Editing Soul music (section)

=== Motown Records ===
[[File:LeviStubbs.jpg|thumb|left|[[Levi Stubbs]] singing lead with the Four Tops in 1966.]]
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{{Main|Motown Records}}
[[Berry Gordy]]'s successful Tamla/Motown group of labels was notable for being African-American owned, unlike most of the earlier independent R&B labels. Notable artists under this label were [[Gladys Knight & the Pips]], [[the Supremes]], [[the Temptations]], [[the Miracles]], the [[Four Tops]], [[the Marvelettes]], [[Mary Wells]], [[Junior Walker|Jr. Walker & the All-Stars]], [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Marvin Gaye]], [[Tammi Terrell]], [[Martha and the Vandellas]],<ref name="pc25">{{Pop Chronicles |25| |Motown artists}}</ref> and [[the Jackson Five|the Jackson 5]].

Hits were made using a quasi-industrial "[[assembly line]]" approach. The producers and songwriters brought artistic sensitivity to the three-minute tunes. [[Brian Holland]], [[Lamont Dozier]] and [[Eddie Holland]] were rarely out of the charts for their work as [[songwriter]]s and [[record producer]]s for [[the Supremes]], the [[Four Tops]] and [[Martha and the Vandellas]].<ref name=pc25/> They allowed important elements to shine through the dense musical texture. The rhythm was emphasized by handclaps or [[tambourine]]. [[Smokey Robinson]] was another writer and record producer who added lyrics to "[[The Tracks of My Tears]]" by his group [[the Miracles]], which was one of the most important songs of the decade.