It's never too late....... More than 30 years after Stax-Volt last published, at last I have my hands on all three volumes of 'The Complete...'. The individual volumes have some great music, not all of which found its way around the world. Hearing great music for the first time long after the label's demise is a mixture of elation tinged with regret. Yet the breadth of the three volumes is astonishing and encompasses a range of talent, unique yet all related through the label (of course) and mostly through the session/backing musicians. If you can, buy all three volumes of this amazing collection and then turn the music up. And see how quickly your smile turns to a broad and happy grin. Enjoy.
The complete Stax/Volt singles 1959-1968 It's impossible to give this less than 5 stars, this is what music is all about, timeless pieces of music, and while listen to this I go through memory lane time and time again
With Motown , not instead of Along with Motown, Stax was home to the legends of soul. Sure the sets get weaker with volumes 2 and 3 , but how could you own one without the others. Even some of the worst tracks from Stax are 90 % better than what was played on the radio at the time.
Do you really want this? If you're reading this, you probably don't need me to tell you about how great the music was that came out of Stax records in the 60s. What you probably do want to know is if you should plunk down $100 of your hard-earned money for this box set.
If you're not already a fan of Stax or 60s soul, this probably isn't the best place to start. Check out the 4-disc Stax Story, which includes 3 discs of primo Memphis soul and a disc of killer live tracks. If you're left wanting more, this singles collection is the next step.
Next, you should know that you're not getting nine discs of solid gold. There is some filler, but amazingly little. If you enjoy discovering obscure or hidden nuggets, there's a whole gold mine waiting for you here. During the years covered here, the quality control at Stax seems to have been set at an incredibly high level.
Finally, note the dates in the title. This set ends in 1968, when Stax records dissolved its partnership with Atlantic. This box is released by Atlantic, so it also ends in 1968, although Stax continued releasing music into the mid-70s. This is something that will drive completists crazy, although it's not a deal-breaker, at least in my opinion. Following Otis Redding's death in 1968, the music coming out of Stax gradually became smoother and more orchestrated, so the music collected here is mostly the grittier, hard-grooving Stax. That said, though, this set won't get you the gems that did come out of late period Stax, so if you're looking for classics like the Staples Singers' "Respect Yourself" or "I'll Take You There," Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff," Isaac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft," or Linda Lydell's "What a Man"--all classic, well known songs--you won't find them here.
Stax/Volt is monumental! "Knock On Wood", "Soul Man", "Gee Whiz", "Green Onions," "Last Night", "Hold On I'm Comin'", "Walkin' The Dog" and "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay." What do all these songs have in common? Sure, they're great soul and rhythm & blues tunes, but something more. What do Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Otis Redding and Albert King have in common? Rhythm & blues and soul superstars, yes, but that same something is also true. These songs and these artists all recorded for the "little label that could": STAX. In the '60s, Stax became a local R&B music giant in Memphis. The company was founded and ran by Jim Stewart, a country fiddle player and former banker, who was first exposed to R&B when he recorded a local doo-wop group called the Veltones with their song, "Fool In Love." As Rufus Thomas a local disc jockey heard the song, he and daughter Carla cut "Cause I Love You", a great R&B gem for Jim. When the record got out, Atlantic Records heard this fresh new sound and got in on the distribution deal with Stax that would exist as a handshake deal to a documented deal up until May 1968. What also happened during that time? Musical history.
