Rufus Thomas - Do The Funky Chicken CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

As the 1960s wore on, the Stax label focused on current artists such as Otis Redding and Booker T and the M.G.'s while Rufus Thomas, an early hit maker for the label, was being left behind. Now in his early 50s, Thomas had been left off the label's tour of Europe — a move he found insulting — and his 1968 cover of Eddie Floyd's "Funky Mississippi" was recorded for an album that was never released. Undeterred, Thomas returned to the studio in 1969, backed by his son Marvell and members of the Bar-Kays to record his own "Do The Funky Chicken." Based on a dance, it became the title track for his new album and was a big hit for Thomas, hitting number 5 on the R&B charts.

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The Dramatics - Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

Toward the end of the 1960s, Stax vice president Al Bell diversified his talent pool by looking outside of Memphis, Tennessee for his artists. They went to Detroit, home of their competitor, the legendary Motown Records, to bring producer Don Davis down to Memphis. Initially, Davis worked with Carla Thomas and then Johnnie Taylor, but by the end of 1969, Davis had produced the first Stax single by another Detroit import, The Dramatics on the label's Volt imprint.

When that single failed to chart, Davis released the group from their contract and they went back to Detroit to work with songwriter Tony Hester. Hester came up with some great songs for the group and Davis resigned them, but let Hester handle the production chores. His first single with the group, "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get," became not only the title of the group's first Stax album, but also hit number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the R&B charts. After nearly a decade, the group finally hit big.

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Shirley Brown - Woman To Woman CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

After being discovered by blues legend Albert King at age 14, Shirley Brown served as his opening act on an off for the next 13 years. After a failed single in the early 1970s, King managed to get Brown a tryout with the Stax label where he had some success himself. Recognizing the similarities between Brown's voice and Aretha Franklin's, the label had her record a demo featuring some of Franklin's biggest hits, including "Respect" and "Rock Steady." It was the single, "Woman To Woman," that became Brown's first hit, however, and the title track of her first LP for the label.

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The Staple Singers - Be Altitude: Respect Yourself CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

Few groups have had the longevity of the Staple Singers. Fewer yet have managed to do it while completely changing styles more than once. The Staple Singers started out as a gospel group in the 1950s, before turning to folk music and protest songs in the 1960s. After signing with Stax in the late 1960s, the Staple Singers moved from protest music to "message music," as Mavis Staples put it. The songs were still socially conscious, but didn't beat the listener over the head with their message. The music also infused more of a soul and R&B flavor to it. The pinnacle of this period arguably came with Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, which featured three top-ten R&B hits.

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Johnnie Taylor - Taylored In Silk CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

By the early 1970s, the late Johnnie Taylor's sound had evolved from gospel singer to blues singer (he was known as Johnnie Taylor The Blues Wailer for a time) to smooth soul singer. Producer Don Davis had been brought in from Detroit to try and create a hybrid between the legendary Motown and Stax sounds, the results of which are plentiful on 1973's Taylored In Silk.

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Booker T. And The M.G.'s - McLemore Avenue CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

Booker T. and the M.G.'s cut their teeth as the house band for Stax Records, backing legendary soul and R&B acts such as Otis Redding and Sam & Dave and helping to define the Memphis sound. They also released a number of instrumental singles and albums, but it was keyboardist Booker T. Jones' interest in the Beatles that led the band to one of their more ambitious projects, McLemore Avenue.

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