Cappuccino, with all due respect, it's one thing if this thread is a trivia pursuits type exercise or a stroll down memory lane. I think that it might be interesting to think about what signature sayings specific soul singers sang.

But it's a whole 'nuther thing if you are asking Mudcatters (of all people) to come up with "in" sayings that your soul group can use in your gigs to show that your group is (to use a long ago retired phrase "hip to the jive".

I showed my 35 year old daughter this thread, and she asked me "Are they serious?". I told her that I thought so, and she shook her head and suggested to me that I suggest to you that if you really don't know what to say to get an audience hyped (meaning "pump them up", meaning "get them enthused about your singing/music") then your best bet is to spend some time watching YouTube videos.

I agree.

But-because I am assuming-that you are really serious, with all due respect, I will also say the following:

Outside of church, the only singers I can recall who recently have said/sung 'Lawd have Mercyyyyyy!' were some reggae singers (names unknown). But they said "Lawdah mercy!" I don't think that's a standard soul saying. But, if it is, it's not only what you say, but how you say it. And that goes for any saying, soul or otherwise.

With regard to "Sock it to me", that's so "old school that the school has been torn down, and so has the apartment building that was built there in its place.

As for "good god all mighty", did you mean "Good Golly Miss Molly"? If so, I'd say that is the name of a Little Richard song and not a standard saying that soul singers say.

With regard to "Can I get a witness"?, my daughter reminded me that this was something gospel singer/composer Kirk Franklin said in (what my daughter referred to as an "ooold" song he had made). The song-"Stomp". The release date-1997. Yep, for some people 1997 is real ooold.

"Everybody say yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah !"
makes me think of Stevie Wonder's 1963 recording "Fingertips". 1963 might have been a good year, but it depends on your audiences whether they'd think is was old or not.

Which brings me to this question, Cappuccino, who is your audience? And who do you want to be your audience?

And here's another question-"How do you want to utilize these "standard soul sayings?"

Again, assuming that you are serious, here are some soulful suggestions from a soul sistah:

Use this call & response technique if you want to get the crowd "pumped up":
Say "Are you with me?" (wait for crowd to yell "Yeah!"

Then you say "I said are you with me?" (crowd yell "Yeah" again, only louder this time).

You could then say "I can't hear you!" (and the crowd yells even louder).

You could then say something like "Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' bout". Or you say something like "Well, alright now".

Another technique to get the audience "hyped" (to raise their energy and yours) is to tell them to "Make some noise".

"Make some noise" means that you want your audience to yell, scream, and "get all excited" (to use the title of a Pointer Sister recording). In other words you want them to "raise their hands in the air, and act like they just don't care", to paraphase a "standard" line from some early hip hop songs.

If you want to recognise someone in the audience, or give props to someone or group or some community, you could say "I wanna give a shout out to_______" Or "Let's give a shout out to _____ ".

If you are introducing a guest singer or musicians you could ask the audience to "Show them some love." Audiences that are "in the know" would know that that means to clap for the artist/s to welcome them on the stage. Presumably, your group has also been "shown some love" (by the audience hand clapping when you went on stage). If there's any other way an audience member shows you some love and you show that audience member some love, that's between you and that person. :o)

So there ya go, Cappuccino. These suggestions might be able to work for you and your group. But-and this is a big butt (I mean a big but :o)-can you say these things without sounding fake? I think this is a real important question, because if you sound fake-if you aren't feelin any of these sayings-I think that you really shouldn't use them.

My advice to you and the other members of your group is not to try to be someone you're not. I think it might be better for y'll to use the techniques you might already know to get the audience with you. And if you want to integrate sayings into your songs, or in between your songs, I think it's best that you create your own signature saying/s. In other words, come up with some sayings that are really you.

What I'm trying to say is that I think you & your group would be better off just singing and talking from your soul. After all, everybody's got (a) soul.

Best wishes,

Azizi