R & B Music
Like many music classifications, the term of Rhythm of Blues is an umbrella term that covers a variety of music, including rock & roll, soul, funk, and even disco. The name covers the rhythm of the backbeat that was influenced by rock and roll, while the chord changes were reminiscent of the blues. R&B’s origins can be rooted in jazz, blues, and gospel.
It used to be that rock and roll record companies would describe R&B as “race music” simply because of the artists being African American. R&B thrived in the 1950’s, and much of it was played by artists of other fields, such as jazz. Ray Charles, Ruth Brown, and Fats Domino could be considered the most famous artists back then. Of course, some Caucasian groups, such as the Rolling Stones, could be labeled as an R&B band.
As rock and roll sales continued to climb with R&B, a new style of music called Soul began to emerge. With the sixties, and the innovation of Funk by James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone, R&B sort of evolved into what is known as contemporary R&B. After the disco era, there was a pop/R&B combination that was made popular by such eighties artists like Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and Tina Turner. It was during this time that a softer version of R&B was developed known as Quiet Storm, named after a Smoky Robinson song of the same name.
The nineties brought a whole new crop of R&B talent such as Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, and TLC. At the time, it began to grow harder to tell the difference between R&B and the rising tide of hip hop artists. R&B is a continually developing genre whose influence can be seen in most modern artists from Usher to Britney Spears.
