'60s Soul Hits

You look up “soul” in the dictionary, this is what it’s all about: the gargantuan hits that defined the sound. And here’s why: when David Ruffin sings that he’d give up his pride and become half a man to keep his lover, you believe him. When Aretha sings that she’d give up all her money for just a little bit of respect, you know it’s Truth with a capital “T.” When Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions sing that the train to Jordan is comin’, you reach for your ticket.

Pictured: Wilson Pickett

The beating heart of soul has some powerful mojo workin’. Sly & the Family Stone’s “Dance to the Music” spot-welds rock and gospel to R&B, igniting a seriously funky mix that flashes through your skull like an electric charge. When Al Jackson, Jr. taps his stick on the snare’s rim during Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness,” you can taste the “waiting . . . anticipating.” And then there are those horns proclaiming Dobie Gray part of “The ‘In’ Crowd” as though he’s royalty. It’s a passion-packed sound that can’t be denied — and who would want to?

Pictured: Wilson Pickett

Even the Deep Cuts are etched into our musical DNA: the driving bass and drums from “Some Kind of Wonderful”; the ten-note “da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, dah” marimba run in “Spanish Harlem”; the plinking pizzicato guitar of “Lonely Teardrops.” And when Ronald Isley hits that falsetto, singing, “I love you” in “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You),” you feel the quiver in his spine. And yours.

Pictured: Wilson Pickett

One-hit wonder Arthur Conley asked the question, “Do you like good music? That sweet soul music?” He then answered it, the exact same way folks all over the world did: “Oh yeah, oh yeah!” The sway of gospel, the hunger of the blues, the power of black pride, and a beat that jerked you from your seat like a puppet on a string, all wrapped up in a sharkskin suit. Magnetic. Majestic. Magnificent. From Motown to Memphis, from the Big Apple to the Frisco Bay, it had the in-crowd — and just about everyone else — dancing in the street.

Pictured: Wilson Pickett