UNSUNG HEROES OF SOUL #Soul Music

Ronnie Dyson got his start at age 18, in the 1968 Broadway production of "Hair." Two years later, he began his recording career with his first and biggest hit.

Lorraine Ellison recorded her biggest hit at a session meant for Frank Sinatra.

In 1967, the Fantastic Johnny C combined two popular dances and created a top ten smash.

In 2004, Betty Harris returned to the music business after a 35-year absence. I helped spearhead her career revival.

Z.Z. Hill “devised a combination of blues and contemporary soul styling to restore the blues to modern black consciousness.” (Texas Historical Society)

Based in New York City, Chuck Jackson was one of the first artists to record songs written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

For twenty years, Walter Jackson's mellifluous baritone graced the Chicago soul scene.

A Mississippi native, Margie Joseph established a strong cult following among soul-music collectors despite a lack of commercial success and critical attention.

Latimore recorded his biggest hits at the height of Disco Fever, but bucked the trend and made Southern Soul music into the '80s and beyond.

Bettye LaVette wallowed in obscurity for forty years until her career finally took off in the 2000s.

Laura Lee's attitude-laden recordings for Chess and Hot Wax made her soul music’s first unabashed feminist.

Barbara Lewis is a purveyor of “smooth soul” who wrote several of her own hits.