SOUL
BEGINNINGS

Ken Jones already had a career in local radio and knew exactly how much material was available on the Beatles and other idolized white groups. Working as reporter in Los Angeles, Ken could truly see what was missing in these white publications when it came to simple news reporting. He began to envision a newspaper that would feature Black entertainers, the good news and the bad, but based in fact and without the yellow journalism headlines. There was enough drama in the real life struggles of Black artists to be news-worthy. He partnered with Cecil Tuck and they convinced KGFJ radio to be the first station associated with SOUL.The paper was designed to come out weekly assisted in promotion by KGFJ radio, Los Angeles. SOUL would provide advertisements for KGFJ’s sponsors, print station news and more. The station would pull strings and connect Ken and his staff with record company promotion men who could set up interviews with the artists which in turn, would sell more records. The first issue had a press run of 10,000 copies and sold out in under a week. Its first story was a look at white artists singing Black soul.

Record companies had little information on or photographs of their Black artists and had no real desire to get them. It was up to SOUL to seek out this information. SOUL was fortunate to catch the attention of Howard Bingham, an already establish black photographer at the time and hired on Carol Deck, Nikki Wine and Rochelle Reed to investigate the world of SOUL. In its first year, SOUL published in-depth interviews of The Supremes, The Temptations, Sidney Poitier, Ray Charles, James Brown, The Four Tops, Joe Tex, Jackie Wilson, Brenda Holloway, Martha and the Vandellas, Brook Benton, Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls and a slew of lesser known groups. Most of the artists came from Motown and Stax. Their record companies actually knew the artists the signed and could set up interviews. There was very little P.R. around black artists at white companies. They didn’t see them as worth the trouble. Their methodology around selling records were to reach out to white audiences and hide the race of the black artists. SOUL introduced the concept of P.R. to a number of black entertainers.

In 1967 SOUL expanded to partner with radio stations in 30 different cities along with a National Edition that circulated across the country and a strong subcription base in the States and overseas in countries like England and Vietnam. As they did with KGFJ in Los Angeles, SOUL would print editions for the individual station including the station letters on its cover and station advertising and news in the center pages. The paper grew from 8 to 16 pages but had to reduce printing from weekly to every two weeks to handle the job. This would prove too taxing as changing the paper became increasingly more difficult as soul music interest rose and there was even more information to report. Artists were coming into the offices left and right wanting to be included. The 30 stations would be pulled back to four; **KDIA** in Oakland-San Francisco, **WVON** in Chicago, **WWRL** in New York, **KGFJ** in Los Angeles. The rest of the country would receive the National Edition of SOUL.

In SOUL’s second year other publications like Ebony and Jet began to notice the increase of interest in soul music and would begin to put more of them on their covers often quoting SOUL as the source of their information. SOUL continued to be the undeniable leader in soul news reporting. Ken began SOUL Illustrated a magazine style extension of SOUL Newspaper. It featured full color pages, even more in-depth stories and ran around 60 pages. The publication looked at the overall implications of the events on the Black entertainment scene rather than the day to day events that SOUL covered. It served as a de-facto “Hall of Fame” of SOUL. Record companies and P.R. firms were now really seeking out SOUL pushing for their artists to be featured. The success of SOUL was a reflection of the growing importance of soul music in the world. PR firms seeking out SOUL meant that Black artists were gaining more strength. Soul was on the rise and SOUL was in demand. James Brown was an early supporter and even had his own column in SOUL for a few years. The demand for SOUL was tremendous.

_SOUL_ began its first advertising partnership with KGJF Radio in Los Angeles with the help of Cecil Tuck and Carl Milner. Arnold Schorr was the General Manager of KGFJ during this time. It quickly expanded to partner with several different soul music radio stations across the country. These stations would have their own version of the paper leaving everything the same except the cover would use their unique call letters and two middle pages would feature their specific advertisements, DJ profiles and local station information. In addition, the paper was distributed across the country by Kable Media Services, founded by Harry Kable and was available through annual subscribtion.

