As black popular music genres were adopted by white teenage audiences in the 1950s, there was a tendency for black music to revert to more authentic, basic styles. Towards the end of that decade, a new generation of black entrepreneurs sought to cash in on this trend by setting up innovative independent labels, which were to produce some of the best known names of twentieth century music such as Sam Cooke, Berry Gordy and Ray Charles. The growing civil rights movement, the rise of the 45rpm record and the electric guitar all played their part in the creation of a new sound. Part of the History of Soul series, the accompanying 32-page booklet sketches the historical background to a collection of exciting tracks from the 1950s and 60s.
SOUL010