Dance The Blues Away With The Stepfather Of Soul!

Today's guest is someone who inspires me greatly-Jason Stone, aka The Stepfather of Soul. The good Stepfather has an enormous collection of soul, funk, blues, jazz, and gospel recordings, and he's always more than willing to share his favorite tunes and extensive knowledge in the interests of keeping the spirit of this music alive and well. Between his stellar podcasts and daily posts, there's always a compelling reason to Get On Down With The Stepfather Of Soul!.

Thanks for creating this brilliant mix of soulful and funky dance tunes for us, Jason. No better way to get the party started for the weekend. Give this a "spin" and work it out, soul kids...


The world of soul music was largely a world of dance music. Although the primacy of the beat figured into nearly all forms of African-American music, be it jazz, blues, r&b, soul, funk, disco, hip-hop or even gospel, the 1960s was a fertile period for soul dance records, most notably by Chicago soul artists, who literally learned the new dances coming out of the city's high schools and sock hops and turned them into fine records. Robert Pruter correctly notes in his seminal work Chicago Soul that dance records are unfairly overlooked in the study of classic soul music, but it is with fun dance records that the listeners of the time, and fans of these classic tunes today, are able to put aside the blues and put on their dancing shoes. With that in mind, here's my guest post for "Souled On," with many thanks due to the Scholar, for inviting me to participate. I've included quite a few Chicago soul dance records, but also some southern soul, New Orleans stuff, and even a little Nuyorican action. Enjoy!

Dance The Blues Away! (mp3)

1. The Mighty Hannibal, "Jerkin' The Dog"
2. The Sharpees, "Do The 45"
3. The Emperors, "Karate"
4. The Daylighters, "Oh Mom (Teach Me How To Uncle Willie)"
5. The Olympics, "The Bounce"
6. E. Rodney Jones, "R&B Time (Pt. 1)"
7. Betty Harris, "Ride Your Pony"
8. Kako & His Orchestra, "Kako's Boogaloo"
9. Tommy & Cleve, "Boo-Ga-Loo Baby"
10. Tom & Jerrio, "Boomerang"
11. Les Cooper & The Soul Rockers, "Do The Boston Monkey"
12. Alvin Cash & The Registers, "The Philly Freeze"
13. Otis Redding, "The Hucklebuck"
14. Clarence Carter, "Thread The Needle"
15. Warren Lee, "Under Dog Back Street"

And speaking of the blues ...

Word from a real “mutha,” Howlin’ Wolf:

"A lot of peoples wonder, 'what is the blues?' I hear a lot of people saying 'the blues, the blues,' but I’m gonna tell you what the blues is. When you ain’t got no money, you got the blues. When you ain’t got no money to pay your house rent, you still got the blues. A lot of peoples holler about 'I don’t like no blues,' but when you ain’t got no money, and can’t pay your house rent and can’t buy you no food, you damn sure got the blues. If you ain’t got no money you got the blues, because you’re thinking evil. That’s right. Any time you’re thinking evil, you’re thinking about the blues."