Excerpt from an article in the June issue of JazzTimes:

Never Can Say Goodbye
(Concord Music Group resurrects legandary Stax label)

"People are ready now to hear songs that sound different, messages that are simple, lyrics that are reasonable clean, and real singers and real musicians," she says (Deanie Parker, served as President and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation). "The record companies have been putting out garbage, quantity as opposed to quality."

(Robert) Smith (Concord's Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing) cites No Place Like Soul, the forthcoming release by organ-trio-turned-R&B-outfit Soulive, as a perfect example of where the new Stax is heading. "They have a soul-jazz-funk style, and a new vocalist, and the record is really interesting," he says. ""The adventurous, artistically free, funky side of Stax historically lends itself to signing artists like Soulive, who defy an easy definition."

Whether Stax will ever again become the force it was during the Civil Rights era remains to be seen, but Smith is confident that the label will find its niche. "You establish an identity through the artists you sign and the records you put out," he says. "Stax is one of those rare music brands that means something. It's hard to describe but when you see it or hear it you just know it."

www.jazztimes.com

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Wish them the best and hope that they stay on point.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

where is the orger "Stax" at? He should be all over this thread

There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago on Stax....I'll try to find it for you.

Thanks, tA.

Here it is from April 4, 2007 Wall Street Journal:

Golden Oldies: Stax Releases
A 50th-Anniversary Boxed Set
By JIM FUSILLI

Stax, the music label responsible for superior soul, R&B and an occasional slice of the blues in the '60s and early '70s, is observing its 1957 founding in everything but name by releasing "Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration," featuring 50 of the best tracks from its vaults. It could have released twice as many, or more, without a dip in quality. In fact, it did release twice as many in 2000 under the title "Stax Story" and almost 2½ times as many in 1991 in the superb boxed set "The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968." Two subsequent collections from the archives of Stax and its Volt subsidiary raised the number of tracks issued in the past 15 years to 652, more than 13 times what's in the 50th anniversary box.

A joy from the first cut to the last, "Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration" is a reminder of the glory days of R&B, when singer, song and band came together with fervor to spark body and soul. The music all but sweats with the musicians' passion: There are no drum machines and no vocal bent to pitch by software. The punchy horns are real brass and reeds, not lines played on synthesizers. Now and then, a musician flubs a note or misses a cue, but an absolute reliance on musicians' creativity can deliver brilliant pop music that's timeless. Especially if the vocalists are the likes of Eddie Floyd, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and the Staple Singers.


Stax began when Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton started Satellite Records in Brunswick, Tenn. They moved it to Memphis and converted a movie theater into a recording studio; as we learn in the indispensable liner notes by Rob Bowman, Mr. Stewart and Mrs. Axton retained the theater's sloping floor and angled walls, creating a room that was responsible for the label's distinctive clean sound. Backed by the marketing and technological savvy of Atlantic Records, a label that knew a good thing when it heard it, Satellite scored its first big hit, 17-year-old Carla Thomas's "Gee Whiz." In '61, the year the label changed its name to Stax, the Mar-Keys gave it a second national hit with "Last Night" -- and the personnel for the foundation of its success. The band included Steve Cropper on guitar and Duck Dunn on bass; shortly thereafter, the organist Booker T. Jones arrived at Stax and, with drummer Al Jackson and Mr. Cropper, formed Booker T & the MGs. Joined by Mr. Dunn, the group was a hit machine for Stax -- but, more so, it served as the nucleus of its house band, which later included Isaac Hayes. Mr. Cropper also wrote and arranged many Stax hits.

Though it was cut before the MGs came aboard, Ms. Thomas's "Gee Whiz," a clever twist on the era's ballads for slow dancing, contains most elements of a classic Stax hit. The band is assertive but not intrusive -- in this case, even when a violin solo rises from the string section. And as the song builds in intensity, Ms. Thomas serves the lyric with earthy grit and simmering grace. Fittingly, this marriage of composition, vocalist as song stylist, and a smart arrangement played by a band with flair kicks off the 50th anniversary set.

The collection succeeds as any sampler should: We want more Redding -- he's represented by "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "Respect" and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." And more Sam & Dave, whose three songs here, all composed by Stax's most reliable songwriting team of Mr. Hayes and David Porter, include the lesser-known hit "You Don't Know Like I Know" but not the great ballads like "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" or "I Can't Stand Up." And more of the Staple Singers, whose hits "I'll Take You There" and "Respect Yourself" illustrate their distinctive blend of gospel and R&B. Mr. Floyd's "Knock on Wood" demands a revival of the soul shouter's career.

But the set also celebrates wonderful singers, many close to forgotten. Mable John, sister of Little Willie John and one of Ray Charles's Raelettes, had a string of hits for the label; on her masterwork, "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)," also written by Messrs. Hayes and Porter, her voice settles amid the honeyed lines of the Memphis Horns. Warm, sophisticated soul is represented by William Bell, who in addition to recording a number of hits for Stax co-wrote "Born Under a Bad Sign" for the label's resident bluesman Albert King.

Though he may be better known these days as the voice of Chef McElroy in Comedy Central's "South Park," Mr. Hayes was a formidable presence at Stax, and his album "Hot Buttered Soul" was a landmark recording. His melodramatic reinterpretation of "Walk on By" foreshadows his iconic hit "Theme From Shaft" with its inventive use of strings and woodwinds. Both songs are in the new set.

"Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration" also reminds us the label was the home for snappy soul instrumentals. The Mar-Keys' "Last Night" may sound like scores of other Southern horn-and-organ workouts of its era, but a deft sax solo by Don Nix signals the group's interest in the jazzy side of R&B. The performance is father to the Bar-Kays' "Soul Finger," a two-minute party with sweeping horns and a crisp guitar solo by Jimmy King. Meanwhile, with a sound so tight it crackles with tension, Booker T & the MGs showed how their competence and focus could turn basic riffs into intriguing pop. Their artistry is Stax's in microcosm.

I also read ~somewhere~ about a 2 hour PBS documentary DVD on Stax called "Respect Yourself" coming out in August.

I heard that they were going to start to release new stuff, but I didn't know Stax signed Soulive.

I saw Soulive in NYC a couple of years back (at tA's suggestion).....awesome....

Now.....that is the good ole days.

cubic61052 said:

Thanks for posting that.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Stax said:

I knew they were gonna be signed to Concord for the Breakout album.
Looks like the new one will actually be released on the STAX label.
They're good representatives to try and carry on the tradition.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Graycap23 said:

Hopefully this move will bring us some good new days musically.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Stax said:

New Soulive homepage...



...Performing at The Grand in San Francisco - 5/31/07


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Looks good. Interesting to note that a permanent vocalist with a distinctive sound should expand their identity. Based on this and the overall quality of their chops, I keep drawing comparisons with Living Colour. I know the bands know each other and come to check when they play.

...

This makes me smile.....







....

This is a great start for a new Stax, I'm just wondering why not start something new and fresh? Stax is a known name and Motown is still out there but when will someone start a new Chess Records?

theAudience said:

Unfortunately, I'm out of town that night.