Top Ten (Sixties Soul)

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Film Title: Top Ten (60's Soul)

Description: A review of the top ten soul acts of the sixties

To Order: Channel 4 TV

This Film about sixties soul was made for Channel Four's 'Top Ten' series by Chrysalis and was first shown in March 2000. Presented by Smokey Robinson the programme begins with a brief history of Soul Music with some excellent early footage from the R&B years. The artists credited with being the pioneers of soul are Sam Cooke and Ray Charles in that it was they who first successfully blended the Blues with Gospel. Of Ray Charles, Jerry Wexler, owner of Stax records said, "It was the Music of the Church and Ray put the devil's words to it."

Closely linked with the Civil Rights Movement the film examines how soul contributed to the cause. Despite the efforts of John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King some states continued to enforce strict segregation and groups like Booker T and the MG's were forbidden to perform in Memphis on account that they were a multi racial group. There may have been bias in the way the blacks were treated, but there is none in the way that the artists for this film have been selected. It has been done strictly according to record sales though the programme does not make clear whether this means American, British or world-wide.

Despite their success most of the artists have tragic tales to tell and these are their stories presented in reverse order.

No. 10 Sam and Dave. Although one of Souls more enduring duets these two hated the sight of each other. Their fall out began when Dave took a gun to his wife and shot her in the face. She forgave him, but Sam didn't and for years afterwards the two did not speak socially outside their work. Sam even refused to share a dressing room with his partner. They both became hooked on drugs to such an extent that Sam became a junkie. Dave tragically died in a car crash.

No. 9 Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. Martha's big chance came when Mary Wells missed a recording session at Motown, so she stepped into the breech. At the time Martha was working as a member of the typing pool. Their first song was 'Heatwave' which immediately became a major international success. A rather interesting cameo came when the producers interviewed Martha and the Vandellas separately but put the same questions to them. Martha considered herself to be the attraction with the Vandellas just her backing group. The Vandellas considered the group to be the main attraction for whom Martha just happened to be the lead singer. Needless to say they have now split with Martha Reeves having gone solo. Martha too became drugs dependent and suffered from a breakdown.

No. 8 Otis Redding. Otis's career began as a youth when he kept winning local talent competitions. It was a time when racial segregation was strictly enforced so white people were not allowed to attend. Unbeknown to him however he had two white fans who used to listen to him singing by parking their cars outside the theatre and tuning in their car radios. These two later became Otis managers. They became spurned by the white community as 'Nigger-Lovers' whilst the black's accused Otis of being a 'White Man's Nigger'. Otis tragically died, aged 27, when his private jet crashed into a Wisconsin Lake. He had just been recording his famous 'Dock of the Bay' which was released posthumously. The film showed some upsetting footage of his body being recovered from its murky waters.

No. 7 Ray Charles. At the age of eight Ray contracted Glaucoma and went blind. His mother died when he was aged just 15. At this point Ray left school to start a recording career and by his early twenties he was already an established star. At the age of 25 he was married, but this did not stop him pursuing other women. He was reported to have had so many that one commentator described him as 'a sultan with a Harem'. A standing joke was that to be a Raelette( Ray Charles backing group), you had to 'let Ray'. Charles also became a drug addict on Marijuana and Heroine but after getting busted he took himself to an institution and went cold turkey for four days to kick the habit. For his efforts the court rewarded him with a suspended sentence.

No. 6 Smokey Robinson. Smokey married his backing singer Claudette, but their life on tour had its repercussions and Claudette suffered two miscarriages. In the early 70's Smokey also became a crack addict, but after kicking the habit he managed to pull the pieces together and make a success of his life. He is still a Motown Executive and spends his time playing golf. Maybe he wasn't that lucky after all.

No. 5 The Four Tops. In many ways this is one of Soul's Big Success Stories. Starting out in 1953 they have been performing together now for 47 years. Their greatest success came in the early 60's with their Motown stuff, but when the the Holland-Dozier-Holland team decided to leave in 1967 their hits dried up. In 1988 they should have been on the plane which was blown up over Lockerbie, but following an overshoot on a TV recording they missed it.

No. 4 Aretha Franklin. The daughter of a Celebrity Minister, the Reverend CL Franklin, she was hardly the most typical of religious offspring. By the age of 17 she had already given birth to two illegitimate children. Her first marriage was an unhappy one, and the conflicts within it inspired some of her most soulful performances. Since her divorce she has been a lot happier, but now performs rarely and almost lives the life of a recluse. In 1984 her father was shot, went into a coma and died shortly afterwards.

No 3. The Temptations. Another group plagued by the twin evils of drugs and drink. Their original lead singer was David Ruffin, brother of Jimmy, but he became so conceited that he began to think he was the real star and that the rest were just his backing performers. He refused to travel with them when they toured, but went in his own private limousine with his own personal 'manager'. He even stopped going to rehearsals and became so difficult to work with that eventually they threw him out. His response was to start turning up at their gigs and joining them on stage uninvited. As professionals they had no choice but to play along. Eventually Paul Williams became too sick from drugs and alcohol that Ruffin was invited back despite the fact he was known to have a coke problem. Ruffin later overdosed on crack and died.

No 2 Marvin Gaye. Throughout Marvin's early career the other stars felt he enjoyed favouritism from Berry Gordy which was not helped when he married the Motown Boss's sister. His real love however was believed to be Tammi Terrell despite the fact they never had a sexual liaison. Tammi died after collapsing into Marvin's arms live on stage at the age of 24. She was suffering from a brain tumour caused by the beatings she received from her former husband and lead singer with the temptations David Ruffin.

No.1 The Supremes. Soul's top selling songstreses throughout the sixties were not without their share of tragedy. The group was originally started by Florence Ballard when she recruited Mary Wilson and Diana Ross to join her. Unfortunately for her Berry Gordy saw Diana as being the lead singer, perhaps influenced by the fact they were lovers. In fact the couple had an illegitimate child together. Berry decided to change the name from 'The Supremes' to 'Diana Ross and the Supremes' which caused a very bitter Flo Ballard to start drinking heavily. As she became more depressed she became more and more unmanageable till the group ousted her altogether. She ended up marrying Berry's Chauffeur Thomas Chapman. The film had a poignant moment when Flo's tearful daughter, Michelle, castigated Motown for the way they had treated her mother. So the bitterness has spread from one generation to the next. In 1969 Diana Ross went solo, but Cindy Birdsong and Mary Wilson continued as the Supremes. Flo Ballard took out a legal suite against Motown which she lost. Penniless and broke, She died, aged just 33 of a heart attack and was buried in a humble grave

Although tragic at times this was an excellent programme very professionally presented by Smokey Robinson. The footage was fabulous, and most of it, as far as I am aware, has never been seen before. If ever there was a programme to make you realise that success does not always equate with happiness then this is it. A fabulous show not only from a musical perspective but also from a human interest one as well. I only wish there were more like it.