"Stax '68: A Memphis Story" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring 134 US-Single Sides by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Shirley Walton, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Mable John, Rufus Thomas, Jeanne & The Darlings, Derek Martin, Linda Lyndell, Isaac Hayes, The Mad Lads, Bar Kays, Albert King, Johnnie Taylor, Eddie Henderson Quartet, Booker T. & The MG's, Eddie Floyd, Delaney & Bonnie, Johnny Daye, Bobby Whitlock, Judy Clay, The Delrays, The Aardvarks, Fresh Air, The Staple Singers, Ollie & The Nightingales, The Soul Children, Charmells, Southwest F.O.B., The Village Sound, Jimmy Hughes, Lindell Hill, The Goodees, Dino & Doc and more on Stax, Volt, Enterprise, Arch, Magic Touch and Hip Records (October 2018 USA Craft Recordings/Stax 5CD 134-Track Book Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATINGS: **** Music, **** Presentation, ***** Audio

"…It's Been A Long Time Coming…"

Craft Recordings of the USA (part of the Concord Music Group out of Cleveland) have been bamboozling Stax Records fans for some years now – their inaugural releases begun in 2017. Craft have also caught the eye of those Audiophile Collectors whose interests stretch past famously well-recorded Rock and Pop Music to Vintage Music that can be re-presented better with the latest technology - old Vee Jay Blues, Latin, Salsa and Boogaloo on Fania Records, Prestige Jazz, Riverside Folk-Blues and Classic 60t's and 70t's Soul. Craft are also now synonymous with quality mastering from original tapes by award-winning Audio Engineers like Paul Blakemore (who did this set), Joe Tarantino, Kevin Gray, Greg Calbi, Jeff Powell, Dave Cooley, Bernie Grundman and more.

In fact, you could (and should) surmise that I have a thang for Craft Recordings who have celebrated loads of quirky/worthy recipients with reissues on CD, LP and Hi-Res Download Files – good folks like John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Skip James, Albert King, the super-rare Cuban Jam Sessions LPs from the Sixties on Panart Records, Creedence Clearwater Revival in London at the Royal Albert Hall in April 1970, Terry Callier's beautiful almost entirely acoustic debut album The New Folk Soul Of on Prestige Records in 1968 (recorded in 1966), R.E.M at the BBC, a 2CD expanded revamp of Jewel's 1995 debut Pieces Of You, a 2CD 40th Anniversary reissue of the 1983 self-titled Violent Femmes debut album (originally on Rough Trade Records) and even England's Travis at Glastonbury.

And I've loved (reviewed most too) Craft's many celebratory releases on all things Stax-related with stunning multiple-disc retrospectives on Isaac Hayes The Spirit Of Memphis (1962-1976), The Staple Singers Come Go With Me: The Stax Collection, Various Artists for Stax Singles 4: Rarities & The Best Of The Rest, the rare 45s of an under-appreciated Stax subsidiary label The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection, a huge 140 Previously Unreleased in the Various Artists set Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos and live Music vs. Politics in the full-on re-presentation of Wattstax 72: The Complete Concert - originally a two x double-album set of vinyl releases back in the Seventies - now presented to us in 6 or 12-CD all-encompassing behemoth variants. There are loads more - many on celebrated well-mastered VINYL outings too that (as I said) audiophiles have been waking up to across this last seven years.

And thus, we come to a pivotal year for Soul and R&B – 1968 – Stax Records at the crossroads not just musically and commercially but spiritually too. Losses and gains – too many of the first perhaps and not enough outside of musical accolades of the second. There is much to love here BUT there is also unfortunately some serious cack to deride (hence the 4-stars and not 5). To the details…

US released 19 October 2018 - "Stax '68: A Memphis Story" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Craft Recordings/Stax CR00103 (Barcode 888072053649) is a 5CD 134-Track Book Set of New Remasters that features the A and B-sides of 67 US 45-Singles released on STAX Records and its affiliated labels (Volt, Enterprise, Arch, Magic Touch and Hip) throughout 1968.

It has an attached 56-page book with new liner notes from Stax experts ANDRIA LISLE and ROBERT GORDON (as essay called Dreams To Remember on Pages 4 to 22) and STEVE GREENBERG (as essay called Stax 1968: The Three Shocks And Their Aftermath on Pages 23 to 47 - Greenberg is the founder of S-Curve Records and was Producer for the 9CD Box Set The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968). Also featured are previously unissued photographs from the archives, Artist Promo and Personal Photos in Black and White and Colour, US Trade Adverts, Newspaper Clippings, Company Letters on Headed Paper and Song-by-Song Writer Credits, Catalogue Numbers, Release Dates etc (no personnel). Some titles like those on Arch Records or the primarily Rock & Pop label Hip Records make their CD debut here - while some B-sides were Non-LP and still hard to find on CD and are therefore rarities. Craft Recordings' "Stax '68: A Memphis Story" plays out as follows:

CD1 (69:23 minutes, 26 Tracks, 13 Singles)
Volt Singles Black & Orange Label repro on CD, hard card leaf holder pictures Booker T & The MGs September 1968 US LP "Soul Limbo" in colour