• WAOK Atlanta, GA

• WEBB Baltimore, MD

• WJLD Birmingham, AL

• WILD BOSTON, MA

• WLIB Brooklyn, NY

• WUFO Buffalo, NY

• THE KAT Charlotte, NC

• WVON Chicago, IL

• WABQ Cleveland, OH

• KNOK Dallas, TX

• WJLB Detroit, MI

• KCOH Houston, TX

• KGFJ Los Angeles, CA

• K-ACE Los Angeles, CA

• WLOU Louisville, KY

• WDIA Memphis, TX

• WVOL Nashville, TN

• WYLD New Orleans, LA

• WWRL New York, NY

• WDAS Philadelphia, PA

• WAMO Pittsburg, PA

• KDIA San Francisco, CA

• KATZ St. Louis, MO

• WOL Washington, DC

1 4/14/1966 James Brown /& Mick Jagger

2 4/21/1966 Little Richard

3 4/28/1966 Otis Redding

4 5/5/1966 James Brown

5 5/12/1966 Sam Cooke

6 5/19/1966 Sam Cooke

7 5/26/1966 Sam & Dave

8 6/2/1966 Marvin Gaye

9 6/9/1966 Otis Redding

10 6/16/1966 Supremes

11 6/23/1966 Lou Rawls

12 6/30/1966 James Brown

13 7/7/1966 Dobie Gray

14 7/14/1966 James Brown

15 7/21/1966 Jackie Wilson

16 7/28/1966 James Brown

17 8/4/1966 Temptations

18 8/11/1966 Impressions

19 8/25/1966 Martha & Vandellas / Temptations / Lou Rawls

20 9/15/1966 Supremes

21 10/13/1966 Stevie Wonder / Otis Redding / Levi Four Tops

22 10/27/1966 Ike & Tina / Sammy Davis

23 11/10/1966 Supremes / Smokey Robinson / Bobby Hebb

24 11/24/1966 Lou Rawls / Billy Preston

25 12/8/1966 Muhammed Ali

26 12/22/1966 Merry Christmas

27 1/3/1967 Otis Redding

28 1/19/1967 Marvin Gaye

29 2/2/1967 Smokey Robinson

30 2/16/1967 Supremes

31 3/2/1967 Tammi Terrell

32 3/16/1967 Temptations / Tina / Martha Reeves / 5th Dimension

33 3/30/1967 Aretha Franklin

34 4/13/1967 5th Dimension

35 4/27/1967 Temptations

36 5/11/1967 Model

37 6/22/1967 Hugh Masekela ALT Four Tops

38 7/6/1967 Diana Ross

39 7/24/1967 Sam & Dave

40 8/7/1967 Stevie Wonder

41 8/21/1967 5th Dimension

42 9/4/1967 Leon Haywood

43 9/18/1967 Otis Redding / Aretha Franklin / Muhammed Ali

44 10/2/1967 Bill Cosby

45 10/16/1967 Jesse James

46 10/30/1967 Kim Weston

47 11/13/1967 Supremes & Temps

48 11/27/1967 James Brown

49 12/11/1967 Marvin, Martha, Tammi, 4 Tops

50 12/18/1967 Five Stairsteps

51 1/15/1968 Otis Redding

52 1/29/1968 Otis Redding

53 2/12/1968 James Brown

54 2/26/1968 Aretha Franklin

55 3/11/1968 Paul Williams / Temptations & White Singer

56 3/25/1968 Joe Tex

57 4/8/1968 Tina Turner & Bill Cosby

58 4/22/1968 Marvin Gaye

59 5/6/1968 1st Anniversary., Diana, Gladys, Smokey, Curtis, Levin

60 5/20/1968 Smokey Robinson

61 6/3/1968 Stokley Carmichael / Miriam Makeba

62 6/17/1968 Flip Wilson

