Customer Reviews
Have I gone & staxed my soul., - By: bastardbunny, 25 Sep 2008 
Clambering out of my bat cave I stumbled into,no not robin,but this box set.It's a blinder.Hay 'mr.big stuff''Time is tight'can I do the'soul limbo."A what am I going on about back there",here's the big stuff it's a great box set from stax.Iv not got that much soul,so most of it was new to me,what a treat. P.S. sorry I have nothing to add as from where Stax came from,but I am a smart arse!
If You Like Music, Soul Music - By: V. Thomas, 25 Jul 2008 If you are a serious Soul fan you will have most of these tracks already.
If you are a Music fan you will be familiar with most of the twenty or so Stax artist featured on this fifty track CD.
This is no Greatest Hits Collection (plenty of them here on Amazon)but a wonderful insight into one of the greatest Record Labels of the sixties & early seventies.
If you like Music, Soul Music, then this is a worthy addition to any CD Collection
In a music store near you - By: Richard, 15 Apr 2008 Not fot the first time we get a Stax retrospective but here it comes with the half century marker.
Like the other famous Memphis label-Sun-the label concentrated on black music after its beginnings as a country music label called Satellite.
The first hit single was by Carla Thomas daugter of Rufus who'd once been on Sun & who made the first Stax single as a duet with Carla.
Gee Whiz strraddled the boundaries between high school pop & R & B & has been much covered.
Sun was actually ready to set as Stax set the pace for what was to followin the 60s which was even blacker music & the label would eventually be sold out to the corporatesin the 70s
The reissue programs would come shortly & it never ends
The Premier Soul label - By: Andy Edwards, 09 Jun 2007 Stax was responsible for the sound we have come to call Soul. Curiously for a Black Music institution, it's success was a result of a multi racial mix (Booker T & the MGs were 2 Black, 2 White for example), & there's plenty of evidence of the link between R & B & Country musicin Stax output - those being the dominant musical genresin the South & especially Memphis.
If you are a Soul music fan, then you may have many of these tracksin your collection & be familiar with most, but put together like this, these 50 tracks leave no-onein any doubt that here was a musical phenemenon.
This is music from an era where the radio was king & getting a song played was the key to getting a hit record. In the early days, Stax perfected the art of producing songs that not only matched the 3 minute song format, but also had something to say - that was usually about love & loss, although you'll also find instrumentals & dance tunes.
The death of Otis Redding is often cited as a watershed for Stax. There were however, other factors which also forced the label to change. The licensing deal that had existed with Atlantic was discovered to have given the rights to all the Stax songs to Atlantic, which meant effectively, the label had no back catalogue. Add to that the increasein racial tension following the death of Martin Luther King & you had a set of circumstances which pushed Stax into a different direction, albeit one that would take a couple of years to become fully apparent.
So, this compilation journeys from "Gee Whiz" & it's innocence, through the emotion of Otis & his peers & on to the orchestral Soul of Isaac Hayes & the Civil Rights anthems of The Staple Singers, before something of a return to the roots with The Soul Children & Shirley Brown. It is journey you will find worth taking
Stax of timeless brilliance. - By: russell clarke, 28 Apr 2007 Would you believe that Stax started as a country label but through gospel almost inadvertently gained an interestin soul music. Not bad for a label that along with the more commercially popular Motown is the most influentialin black music( Though you could throwin reggae labels like Trojan if you were feeling picky )It's initial success rooted from the deep South with it's heavy gospel influence usheredin one revolutionin black music but after the death of Otis Reddingin 1967 & the disbanding of Sam & Dave, the label marshalled a new brand of soul all over again led by Isaac Hayes. It ,s this ability to adapt & innovate that makes this such an important label , as well as the brilliant music of course.
Jim Stewart along with Estelle Axton founded the labelin Memphis as "Satellite " records but it wasn't till 1961 that the label achieved it's first top ten hit with the gospel harmonies of "Gee Whiz( Look At His Eyes)" by Carla Thomas. It was the formation of it'sin house rhythm section Booker T & the MG,s that really nailed the Stax sound . The horn section , which later became The Memphis horns , provided brassy backing, funked up & slinky, & their three tracks-"Green Onions " , Soul Limbo" (Or the cricket music as it was knownin my formative years) & "Time Is Tight"- on this fifty track compilation are instantly recognisable classics .
The emergence of Otis Redding , a singer of truly outstanding emotive talent , gave the label further credence , not to mention some of the songs he wrote -"Respect" & the ever superb "(Sittin On) The Dock Of The Bay"- a song that still gives me goose bumps bigger than maltesers. Add to that the emollient tones of Sam & Dave , the bluesy Albert King , & the graceful ballads of William Bell & the label had a formidable array of talent .
Even after Booker T & the MG,s influence waned, at least on the playing side( the band did more administrative work than session playing as the sixties merged into the seventies) the label under the guidance of Al Bell continued to prosper & not just that either. Former songwriter, producer & session player Isaac Hayes became an artistin his own right mixing up funk , jazz , soul & mellifluous easy listening to startling & groundbreaking effect . The albums "Shaft" ( Which kick started the blaxploitation movement & meant Stax became central to black America's disenchantment with society & thosein power ) & "Hot Buttered Soul" ( A work of genius which should bein any albums to hear before you die list) sold millions of copies . Then there were The Staples Singers commercial gospel sound , the close knit harmonies of Mel & Tim, the more classic Stax Soul Children & oddities like the swinging irreducible "Mr Big Stuff".
Something went badly wrong somewhere however , as the label was declared bankruptin 1975 amid allegations of financial corruption & mis-management. In 1977 all Stax,s assets , including all contracts & masters were purchased by a group who then licensed "Fantasy" records to handle all Stax product (as they put it) It may be product to some but to most , it's timeless evocative brilliance & it's good to know that their artists & legacy is still being appreciated today & that's why this release is the least this defining label deserves.
