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VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Stax Story (Stax)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
I spent my teenage weekends living a double life. Friday nights, I slipped into my tie-dyes and love beads and headed for Seattle's Eagles Auditorium to see the heavy groups - the psychedelic sounds of San Francisco, the electric blues from London, the bands that were making FM radio a free-form phenomenon of the sixties.
Saturdays were something else altogether. Those were the nights we cruised places like Lake Hills Roller Rink, Parker's Ballroom and the legendary Spanish Castle for female companionship to the soundtrack of the R&B cover bands that defined the sound of Northwest rock back when grunge was still something you used pumice hand soap to get off your hands. The Sonics, The Wailers, The Bards, Don & The Goodtimes, Merilee & The Turnabouts and a legion of others, cranking out music designed to get sweaty to while you negotiated the opportunity to swap spit with some sweet young thing.
The best songs for such purposes were culled from the records of a group of artists that were remarkably consistent no matter which band was on the stage. No night was complete without something by Eddie Floyd, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Booker T. & The MGs and Johnnie Taylor. There were others, for sure, even the occasional original tune, but these were essential. Those of us who loved the songs as much as the scene soon found that when you wanted the real deal, there were a handful of record labels you could count on to deliver time after time. Atlantic was usually good, with Aretha and Wilson. King offered James Brown's proto- funk. The occasional Motown track slipped enough soul grit into the pop lubrication to get the job done. But when you wanted the solid stuff, the hard core southern soul that would make your moves work whether you were in the front line of the dance floor or cuddled up in a dimly lit corner, Stax Records always delivered.
Berry Gordy may have carved Hitsville out of a Detroit studio, but Stax made Memphis, Tennessee, Soulsville, U.S.A. Curiously, although Stax suffered commercially because it made fewer concessions to the white pop market than Gordy's Motown sound, it was, from its inception, far more multi-racial in its origins. Jim Stewart and his sister, Estelle Axton, started the Satellite Record Shop in the lobby of theatre in a part of Memphis that was shifting from white to black, and the music they sold reflected the tastes of the neighbors. They converted the theatre itself into a recording studio, where they intended to record the pop and country sounds that reflected their personal tastes, but once again the white owners' plans were influenced by their black neighbors. When a local DJ, Rufus Thomas, found out there was a new studio in the neighborhood, he dropped by with his daughter Carla, and the rest is soul music history. Rufus and Carla gave the label (still called Satellite Records) its first regional hit with "Cause I Love You," followed by Carla's national breakthrough with "Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes)." An R&B institution was born.
One of the cornerstones of that institution was a man named Booker T. Jones, who was, in fact, not quite a man when he played saxophone on that first Stax effort by Rufus and Carla. Booker T. was a high school kid who hung out in the record store, where he met one of the clerks, a white guitar player named Steve Cropper. Booker T. and Cropper formed the MGs, creating a string of instrumental hits and becoming the backup band for hundreds of releases throughout the sixties. Along with fellow MGs Duck Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr. and writer/producers David Porter and Issac Hayes, Jones and Cropper became the fabled "Stax staff," the heart of the sound of Memphis soul in the sixties.
One or more of the Stax staff have writing credits on 11 of the 17 sixties tracks on disc one of The Stax Story (more about the nine seventies tracks on the disc later), and between them they produced a dozen of the same cuts. Those include some truly monumental moments in the history of soul music, including Otis Redding's "Respect" and "Dock Of The Bay," Sam & Dave's "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Soul Man," Eddie Floyd's "Knock On Wood," Johnny Taylor's "Who's Making Love" and the MG's own "Green Onions" and "Time Is Tight." These songs alone have to be considered the core of any set of great sixties soul hits.
Label owner Jim Stewart's contributions should not be underestimated, either. It's hard to believe that a white guy, whose original interest was in the country music of the 1950's, could produce sixties soul landmarks like the ones found on disc two. With Otis Redding, Stewart turned out "These Arms Of Mine," "Mr. Pitiful," "I've Been Loving You Too Long" and "Satisfaction." That would be a reasonably satisfying career on its own, but he helped Rufus Thomas with "Can Your Monkey Do The Dog," The MGs with "Boot-Leg," the Mar-Keys with "Philly Dog" and blues great Albert King with "Crosscut Saw." When Stewart wasn't at the controls, the Stax staff usually was, and the twenty nine sixties era cuts on disc two are a graduate course in the Stax sound.
In 1969, Albert Bell, the label's black promo man, bought out Estelle Axton and became an equal partner with Stewart. At that point, with a fully integrated ownership, production staff and studio rhythm section, the label began to make a concerted effort to extend its distribution reach and further integrate its audience, not only racially, but geographically. With the addition of former Motown producer Don Davis and a new set of outside arrangers, Bell took the label into new musical territory in order to carve out space in new markets. Over the next couple of years, Jones and Cropper left and a new set of artists assumed the Stax spotlight. Issac Hayes' role became more prominent, not only as a producer and songwriter, but as a performer, scoring hits with "Walk On By," "Never Can Say Goodbye" and the theme from "Shaft" (which appears on disc one). Some acts continued, including Rufus Thomas, the Bar-Kays, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King, while new names appeared on the roster, including groups like the Dramatics and the Soul Children. The Staples Singers light began to shine brighter as a group and as the point of origin for Mavis Stapels, who established herself as a solo act.
