Best song, absolutely ever; my vote:

[Redstone]

"My Girl" by the Temptations.

Honorable mention: David Ruffin was the single best Soul singer there ever was. Followed closely by Levi Stubbs, of course. And I'll not insult Wilson Pickett and all them by leaving them out, but there are too many to mention here.

Redstone

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. "The Way You Do the Things You Do" is another classic.

[Redstone]

2. Not to mention "I wish it would rain."

Redstone

[abq e streeter]

3. My top 3 soul singers, and even in the same order

[Redstone]

4. And if Van Morrison thought it fit to mention Jackie Wilson

in a song, he certainly deserves an inclusion as well.

Not that I was ever a Wilson fan, but damn...I know there was lots of racism and royalty-stealing going on in the Soul music world of the 1950s and 1960s but God damn, that was some music, wasn't it?

Redstone

[abq e streeter]

6. Huge Jackie Wilson fan here; just that except for near the end of his string of hits

(Whispers, and on my short list for greatest soul song ever, Higher and Higher) I guess I don't think of him as the classic Motown/ Stax Volt etc era. He was absolutely amazing... You're a fellow geezer (sorry, but true my friend); do you remember Ain't No Pity in the Naked City? Probably my favorite outside of Higher and Higher. It was on youtube then disappeared. Gonna look to see if it's back up before I post this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a1-WzDSYn0


I guess part of that difference is the relative "thinness" as opposed to the rasp in the others' voices. Ruffin was my singing hero and the person I wanted to emulate when I started singing but couldn't pull it off ( not to mention trying to pull off singing Pickett or 4 Tops songs) so "settled" for Eric Burdon as my role model . No regrets there though; for all his imperfections, Burdon had big time soul too. So many great ones back then though, that if I thought about it, I could probably come up with a list of 100 more great ones , even pretty obscure guys like Lattimore Brown (great version of Every Day I Have to Cry Some) , Darrell Banks (Open the Door to Your Heart) and Ollie and the Nightingales ( I Got the Feelin' Somebody's Tryin' To Take My Baby Away).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY9Lg8kZbSs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8rC9Bf0hXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWChLTAVnNA

[Moondog]

5. "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay"

Otis Redding ....

[MrScorpio]

7. In the past, "Bernadette" by the Four Tops

Modern Day, "Destiny" by Zero 7

[applegrove]

8. "Bye Bye Miss American Pie"

[gratuitous]

9. Wonderin' Where the Lions Are

Four verses, two verses, one verse. Perfect 7.

[Lindsey]

10. "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles. n/t

[Amerigo Vespucci]

11. "The Bells" by The Originals, Motown's greatest unsung heroes

The Bells: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imRUI6JLqPk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Originals

The Originals were a successful Motown R&B and soul group during the late 1960s and the 1970s, most notable for the hits "Baby I'm For Real", "The Bells" and the disco classic, "Down to Love Town". Formed in 1966, the group originally consisted of bass singer Freddie Gorman (one of the writers of Marvelettes, Beatles and Carpenters hit "Please Mr. Postman"), baritone (and the group's founder) Walter Gaines, and tenors C.P. Spencer and Hank Dixon. Ty Hunter replaced Spencer when he left to go solo in the early 1970s. They had all previously sung in other Detroit groups - C.P. having been an original member of the (Detroit) Spinners and Ty having sung with Scherrie Payne in the group Glass House.

The group found modest success in the latter half of the 60s, often working as backup singers for recordings by artists such as Jimmy Ruffin ("What Becomes of the Brokenhearted", 1966), Stevie Wonder ("For Once In My Life", 1968) and David Ruffin ("My Whole World Ended", 1969). The Originals found their biggest success under the guidance of Motown legend Marvin Gaye, who co-wrote and produced two of the group's biggest singles, "Baby, I'm for Real", and "The Bells". This latter disc sold over one million copies, and received a gold disc awarded by the R.I.A.A.<1> Both songs became seminal soul music recordings, and both songs have since been covered: 1990s R&B group After 7 re-recorded "Baby, I'm for Real" and made it a hit again in 1992, while another 1990s R&B group Color Me Badd re-recorded "The Bells" for one of their albums. While the group went on to have more modest success in both the soul and disco fields near the end of the decade, including "Down To Love Town," a #1 dance chart hit, the songs they made with Marvin Gaye are their most memorable and notable. Spencer returned briefly in the late 70s but after the death of Ty Hunter, on February 24, 1981, the group ceased recording and broke up about a year later.

Joe Stubbs, brother of Four Tops' lead, Levi Stubbs, died on February 5, 1998. He had been with the group for about six months in the mid 1960s, as well as been a member of The Falcons, The Contours and 100 Proof (Aged In Soul). C.P. Spencer died on October 20, 2004 and Freddie Gorman followed on June 13, 2006.

[Redstone]

15. Very nice. It's striking how Motown Soul incorporated elements of

doo-wop so seamlessly, yes?

Redstone

[JCMach1]

12. Folsom Prison- Johnny Cash

[InternalDialogue]

13. Not to push anyone out of the way, but the room should also include Marvin Gaye.

I'll let everyone work it out once the party has begun.

[Redstone]

16. I don't think you'll get any arguments. "It Takes Two" is one of

my all-time favorites as well.

Redstone

[Ron Green]

14. Sorry, but all these choices are lightweight trifles compared to the REAL best song ever:

"Star Dust" by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parrish.

[blueamy66]

17. I Love You More Today Than Yesterday

by Spiral Starecase

I could listen to it over and over and over....

But I'm also a huge Van and James Taylor and Journey fan....love 70s rock!

[Bunny]

25. That's one of mine, too.

Good song.

[blueamy66]

28. We have good taste.

:-)

[HEyHEY]

18. That is a great song if you're on E

Actually any motown is... such drugs were invented for motown, not that "boom, boom" house crap.

On that note. I can't say best song ever, but just enjoyed Ruby Tuesday as I read your post.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

19. Fly Me To The Moon gets my vote

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC9oQoFk9Rs&feature=related

Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a-Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby, kiss me

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words, I love you

Fill my heart with song
Let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words, in other words
I love ... you

[BillStein]

20. Our Love is Here to Stay

the Rockies may tumble, Gibralter may crumble.... the Gershwins were the best songwriters ever

[sarge43]

21. Gerswin and Miss Ella

Someone To Watch Over Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuHgGsP1eOA

[blueknight]

22. baby i need your lovin'

the four tops. just unreal talent. as was david ruffin

[Glorfindel]

23. "Mull of Kintyre" by Paul McCartney & Wings

n/t

[PRETZEL]

24. Can't argue with that,

Way too many whether it be Motown or Philly,

Al Green may be mentioned also,

Right now I can't listen enough to Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendegrast. I found a CD of their greatest hits a few weeks ago and haven't stopped listening to.

One song that has become on of my classics is Luther Vandross' version of Superstar. He has an amazing connection to it.

[Redstone]

26. Teddy never got over being paralyzed in that car accident, but

he sang again, didn't he?

What a guy. What a voice.

Redstone

[PRETZEL]

27. he did sing some

but you're right he never really got over the accident.