However culture-shifting history proves Beyoncé’s new album Cowboy Carter to be, it’s not unprecedented. For generations, artists have blurred the supposed lines between country music, R&B, soul, funk, gospel, rock n roll, and other genres that sprang from the same
American well. It goes back to the days of 78 rpm shellac discs, when certain records were segregated as “hillbilly music” and “race music.” And some of the greatest recordings of the 20 th and 21 st century have been made by artists — of varied backgrounds — flexing both country and soul bonafides. American music’s always been an interracial, cross-cultural mashup, which is why it’s so great. Country legend Hank Williams learned guitar from a black man, Rufus “Tee Tot” Payne; A.P. and Maybelle Carter shaped the Carter Family legacy with a lot of input from their African-American friend, guitarist and song collector Lesley Riddle. Rock ‘n’ roll evolved from a blend of country, blues and gospel in the hands of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In some ways, Bey’s great granddad among recording artists is Sam Jones, a.k.a.: Stove Pipe No. 1 , an African-American
Singer from Cincinnati who recorded a half-dozen songs — including “John Henry” and “Turkey In The Straw” — for the “hillbilly”
music market in
New York City during the summer of 1924. (“hillbilly” was rebranded “country & western” after World War II, to expand its target market, and later shortened to “country.”) That Cowboy Carter arrives exactly 100 years from the first documented African-American “country” recording session might be coincidence — or more proof of its hot button conceptual brilliance. Jones was not alone, and racially integrated groups were not uncommon on hillbilly sessions during the ‘20s and ‘30s. The most famous, for Jimmie Rodgers’ “Blue Yodel #9” aka “Standing On The Corner,” was a superstar summit, cut with ascendant jazz genius Louis Armstrong and his pianist wife Lil Armstrong in
Los Angeles in 1930. The modern era of country-soul began, more or less, with Ray Charles, an r&b legend whose tag-team Modern Sounds In Country & Western LPs were landmarks that arguably blueprinted soul music itself. They were followed by a golden era of country-soul fusion in the late ‘60s and well into the ‘70s. After some slow years, we’re in another golden era, with Yola, Brittney Spencer, Allison Russell, Mickey Guyton, Kane Brown, Jimmie Allen, Maren Morris, Sam Hunt, Sturgill Simpson, and many more admirably confounding gatekeepers. Sure, add Darius Rucker and
Taylor Swift (who used to cover “Irreplaceable” as a teenage up-and-comer). And of course,
Beyoncé herself, who’s been a country music touchstone for well over a decade . It’s useful to look at “country soul” less as a genre per se than an attitude of musical fluidity, where chord progressions, grooves, and vocal phrasing gets deftly code-switched — sometimes subtly, sometimes explicitly. We see it among artists who aren’t making full-album pivots, but who matter-of-factly lay claim to the full richness of American music as they go, from Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” to Tierra Whack’s “Dolly” and Dasha’s “Austin.” And looking ahead to the multi-artist celebration of groundbreaking songwriter Alice Randall, My Black Country , Charley Crockett’s $10 Cowboy , and the rise of young stars like Tanner Adell , musical borders are being steadily buried every day. These artist albums and anthologies document where things really got started. You could call this groundbreaking work of black American music archeology ür-country soul. The now-defunct trio of Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson reclaim musical heritage left behind in the wake of decades of blackface bastardizations, finding beauty, humor, pain, and profundity. The masterstroke was arguably Giddens’ hotshit hoedown rewind of Blu Cantrell’s 2001 R&B winner “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops)” — a proto-yeehaw agenda reminder that history is now, too. As author Marissa Moss notes in her essential history Her Country , Palmer faced a lot of hurdles over a lot of years as a black woman trying to gain traction in the mainstream country world. But she laid into it , and her self-produced Revival , with the country-soul anthem “Seeds,” is the sound of her writing her own script. She also created the Color Me Country radio show, a platform for other black artists working in the commercial country music space to tell their stories. It’s fitting that Simpson, who’s made the up-ending of country music’s business-as-usual conventions his apparent career mission, would name his breakout album with a riff on Ray Charles’ disruptive country soul landmark (see below). Opening on an image of seeing Jesus while evidently tripping balls in “Turtles All The Way Down,” Simpson wraps his baritone around songs that embrace tradition while rebuilding them for a new era. And one can imagine Brother Ray appreciating the aching ballad “The Promise.” Simpson