The Catalyst Sessions w/ Bill DeYoung: John Capouya

For anyone with an interest in the history of R&B (rhythm and blues music), John Capouya’s book Florida Soul is a treasure trove of detail, insight and unexpected “how cool is that?” moments.

Subtitled From Ray Charles to KC and the Sunshine Band, it takes a backstage tour of the second half of the 20th century (and beyond), when Black artists and record-creators lived and worked in a busily creative world that was almost a parallel universe to their white counterparts.

And when the worlds came together, everyone benefitted.

Wednesday on The Catalyst Sessions, Capouya – a writing teacher at the University of Florida – discussed the great artists in his book (he spoke to many of those who are still with us), and traced Florida’s (numerous) contributions to what some still refer to as soul music. #stpetecatalyst #TampaBay #Radio