Brown-eyed soul

Soul music emerged from the 1950s simultaneously on the East Coast United States, in the Hispanic communities, and on the West Coast, in the much larger Hispanic communities. Chicago soul and Motown hits were crowd favorites at dances and clubs during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Latino artists began to draw inspiration from the Motown hits, and as a result, Latino soul began sounding very similar to Black soul. Early artists owed little to traditional Latin and rarely performed in Spanish.[4]

Ritchie Valens, one of the original pioneers of "brown-eyed soul" music, also became one of the first artists to bring traditional Latin music and rock and roll influences to his brand of soul music. Latino groups on the East and West Coast also drew from the funk-influenced Philadelphia soul, or "Philly" soul. The West Coast Latin rock scene continued to influence other Latino soul musicians as well.

Inspired by Ritchie Valens, 1960s and 1970s bands such as Cannibal & the Headhunters ("Land of a Thousand Dances") and Thee Midniters played R&B music with a rebellious rock and roll edge. Many of these artists drew from the frat rock and garage rock scenes. However, the large Hispanic population on the West Coast began gradually moving away from energetic R&B to romantic soul, and the results were "some of the sweetest soul music heard during the late '60s and '70s."[1]