Each coupling of titles is the US 45 A-side first, B-side next - the release date on line 3, Label and Catalogue Number, and the chart positions on Billboard R&B and Pop will almost always be for the A-side (unless otherwise stated)

1. (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay – OTIS REDDING 
2. Sweet Lorene 
8 January 1968, Volt 45-157, R&B No.1, Pop No.1

3. I Thank You – SAM & DAVE
4. Wrap It Up
8 January 1968, Stax 45-242, R&B No.4, Pop No.9

5. Don't Pass Your Judgement – THE MEMPHIS NOMADS
6. I Wanna Be (Your Lover & Your Honey)
January 1968, Stax 45-243 – non chart

7. I Was Born To Love You – SHIRLEY WALTON
8. I'm So Glad You're Back
January 1968, Enterprise 45-001 – non chart

9. Lovey Dovey – OTIS REDDING & CARLA THOMAS
10. New Year's Resolution
24 January 1968, Stax 45-244, R&B No.21, Pop No.60

11. I Got A Sure Thing – OLLIE & THE NIGHTINGALES
12. Girl, You Have My Heart Singing
1 February 1968, Stax 45- 245, R&B No.16, Pop No.73

13. Big Bird – EDDIE FLOYD 
14. Holding On With Both Hands 
1 February 1968, Stax 45-246 – non chart

15. A Hard Day's Night – BAR-KAYS
16. I Want Someone
February 1968, Volt 45-158 – non chart - A-side is a Beatles cover version

17. Next Time – JOHNNIE TAYLOR
18. Sundown 
14 February 1968, Stax 45-247, R&B No.34

19. Every Man Oughta Have A Woman – WILLIAM BELL
20. A Tribute To A King 
12 March 1968, Stax 45-248, R&B No.16, Pop No.86

21. Able Mabel – MABLE JOHN 
22. Don't Get Caught 
12 March 1968, Stax 45-249 – non chart

23. The Memphis Train – RUFUS THOMAS
24. I Think I Made A Boo Boo 
12 March 1968, Stax 45-250 – non chart

25. What Will Later On Be Like – JEANNE & THE DARLINGS
26. Hang Me Now 
22 March 1968, Volt 45-159 – non chart

CD2 (60:17 minutes, 22 Tracks, 11 Singles)
Stax Singles Green Label repro on CD, hard card leaf holder pictures Eddie Floyd October 1968 US LP "I've Never Loved A Girl" in colour
Each coupling is the US 45 single, A-side first, B-side next

1. Soul Power – DEREK MARTIN
2. Sly Girl
22 March 1968, Volt 45-160 – non chart

3. Bring Your Love Back To Me – LINDA LYNDELL
4. Here I Am 
26 March 1968, Vol 45-161 – non chart

5. A Dime A Dozen – CARLA THOMAS
6. I Want You Back
29 March 1968, Stax 45-251 – non chart

7. Groovy Day – KANGAROO'S
8. Every Man Needs A Woman
March 1968, Hip H-113 – non chart (Produced by Isaac Hayes/David Porter)

9. Precious Precious – ISAAC HAYES
10. Going To Chicago Blues 
16 March 1968, Enterprise 45-002 – non chart

11. Whatever Hurts You – THE MAD LADS
12. No Time Is Better Than Now
8 April 1968, Volt 45-162 – R&B No.31

13. The Happy Song (Dum-Dum) – OTIS REDDING
14. Open The Door 
8 April 1968, Volt 45-163, R&B No.10, Pop No.25

15. (I Love) Lucy – ALBERT KING
16. You're Gonna Need Me
8 April 1968, Stax 45-252 – R&B No.46

17. I Ain't Particular – JOHNNIE TAYLOR
18. Where There's Smoke There's Fire
25 April 1968, Stax 45-253 – R&B No.45

19. Georgy Girl – EDDIE HENDERSON QUINTET
20. A Million Or More Times
April 1968, Enterprise 45-003 – non chart

21. Send Peace And Harmony Home – SHIRLEY WALTON
22. The One You Can't Have All By Yourself
May 1968, Enterprise 45-004 – non chart

CD3 (79:21 minutes, 29 Tracks, 15 Singles – see Notes)
Stax Singles Yellow Label repro on CD, hard card leaf holder pictures The Staple Singers December 1968 US LP "Soul Folk In Action" in colour
Each coupling is the US 45 A-side first, B-side next (see NOTES below)

1. Soul-Limbo – BOOKER T. & THE MG'S
2. Heads Or Tails
31 May 1968, Stax STA-0001, R&B No.7, Pop No.17

3. I've Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do) – EDDIE FLOYD
4. I'm Just The Kind Of Fool
31 May 1968, Stax STA-0002, R&B No.2, Pop No.40

5. It's Been A Long Time Coming – DELANEY & BONNIE
6. We've Just Been Feeling Bad
31 May 1968, Stax STA-0003 - non chart

7. What A Man – LINDA LYNDELL
8. I Don't Know
17 June 1968, Volt VOA-4001, R&B No.50

9. Broadway Freeze – HARVEY SCALES & THE SEVEN SOUNDS
10. I Can't Cry Any No More
17 June 1968, Magic Touch MTA-16001 – non chart

