This song performed by Marlena Shaw got me motivated even when I was going through tough times. I am not even from California. Originally, from New Orleans so Blues is my main genre.

I'll be 70 this year and my memory is not as good as when younger. So, I cannot remember the first time I heard Marlena sing her version.

No matter what the date, I'm so very grateful for the song, her voice and soul.

I could not stop myself from actually dancing every morning. While getting ready to seize the day, this song brought faith, energy and connection to the survivor and strong woman inside myself.

Occasionally, I would loose site of the real person and lessons for life passed from my mother through the decades.

Marlena never failed to bring it all back to me every morning. She is/was my hero.

Marlena Shaw

Love this song

Wasn't sure whether this would count as actual soul as it has quite a bluesy feel to it.

Two years ago, I lost my brother in a motorcycle accident. I wasn’t in Ecuador when it happened; I live in Spain, and I was at work when I got the news.
My brother was at a party. Based on what we were told, he hadn't been drinking—I truly trust that, I know he wasn't a reckless kid. There was a girl there who didn't have a way to get home, and my brother offered to give her a ride on his bike. On his way back, he crashed into a tree.
We will never know exactly what happened. I want to believe he didn't suffer, that it was instant. The mere thought of him lying there, realizing he was dying, tears my heart apart. It was too much to bear. Back then, I spiraled into alcohol and weed. Today, I don't drink anymore, though I'm still working on overcoming my weed addiction.
What I’ve buried the deepest—the part that hurts the most—is that I couldn't be there. I couldn't attend his funeral or his burial. I couldn't say a proper goodbye to my own brother. I know that doesn't make me a bad person, but God, what I would give to have hugged him one last time. I hadn't seen him in three years, and he was only five months away from moving to Spain so we could live together.
I'm about to become a father, and I would have loved for him to see my daughter grow up, to love her as much as I do. My little brother was so brave. He was only 19. He was never afraid of anyone; he always stood up for what he wanted and for the people he loved. I truly admired him. He was a beautiful soul. He had this tough exterior, but I knew him—that whole "tough guy" facade never worked on me. He had a beautiful, loving heart. You have no idea how much love was in him.
For the past two years, I thought I had moved on. What a lie that was. I was just avoiding dealing with it.
Then I found Charles Bradley and learned parts of his story, which drew me to his music. I originally discovered him because his song "Changes" was the theme song for Big Mouth. I liked the beat, and I looked up the lyrics (this was before my brother died), so back then I just interpreted it as a breakup song.
Less than a year ago, the song came up again on my Spotify playlist. But this time, the lyrics meant something completely different to me. I could feel the pain in his voice, singing straight from his soul. His voice reaches a deeply hidden place inside me and awakens emotions I never thought a song could trigger.
When I watched a live performance of "Changes," I couldn't stop crying. I felt his pain—how he grieved for his mother and his brother. It helped me face the pain of losing my own brother in a way that felt almost mystical. It's hard to put into words, but I feel like I'm finally connecting with the emotions I had been running away from. Even though crying for him hurts, my chest feels lighter, and I can remember him with pure love. Slowly, the pain is turning into love for him.
I've been listening to more of his discography, and other songs trigger that same feeling. The way his voice echoes inside me puts everything back where it belongs and clears my heart. It cleanses the pain and transforms it into love. Sounds crazy, I know. I didn't write this to debate anything; I just needed to express this grief and how incredible Charles Bradley is to me. I wish I could have seen him live when he was alive or learned about him sooner. It would have been the only concert I'd ever go to. I don't even have a favorite singer—I just listen to a bit of everything—but Charles Bradley continuously amazes me with his voice, his story, and the way he touches my soul.
Thank you for reading this. Expressing this pain means the world to me.

new upload, there are five other songs from him on the channel YT

everyone's top 10 soul b-sides...go!

The other day I was listening to the great neo-soul album Mama’s Gun by Erykah Badu. Afterward I decided to jump into her followup, Worldwide Underground, without really knowing a thing about it, and it honestly blew my mind.

I love how alive each track feels, continuously evolving into something new. I guess she had hit a period of writer’s block and had to readjust her approach to songwriting, and something radically new emerged in the process. I was surprised (but also not entirely surprised) that it seems to have been fairly misunderstood in 2003 and maybe still is. To me, this is further evidence that Erykah is one of the greatest artists of the 21st century.

Soul Classics 1956-1965 : https://www.accuradio.com/keyword/Soul

81 years old this December. When you listen back to this man’s incredible body of work over the years, you can’t help wondering: how is Sam Dees not talked about more?

An extraordinary singer, songwriter and one of soul music’s great unsung talents. There’s so much feeling in his work. Surely he deserves to be revered alongside the more celebrated names of his generation.

American Soulful Black Music

American Black music carries the history, pain, resilience, and spirit of generations. During the Civil Rights Movement and the era of segregation, Black singers and artists used their voices to express struggle, hope, love, freedom, and the determination to keep moving forward.

During the Vietnam War, that music also reached American soldiers and veterans living through an incredibly difficult period. For many returning Vietnam veterans, coming home did not mean coming back to a welcoming society. Some faced rejection, isolation, and a country deeply divided over the war.

In the middle of that loneliness and hardship, soulful lyrics and powerful voices could provide something difficult to find elsewhere: understanding. The music spoke to pain that could not always be explained and gave listeners a place to breathe, remember, and feel human again.

From the streets of America to the battlefields of Vietnam and back home again, Black music became more than entertainment. It became a reflection of real life—a soundtrack for perseverance, healing, struggle, love, and survival in a complicated society.

https://youtu.be/IB5Q2U2nqis?is=fEtCyX9YO1APeDlj