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Wikipedia's Rhythm and Blues Portal

Introduction

Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to African Americans, at a time when "rocking, jazz based music ... [with a] heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of a piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American history and experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of societal racism, oppression, relationships, economics, and aspirations.

The term "rhythm and blues" has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s, it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music had contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used in a wider context. It referred to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. From 1960s to 70s, some British groups were referred to and promoted as being R&B bands. By the 1970s, the term "rhythm and blues" had changed once again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. (Full article...)

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Selected article

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a studio album by American rhythm and blues and soul musician Ray Charles, released in April 1962 on ABC-Paramount Records, in both mono and stereo format, ABC-410 and ABCS-410. Recording sessions for the album took place in early to mid-February 1962 at Capitol Studios in New York City and at United Recording Studios in Hollywood. The album features country, folk and western standards covered and redone by Charles in popular song forms of the time, such as jazz and R&B, as well as production by himself and renown conductor Sid Feller.

As his fifth LP release for ABC-Paramount, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music became a rapid critical and commercial success as it brought Ray Charles further mainstream notice, following his tenure for Atlantic Records. With the help of the album's four charting singles, Charles earned recognition in the pop market, as well as airplay on both R&B and country radio stations. Modern Sounds and its lead single, "I Can't Stop Loving You", were both certified gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 19, 1962, as each record had sold half a million copies in the United States.

Regarded by many music writers and critics as Charles' greatest studio effort, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music has been included on several publications' "best album" lists in disparate genres, as well as R&B and country music lists, respectively. Modern Sounds has also been considered as a landmark album in American music, as Charles' integration of soul and country bended racial barriers in music, amid the height of the civil rights struggle. In the process of recording the album, Charles became one of the first black musicians to exercise complete artistic control over his own recording career. In October 1988, Modern Sounds was reissued on compact disc by Rhino Entertainment. In 2003, the album was ranked number 104 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

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Bartholomew in 1977

David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally a trumpeter, he was active in many musical genres, including rhythm and blues, big band, swing music, rock and roll, New Orleans jazz, and Dixieland. In his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was cited as a key figure in the transition from jump blues and swing to R&B and as "one of the Crescent City's greatest musicians and a true pioneer in the rock and roll revolution".

Many musicians have recorded Bartholomew's songs, but his partnership with Fats Domino produced some of his greatest successes. In the mid-1950s they wrote more than forty hits for Imperial Records, including the Billboard number one pop chart hit "Ain't That a Shame". Bartholomew's other hit songs as a composer include "I Hear You Knocking", "Blue Monday", "I'm Walkin'", "My Ding-a-Ling", and "One Night". He was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various rhythm and blues-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Alicia Keys ranked fifth on Billboard Artist of the Decade list. "No One" ranks No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs of the decade. (from Contemporary R&B)
Image 2Alexis Korner in Hamburg in 1972 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 3Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac onstage in 1970 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 4The Jimi Hendrix Experience performing on Dutch television in 1967 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 5Beyoncé was named by Billboard the most successful female act of the 2000s. (from Contemporary R&B)
Image 6The Jam in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1982 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 7Georgie Fame, leader of one of the most widely influenced R&B groups, in 1968 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 8Lead Belly's recordings would be a major part of British R&B repertoires, although he never performed in the UK (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 9Herman Santiago, original lead singer of the Teenagers (from Doo-wop)
Image 10Led Zeppelin performing at Chicago Stadium in January 1975
Image 11Muddy Waters, a major influence on the movement, pictured in 1971 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 12The instruments of the skiffle group the Quarrymen, who would become the Beatles (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 13Alternative R&B artist Frank Ocean performing at the Coachella Festival in 2012 (from Alternative R&B)
Image 14Usher was cited by Billboard as the no. 1 Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade, with 7 number-one singles that accumulated 42 weeks at the top. (from Contemporary R&B)
Image 15Chris Barber, one of the major figures in the early popularisation of the blues in Britain, playing at the Musikhalle, Hamburg, 1972 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 16The original line up of the Kinks, 1965 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 17Kathy Young with the Earth Angels performing Kathy's hit "A Thousand Stars" during the festival of this genre celebrated at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in May 2010 (from Doo-wop)
Image 18John Lee Hooker, whose visit to England was the anticipated R&B event of 1964, shown in 1978 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 19The Animals in 1964 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 20The Cleftones during their participation in the doo-wop festival celebrated in May 2010 at the Benedum Center. (from Doo-wop)
Image 21The Moonglows, 1956 (from Doo-wop)
Image 22Michael Jackson holds the record for the best-selling new jack swing album with his 1991 release, Dangerous. (from New jack swing)
Image 23Janet Jackson's Control, released in 1986, was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 1980s. (from New jack swing)
Image 24Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings at Middelburg in 2009 (from British rhythm and blues)
Image 25The Ramones in Toronto (1976) (from Doo-wop)