Stax 50th: 50th Anniversary Celebration
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Free Music Notes for Stax 50th: 50th Anniversary Celebration
Free Music Review: Memphis Black Gold!
Hit: 5 Stars
This 2007 release of Stax Records,the 50th anniversary celebration,a two disc set(taken from the original four),is a must have for fans of the Memphis Sound,the city from which Stax Records originated.
The label was started by a white country boy/fiddle player by the name of Jim Stewart(not the actor)in 1957.He had no interest in black music per se and originally issued a few rockabilly,country and pop tunes on the label first called Satellite records.A year later his sister,Estelle Axton,became a partner in his business venture.In /59 he temporarily moved the studio out of Memphis only to relocate back in Memphis a few months later.In the meantime he released his first black and biggest selling record to date,called "Fool for Love" by the Veltones.In 1960 he met with a local black DJ and part time singer Rufus Thomas.That year he and his daughter Carla would record "Cause I Love You",then a band the Mar-Keys would come with the next big hit"Last Night".Things were going well for Stewart and from about /61 onward he would release purely all black acts/material.However a lawsuit by a California company with the same name of Satellite Records forced Stewart to change the company name to Stax(culled from STewart and AXton).Stewart also clinched a distribution deal with Atlantic records and Stax finally got national exposure in the record stores.
Stax like other labels created subsidiaries for their record distribution with such names as Volt,Chalice and Hip to name a few.This was to allay fears by radio stations of payola should they be questioned as to why they were playing so many songs from just one label.
The break from Atlantic records as a distributor came in 1968.They had been sold the previous year to Warner Bros and their lawyers pointed out some fine print in the original contract that said after the contract expired all the original masters they had been distributing,would suddenly revert back to THEM!? Some fine print.With that disheartening news Stewart decided to sell out Stax to Gulf & Western and even though he would stick around in a more or less advisory capacity for a while,his sister pulled out completely.With the soured Atlantic split not only would the(about)mid/68 and previous material be pulled out of Stax's control,but also the artists themselves;Sam and Dave,for example,a huge loss.To top this Stax's biggest star Otis Redding,as you know,died in a place crash in/67.
However new artists would slowly but surely fill the void lost by these artists,with such acts as Johnny Taylor,Isaac Hayes,The Dramatics and The Staple Singers,to name a few.
Concord Records today owns the Stax(post/68)catalogue and they join the best of those years with the best of licensed issues from Atlantic for the pre/68 time period in this set,to a get a fuller and more complete picture of just what Stax accomplished.Disc 1 has some greats like,"Gee Whiz",Carla Thomas,""Walking the Dog",Rufus Thomas,"Green Onions",Booker T and the MGs,"Soul Finger",The Bar-Keys,"Soul Man",Sam and Dave and many more.On Disc Two we find "Time is Tight",Booker T,"Do the Funky Chicken",Rufus Thomas,"Respect Yourself"and "I'll Take you There"by the Staple Singers,""Mr Big Stuff",Jean Knight","Theme from Shaft",Isaac Hayes,"What you see is What you get" by the Dramatics,and many others.
This 2 CD set is highly recommended for that unique Memphis Sound Stax created way back in the day and for the unique artists that contributed to it.Motown had the moniker "Hitsville USA",while Stax had "Soulsville,USA" as theirs.Soul is an apt word as there is more of that here than on a size 20 running shoe! Many of these songs are rare and hard to find so I suggest you grab this set up while the getting is good,because what you see is definitely what you get!
Free Music Review: Two and a half magic hours
Hit: 5 Stars
When "The Summer of Love" enters the conversation, most of us mean San Francisco, 1967. Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead. Be-Ins. Flower Power. Sgt. Pepper.
If by "love" we mean white kids from all over the country convening in urban crash pads --- well, that sets the bar pretty low, doesn't it? Given the opportunity, we could have done that. A lot of us would, even now. Just tell us where to show up.
A year before Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed there, it was a lot harder to show the love in Memphis. And yet, in an ancient movie theater in South Memphis, black and white musicians made some of the most inspired music we'll ever hear.
Let Motown own the slicker-than-snail-snot "commercial" franchise of urban black music.
And nine bows to Atlantic, with 18 singles on the Billboard Hot One Hundred Charts in the late Spring of 1967 --- ranging from Aretha Franklin doing the unofficial black national anthem ("Respect") to the white Long Island band, the Young Rascals. The only other competition Stax had in this rarified interracial zone in the late `60s: Sly & the Family Stone.
At Stax, something wonderful flourished, and it's in the grooves for all to hear --- starting with an interracial house band backing up such megawatt soul signers as Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Rufus Thomas and Eddie Floyd. Their influences were various: rock, pop, country, blues. Mixed together, they produced music that was at once familiar and not --- music that jarred the ear just enough that you had to listen to it.
But "produced" isn't quite the right word. At Stax, they mostly recorded "live." Even when they didn't, the theater's acoustics made music sound "live." As a result, you heard an excitement --- a vibrancy --- in these records that was available nowhere else in American popular music. Just listen to one of the 50 songs on the Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration when the horns --- horns! --- kick in and you'll remember how exciting music could be.
There was so much talent on the label it was able to survive the December '67 plane crash that killed Otis Redding and two-thirds of his backup band. The reason: Stax had the Staples Singers coming on strong. And Stax had Issac Hayes.
You remember "Shaft" --- "can you dig it?" But Hayes also self-produced "Hot Buttered Soul", a record that featured an unlikely 18-minute version of "By the Time I Got to Phoenix." This was as radically different from `60s pop music as Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On."