11. Stay Baby Stay – JOHNNY DAYE
12. I Love Love
15 July 1968, Stax STA-0004 – non chart

13. Raspberry Rug – BOBBY WHITLOCK
14. And I Love You
1 July 1968, Hip H-8001 – non chart

15. Private Number – JUDY CLAY and WILLIAM BELL
16. Love-Eye-Tis
15 July 1968, Stax STA-0005, R&B No.17, Pop No.75

17. I Like Everything About You – JIMMY HUGHES
18. What Side Of The Door
15 July 1968, Volt VOA-4002, R&B No.21

19. Lollipop Lady – THE DELRAYS
20. (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me
July 1968, Arch ARA-1301 – non chart

21. Remone – LINDELL HILL
22. Used To Be Love 
26 July 1968. Arch ARA-1302 – non chart

23. Subconscious Train Of Thought – THE AARDVARKS
24. Unicorn Man 
August 1968, Arch ARA-1303 – non chart

25. Somebody Stole My Gal – FRESH AIR
26. Somebody Stole My Gal (Instrumental)
22 August 1968, Arch ARA-1304 – non chart

27. Bed Of Roses – JUDY CLAY
28. Remove These Clouds
September 1968, Stax STA-0006 – non chart

29. Long Walk To D.C. – THE STAPLE SINGERS
September 1968, Stax STA-0007 – A-side – non chart (see Notes)

NOTES on CD3: 
The last song on CD3 is The Staple Singers "Long Walk To D.C.", the A-side to Stax 0007 – its B-side "Stay With Us" is the first track on CD4

CD4 (78:35 minutes, 29 Tracks, 14 Singles – see Notes)
Volt Singles Blue Label repro on CD, hard card leaf holder pictures Johnnie Taylor December 1968 US LP "Who's Making Love…" in colour
Each coupling is the US 45 A-side first, B-side next (see NOTES below)

1. Stay With Us – THE STAPLE SINGERS
September 1968, Stax STA-0007 – B-side - non chart (see Notes)

2. Give 'Em Love – THE SOUL CHILDREN
3. Move Over
September 1968, Stax STA-0008 – non chart

4. Who's Making Love – JOHNNIE TAYLOR
5. I'm Trying
September 1968, Stax 0009, R&B No.1, Pop No.5

6. Funky Mississippi – RUFUS THOMAS
7. So Hard To Get Along With
September 1068, Stax STA-0010 – non chart - A-side by Eddie Floyd

8. Where Do I Go – CARLA THOMAS
9. I've Fallen In Love
September 1968, Stax STA-0011, R&B No.38, Pop No.88

10. So Nice – THE MAD LADS
11. Make Room
September 1968, Volt VOA-4003, R&B No.35

12. Lovin' Feeling – CHARMELLS
13. Sea Shell 
September 1968, Volt VOA-4004 – non chart – A-side is Righteous Brothers cover

14. It's Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul) – JEANNE & THE DARLINGS
15. I Like What You're Doing To Me
September 1968, Volt VOA-4005 – non chart

16. Smell Of Incense – SOUTHWEST F.O.B.
17. Green Skies
(Originally issued 10 July 1968 on GPC Records 1945)
Reissued September 1968, Hip HIA-8002 – non chart

18. Sally's Got A Good Thing – THE VILLAGE SOUND
19. The La La Song
September 1968, Hop HIA-8003 – non chart

20. Bring It On Home To Me – EDDIE FLOYD
21. Sweet Things To Do
12 October 1968, Stax STA-0012, R&B No.4, Pop No.17

22. Hang 'Em High – BOOKER T. & THE MG's
23. Over Easy 
12 October 1968, Stax STA-0013, R&B No.35, Pop No.9

24. You're Leaving Me – OLLIE & THE NIGHTINGALES
25. Showered With Love
19 October 1968, Stax STA-0014, R&B No.47

26. Kitchy Kitchy Koo – THE POP CORN GENERATION 
27. Shake It
October 1968, Hip HIA-8004 – non chart

28. Copy Kat – BAR-KAYS
29. In The Hole
2 November 1968, Volt VOA-4007 – non chart 

NOTES on CD4:
The last song on CD3 is The Staple Singers "Long Walk To D.C.", the A-side to Stax 0007 – its B-side "Stay With Us" is the first track on CD4

CD5 (78:17 minutes, 28 Tracks, 14 Singles)
Hip Single Label repro on CD, hard card leaf holder pictures Albert King October 1968 US LP "Live Wire – Blues Power" in colour
Each coupling is the US 45 single, A-side first, B-side next

1. Mighty Cold Winter – DINO & DOC [James Walker & Arthur L. Merriwether]
2. A Woman Can't Do (What A Man Do)
2 November 1968, Volt VOA-4006 – non chart