63 7/1/1968 Martha Reeves

64 7/15/1968 Temptations

65 7/29/1968 Lena Horne & Florence Ballard

66 8/12/1968 Tempts Fire David Ruffin

67 8/26/1968 Stevie

68 9/9/1968 David Ruffin

69 9/23/1968 Mary Wilson, Melvin Franklin, Dennis Edwards

70 10/7/1968 Dennis Edwards / Janet McLaughlin

71 10/21/1968 Bill Cosby / Aretha Franklin

72 11/4/1968 Nancy Wilson / Cannonball Adderly

73 11/18/1968 Jose Feliciano

74 12/2/1968 Diahann Carroll

75 12/16/1968 Sly Stone / Florence Ballard

76 12/30/1968 Sidney Poitier

77 1/6/1969 Diana Ross

78 1/20/1969 Chamber Brothers

79 2/3/1969 Bobby Womack / Diana Ross / Paul Williams

80 2/17/1969 Marvin Gaye

81 3/3/1969 Martha Reeves / OC Smith

82 3/17/1969 Johnny Taylor / Jimmy Holiday

83 4/7/1969 Jim Brown & Raquel Welch

84 4/21/1969 Smokey / Martin Luther King / Betty Everett

85 5/5/1969 Mary Wilson & Cindy Birdsong

86 5/19/1969 David Ruffin

87 6/2/1969 Lou & Lana Rawls

88 6/16/1969 Greg Morris / Isley Brothers

89 6/30/1969 Gladys Knight & the Pips

90 7/14/1969 Temptations

91 7/28/1969 James Brown / Friends of Distinction

92 8/11/1969 Mary Wilson

93 8/25/1969 Della Reese / Wilson Pickett

94 9/8/1969 Carla Thomas / OJ Simpson

95 9/22/1969 Marva Whitney / Impressions

96 10/6/1969 Aretha Franklin / Berry Gordy

97 10/20/1969 Tom Jones & Stevie

98 11/3/1969 Della Reese / Leslie Uggams / Barbara McNair

99 11/17/1969 Dells

100 12/1/1969 Diana Ross

101 12/15/1969 Angela Davis

102 12/29/1969 Denise Nicholas / Lloyd Haynes

103 1/12/1970 James Brown, Louie Bellson, Oliver Nelson

104 2/9/1970 Cindy Birdsong

105 2/23/1970 Diana & Supremes / Isley's

106 3/9/1970 Jean Terrell

107 3/23/1970 Clarence Williams III

108 4/6/1970 BB King

109 4/20/1970 Tammi Terrell

110 5/4/1970 Jesse Jackson

111 5/18/1970 Tina Turner

112 6/1/1970 Jackson 5

113 6/15/1970 Jackie Jackson

114 6/29/1970 Tito Jackson

115 7/13/1970 Jermaine Jackson

116 7/27/1970 Marlon Jackson

117 8/10/1970 Michael Jackson

118 8/24/1970 Five Stairsteps

119 9/7/1970 Temptations

120 9/21/1970 Otis Williams

121 10/5/1970 Melvin Franklin

122 10/19/1970 Paul Williams / Jimi Hendrix Dies

123 11/2/1970 Dennis Edwards / Jimi Hendrix

124 11/16/1970 Eddie Kendricks

125 11/30/1970 Jackson 5

126 12/14/1970 Otis Redding

127 12/28/1970 Muhammed Ali

128 1/11/1971 Sly Stone

129 1/25/1971 Isaac Hayes

130 2/8/1971 Various SOUL Covers

131 2/22/1971 Diana Ross & Bob Ellis

132 3/8/1971 5th Dimension

133 3/22/1971 Jackson 5 / Osmonds