would dig deeper into country soul on later albums , along with offering continual reminders that the true soul of our country’s music is about embracing history while evolving and moving forward. Russell is a Canadian singer-songwriter with so much polyglot talent, she could find fame doubling down on any number of narrow genres. But her fluidity, which leans hard into country soul territory, is our gain. “Springtime,” a mission statement with chamber strings, clarinet, synths and a verse in French, announces her range, while the roadhouse gospel-rock of the title track and the potent “Eve Was Black” bring country church spirit. NB: Russell’s work with black roots collective Our Native Daughters alongside kindred country soul miners Rhiannon Giddens (see below), Amythyst Kiah and Leyla McCalla. Yolanda Claire Quartey is a British-born singer-songwriter who deserves credit for jump-starting the current country soul resurgence with this charming set, which opens strong on the Dusty In Memphis vibe of “Faraway Look” and never flags, closing with a canny cover of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by closet country soulman Elton John. Guest membership in the Highwomen and a handful of Grammy nominations just confirmed what anyone can hear on this set. Curated for the Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit of the same name, which makes an expanded and timely return to the Museum in April, running through September 2025. Turns out Music City had a vital R&B culture alongside country music culture all along. Arthur Alexander is here, ditto Joe Simon, a country-soul master whose 1969 cover of “The Chokin Kind,” written by the legendary Harlan Howard, did even better that Waylon Jennings’ 1967 country hit. Best might be Johnny Adams’ “Reconsider Me,” a bluesy honky-tonk ballad with some spectacular falsetto desperation. Burke is a country soul OG, covering “Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)” and “He’ll Have To Go” on his 1964 Rock and Soul album. But it wasn’t until he connected with Buddy Miller that he devoted a full LP to country and country-adjacent songs. Produced by Miller, Nashville alternately pairs Burke’s plush baritone with Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and Patty Loveless. His duet with Emmylou Harris on George & Tammy’s rocky marriage classic “We’re Gonna Hold On” is a must for your next kiss-and-make-up mixtape. These compilations on the Munich-based Trikont labe– like the Bear Family label–show how big the love is for American country music in
Germany. The Pointer Sisters’ pedal steel-draped 1974 “Fairytale” is a highlight; ditto James Brown’s swinging take on Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” (from his killing 1970 Soul On Top LP, cut with the Louie Bellson Orchestra) and the wise 1982 deep cut by Curtis Mayfield that gives the series its name. A beautifully-curated-and-packaged series that digs deep into country soul’s golden era, going hard towards hard funk. Familiar artists make unfamiliar moves: see Townes Van Zandt’s haunted, breakbeat-worthy “Hunger Child Blues,” one of his most potent recordings. Mac “I Believe in Music” Davis brings the questionable “Lucas Was A Redneck,” and Bobby “Dream Lover” Darin delivers a striking proto-rap about hash (not the corned beef kind) and other topics on his 1969 “Me and Mr. Hohner.” An endlessly surprising series that showed how much traction country soul had in its first golden era. Jerry “Swamp Dogg” Williams has a rangy palate, and he’s had many musical lives. After the LSD-fueled southern soul of 1970 cult favorite Total Destruction To Your Mind , he settled into a more straight-forward set that glinted with country soul. It opens with an unflinching take on “Sam Stone,” John Prine’s tale of a Vietnam vet with a heroin addiction, and the eight-minute “Don’t It Make You Wanna Go Back Home,” written by country soul auteur Joe South (see above), is a heady tantrum with strings and flute. Williams’ “She’s All I Got” would be a hit for Johnny Paycheck in 1971, and later covered by George Jones; recently Williams has made records with Jenny Lewis and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. “Swamp rock” was one label often used to describe the sound of this Louisiana singer/songwriter’s cajun-flecked country-fried R&B His debut included his signature “Polk Salad Annie,” a brassy ode to a brassy young Louisiana woman that Elvis Presley made a live staple . White also del;ivers a soulful reading of Jimmy Webb’s “Witchita Lineman.” White’s next LP, released the same year, featured “Rainy Night In Georgia,” an instant classic that would be a hit for soul singer Brook Benton in 1970. Guyton delights in country tradition, and her mastery is in how she teases out the R&B and soul strands so integral to the music’s 21st century DNA. Claiming space on “All-American,” finding the church in “Lay It On Me” or “Black Like Me,” the songs on her proper debut sound richer, more prescient and more classic with each passing year. The uncensored R&B
