B-side "Let's Go Steady" | Released 1967 (1967) Length 2:20 | |
Recorded FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, January 1967 | ||
"Sweet Soul Music" is a soul song, first released by Arthur Conley in 1967. Written by Conley and Otis Redding, it is based on the Sam Cooke song "Yeah Man" from his posthumous album Shake; the opening riff is a quote from Elmer Bernstein's score for the 1960 movie The Magnificent Seven.
It reached the number two spot on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard R&B chart and number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. J. W. Alexander, Sam Cooke's business partner, sued both Redding and Conley for appropriating the melody. A settlement was reached in which Cooke's name was added to the writer credits, and Otis Redding agreed to record some songs in the future from Kags Music, a Cooke–Alexander enterprise.
Lyrics
The song is an homage to soul music. The following songs are mentioned in the lyrics:
Additionally, James Brown is described as "the king of them all".
At the end of the song, Arthur Conley sings, "Otis Redding got the feeling."