Soul music open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style. Little Richard, who inspired Otis Redding, and James Brown both were equally influential. Brown was nicknamed the "Godfather of Soul Music", and Richard proclaimed himself as the "King of Rockin' and Rollin', Rhythm and Blues Soulin'", because his music embodied elements of all three, and since he inspired artists in all three genres. Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also are often acknowledged as soul forefathers. Cooke became popular as the lead singer of the gospel group The Soul Stirrers, before controversially moving into secular music.
The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living the background." "Spin" named Skinner "the perfect poet for this snooze of a topic." In a negative review, "Stylus Magazine" described the album as "an exercise in empty nothingness. But it’s not Bacchanalian coked-out excess nothingness, it's the joyless hollow-eyed actions of a man who is waiting for the next fix and doesn't care what bullshit has to come out of his lips in order to get paid." The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living is the third album by The Streets, released on 10 April 2006 in the United Kingdom