Queen and proto-rap pioneer known for “Phuck You Symphony” and her classic 1977 album Feelin’ Bitchy always did things her own way, and that includes recording country jams, which she’s done throughout her 50-year career. This compilation collects most of them. She turns Harlan Howard’s “Pick Me Up On Your Way Down,” a honky tonk weeper for Patsy Cline, into a happily-debauched disco-funk anthem. Other songs get less radical treatments: Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again” gets a bit of r&b swagger, Kenny Rogers’ “Sweet Music Man” an extra touch of soul drama. And “Black Bitch Crazy,” a remake of Tyler Farr’s 2013 “Redneck Crazy” finds her in familiar Millie Jackson territory, stirring up trouble on a surprisingly tender ballad. A total original, June has a gorgeously vinegary voice that’s equal parts Dolly Parton and Diana Ross, and a way with a song unlike anyone. Her breakout LP, opening on the floaty, sideways country soul of “Workin’ Woman Blues,” beautifully blended country blues, R&B, string band and gospel traditions with help from the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. It’s handsome, luminous stuff. See also her 2022 Under Cover , particularly her ghostly cover of Gillian Welch’s “Look At Miss Ohio.” Ford was a Kentucky-born badass who drifted around the country, landed in
California, partied his ass off, dated Bobbie Gentry, and managed to make just one album. But what a fucking album. The 1969 classic Harlan County — packaged here with singles and unreleased tracks — is a grandiloquent display of the sort of greasy southern rock’n’roll the Rolling Stones were swinging circa Exile On Main Street . Ford also brought cajun funk, and his alternately polished and unhinged country soul singing. Ford went on to work with Bobby Womack (whose 1976 B.W. Does C.W. is another notable country soul effort), Sly “Spaced Cowboy” Stone , and others. South was a journeyman singer-songwriter and session player who made tremendous recordings between the mid-’60s and the early ‘70s. His guitar opened Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools;” he also played on Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde and Simon & Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence . His own songs were widely covered — “Rose Garden” was a minor hit for soul singer Dobie Gray, then a global smash for country singer Lynn Anderson. But South’s versions of his songs — “Rose Garden,” “Games People Play,” “Hush,” “Walk A Mile In My Shoes” “Down In The Boondocks” — were usually the best-sounding ones. This set collects all these and more. His 1968 LP Introspect , a forgotten set of country soul psychedelia, is pretty brilliant, too. It’s a small stretch, perhaps, to call this largely-forgotten Southern soul classic “country soul.” But with its potent title track, and others, written by Obie Burnett “O.B.” McClinton (also known as “The Chocolate Cowboy” ), alongside “The Dark End Of The Street,” a masterpiece covered memorably by Gram Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers, the album is loaded with deep, lonesome country ache. The expanded edition adds Carr’s 1968 cover of Harlan Howard’s “Life Turned Her That Way,” a hit for Carr, like Mel Tillis before him, and covered by many more country and country soul singers down the years. Known as “the white Ray Charles,” Rich was a fusionist from jump. As a kid he learned blues piano from a black musician, C.J. Allen. Rich would play sax in high school, eventually land a gig as a session man at Sun Records in the ‘50s, and record some impressive Elvis Presley sound-alike singles. In the mid-’60s, he cut sides with Hi Records (home of Al Green) like “Love Is After Me,” a David Porter/Isaac Hayes gem that became a soul club staple in the
UK. But it was Rich’s pivot with producer Billy Sherrill into lush, soul-tinged countrypolitan recordings that made him a megastar. Percy Sledge would soon cut a faithful cover of the steamy title track, teasing out the soul influence; Diana Ross spun a playful Motown-meets-Stax reading . There would be many more covers, and Rich’s LP remains one of the sexiest and most successful in country music history. This triple-CD set, hard to find outside streaming playlist approximations , is accompanied by an illuminating book of essays and liner notes. It features historic performances by Taylor’s Kentucky Boys — an integrated string band from the late ‘20s — and the Mississippi Sheiks, whose “Sitting On Top Of The World” would be covered by Howlin’ Wolf, The Grateful Dead, and Jack White. The Supremes (from their 1966 The Supremes Sing Country Western and Pop LP) cover Floyd Tillman’s “It Makes No Difference Now.” Clarence Whitfield implicitly flips the narrative of Merle Haggard’s interracial love plaint “Irma Jackson,” and the talented, troubled country-blues singer Ted Hawkins delivers his signature, towering version of the Webb Pierce classic “There Stands The Glass.” The title track from Gentry’s debut album, which became a surprising pop #1 during the Summer of Love, was a haunted soul-folk tale originally penned by the mysterious singer-songwriter with rising jazz-cum-R&B singer Lou Rawls in mind to record it (the song also had an early booster in A&R man, and soon to be quiet storm icon, Barry White). The LP was a genre-blind starburst, from the swamp-rock of “Mississippi Delta,” which could’ve made a fine Jimi Hendrix vehicle, through the twangy bossa-nova of “Sunday Best” and Gentry’s chicken-and-grits cover of “Niki Hoeky,” co-written by her one-time boyfriend, country-soul pioneer Jim Ford. It proved a soon-to-be classic that