134 4/5/1971 Curtis Mayfield / Mark Copage

135 5/10/1971 5th Anniversary

136 5/24/1971 Diana Ross / Michael Jackson

137 6/7/1971 Chairmen of the Board

138 6/21/1971 Sidney Poitier

139 7/5/1971 Supremes

140 7/19/1971 Wilson Pickett

141 8/2/1971 Tina Turner / Valerie Simpson

142 8/16/1971 Temptations

143 8/30/1971 Five Stairsteps

144 9/13/1971 Richard Roundtree

145 9/27/1971 Marvin Gaye

146 10/11/1971 Jackson 5 Drawing

147 10/25/1971 Roberts Flack / Quincy Jones

148 11/8/1971 Flip Wilson

149 11/22/1971 Jesse Jackson

150 12/6/1971 Martha & Vandellas / Grambling

151 12/20/1971 Sly Stone

152 1/4/1972 Isaac Hayes / Mavis & Pop Staples / Billy Preston

153 1/17/1972 James Brown

154 1/31/1972 Billy Dee Williams / Diana Ross

155 2/14/1972 Michael & Jackson's

156 2/28/1972 Aretha Franklin

157 3/6/1972 Jackie Jackson

158 3/27/1972 Bill Cosby

159 4/10/1972 Chi-Lites

160 5/1/1972 6th Anniversary- Aretha / Jackson's / Richard Roundtree

161 5/22/1972 Joe Tex

162 6/5/1972 Brotherly Love

163 6/19/1972 Supremes

164 7/3/1972 Staple Singers

165 7/17/1972 Al Green

166 7/31/1972 Tito & Dede Jackson

167 8/14/1972 Richard Roundtree

168 8/28/1972 Tito & Dede Jackson

169 9/11/1972 Jermaine Jackson

170 9/25/1972 Bill Withers

171 10/9/1972 Isaac Hayes

172 10/23/1972 Curtis Mayfield / Ron O'Neal

173 11/6/1972 Sylvers

174 11/20/1972 Diana Ross

175 12/4/1972 Cicely Tyson / Paul Winfield

176 12/18/1972 Richard Roundtree / Ron O'Neal / Rosaline Cash

177 1/1/1973 Diana Ross / Billy Dee Williams

178 1/15/1973 Calvin Lockhart / Jackson 5

179 1/29/1973 Billy Paul

180 2/12/1973 Duke Ellington / Quincy Jones

181 2/26/1973 Tamara Dobson

182 3/12/1973 Wattstax

183 3/26/1973 Don Cornelius

184 4/9/1973 Various Artists - Roberta Flack / Aretha / Al / Preston / Pride / Temptations

185 4/23/1973 Diana Ross

186 5/14/1973 James Brown / Jim Brown

187 5/28/1973 Pam Grier

188 6/11/1973 Al Green

189 6/25/1973 Jackson 5

190 7/9/1973 Jackie Jackson

191 7/23/1973 Tito & Jermaine Jackson

192 8/6/1973 Michael & Marlon Jackson

193 8/20/1973 Sylvia Robinson

194 9/3/1973 Diana Ross

195 9/17/1973 Ron O'Neal

196 10/1/1973 Paul Williams

197 10/15/1973 Gladys Knight & the Pips

198 10/29/1973 Sly Stone / Jim Kelly

199 11/12/1973 Eddie Kendricks

200 11/26/1973 Sylvers

201 12/10/1973 Pointer Sisters / Don Cornelius

202 12/24/1973 Vonetta McGee & Max Julien / Valerie Simpson & Nick Ashford

203 1/7/1974 Diana Ross / Al Green / Aretha / Michael / Gladys Knight / Tito Jackson

