Out Now: Stax Artist Series
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to frequent visitors to Rhino.com that this year marks the 60th anniversary of Stax Records – we’ve mentioned it before, and we’ve also made a point of hyping how we’ve teamed with the fine folks at the Concord Music Group to celebrate the label turning the big 6-0 – but in case you haven’t been checking the “Coming Soon” calendar, it may be news to you that we’ve just reissued a quartet of classic Stax releases on vinyl.
Wanna know which ones they are? That can be arranged!
Sam and Dave, SOUL MEN: Get it on: Amazon || Rhino
The third album from Sam Moore and Dave Prater, SOUL MEN was the LP that definitively took the duo beyond R&B success and into the pop mainstream, with the title track – well, the song title isn’t pluralized, but close enough – hitting #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s easily the most well-known number on the album, thanks to being covered by The Blues Brothers in the ‘70s, but the whole thing is great, with two additional Isaac Hayes / David Porter compositions (“May I Baby” and “Don’t Knock It”), a couple of outstanding ballads (“Just Keep Holding On” and “I’ve Seen What Loneliness Can Do”), and much more.
SPOTIFY: Listen here
Booker T. and the M.G.s, GREEN ONIONS: Get it on: Amazon || Rhino
Booker T. Jones’ organ playing may be prominent, but it’s far from the only memorable instrumental performance going on in the grooves of this album: you’ve got also got Steve Cropper’s guitar, Al Jackson, Jr.’s drums, and Lewie Steinberg’s upright bass, too. In short, this is just all-around great music…and there’s not a single word to be found anywhere. Clearly, it’s the album’s title track that’s made the most impact over the years – it’s been covered by everyone from the Blues Brothers to Roy Buchanan – but its semi-sequel, “Mo’ Onions,” was a minor hit single as well. Then you’ve also got takes on “I Got a Woman,” “Twist and Shout,” and “Stranger on the Shore,” along with versions of Doc Pomus’s “Lonely Avenue,” Smokey Robinson’s “One Who Really Loves You,” and…well, anyway, there’s a reason why AllMusic.com gave it four and a half out of five stars.
SPOTIFY: Listen here
Rufus Thomas, WALKING THE DOG: Get it on: Amazon || Rhino
Thomas, a Memphis soul legend and one of the first Stax all-stars, delivered one of the great R&B hits of all time with this album’s title track, which hit #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the R&B singles chart. Not one to let this canine recognition factor go to waste, Thomas promptly released a second single, “The Dog,” which failed to duplicate its predecessor’s success, only hitting #87, but “Can Your Monkey Do The Dog” hit #48 a few months later, so Thomas’s persistence with canine themes paid off slightly. But don’t think that the album’s best material is limited solely to man’s best friend: you also get Thomas’s classic takes on such songs as “Boom Boom,” “Land of 1,000 Dances,” and “Ya-Ya,” as well as Thomas originals like “You Said,” “It’s Aw’rite,” and his closing one-two punch, “’Cause I Love You” and “I Want to Be Loved.” The whole affair is a classic slab of mid-‘60s soul.
SPOTIFY: Listen here
Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, KING & QUEEN: Get it on: Amazon || Rhino
Depending on who you believe, King & Queen either took three days or six days to record, but however long the sessions required, the resulting album featured 10 covers and a new number entitled “Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis,” which – believe it or not – was written specifically for the album by Redding and Al Bell. The first single, “Tramp,” was a top-40 pop hit (#26) and a top-10 R&B single (#2), and the second single, “Knock on Wood,” achieved the same, hitting #30 and #8, respectively. Not bad for a first time out together. If only there had been a second, but Redding was killed in a plane crash before it could happen.
SPOTIFY: Listen here