3. I Forgot To Be Your Lover – WILLIAM BELL
4. Bring The Curtain Down
November 1968, Stax STA-0015, R&B No.10, Pop No.45

5. Condition Red – THE GOODEES
6. Didn't Know Love Was So Good 
23 November 1968, Hip HIA-8005 – non chart

7. Running out – MABLE JOHN
8. Shouldn't I Love Him
30 November 1968, Stax STA-0016 – non chart

9. Family Portrait – BILLY LEE RILEY
10. Going Back To Memphis
November 1968, Hip HIA-8006 – non chart

11. My Baby Specializes – WILLIAM BELL and JUDY CLAY
12. Left Over Love
December 1968, Stax STA-0017, R&B No.45, Pop No.104

13. I'll Understand – THE SOUL CHILDREN
14. Doing Our Thang 
December 1968, Stax STA-0018, R&B No. 29

15. The Ghetto – THE STAPLE SINGERS
16. Got To Be Some Changes Made
December 1968, Stax STA-0019, - non chart

17. Blues Power (Edit) – ALBERT KING
18. Night Stomp (Edit)
December 1968, Stax STA-0020 – non chart – both sides live

19. The Echo – THE EPSILONS
20. Really Rockin
13 December 1968, Stax STA-0021- non chart – B-side is an instrumental

21. Funky Way – RUFUS THOMAS
22. I Want To Hold You
13 December 1968, Stax STA-0022 – non chart

23. The Children Have Your Tongue – THIS GENERATION
24. Give Her What She Wants
20 December 1968, Hip HIA-8007 – non chart

25. Who's Making Love – DAARON LEE
26. Long Black Train
20 December 1968, Hip HIA-8008 – non chart – A-side is a Johnnie Taylor cover

27. Take Care Of Your Homework – JOHNNIE TAYLOR
28. Hold On This Time
21 December 1968, Stax STA-0023, R&B No.2, Pop No.20

Produced by JOE McEWEN with the help of Robert Gordon, Chris Clough, Ryan Wilson, Sig Sigworth and Mason Williams - visually these Book Sets pack a punch if not being a tad unwieldy in real world use. The hard card CD holding leaves mentioned above are gorgeous – full colour plates of iconic Stax LPs – while snaps throughout the text show cool moments like Producer Steve Greenberg with a stoned Janis Joplin at a house party – Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper (of Booker T) giving it some twin guitar poses like a Memphis version of Status Quo, white vocalist Delaney Bramlett shares a smile moment with Pervis Staples. You get Otis Redding's vocal group discovery The Epsilons, the mighty Mavis and Pops Staples checking Stax tape boxes, Linda Lyndell looking like she's ready for a night on the Vegas craps stood beside her Cadillac, Obituary cards and service itineraries for Phalon Jones, Jr. on 21 December 1967 – the Saxophone player in Otis Redding's backing band The Bar-Kays who died in the plane crash that also took Otis. And the darker surrounding picture too - photos of Rufus Thomas at City Hall with racist Mayor Henry Loeb as Memphis erupted post the Martin Luther King assassination while armed cops sit on cars outside, a sit-in by black postal and sanitation staff with Decent Wages For All Workers placards - the No Left Turn and I Am A Man protests - Honor King: End Racism cards held in hands as they march in their thousands (the cover photo). 

As you read the text and are hit with photos that espouse both joy and menace, it's a strange brew of electric progress vs. electric shocks – one step forward musically – two steps pushed back politically. But I focus on the positive – the vibe the music gave you – the images of abandon and sexiness and cool people getting it on. You gotta love the colour shots of William Bell and Judy Clay – the Stax cool couple of 1968 – Eddie Floyd at an airport shouting at jets to get on up Big Bird. There is also talk of the bitter and hamstringing distribution deal Stax and Atlantic had on paper (clauses put in by lawyers) whilst mentors like Jerry Wexler and Nesuhi Ertegun simultaneously professed solidarity with the label Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton had built with a roster of great artists. Disgusted the money was not enough during renegotiations, Stax walked away and would eventually dissolve into financial chaos in 1975. But outside all of this is the music – their identity moving into the realms of an Independent Black Music Company that appealed to ALL sides of the bombarded demographic. 

However, there is something of an elephant in the Soul Room about this release that should be talked about – that cover photo – and its supposed context with Stax. Although Stax was considered by punters like me (shall we say) to be more hard-hitting than the hit-single-chasing Motown – politics as this set tries to frame - was NOT their thing. As you listen to five CDs of Stax singles in 1968 – they chased that Billboard dragon just as hard as Motown and only on occasion did the positivity and action messages of The Staple Singers sing anything about the Black Experience of endemic Racism, workers inequality and slumlord misery ("Long Walk To D.C." and "The Ghetto"). The Vietnam War is not in here – William Bell's response to the loss of Redding ("A Tribute To A King") was a flipside to the business-as-usual A-side - "Every Man Oughta Have A Woman". Stax Music was obsessed with girls and relationships and the battle of the sexes – it wanted dancers and Funk and popularity in their R&B chartings - but hard political action in their songs – not here. That is not to say they didn’t get involved in the background – they did – but on 45-single – out front for the public to see – Stax were about shifting hit single units as much as the next guy trying to make in a fractured world.