204 1/21/1974 Smokey Robinson & Linda Lovelace

205 2/4/1974 Jermaine Jackson & Hazel Gordy

206 2/18/1974 Jim Brown / Isaac Hayes / Lockers

207 3/4/1974 Barry White / Marvin Gaye / Helen Reddy

208 3/18/1974 Love Unlimited / Bobby Womack

209 4/1/1974 Al Green

210 4/15/1974 Marvin Gaye

211 4/29/1974 8th Anniversary - Stevie & Many Others

212 5/13/1974 Gladys Knight

213 5/27/1974 Richard Roundtree / James McEachin

214 6/10/1974 Bloodstone / Isley Brothers / Spinners

215 6/24/1974 Vonetta McGee

216 7/8/1974 Rufus

217 7/22/1974 John Amos

218 8/5/1974 Uptown Saturday Night T-Shirt

219 8/19/1974 Temptations

220 9/2/1974 Diana Ross / Sly Stone

221 9/16/1974 Etta James

222 9/30/1974 Jim Kelly

223 10/14/1974 Hues Corporation

224 10/28/1974 Al Green / Diahann Carroll / Bill Withers

225 11/11/1974 Miracles

226 11/25/1974 Kathy Bradley

227 12/9/1974 Quincy Jones

228 12/23/1974 Richard Roundtree & Cathy Crosby

229 1/6/1975 Diana Ross & Bob Ellis

230 1/20/1975 Carol Speed

231 2/3/1975 Stevie Wonder & Syretta

232 2/17/1975 Interracial Couples

233 3/3/1975 Labelle

234 3/17/1975 Ted Lange

235 3/31/1975 Denise Nicholas

236 4/14/1975 Jeanne Bell / Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor

237 4/28/1975 Clifton Davis

238 5/12/1975 Jimmie Walker

239 5/26/1975 9th Anniversary - Aretha / Diana / Marvin / Stevie

240 6/9/1975 Larry Graham & Wife

241 6/23/1975 Earth, Wind & Fire

242 7/7/1975 Pat Evans

243 7/21/1975 Temptations

244 8/4/1975 Fred Williamson

245 8/18/1975 Chaka Khan

246 9/1/1975 Minnie Riperton

247 9/15/1975 Grover Washington

248 9/29/1975 Janet & Randy Jackson

249 10/13/1975 Supremes

250 10/27/1975 Ken Norton

251 11/10/1976 Diana Ross

252 11/24/1975 Lola Falana

253 12/8/1975 Richard Pryor

254 12/22/1975 O'Jays

255 1/5/1976 Bill Cosby

256 1/19/1976 Stevie Wonder

257 2/2/1976 Sly Stone

258 2/16/1976 Teddy Pendergrass / Harold Melvin

259 3/1/1976 Sidney Poitier

260 3/15/1976 Tony Orlando & Dawn

261 3/29/1976 Miracles

262 4/12/1976 Original Supremes

263 4/26/1976 Billy Preston

264 5/10/1976 Michael Jackson

265 5/24/1976 Smokey Robinson

266 6/7/1976 Barry & Glodean White

267 6/21/1976 10th Anniversary

268 7/5/1976 Sylvers

269 7/19/1976 Billy Dee Williams

270 8/2/1976 Lawrence Hilton Jacobs

271 8/16/1976 Lonetta McKee / Glynn Turman

272 8/30/1976 Tracy Reed

273 9/13/1976 Lou Rawls

274 9/27/1976 Max Julian & Vonetta McGee

275 10/11/1976 Pam Grier

276 10/25/1976 Maurice White / Jim Brown / Jayne Kennedy

277 11/8/1976 Jermaine Jackson

278 11/22/1976 Diana Ross

279 12/6/1976 Temptations

280 12/20/1976 Jackson's

281 1/3/1977 Brothers Johnson

282 1/17/1977 George Clinton / Labelle / Gil Scott-Heron

283 1/31/1977 Pam Grier / Richard Pryor

284 2/14/1977 Annazette Chase

285 2/28/1977 Spinners

286 3/14/1977 Diana Ross

287 3/28/1977 Brenda Sykes

288 4/11/1977 Chaka Khan

289 4/25/1977 Bootsy Collins

290 5/9/1977 Aretha Franklin

291 5/23/1977 Teddy Pendergrass

292 6/6/1977 Donna Summer

293 6/20/1977 11th Anniversary - Diana Ross

294 7/4/1977 Earth, Wind & Fire

295 7/18/1977 George Clinton

296 8/1/1977 Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr.