At nine CDs, this set offers the complete history of what made Stax absolutely phenomenal. As you listen all the way through, hopefully not all in one sitting since it's quite exhaustive unless you end up loving it that much, you'll notice as you start from disc one the experimental stages at trying to find and develop a distinct sound and progressing towards it. Some of the songs on disc four display it and from there on all the way to disc nine, it's there and ever-driving as can be. This is the ultimate example at what a box set is all about: covering as much material as possible. That doesn't even begin to describe what's presented here; it's too good because it is what it is: complete. There are 244 tracks in all and each CD has 25+ tracks clocking in with 70+ minutes of music on each. It's complete all right for it features every A-side released by Stax and the subsidiary Volt along with a few well-known B-sides. That means every Stax or Volt record released by the stars like Rufus Thomas, ("Walkin' The Dog", "Can Your Monkey Do The Dog", "Jump Back", "Sophisticated Sissy", etc.), Carla Thomas ("Gee Whiz", "B-A-B-Y", "Stop! Look What You're Doin'", "Pick Up The Pieces", etc.), Otis Redding ("These Arms of Mine", "Mr. Pitiful", "Respect", "Try a Little Tenderness", etc.), Booker T. & the MGs ("Green Onions", "Jelly Bread", "My Sweet Potato", "Hip-Hug Her", etc.), Sam & Dave ("You Don't Know Like I Know", "Hold On! I'm Comin', "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby", "Soul Man", etc.), Eddie Floyd ("Things Get Better", "Knock On Wood", "Raise Your Hand", "Big Bird", etc.), William Bell ("You Don't Miss Your Water", "Never Like This Before", "Share What You Got", "Eloise Hang On In There", etc.), Albert King ("Laundromat Blues", "Crosscut Saw", "Born Under A Bad Sign", "Cold Feet", etc.) plus so many, many more. So if you know that those artists who were very consistent at Stax, there's pratically a full CD's worth of their songs here spread throughout the nine discs. Whether they were hits or not, everything is here including some unusual numbers that seem to break the normal Stax scheme like Macy Skipper's "Goofin' Off" which is humorous dee-jay kind of track, Cheryl and Pam Johnson's "That's My Guy", which sounds like a show-bizzy, TV commercial kind of tune, Nick Charles' "Sunday Jealous" and "The Three Dogwoods" which sound like soft, dry pop songs of that era, and the Del-Rays' "Don't Let Her Be Your Baby" which tries to emulate the Beatles or the Dave Clark Five. This has got everything, so calling all collectors! It comes with a little 80-page book that could be worth about $15 separately so getting this with music is a bargain. The book has liner notes about the artits, the music, some real nice photos of the stars plus a track by track listing including the original catalog number and chart position (for those applicable) for each song.
Is it worth it? Absoultely. Pricey, but worth it. Finding this kind of music is getting rarer and rarer. Especially considering that about less than of these tracks didn't chart at all. Sure, the well-known hits can be found on smaller collections. This is the only collection that I know that has all the other stuff with it. Don't worry about parting with that kind of money. Being a musician and music fan, I can't think of a better investment, and if it's something you really enjoy, that makes it even more worthwhile. Here they are preserved on CD forever.
It's more than music to listen to. It's music you can dance to and groove to. Just listen to the sizzlin' guitars, the deep, pumping bass, the tight drums, the soulfulness of the vocalists and just the whole formula of each song. The sound quality is not good...it's perfect! Though everything is in big fat mono, since these were from the master tapes used on the original 45s (hence "singles" in the name), the sound is crisp and crystal clear. It sounds amazing on a system with adjustable bass output. Just crank that bass up, baby; it's practically what makes R&B. Every song is worth listening to for they help tell the story of Stax. They are all little gems. If a record didn't chart at all or it charted very low, so what? These people made music at leisurely paces and were great improvisers and just wanted to get out there, jam and do their own thing. If it sold and it was a hit, fantastic. If not, well, it was worth a shot. There is a good balance of the fast songs as well as the slow ballads. These are practically the unsung heroes of soul music; absoultely raw, gritty, rock-solid, vital and energetic they were. It was the opposite of Motown, their seemingly unbeatable giant of a competitor that was more slick and stylized in soul music. What's important lies in the musicality of the musicians and singers. Truly, this is what soul music is all about; it tells a story and expresses every human being's innermost and outermost feelings. Musicians can learn so much from this, for everyone involved here shows true musicianship. The thing was to make people appreciate and, yes, make them move to it. You can laugh with it, cry with it, and feel absolutely "soulified." It could make everyone, young and old, black and white, get up and dance and throw their cares away. It didn't matter what they were singing like Rufus Thomas on songs that have silly-sounding titles or lyrics like "Somebody Stole My Dog", or "I Think I Made A Boo Boo", you can just get up and let the driving music move you. You can laugh, but you'll find that you're laughing because it makes you feel good. So, they weren't Dylan or Lennon & McCartney. One listen to this entire set is all it takes, and you're hooked. Give this to a six year old and he or she will be a fan for life. Really, you'll never get tired of this music. The '60s were a time of social change and civil rights awareness. If only this music could have been more well-known and all these songs could have been hits, this would have brought everyone together to dance the day and night away. There's nothing like soul music. What more is there to say except that if you would like to have just one box set for your music collection, you just found a gold mine. That being said, if American music was the equivalent of a jewelry collection, all these songs would be the rare, precious and priceless gems. So, to quote from a Mar-Keys' song, "grab this thing" because you'll want to keep it forever. It is thee essential and complete relevance of why Stax was the "little label that could"...and did!
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