PAUL BLAKEMORE did the Mastering – an award-winning Audio Engineer – and it just so damn good. For sure little is going to save the disastrous Rock-orientated label Hip Records were Stax seemed to be completely oblivious to what worked or was even any good. But throughout, you are hit with clarity, very little hiss, warm Bass and punchy Brass and of course discoveries that thrill and intrigue. Details…

I cannot hear the Otis Redding death song (Dock of the Bay) another time (too sad) and the Sam & Dave cut "I Thank You" is standard dancer fare for them. The lesser-heard Memphis Nomads had one 45 on Stax – the hug you and kiss you every night B-side "I Wanna Be (Your Lover & Your Honey)" being the tastier cut. Lovely and criminally forgotten is how I'd describe the rare Shirley Walton track "I Was Born To Love You" – a piano and strings pleading stroller – Shirley ably supported by some impassioned and soulful vocals from the backing ladies. And again the flipside for Otis & Carla is the best choice - "New Year's Resolution" while the Ollie & The Nightingales winner "I Got A Sure Thing" is a gem benefitting hugely from the Gary US Bonds type guttural rasp of lead vocalist Ollie Haskins (it has an equally sexy B-side, no wonder the single is sought after). Considering how good it is and with that HUGE brass and guitar start, it is odd that the chunky/funky get on up "Big Bird" from Eddie Floyd. 

CD5 offers us the very Sam & Dave earnest intensity of "Mighty Cold Winter" by the obscure duo of Dino & Doc (James Walker and Arthur L. Merriwether) – tears falling from their collective eyes in the month of July. They swap lead vocals on the hard-hitting morality-tale dancer B-side "A Woman Can't Do (What A Man Do)" making Volt VOA-4006 a tasty and sought-after double-header. That's followed by an effective chart-tickling pleader from William Bell – our Bill forgetting to be his baby's lover – and forgetful Bell feels so bad on the flipside that he literally wants to "Bring The Curtain Down". Cheesy, cornball, hugely enjoyable kitsch, contender for Kenny Everett’s worst records of all time – you could call the girl group Goodees sole entry "Condition Red" all these things and undoubtedly it would have at home on Phil Spector Records (long-hair bearded hippy courts dew-eyed lass, skeptical parents, bike ride and car-crash all in the same song). Their flipside is better – Girl Group harmonies and cool arrangements ahoy on "Didn't Know Love Was So Good" – a cool inclusion frankly. 

How in God's name the fantastic Ashford & Simpson written "Running Out" by Mable John was not a hit is a God Damn mystery (running out of forgiveness and tear drops) – her pleading to the girls for endorsement flipside "Shouldn't I Love Him" equal too. With that slight Amy Whitehouse innocent twang in her unusual voice, this pairing shows me why Mable John is such an unsung hero in certain circles. The Albert King 45 "Blues Power" is talking-to-the-audience moocher that is edited down from the album's ten minutes to a more manageable 3:07 minutes on 45 – the almost Allman Brothers Funky-Blues instrumental flipside "Night Stomp" too – down from 6:40 minutes to a more digestible 3:40 minutes. 

The HIP Label seemed to be an unmitigated disaster - horrible twee bubblegum and attempts at Pop & Rock songs chasing the charts by acts that are forgotten - and rightly so (the end run on CD5 is particularly depressing alleviated only by the final pairing of Johnnie Taylor). But then there's the discoveries - Dino & Doc's cool duo "Mighty Cold Winter" and its flipside - the Ollie & The Nightingale sides that ooze Vocal Soul class - Jeanne & The Darlings - the ever-suave Mad Lads. Soon to be a Domino for Eric Clapton's Derek & The Dominoes - Bobby Whitlock gets his moment and there are choice entries from Lindell Hill and a personal rave of mine - Linda Lyndell (what a gal, lucky man to have her). And I love B-sides - the rare one for Judy Clay and William Bell's "Private Number" called "Love-Eye-Tis" - the Eddie Floyd flip "I'm Just The Kind Of Fool" and Jimmy Hughes "What Side Of The Door".

A 5CD Book Set like "Stax '68: A Memphis Story" was/is always going to be a serious fan-affair. But if you get the inclination and a swelling of your wallet to the point where you can hide it among the spines on shelves and the missus can't batter you over the head with a rolling-pin spiked with nails - then splash out. 

I'm actively hunting down all these Craft Recordings splurges and despite minor distractions and plot anomalies - I'm knee-trembling at the lot of them. 

Well done to all involved at Craft Recordings and Concord Music Group and like those stunning Motown Year Books Hip-O Select did with fabulous Ellen Fitton mastering - roll on 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 etc for the equally worthy STAX...

"Black Moses" by ISAAC HAYES – November 1971 US 2LP Set on Enterprise Records and February 1972 UK 2LP set on Stax Records – featuring backing bands The Isaac Hayes Movement and The Bar-Kays with Backing Vocals by Hot Buttered & Soul featuring Pat Lewis and Arrangements by Johnny Allen and Dale Warren (April 2009 UK Universal Music Group/Stax/Concord Music Group, Inc. Deluxe Edition Reissue With Repro Foldout Cross Card Sleeve – 2LPs onto 2CDs - Bob Fisher Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Ike's Rap..."

There was industry discussion in the October 1971 issue of Billboard Magazine as Stax/Enterprise prepped for the release of Isaac Hayes' second double-album "Black Moses" in the same year ("Shaft" had been issued in July 1971). Stax had locked down all promotion of his new November 1971 opus. This was because some DJ had reputedly been offered $300,000 for his Promo Copy with the aim of bootlegging it.

