Speaking of the greatest soul singers ever....

[NightTrain]

In April 2000, I conducted a survey both among my radio listeners and the Internet soul music community, in which I asked that they submit a list of their 40 favorite soul singers of 1960-74. When all was said and done, I received 78 ballots. And here are the results:

1. Aretha Franklin
2. Otis Redding
3. James Brown
4. Marvin Gaye
5. The Temptations
6. The Miracles
7. Al Green
8. Wilson Pickett
9. The Four Tops
10. Gladys Knight & The Pips

11. Etta James
12. Stevie Wonder
13. Sam & Dave
14. The Dells
15. The Impressions
16. O.V. Wright
17. Sam Cooke
18. Curtis Mayfield
19. Irma Thomas
20. James Carr

21. The Isley Brothers
22. Ray Charles
23. Solomon Burke
24. Martha & The Vandellas
25. The Supremes
26. Ike & Tina Turner
27. Jackie Wilson
28. Tammi Terrell
29. The O’Jays
30. The Marvelettes

31. Bobby Womack
32. The Staple Singers
33. Gene Chandler
34. Walter Jackson
35. Chuck Jackson
36. Bobby "Blue" Bland
37. Junior Walker & The All-Stars
38. Clarence Carter
39. Johnnie Taylor
40. Brenda Holloway

41. The Delfonics
42. Mary Wells
43. Jerry Butler
44. Sly & The Family Stone
45. Otis Clay
46. Linda Jones
47. Laura Lee
48. The Jackson Five
49. Booker T. & The MGs
50. Percy Sledge

51. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
52. Joe Tex
53. The Spinners
54. Major Lance
55. The Chi-Lites
56. Maxine Brown
57. Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters
58. Rufus Thomas
59. Kim Weston
60. Dionne Warwick

61. Carla Thomas
62. The Stylistics
63. Ann Peebles
64. William Bell
65. Dusty Springfield
66. Dee Dee Warwick
67. The Velvelettes
68. Freddie Scott
69. Latimore
70. Barbara Lewis

71. Lee Dorsey
72. The Shirelles
73. Don Covay
74. Joe Simon
75. Candi Staton
76. Millie Jackson
77. Esther Phillips
78. Arthur Alexander
79. Billy Stewart
80. Little Willie John

81. Barbara Lynn
82. Eddie Kendricks
83. Howard Tate
84. Donny Hathaway
85. The Five Stairsteps
86. Ben E. King
87. David Ruffin
88. The Drifters
89. Betty LaVette
90. Tyrone Davis

91. Lou Rawls
92. Mitty Collier
93. Erma Franklin
94. Patti LaBelle & The Blue Belles
95. Barbara Acklin
96. The Rascals
97. Denise LaSalle
98. J.J. Barnes
99. Mable John
100. Billy Butler & The Chanters

"BUBBLING UNDER"

The following artists almost made the final cut, but didn’t get quite enough votes:

The Artistics, LaVern Baker, Darrell Banks, Judy Clay, Rodger Collins, The Contours, Sugar Pie DeSanto, The Dramatics, Dyke & The Blazers, The Elgins, King Floyd, Betty Harris, Isaac Hayes, Z.Z. Hill, Deon Jackson, Ruby Johnson, Syl Johnson, Emanuel Laskey, Little Anthony & The Imperials, The Mar-Keys, Freda Payne, The Radiants, Minnie Riperton, Diana Ross, Jimmy Ruffin, The Soul Children, Swamp Dogg, The Sweet Inspirations, War, Jean Wells, Marva Whitney, Bill Withers, Brenton Wood, and Betty Wright.

[Dookus]

1. cool

i voted for Aretha and Otis in Mobius' polls.

[Kahuna]

8. Me too. Aretha and Otis were my top pics... I love Marvin...

but greatest "soul" singer????? :shrug:

[TroubleMan]

2. I guess nobody remembers Muddy Waters

to me he was the best blues singer.

(on edit) I guess it's too different of a genre, but Muddy has some serious soul.

Al Green and Marvin Gaye are still my favorites of all time.

[NightTrain]

3. Muddy was a bluesman, not a soul singer.

A poll of the greatest blues artists of all time would have to rank Muddy somewhere in the Top 5! :hi:

[TroubleMan]

4. Yeah, I know

but BB King was mentioned, so I felt Muddy needed some representation.

[NightTrain]

5. What are you talking abou? B.B. King didn't make the survey!

Or did you confuse him with artist #86? :shrug:

[TroubleMan]

6. He made the Mobius poll.

That's were I started thinking about including great blues singers in this.

Although, I'll concede, it's a totally different genre.

[Faygo Kid]

7. Lou Rawls at 91? C'mon.

"Dead End Street" alone brings him into the top 20. They call it the Hawk.

[Kahuna]

9. But Lou is more pop and jazz than soul. It makes sense to me..

Lou is a great singer. But "soul" isn't his dominant genre.

[Laughing Mirror]

10. Props to Jackie Moore, who must never be forgotten on any soul list

Glad to see Candi Staton, Millie Jackson, Tyrone Davis, and Barbara Acklin made it, however