Señor Soul

Senor Soul issued a series of soul-oriented recordings, most of them instrumentals, between 1967 and 1970, incorporating Latin rhythms and funk accents. The same fusion later propelled War to commercial success throughout the 1970s, a link that is hardly accidental. Chuck Miller, later a member of War, performed with Senor Soul; although he appears to have been the sole future War participant during most of the group’s studio activity, evidence suggests the entire War lineup contributed to Senor Soul’s last single. Released in 1970, that 45 paired “Don’t Lay Your Funky Trip on Me” with “I Ain’t Got No Soul Today (What It Is, Y’All)” and carried composer credits that match the original War roster almost exactly: Harold Brown, Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Lee Oskar, and Chuck Miller. Those two vocal tracks also share clear stylistic traits with War’s early work. Outside those selections, however, Senor Soul’s sole album and various 45s remained largely instrumental, blending funk, soul, and jazz while relying heavily on interpretations of then-current hits. In 2003 the compilation What It Is, Y’All—The Best of Senor Soul gathered most of the issued material plus two previously unreleased cuts.