Blues & Soul

Editor	Pete Lewis
Categories	Music
Publisher	Claire Tyler (Daniell)
Founder	John Abbey
Founded	1966
First issue	October 1967 ; 56 years ago  ( 1967-10 )
Company	Blues & Soul Limited
Country	United Kingdom
Based in	Croydon
Language	English
Website	www .bluesandsoul .co .uk
ISSN	0959-6550

Blues & Soul is a British music magazine , ^[1] established in 1967 by John Abbey . The Independent has noted Blues & Soul as being the equal of magazines such as NME and Q . Billboard magazine has called Blues & Soul "a respected publication." ^{[2] [3]}

As of 2024, Blues & Soul has published some 1100 issues and is still based in Croydon, London. The publisher is Blues & Soul Limited. ^[4] It publishes five issues per year in both print and digital format, edited by Pete Lewis. The publisher has a growing online archive of back issues and images published by the magazine. ^[5]

History [ edit ]

John Abbey, a devotee of American R&B music, established a magazine entitled Home of the Blues in 1966. This came about while Abbey was working for a travel agency in London. The magazine went on to publish its own musical charts, cover events and clubs and feature reviews, interviews and other musical articles. Blues & Soul' s R&B charts were compiled via a poll record sales throughout Britain. The publication soon gained further popularity in the UK and Europe covering genres of music such as soul , R&B , Funk , dance , jazz , hip hop , reggae and world music . With issue number 12 the magazine's title was changed to Blues & Soul .

In addition to Abbey's contributions, material was provided by writers such as former Motown press officer Sharon Davis and British soul fan Dave Godin . Within a June 1970 column of Blues & Soul , Godin went on to coin the term " Northern soul ". The business gradually expanded and Abbey set up an associated record label called Contempo Records, ^[6] which released the UK's first 12-inch singles . Abbey moved to Atlanta, Georgia in the mid-1970s and established Ichiban Records , ^[6] while the editorship of the magazine was taken over by Bob Killbourn in 1979. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]} Another important contributor, David Nathan , began writing for Blues & Soul in the early 1970s, first in London, then from 1975 as the magazine's principal New York correspondent. ^[12]

Blues & Soul ' s charts, from the start of such, became increasingly popular within the UK. ^[13] During 1979, DJ Pete Tong started being a journalist at Blues & Soul . Within the following year, he became the features editor of the magazine. ^{[14] [15]} Fellow UK publication Black Music was also absorbed in April 1984 by Blues & Soul . ^[16] Blues & Soul has also, from its inception, bestowed awards to artistes based upon an annual readers poll. ^{[17] [18]}

By 2006, the magazine had published 1000 issues. ^[7] The magazine returned in printed form in August 2010 with a special vintage edition.

In July 2011, Blues & Soul was relaunched as an in print twice-monthly magazine alongside its ongoing presence online, helmed by then editor Lee Tyler plus assistant editor (and long-time contributor) Pete Lewis.

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Official website