297 8/15/1977 Andre Crouch

298 8/29/1977 Johnny Taylor

299 9/12/1977 Michael Jackson

300 9/26/1977 Spinners

301 10/10/1977 O'Jays

302 10/24/1977 The Emotions

303 11/7/1977 Shirley Hemphill

304 11/21/1977 Brothers Johnson

305 12/5/1977 Deniece Williams & Michael McDonald

306 12/19/1977 Patti Labelle

307 1/2/1978 Isley Brothers

308 1/16/1978 Janet Jackson

309 1/30/1978 Mary Wilson

310 2/13/1978 Sylvers

311 2/27/1978 Al Green

312 3/13/1978 Lawrence Hilton Jacobs / John Travolta

313 3/27/1978 George Benson

314 4/10/1978 Maurice White

315 4/24/1978 Commodores

316 5/8/1978 Todd Bridges

317 5/15/1978 Lou Rawls

318 6/5/1978 Richard Pryor

319 6/19/1978 Kene Holliday & Vernee Watson

320 7/3/1978 Donna Summer / Commodores / Ray Vitte

321 7/17/1978 Deniece Williams & Johnny Mathis

322 7/31/1978 Teddy Pendergrass

323 8/14/1978 Isley Brothers

324 8/28/1978 O'Jays

325 9/4/1978 Marvin Gaye

326 9/18/1978 Bob Marley

327 10/2/1978 Fred Berry / Ernest Thomas / Haywood Nelson

328 10/16/1978 Mick Jagger & Marsha Hunt

329 10/30/1978 Diana Ross

330 11/13/1978 Chaka Khan

331 11/27/1978 Donna Summer

332 12/11/1978 Heatwave

333 12/25/1978 Gary Coleman & Todd Bridges

334 1/6/1979 Natalie Cole

335 1/22/1979 Cosby, Pryor, Sheila Frazier, Gloria Gifford

336 2/5/1979 George Clinton

337 2/22/1979 Muhammed Ali

338 3/5/1979 Rick James

339 3/19/1979 Pam Grier

340 4/2/1979 Billy Dee Williams

341 5/14/1979 Barry White

342 6/11/1979 Donna Summer

343 5/28/1979 OJ Simpson

344 6/25/1979 Peaches & Herb

345 7/9/1979 Bootsy Collins

346 7/23/1979 George Benson

347 8/6/1979 Doobie Brothers

348 8/20/1979 Michael Jackson

349 9/17/1979 Commodores

350 10/29/1979 Maurice White

351 11/12/1979 Louis Gossett, Jr.

352 12/24/1979 Ashford & Simpson

353 Jan. 1980 O'Jays

354 Feb. 1980 Rufus & Chaka

355 March 1980 Barry Manilow

356 April 1980 Donna, Shalamar, Sylvester, Sister Sledge, Peaches & Herb

357 May 1980 Brothers Johnson

358 June 1980 Peabo Bryson, Tempts, B.B. King, Gladys & Pips

359 July 1980 Natalie Cole

360 Aug. 1980 Jermaine Jackson

361 Sept. 1980 Commodores

362 Oct. 1980 Dionne Warwick

363 Nov. 1980 Billy Dee Williams / Tom Jones

364 Dec. 1980 Doobie Brothers

365 March/April 1981 Sherman Hemsley & Isabel Sanford

366 May/June 1981 Diana Ross

367 July/Aug. 1981 Richard Pryor

368 Sept./Oct. 1981 Aretha Franklin

369 Dec. 1981 Maurice White

370 Winter 1981 Diana Ross

371 Jan. 1982 Dick Griffey

372 March/April 1982 Peabo Bryson

373 May/June 1982 Jayne Kennedy