This two-CD boxed set has hits galore: "Green Onions", "I've Been Loving You Too Long", "Knock on Wood", "Born Under a Bad Sign" and "Respect Yourself." It also has songs you don't know, oddities that sure sound like hits.
The through-line: men and women singing one love song after another. The music can be raw --- loss makes for even better songs than happiness --- but I don't think I'm making it up when I say the primary ingredient of that music is love. First, of course, love of music, pure and simple. But more, love of the historical moment, love of the knowledge that when we're creating together, there's no reason we can't get along.
This Stax set is testimony to a grand idea, now honored too often only with empty words. It's also great fun, music that holds its own with the best pop this country has ever produced --- music so enjoyable you can forget the moral it contains.
Free Music Review: One of the best soul compilations ever
Hit: 5 Stars
This set is just awesome with two CD spanning the songs of the various artists who recorded for Stax record company during the 60s until it was sold in the mid 70s. Many great and popular black artists made their names through Stax like Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Booker T, and Isaac Hayes to name a few. It features a few songs of each of Stax top artists on two CDs and 50 songs. The thing about Stax is, that it may not have recorded the biggest hits like Atlantic or Capitol records but Stax helped open the gate for black performers and helped expose them to a wider audience during a time period where it was very hard for a black performer to hit the top 10 on the billboard. Soul music was a new genre so it was risky to start a record label for this new concept, but it ended up working out and exposing people to these new performers. Stax records allowed labels like Motown and performers like James Brown and Al Green to become famous and successful because of their promotion of this new music and also helped decrease prejudice in the music industry and allowed other record labels to see black artists could be as successful and productive as white ones. Stax also had some great songs, even if they didn't have many number ones like Booker Ts Green Onions or Otis Redding's sitting on the dock. Stax led the music industry when it came to Soul, and had many singers who were full of energy and talent. Stax artists had a distinguishable sound that is described in the booklet, that makes them unique. The booklet is very detailed and one of the best booklets I've seen in a while. It has the entire Stax history and mini biographies on the different groups that performed their as well as tons of pictures. Its 50 pages and most companies just slop down the songs and their length and maybe a picture or two to give us a 2 page booklet, but this company cared enough to give us a true collection, with 50 great songs from a variety of talented and soulful artists, and the songs sound better than ever today, and Stax will always be one of my favorite record labels.Free Music Review: Stax Up Very Nicely Indeed
Hit: 5 Stars
When I was coming up, getting my feet wet in R&B, soul, and blues, the word Stax was synonymous with quality and authenticity. If it came from Stax, you were almost certainly assured of getting the genuine article - not a copy of a copy of a copy. Stax certainly had its share of breakout stars, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers - acts that got national approbation.
After the headliners came a group of equally talented performers who were minor deities in R&B circles - Booker T. & the MGs, Albert King, Carla Thomas, and Johnnie Taylor among them. Late arrivals to this material may be interested to learn what Walkin' the Dog - Rufus Thomas - sounded like before the Stones cashed in. There are multiple wonderful surprises on this 2-CD set - from Little Milton - That's What Love Will Make You Do - to - Jody's Got Your Girl And Gone - Johnnie Taylor - to the priceless - Your Good Thing Is About To End - Mable John.
If you want the material that broke out you'll be more than satisfied - Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight - and the irresistible - Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get - The Dramatics - not to mention classics by artists previously listed. But the real fun is digging way down into material you've most likely never heard - Candy - The Astors - just great! About the only disappointment this terrific set has to offer is discovering that Isaac Hayes just doesn't hold up very well. His voice is glorious, but the delivery is goopy and the over-arrangements intolerable.
Buy now, think later! 2-CDs - which cleverly add up to 50 tracks (50th Anniversary Edition), sturdy box, excellent booklet. I simply cannot imagine where you could find more for less - this wonderful collection could easily provide the foundation for a really solid, and delightful, collection. Switchin' labels on the tables, this assortment Stax up real nice.
Free Music Review: The best of classic Memphis soul
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought this package after visiting the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis. I've always enjoyed the old soul sound from the 60's, as performed by people like Sam and Dave, Otis Redding and many others. What I hadn't realized until touring the museum was that all this great music was truly produced out of love by a relatively small group of musicians and producers in an old abandoned theater they'd converted into a studio from scratch. For those not in a position to tour the museum, this album tells the story not only in printed word but with fifty of the best known hits they recorded. Read through the track listing and you'll see what I mean. And one thing about Stax, since the musicians and the artists worked together almost as a family, chances are if you like a song by one artist, you'll like them all. Among the best tracks here are Otis Redding's I've Been Loving You Too Long, Johnnie Taylor's Who's Making Love and the late Isaac Hayes' mind blowing Theme From Shaft. There are also some long forgotten gems like William Bell's You Don't Miss Your Water and Mel and Tim's Starting All Over Again. The Stax 50th Anniversary Collection is great music that needs to be heard not only for its historical place in popular culture, but also because it's as much fun to listen to now as it was thirty, forty and fifty years ago. And if you're not familiar with the story behind the music, the booklet provided will shed some light into the blood, sweat and tears that was Stax records. Plus, the cover has a really neat hologram of the famous Stax logo. You can actually make the fingers snap by moving the box! And finally, after listening I highly recommend you find time to tour the museum in Soulsville, Memphis, Tennessee. It's outstanding!