alright here is a list of soul by women singers. a lot of these are people i saw or even met, and millie jackson or donna summer could kill you on a good night. also it is heavy on my particular favorites, especially betty wright and ann peebles. there are incomparably ferocious performances here, such as tina on 'i idolize you' or betty wright on 'let me be your lovemaker'. i've tried to avoid the songs you've just heard too much, such as 'respect' or 'you make me feel like a natural woman'. obviously one can't omit aretha, so i listened through again. i toned down the motown because that didn't emphasize the single female voice , but i do have little doses of especially martha reeves and gladys knight, who i think were the soulfulest of that stable. i emphasize churchy shouters, for sure; that is the essence of soul music. but i try to register different modes like a more elegant etta james or overlaps into disco and or white-girl sex gospel. i put minnie riperton in there cause that was my song with my first gf jamie. it's not necessarily that listenable, even with the twittering birds. actually i've deleted it from own playlist. i do think janis was basically a soul singer; fucking incredible, too. if i'da been in charge, i woulda sent her to memphis/stax.
Soul Woman
Betty Wright, "I Love the Way You Love"
Ann Peebles, "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down"
Aretha Franklin, "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)"
Gladys Knight and the Pips, "I've Got to Use My Imagination"
[Ike and] Tina Turner, 'I Idolize You"
Susan Tedeschi, "You Need to Be With Me"
Betty Wright "If You Don't Love Me Like You Say You Love Me"
Aretha, "Chain of Fools"
Martha Reeves, "Power of Love"
The Supremes, "Where Did Our Love Go?"
Janis Joplin, "Cry Baby"
Ann Peebles, "I Can't Stand the Rain"
Betty Wright, "All Your Kissin' Sho Don't Make Good Lovin"
Eurythmics, "Let's Go"
Ann Peebles, "I Pity the Fool"
Shirley Caesar, "Don't be Afraid"
Big Brother and the Holding Company, feat Janis Joplin, "Piece of My Heart"
Etta James, "At Last"
Millie Jackson, "Breakaway"
Donna Summer "Love to Love You Baby"
Big Brother feat Janis, "I Need a Man to Love"
Betty Wright, "Let Me Be Your Lovemaker"
Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles, "[1-2-3-4-5-6-7] Count the Days I'm Gone"
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, "Nowhere to Run"
Minnie Riperton, "Lovin' You"
Bettye Swann, "Chained and Bound"
Maria Muldaur, "Jon the Generator"
Gladys Knight and the Pips, "Heard it Through the Grapevine"
Betty Wright, "Clean Up Woman"
Anita Ward, "Ring My Bell"
Adele, "Rolling in the Deep"
Janis, "Move Over"
Tracy Nelson, "It Takes a Lot to Laugh;, It Takes a Lot to Cry"
Ann Peebles, "(I Feel Like) Breakin' Up Somebody's Home"
Bonnie Raitt, "You Got to Be Ready"
Aretha, "Think"
Nina Simone, "I Put a Spell on You"
The Fugees, feat Lauryn Hill, "Killing Me Softly"
The Staple Singers, "I'll Take You There"
the material is as gender-problematic and interesting as the music being made by female country singers at the time. one flavor you get, as in both tina, below, and betty, above - and for that matter in shirley caesar in relation to god - is ferocious submission. this should tell you right there that this dominance/submission heterosexuality was always extremely complicated: a very rich erotic terrain or transaction. but then you know ike and tina's history and that song is hard to listen to. but then it is a performance of fearsome power.
