Out Now: Stax Artist Series Vinyl

As you surely must know by now, 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 six-pack of additional classic Stax releases on vinyl.

Wanna know which ones they are? That can be arranged!

Booker T & The MGs, HIP HUG HER: Five years and several albums down the line from GREEN ONIONS, this album’s title cut provided Booker T. Jones and his M.G.’s with the biggest hit single since – you guessed it – “Green Onions,” but they also found further success with their cover of The Young Rascals’ “Groovin’,” which hit #21 on the pop charts and #10 on the R&B Singles chart.

Albert King, BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN: If you don’t know the title cut of this album, then we have to reasonably presume that you don’t know the work of Albert King in any capacity at all. Fortunately, this is the must-own album from King’s back catalog, so if you don’t already have it in your collection, it’s time to fix that situation

Otis Redding, THE GREAT OTIS REDDING SINGS SOUL BALLADS / THE SOUL ALBUM: Both of these albums hit #3 on the R&B Albums chart, which is probably incidental to why they’re both being reissued this week, but it’s certainly a nice happy coincidence. The former album is notable for including Redding’s first top-10 R&B single, “Mr. Pitiful,” though you’ll likely also recognize its second single, “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” which hit #18 on the R&B Singles chart. THE SOUL ALBUM, meanwhile, featured just the one hit – “Just One More Day” – but it’s still a four-star album as far as AllMusic.com is concerned.

Sam & Dave, DOUBLE DYNAMITE: Another classic effort from Sam Moore and Dave Prater, this one kicking off with the top-10 R&B single “You Got Me Hummin’,” written by Isaac Hayes and Dave

Porter. In fact, there are two other top-10 R&B singles in the mix as well: “Said I Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody” and “When Something is Wrong with My Baby.”

Carla Thomas, CARLA: Thomas’s first and only top-10 R&B album, this LP is known for its two biggest hits, “Let Me Be Good to You,” which was a minor pop hit (#62) and a pretty substantial R&B hit (#1), and “B-A-B-Y,” which gave Thomas her first top-20 hit on the pop charts since 1960’s “Gee Whiz.” Typically, however, it was an even bigger hit on the R&B chart, climbing all the way to #3.