"), but the genre began to waver during the 1980s.
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