THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

377-Arthur Conley-Sweet Soul Music.

1967-Number 7 single.

Best Bit-At 0.07. The song name checks Lou Rawls, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and James Brown. If all of these artists don’t appear in this countdown at some point, then I need to have a serious word with myself.

Arthur Lee Conley was born on January 4th, 1946, in McIntosh County, Georgia, United States, he died from intestinal cancer on November 17th, 2003, at the age of 57. Conley recorded his first song ‘Poor Girl’ in 1963, as ‘Arthur & the Corvets.’ In 1964 he came to the attention of Otis Redding who signed him to his recently set up record label ‘Jotis Records.’ Arthur Conley was gay, and many music critics have said that his homosexuality was a barrier to him achieving greater success in the United States. In 1975 he relocated to England, before moving to Belgium, and then Holland. In 1980 he legally changed his name to Lee Roberts, using his middle name, and his mothers maiden name, and he would perform as ‘Lee Roberts and the Sweaters.’ In 2014 the Rock and Roll historian Ed Ward (1948-2021) wrote, ‘Nobody knew Lee Roberts, and at last Conley was able to live in peace with a secret he had hidden, or thought he had, for his entire career he was gay, but nobody in The Netherlands cared.’

The discography of Arthur Conley includes four Albums released between 1967-1969, and 26 singles released between 1963-1974. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, three of his singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Sweet Soul Music’ peaking the highest at Number 2, while in the UK ‘Sweet Soul Music’ is his only top 40 charting single. It was in Canada where Arthur Conley had his greatest commercial success on the charts, with four of his singles making the Canadian ‘RPM’ top 40 singles chart, with ‘Sweet Soul Music’ peaking the highest at Number 5.

‘Sweet Soul Music’ which was the eighth overall single release by Arthur Conley, and also the title of his debut Album from 1967, was co-written by Sam Cooke, (1931-1964) (see also best songs 156) Otis Redding, (1941-1967) (see also best songs 712) and Arthur Conley, with the production being by Otis Redding, who was born Otis Ray Redding Jr. on September 9th, 1941, in Dawson, Georgia, United States, he died on December 10th, 1967, in a plane crash, at the age of 26. Otis Redding who has been called the ‘King of Soul,’ an honorific title which has also been given to James Brown, (1933-2006) (see also best songs 880-349-270 and 88) and Sam Cooke, didn’t start writing his own songs until around the mid 1960’s, having previously covered songs from popular contemporary artists such as his idol Little Richard, (1932-2020) (see also best songs 521) Sam Cooke, and Solomon Burke (1949-2010.) It was while recovering from a throat operation in the Autumn of 1967 that he began writing songs prolifically, it is said around 30 in two weeks, for which he was the sole copyright holder on all of his compositions. Bob Dylan (see also best songs 792-621-358-103-36 and 7) had suggested that Otis Redding record his song ‘Just Like a Woman,’ but Redding refused, saying that the song contained ‘too much text.’ and stating in an interview, ‘Basically, I like any music that remains simple, and I feel this is the formula that makes ‘Soul Music’ successful. When any music form becomes cluttered and/or complicated you lose the average listener’s ear. There is nothing more beautiful than a simple ‘Blues’ tune. There is beauty in simplicity whether you are talking about architecture, art or music.’ The best known and most successful cover version of an Otis Redding song is ‘Respect,’ recorded by Aretha Franklin (1942-2018) (see also best songs 644 and 366) (1967-Billboard Number 1 & UK Number 10.)

‘Sweet Soul Music’ which was co-written by Arthur Conley and Otis Redding, was heavily based on the Sam Cooke song ‘Yeah Man’ from his posthumous 1965 Album ‘Shake.’ Cooke’s business partner James Woodie Alexander (1916-1996) successfully sued Arthur Conley and Otis Redding, to which a settlement was reached where Sam Cooke had his name added to the songwriting credits, and Redding agreed to record some songs in the future for ‘Kags Music,’ which was a Cooke and Alexander enterprise.

‘Sweet Soul Music’ which has sold over one million copies, pays homage to some of the great ‘Soul’ singers, and songs of the day, including ‘Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing,’ by Lou Rawls, Wilson Pickett’s ‘Mustang Sally,’ ‘Hold On, I’m Comin,’ by Sam & Dave, and Otis Redding’s own ‘Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa.’ Also mentioned is James Brown who is describes as ‘The king of them all.’ At the end of the song, Arthur Conley sings, ‘Otis Redding got the feeling.’

‘Do you like good music, that sweet soul music. Just as long as it’s swingin’ oh yeah, oh yeah. We are here on the floor now, we’re going to a go go, dancin’ to the music, oh yeah ,oh yeah.’