Boy Meets Girl

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 18, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Stax
• ASIN: B002GNOMNA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,861 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Boy Meets Girl is an update of the classic 1969 Stax Records double album pairing the famed Soul label's greatest male and female singers performing numbers penned by its top writers. This compilation album is filled with a selection of quality songs, uncompromising vocal duets and even a mass choir consisting of all the performers who join together on the album opener. Boy Meets Girl is guaranteed to be a soulfully satisfying experience including a rare version of "Private Number" recorded by Spencer Davis & Dusty Springfield and appearences from Johnnie Taylor, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Pervis Staples, Carles Thomas, Mavis Staples and Cleotha Staples.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 1969 collection of Stax male-female duets, August 18, 2009

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boy Meets Girl (Audio CD)

Sibling and parent/child duets create a family voice that complements the individual singers. But duets between men and women elevate the relationship itself. The truth of country music has lent itself to many power duos, including Conway and Loretta, George and Tammy, and Johnny and June, but the raw emotion of soul music gives its duets another dimension of expressiveness. As the Memphis based Stax label expanded upon the success of its 1960s hard soul singles, the arrangements added strings, the horn charts softened and room was created for male-female duets. As part of the label's push into album releases, a double-LP's worth of duets were recorded with roster artists for 1969's Boy Meets Girl and released as part of Stax's massive post-Atlantic Records rebirth.

Mavis Staples sings two album highlights, a conga-heavy deep funk cover of Sam & Dave's earlier Stax hit "I Thank You" with William Bell, and a powerful Southern soul cover of Erma Franklin's "Piece of My Heart" with Eddie Floyd. The album mixes up-tempo grooves such as William Bell and Carla Thomas' "I Can't Stop" with emotionally crooned ballads that include Eddie Floyd and Cleotha Staples' "It's Too Late" and Johnnie Taylor and Carla Thomas' "My Life." This reissue drops eight of the original LP's titles and adds four, including the iconic pre-LP "Private Number," a terribly misguided mid-80s remake by Dusty Springfield and Spencer Davis, and a pair of tracks from Delaney and Bonnie's 1968 sessions for Home. Those seeking the original track lineup (and cover art) can find it on a pricier UK reissue. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]