Why would someone offer an A&R employee such a huge amount of cash in 1971?  Because his previous effort "Shaft", as a Movie and 2LP Blaxploitation Soul Music Soundtrack, was massive – an absolute phenomenon and in a way that few had ever seen before. The handsome sex symbol lead actor Richard Roundtree, the bespectacled and impossibly cool musician Isaac Hayes with his beard and bling, the wah wah guitar theme he composed that just slaughtered all in its path worldwide - this bad mother was everywhere. Stax was even then claiming that such was the demand for Isaac’s fourth release, that nearly 40% of copies of "Shaft" in American circulation were bootlegs - gazillions of them.

Few now remember (or even know) that November 1971's "Black Moses" was going to be Isaac Hayes' fifth No. 1 US R&B LP in a row – a feat no one had ever achieved (he would nab another two R&B number one albums in 1974 with "Truck Turner" and the 1976 double "Live At The Sahara Tahoe"). Seven No. 1 R&B albums – wow!

Which brings us via a reissue circuitous route to this 2009 foldout love-in and Remaster for the slightly forgotten "Black Moses" splurge – and tis a wee bit sexy thing too if you ask me. Time to get down brothers and sisters with the man with the plan - Ike's Rap...

UK released 6 April 2009 (24 February 2009 in the USA) - "Black Moses" by ISAAC HAYES on Universal Music Group/Stax/Concord Music Group, Inc.  0888072312388 (Barcode 888072312388) is a Deluxe Edition offering the full 2LP Set Remastered onto 2CDs with repro foldout cross packaging (like the original vinyl double-album) and plays out as follows:

CD1 (50:06 minutes):

1. Never Can Say Goodbye [Side 1]

2. (They Long To Be) Close To You

3. Nothing Takes The Place Of You 

4. Man's Temptation

5. Part-Time Love [Side 4]

6. Medley: Ike's Rap IV/A Brand New Me

7. Going In Circles

CD2 (43:36 minutes):

1. Never Gonna Give You Up [Side 2]

2. Medley: Ike's Rap II/Help Me Love

3. Need To Belong To Someone

4. Good Love 6-9969

5. Ike's Rap III/Your Love Is So Doggone Good [Side 3]

6. For The Good Times

7. I'll Never Fall In Love Again

The studio double-album "Black Moses" was released 15 November 1971 in the USA on Enterprise ENS-5003 and February 1972 in the UK on Stax 2628 004. Produced by ISAAC HAYES and featuring THE BAR KAYS, THE ISAAC HAYES MOVEMENT and HOT BUTTERED & SOUL as backing bands – the double-album peaked at No. 1 on the US R&B charts (entered 18 December 1971), No. 10 on the Pop LP Charts (entered 11 December 1971) with a No. 38 placing on the UK LP charts in February 1972. CD1 contains Sides 1 and 4 while CD2 contains Sides 2 and 3, aping how the original American LPs were issued.

The first thing that hits you is the packaging – aping for the first time since its 1971 US release - the huge foldout cross with Isaac looking like a Bedouin preacher asking for rain in the desert. The story by Chester Higgins of Jet Magazine that was done in ye old Biblical style typeface across the inside of the cover is present and accounted for too, "...And so it came to pass that 28 years ago Isaac (Black Moses) Hayes was born in the town of Covington, Tenn., a snoozing little hamlet... " Yeah brother.

Once unfolded, three flaps at the end of the cross house the two CDs and 12-page booklet. I have to say though that once out of its shrinkwrap – the thing is a bit of a beast to handle or get back into a shape that doesn't easily crumple. The 12-page colour booklet is a pleasingly in-depth affair with November 2008 liner notes from ROB BOWMAN, author of the acclaimed label tome "Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story Of Stax Records". There are three black and white photos of our hero in full-on pimpmobile dude attire complete with fur coats, glasses and bling - while the final more humble shot shows Ike at an organ in a record store surrounded by admiring brothers. The snap of Ike outside Soulsville USA studios is so damn cool – stripped trousers and all. A good read then and despite its unwieldy nature, I love that packaging.

The ROB FISHER 24-Bit Remaster was done at Pacific Multimedia and really lifts the splurge of cover versions – all that Dolby Systems production full and punchy as Hell. While "Shaft" was famous for its legendary Funky theme song, like its predecessor, "Black Moses" is surprising mellow throughout – a seducer really.

The musical landscape of this sprawling double album is a veritable river of f cover versions with five bits of new material amidst its sixteen tracks. Hayes does contemporary songwriters like the Bacharach and David classic "(They Long To Be) Close To You" made a monster number one Billboard smash by The Carpenters and the Kris Kristofferson love song "For The Good Times" from his 1970 debut album on Monument made a Country No. 1 single in 1970 by Ray Price - to older R&B and Soul heroes like Toussaint McCall and his 1967 Ronn Records hit "Nothing Takes The Place Of You", the Curtis Mayfield B-side gifted to Gene Chandler in 1963 on Vee Jay Records "Man's Temptation" and another from 1963, the Clay Hammond song "Part-Time Love" recorded by Little Johnnie Taylor.

