A 60's version of rhythm and blues; a big part of its origins is gospel music - soul started basically as a secularized version of it (early stars were established gospel singers like Sam Cooke and Bobby Womack). Rather than the object of desire being divine (as in gospel), it was one's SO. It all branched out from there, with various subgenres sprouting, in Detroit, Memphis, Muscle Shoals, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, and other locales.