The sound changed, though. More dubbing, new musicians and arrangers, a focus on the dance sounds of the seventies all made a difference, but there was perhaps no difference greater than the change in studios from the sloped floor of the old Memphis movie theatre to a variety of locations both in and out of town. Of course, Booker, Steve, Duck and Al were missed, but they had shown the way for a new generation of musicians who were schooled in the signature licks of the original Stax staff musicians. That room had shaped the Stax sound more than most listeners had known, with it's distinctive dimensions, and without that room it became more difficult to distinguish a Stax release from the rest of the records in the market. With the room and the players, the third basic ingredient of the Stax sound was the live session, where what you heard was what you got, even if it meant releasing a glitch or two on a cut. That kind of raw authenticity was critical, and it was lost as time went on. It's preserved on the original releases, though, and it's amplified on disc four of this set, which features 19 live performance tracks by some of the Stax stars, including previously unreleased material from Booker T. & The MGs, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Otis Redding. Those unreleased tracks alone make this set essential for the dedicated fan of sixties soul.
Late in 1975, Stax records closed its doors. The story told in the 98 songs chosen for this box set and its richly annotated and illustrated 64 page booklet was part of music history. Fortunately, the Stax catalog came into the possession of Fantasy Records, which has had one of the best reissue programs in the business, preserving vital pieces of our musical heritage, especially in the area of jazz and R&B, in a series of carefully selected re-releases and well designed boxes. They've done a good deal of good work, but none better than the job they did on this four disc telling of The Stax Story. It's a definitive musical tale of a time, a place and some incredible people. It's also a great excuse to get up and dance 'til you're sweaty.
Track Lists:
Disc One (The Hits): Carla Thomas/Gee Whiz * The Mar-Keys/Last Night * Booker T. & The MGs/Green Onions * Rufus Thomas/Walking The Dog * Otis Redding/Respect * Sam & Dave/Hold On, I'm Comin' * Carla Thomas/B-A-B-Y * Eddie Floyd/Knock On Wood * The Bar-Kays/Soul Finger * Otis & Carla/ Tramp * Albert King/Good Under A Bad Sign * Sam & Dave/Soul Man * Otis Redding/(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay * William Bell & Judy Clay/ Private Number * Johnnie Taylor/Who's Making Love * Booker T. & The MGs/ Time Is Tight * Rufus Thomas/Do The Funky Chicken * Jean Knight/Mr. Big Stuff * The Dramatics/Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get * The Staple Singers/ I'll Take You There * Isaac Hayes/Theme From Shaft * Frederick Knight/ I've Been Lonely (For So Long) * The Staple Singers/I'll Take You There * Mel & Tim/Starting All Over Again * The Soul Children/I'll Be The Other Woman * Shirley Brown/Woman To Woman
Disc Two (Kinda Blue): Rufus & Carla/'Cause I Love You * William Bell/ You Don't Miss Your Water * Otis Redding/These Arms Of Mine * Rufus Thomas/Can Your Monkey Do The Dog * Barbara & The Browns/Big Party * Rufus Thomas/Jump Back * Otis Redding/Mr. Pitiful * David Porter/Can't See You When I Want To * Booker T. & The MGs/Boot-Leg * Otis Redding/ I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) * The Astors/Candy * The Mad Lads/I Want Someone * The Mar-Keys/Philly Dog * Otis Redding/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction * Eddie Floyd/Things Get Better * Carla Thomas/Let Me Be Good To You * Ruby Johnson/I'll Run Your Hurt Away * Mable John/ Your Good Thing (Is About To End) * The Mad Lads/Patch My Heart * Albert King/Crosscut Saw * Sam & Dave/I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down * Booker T. & The MGs/Groovin' * The Bar-Kays/Give Everybody Some * Albert King/Cold Feet * Sam & Dave/I Thank You * Ollie & The Nightingales/I Got A Sure Thing * Eddie Floyd/Big Bird * William Bell/A Tribute To A King * Johnnie Taylor/I Ain't Particular
Disc Three (Finger-Snappin' Good): Booker T. & The MGs/Soul Limbo * Eddie Floyd/I've Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do) * Linda Lyndell/What A Man * Jimmy Hughes/I Like Everything About You * William Bell/I Forgot To Be Your Lover * Carla Thomas/I Like What You're Doing (To Me) * The Emotions/So I Can Love You * Isaac Hayes/Walk On By * Roebuck "Pop" Staples/Black Boy * Mavis Staples/I Have Learned To Do Without You * The T.S.U. Toronados/Play The Music Toronados * Isaac Hayes/Never Can Say Goodbye * Rufus Thomas/The Breakdown (Part 1) * The Bar-Kays/Son Of Shaft * Little Milton/That's What Love Will Make You Do * The Dramatics/In The Rain * Soul Children/Hearsay * Isaac Hayes & David Porter/Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One) * The Temprees/Dedicated To The One I Love * Albert King/Breaking Up Somebody's Home * Johnnie Taylor/I Believe In You (You Believe In Me) * Veda Brown/Short Stopping * Johnnie Taylor/Cheaper To Keep Her * The Staple Singers/If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)
Disc Four (Live!): Booker T. & The MGs/Green Onions * Eddie Floyd/Raise Your Hand * Carla Thomas/Something Good (Is Going To Happen To You) * The Mar-Keys/Grab This Thing (Part 1) * Rufus Thomas (The Dog) * William Bell/You Don't Miss Your Water * Sam & Dave/Soothe Me * Sam & Dave/ You Don't Know Like I Know * Otis Redding/Shake * Otis Redding/Try A Little Tenderness * The Staple Singers/Oh La De Da * Rufus Thomas/(Do The) Push And Pull (Part 1) * Johnnie Taylor/Jody's Got Your Girl And Gone * Albert King/Killing Floor * Albert King/Blues Power * The Emotions/Show Me How * Booker T. & The MGs/Hang 'Em High * Isaac Hayes/Theme From Shaft * Isaac Hayes/Theme From The Men
© 2001 - Shaun Dale