Soul legends Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Jerry Butler had written "Never Give You Up (Never Gonna Give You Up)" for Shirley & The Shirelles on Bell Records in 1969 – here Ike calls it simply "Never Gonna Give You Up". He preambles his own "Ike's Rap II" into a two-song medley attaching it to the Luther Ingram, Johnny Baylor, Tommy Tate and Mickey Gregory song "Help Me Love". Ingram would eventually do his own version of "Help Me Love" on his fabulous album "If Loving You Is Wrong I Don't Want To Be Right" issued October 1972. It was in turn coupled with "Always" (as the A-side) from the same LP and released as a KoKo Records 45 in February 1973.

The covers keep coming. After his own "Ike's Rap III" – Hayes tagged on a Whispers song called "Your Love Is So Doggone Good" – a tune that was a current May 1971 hit while the Movement was recording "Black Moses". Hayes then dipped backwards to "Going In Circles" – a No. 15 Billboard Pop hit for The Friends Of Distinction in October 1969 on RCA Victor Records. And for the final song, he slinked into a deadringer to his style of Soul-ifying easy listening pop songs – the Bacharach and David smash "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" made immortal by Dionne Warwick in 1970.

It's a lurve-thing baby. I guess you could say that in June 2020, this relic of Soul Music's flashier history is a bedroom swinger that's past its woke sell-by-date. But I love it and the Audio on this has only made me want to rant and rave about the deep-voiced one.

Chester Higgins finishes his "Black Moses" liner notes on the original double-album by saying, "...Black Moses of the famous "Memphis Sound" is indeed a soulful prophet of the Chosen People, a willing servant of the Lord, and one helluva entertaining genius, to boot..." Well, on the renewed evidence presented here – you have to say that da Higster had a point...

"Home" by DELANEY & BONNIE [BRAMLETT] - Second US LP from October 1969 on Stax Records STS-2026 and March 1970 UK LP on Stax Records SXATS 1029 (both in Stereo) – featuring Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr. of Booker T & The MG's with Isaac Hayes, Wayne Jackson, William Bell, Leon Russell and more and Songs From David Porter, Eddie Floyd and Homer Banks (23 May 2006 US on Universal/Stax (13 July 2006 in the UK) Expanded Edition CD Reissue with Six Bonus Tracks and Rejiggered Playing Order – Stephen Hart Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...My Baby Specializes..."

Ohio's Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett's second album "Home" hit the shops on Stax Records in late October 1969 in the USA (delayed until March 1970 in the UK) and featured their much-loved brand of Rock-Soul - a bit of Stax meets Atlantic meets two great vocalists who pioneered the genre and could pen a tune or two into the bargain.

As you see from the musician list provided below, the album also featured an impressive roster of Stax talent and players – all of Booker T & The MGs with Isaac Hayes and William Bell too and guests like Leon Russell (the Production was handled by Donald "Duck" Dunn of The MG's with funky troubadour Don Nix as his partner in crime). A true crossover record, it's no wonder the 10-track LP is viewed with such affection even in 2020.

But its CD history (especially this rejiggered and slightly buggered-up CD reissue which is actually in MONO instead of STEREO) needs a bit of an encyclopedia to fully understand, so to the details my groovy 60ts pals...

UK released 13 July 2006 (23 May 2006 in the USA) - "Home" by DELANEY & BONNIE on Universal/Concord/Stax 0025218862622 (Barcode 025218862622) offers a Remaster of the 10-Track October 1969 US LP Plus Six Bonus Tracks (in a rejiggered formation) and plays out as follows (46:34 minutes):

1. A Long Road Ahead

2. My Baby Specializes

3. Things Get Better

4. We Can Love

5. All We Really Want To Do

6. It's Been A Long Time Coming

7. Just Plain Beautiful

8. Everybody Loves A Winner

9. Look What We Have Found

10. Piece Of My Heart

11. A Right Now Love

12. I've Just Been Feeling Bad

13. Dirty Old Man

14. Get Ourselves Together

15. Pour Your Love On Me

16. Hard To Say Goodbye

The CD is configured as above with 1, 2, 9, 12, 13 and 14 listed as BONUS TRACKS. As well as rejiggering the original playing order of the album, it also states the CD is remastered in STEREO when in fact it was mastered and released in MONO in error and as of February 2020 this mistake remains unfixed. The original 1969 (Mono) LP can be sequenced using the following CD tracks:

Side 1:

1. It's Been A Long Time Coming [Track 5]

2. A Right Now Love [Track 11]

3. We Can Love [Track 4]

4. My Baby Specializes [Track 2]

5. Everybody Loves A Winner [Track 83]

Side 2:

1. Things Get Better [Track 3]

2. Just Plain Beautiful [Track 7]

3. Hard To Say Goodbye

4. Pour Your Love On Me [Track 15]

5. Piece Of My Heart [Track 10]

Tracks 1 to 10 above are their second album "Home" - released late October 1969 in the USA on Stax Records STS 2026 in Stereo and March 1970 in the UK on Stax Records SXATS 1029 in Stereo. Produced by DONALD "Duck" DUNN and DON NIX - it didn't chart in either country.

