The Soulmen were a Slovak rock band who sang in English, active between 1967 and 1968. Together with the Beatmen, they were one of the most prominent

big beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...

groups in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

; both bands were led by vocalist and guitarist

Dežo Ursiny Dezider Ursiny, better known as Dežo Ursiny (; 4 October 1947 – 2 May 1995) was a Slovak musician, composer, and filmmaker. In the 1960s, he was a member of the Beatmen and the Soulmen, two bands who pioneered an Eastern European style of ...

, who later had a solo career. A

power trio A power trio is a rock band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out a dedicated vocalist or an additional rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

, the Soulmen included bassist

Fedor Frešo Fedor Frešo (6 January 1947 – 26 June 2018) was a Slovak rock music, rock and jazz music, jazz bassist and singer. He was the son of composer and Slovak National Theatre conductor Tibor Frešo. His mother was director and editor at the Czech ...

and drummer Vlado Mallý, both of whom were founding members of the group Prúdy. Frešo later also co-founded

Collegium Musicum The Collegium Musicum was one of several types of musical societies that arose in Germany, German and German-Switzerland, Swiss cities and towns during the Protestant Reformation, Reformation and thrived into the mid-18th century. Generally, whil ...

and played with

Fermata A fermata (; "from ''fermare'', to stay, or stop"; also known as a hold, pause, colloquially a birdseye or cyclops eye, or as a grand pause when placed on a note or a rest) is a symbol of musical notation indicating that the note should be ...

History

In 1966, the rock group the Beatmen emigrated from

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and subsequently split up. Their former frontman,

, who hadn't gone with them, started a new group called the Soulmen, together with bassist

and drummer Dušan Hájek, who was soon replaced by Vlado Mallý. In December 1967, they performed at the first Czechoslovak Beat Festival, held at Lucerna, in Prague, winning first place in a contest of performers. In 1968, they toured around Czechoslovakia and Hungary and recorded an EP that contained the tracks "Sample of Happiness", "Wake Up", "I Wish I Were", and "Baby Do Not Cry", which they released in March. In November 1968, Ursiny formed the New Soulmen, with

Ján Lehotský Ján, also credited as Janko Lehotský (born 16 April 1947) is a Slovak composer and former leader of the Modus band. Lehotský began his performing career when he was four years old, when he performed in a marionette theater. He was a freela ...

on keyboards, Fedor Letňan on bass, and Peter Mráz on drums. They recorded two songs in November but broke up in early 1969, without releasing any material.

Band members

– guitar, vocals (d. 1995) *

– bass, vocals (d. 2018) * Vlado Mallý – drums, vocals * Dušan Hájek – drums, vocals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soulmen, The Slovak rock music groups Czechoslovak Big Beat groups and musicians Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups disestablished in 1968 1967 establishments in Czechoslovakia 1968 disestablishments in Czechoslovakia