Aretha Franklin cemented into the repertoire the following year on Lady Soul . When Pride died in 2020 after contracting Covid-19, the world lost a pioneering black artist who, in terms of profile and hit production, had no peers in country music. “Charley Pride means the world to me. His voice and his bravery made it possible for me to be able to have a career in country music,” said Mickey Guyton. Much like Guyton, Pride committed himself fully to the genre he loved, with a handsome baritone and a startling ability to woo country fans, including radio programmers. This latter-day compilation includes his pop-country signature “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” alongside latter-day hits, including his 1983 “You’re So Good When You’re Bad,” his 27th or so country chart-topper, a take on the era’s quiet storm country-soul trend that shows how it’s done. Having begun her career mining proto-girl group R&B (see Linda Martell and the Anglos ), Martell connected with Nashville hustler Shelby Singleton Jr., who convinced her to record a countrified cover of the Winstons’ soul pledge of paternal love, “Color Me Father.” It became a minor hit, and she followed it up with her debut LP — an undeniable set that, due to bad luck, management fumbles, and garden-variety industry racism/sexism, turned out to be her last, despite performing well on the country charts. The woman sure could sing. “San Francisco Is A Lonely Town” is a bluesy ballad with a “Streets of Baltimore”-style narrative and impressive torch-song touches. And when she laid into the yodeling on “Bad Case of the Blues” (check her performance on the Southern kitsch TV show Hee Haw ), it was clear Martell could’ve been a contender, if the cards hadn’t been stacked. See Beyoncé’s “The Linda Martell Show.” Covered by the Beatles ( “Anna (Go To Him)” ), the Stones ( “You Better Move On” ), even Dylan ( “Sally Sue Brown” ), Alexander deserves co-credit with Ray Charles for coining country-soul with his flexible songwriting and buttery vocals, anticipating the southern Stax/Volt vibe, Philly soul, and more. Alexander owned Willy Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” on his 1962 debut You Better Move On , and label-hopped for a decade. This “comeback” album opens decisively on “I’m Comin’ Home,” an irresistible R&B strut with honky-tonk piano bounce. “Call Me in Tahiti” anticipated Jimmy Buffet’s beach-bumming, and “Burning Love” might’ve been a mega-hit for Alexander if Elvis Presley hadn’t released a smash version later that year. Remarkably, this often-overlooked country-forward set was Turner’s debut solo LP. Covering Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Hank
SNOW, Dylan and James Taylor, it earned her a Grammy nomination in the “Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female” category, which says plenty about music industry gatekeeping, then as now. Recorded when Turner was beginning to break from her horrifically abusive marriage, the performances smolder and frequently flame; Black Country Music author Francesca Royster hears in it “a story cycle of suffering and liberation” that’d begun with Tuner’s very first composition, the country-fried rock burner “Nutbush City Limits,” which addressed her Southern roots and struggles. Here, she turns Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night” incandescent, and she brings a particular relish to Hank Snow’s “I’m Movin’ On.” Soon, she’d do just that. It’s hard to overstate the impact of these tag-team LPs on America’s pop and country worlds at the time; suffice to say it was Beyoncé-scale. Charles wasn’t the first black artist of the era to drop r&b vibe into top-shelf country songcraft (see Lenny Welch’s 1960 “You Don’t Know Me,” by pioneering songwriter Cindy Walker with Eddy Arnold, and Solomon Burke’s 1961 early signature, “Just Out of Reach” ). But with an ear toward country-pop dialect and convention, his subtle hybridization nailed an approach that can fairly be called the birth of soul music, full-stop. And while country radio refused to play his country songs for years, the elegant, strings-sweetened Modern Sounds LPs and singles, particularly “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” set up shop in the top tiers of the national charts, and swelled the market for country music just as the civil rights era was cresting.