Musicians:

DELANEY BRAMLETT – Lead Vocals and Guitar

BONNIE BRAMLETT – Lead Vocals

BOOKER T. JONES and ISAAC HAYES – Keyboards

STEVE CROPPER – Guitar

DONALD "Duck" DUNN and CARL RADLE – Bass

AL JACKSON, Jr. – Drums

WAYNE JACKSON and BEN CAULEY – Trumpets

JAY PRUITT, DICK STEFF and JOHN DAVIS - Trumpets

ANDREW LOVE, ED LOGAN, JOE ARNOLD and JIM TERRY – Saxophones

WILLIAM BELL and PHIL FORREST – Backing Vocals

LEON RUSSELL – Keyboards

JIMMY KARSTEIN – Percussion

The six-leaf three-way foldout inlay offers a potted history of the trailblazing crossover duo and their second LP by MICHAEL POINT with recording and reissue credits on the last leafs (written in 2002). Point claims their entry in the annals of Rock Music is woefully underappreciated and Michael would be right. Steeped in Soul Music and Stax Records whilst able to put up similar fare with tunes like their own "It's Been A Long Time Coming", they co-wrote "Pour Your Love On Me" and "A Right Now Love" with deep Soul hero HOMER BANKS and "Hard To Say Goodbye" with bassist CARL RADLE. A quick glance through the credits for the outtakes that were left off the album (included here as bonus tracks) and again you can see the co-writes with Radle on "A Long Road Ahead" and "Get Ourselves Together". And even though you can so hear why some of the extras were left off the LP (weakness) – its still a very nice vaults trawl for fans (their rejects don't sound so bad now).

The audio is provided by STEPHEN HART and as already mentioned, is mistakenly mastered into MONO despite the CD and rear labeling it as Stereo. But bizarrely enough it kicks like a mule. The listen feels like an extended singles list from 1968 and 1969 and is a vast improvement on a Stereo CD I had by Ace/Stax from the late 80ts that was both weedy and dull in comparison. As you can see from the total playing time of 46:34 minutes for 16 cuts, the bonuses can be dropped for a future reissue and both Mono and Stereo versions of the LP easily fitted onto 1CD – but alas we must wait and see...

Begun in 27 February 1968 sessions, recordings and overdubs continued into August, September and November 1968 right through until two final studio spurges on the 1st and 2nd of July 1969. The CD listen opens on a Bonus - "A Long Road Ahead" initially laid down in November 1968 with Leon Russell, Carl Radle and Jimmy Karstein playing, then returned to in July 1969 with Booker T on further Keyboards and Phil Forrest on Backing Vocals. It's a goodie and sets the Rock-Soul tone nicely. Next up is the first song from the original LP - "My Baby Specializes" - an Isaac Hayes/David Porter composition that William Bell and Judy Clay made a duet hit 45 in December 1968 on Stax STA-0017. With the bulk of Booker T & The MG's as the backing band, it was laid down at the 27 Feb 1968 session with none other than William Bell singing backing vocals (no doubt he spotted the potential hit even then for him and Judy).

From the same February 1968 recording date and written by Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper and Al Jackson - "Things Get Better" fills your speakers with Stax Funk – a very Blues Brothers moment as those horns jerk and jab while Delaney and Bonnie declare that they have no doubts – duality makes things better baby. Cropper and Eddie Floyd penned "We Can Love" – a truly joyous baby-I've-been-lovin'-you Rock-Soul dancer. Written by Bobby Crutcher with Steve Cropper – Stax UK tried a 45 A-side with the brass-swinging duet-vocals of "Just Plain Beautiful". Released a few months before the album appeared in Blighty (March 1970) – the early January 1970 British single on Stax STAX 139 had the LP cut "Hard To Say Goodbye" as its B-side. But despite the strength of both cuts, it didn't take.

Homer Banks and Bonnie Bramlett penned the lovely "A Right Now Love" - a without your lovin' arms pleader where starving hearts need some lurve stat. The album ends of a storming brass/vocals cover of Erma Franklin's "Piece Of My Heart" that by the end feels like Bonnie is a channeling her inner Janis Joplin screams (lovely organ work from Booker T and we never do find out who is providing those girly backing vocals). Of the bonus cuts - "Look What We Have Found" feels like a discovery worth making even if Concord Music don't know who wrote it to forward those royalties to.

Prior to "Home" - the dynamic duo had issued "Accept No Substitute" on Elektra in July 1969 and after "Home" three more on Atco - "Delaney & Bonnie and Friends On Tour With Eric Clapton" (April 1970), "To Bonnie From Delaney" (October 1970), "Motel Shot" (April 1971). With a label change to Columbia Records, "D & B Together" came in March 1972 (see review) after which the partnership dissolved into divorce and further solo releases.

I can't help thinking that someone like Esoteric Recordings should do a 6LP/6CD Box Set of DELANEY & BONNIE and their 1969 to 1972 output - get all their stuff out there in one cool remastered place - hopefully sometime in the future. In the meantime, Mono or no, give this cheap but rather cool little CD reissue a spin...