Customer Reviews

The Complete Stax/Volt Singles: 1959-1968

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this set originally as individual CD's but thankfully was able to trade them in once I found out it had been boxed and got it with the Atlantic 8 CD box. They complement each other quite well with very minimal repition between the two sets. Originally this Stax/Volt set was released as a LP Sized box set with an appropriately sized booklet, so my review is based on that format. This set contains all of the Stax/Volt single "A" sides and key "B" sides to boot between the years 1959 and 1968 when Stax/Volt & Atlantic parted ways. The book is extremely informative, with great colour photos of original labels and the artists in question. I'm assuming it has maintained the same level of thoroughness in it's smaller format judging by the photo above. Like the Atlantic box this is an essential collection that serious music collectors should have and an incredible education on the roots of black soul music. Being Australian I hadn't heard 95% of this or the Atlantic stuff before with the odd Otis Redding, Booket T. & The MG's & Sam And Dave tracks reaching the airwaves or record shelves here. It's only with adult hindsight that I was able to delve backwards to investigate further.. I was in "Time Warp" mode back in the late 80's/Early 90's thanks to a similarly named Record store here in Sydney. This set is lovingly compiled and most of the tracks reveal a gritiness missing from today's so-called version of R & B (don't start me on that!) There isn't a lot I can add that my fellow reviewers haven't already stated. From one stand point this music is probably very personal to those who grew up listening to it (like the Beatles for me). But I love soul music too and to hear the grooves put out by that Stax/Volt house band puts so many others to shame for sheer quality and toughness. There are probably those who don't understand the difference between Motown & Stax/Volt/Atlantic. From an Aussie view, it's like comparing the Beatles & the Stones.. The Beatles would be Motown (slick & professional, great sounding records but tough when need be - they were fans of and influenced partly by that label) while the Stones would Stax/Volt/Atlantic (not as slick in appearance, rough on the edges but bluesy & gritty - most of their influences came from the deep south & Chicago blues). I hope that make sense. I've wanted to get the other 2 Stax sets for a while and maybe down the track I will..it's on my 5 year wishlist plan! That said buy this set for some thoroughly great music and an insight into a great label's massive but very important legacy.

This is an undeniably great set, with tons of great tunes. However, there *is* a little fat on it. Not every single was a classic; there's no way they could be, as fast as they were pumping them out. Still, for people who really want a handle on deep soul and who want off-the-beaten-path gems along with the hits, this is a great set to check out.

Other great r&b/blues/soul boxed sets to check out after this one:
-Atlantic Rhythm and Blues
-Hitsville, USA Vol. 1 (Motown)
-The Specialty Story
-Crescent City Soul
-Chess Rhythm and Roll
-Aladdin Story
-Hi Records Story
-Chess Blues
-Mercury Blues 'n' Rhythm
-Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection

Simply put, this set is astonishing genius, pure and simple. Yeah - you do get lots of classic Stax artists like Otis, Rufus, Carla, Booker T, etc. but for me the great joy is discovering all these people I've never heard of before - all this other incredible genius. Whether you'll be listening at home, in your car, out on the road, running, walking, daydreaming - this set is totally amazing to soundtrack reality...

Listening to it, I'm always floored to be in the presence of such awe inspiring genius. It's impossible to even fathom a collection of music cooler than this. And it's natural, pure and sincere cool. Every track is great. (It's a great price too - 9 CDs with at least 70 mins on each) From track one I was in total ecstasy - it just takes you into this whole other realm.

If they could harness the power of this set and put it into pill form, I'm convinced the world would be devoid of war, anger and hate; we'd all be loving, sane, blissful and peaceful and very very cool. An astonishing set of music which will utterly transform you. It hits you, no, its aura enfolds you and once you feel it, you never wanna let go. It would be impossible for me to overstate how amazing this set it. Listen for yourself. What an amazing, brilliant collection of music.

If you're going to shell out money for this baby, then be prepared to go all the way. The listening will both elate you and exhaust you as you hear innumerable songs (probably for the first time) that make you go "WOW!" I stopped counting after awhile, but the quality factor here is way over 90%, not bad for a 9 CD set. The one constant here is the GROOVE, engineered by Booker T. and the MG's. If God has a house band, you know it's gotta be these guys (or will be when the other 3 make it there). The late Al Jackson Jr. had a pulse like no other drummer you will ever hear, and if you only listen to this set for the drumming, then it's still the wisest investment you'll ever make. Go to your bank if you have to, but get ahold of this monument to great music. Your soul will thank you!!!

"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!

This was probably the first or second box set I ever bought & it was a real wake up.

When box sets first came out (1990?), I bought this simply because it LOOKED like something I should know something about and the price was right. I wasn't even sure at the time if I was interested in R&B, being a freak for almost any kind of hard rock. However, I knew that some of my favorite bands like the Pretenders, Buzzcocks, Deep Purple, Zappa, Aerosmith, Talking Heads, and others cited old Stax/Volt R&B as influences. There were songs on here that ZZ Top & the Blues Brothers had covered.
Besides, I was learning guitar at the time, and many of my shred heroes from Kirk Hammett to Stevie Ray Vaughn touted the ever mystical "groove" factor & I wanted to know what that was.

And MY GOD what a huge education this thing was, & it makes you want to dance your ... off like you've got voodoo fever! Rufus Thomas, Sam & Dave, Booker T. & The M.G.s, and of course the majestic Otis Redding with everything you could want out of his dictionary of soul. These people had been blips on my musical radar until I bought this. It seems hard to believe now.

The biggest musical lesson this collection taught me was that happy or emotional romantic music that makes you dance doesn't have to be vapid, pop cotton candy. Simultaneously, it teaches you the history of a very important record label that probably did just as much for the civil rights movement as the marches did. After all, when you get a zillion white kids groovin' to black music, what do you think is going to happen?

This thing is a politial party AND a dance party!

See, this is why people my age (40ish) and older can't listen to much of today's so called R&B. We grew up listening to the BEST and can't settle for just any barrage of notes scattering across the musical scale. I still play this music today. I think if anyone was able to write songs like these today they would, but that was a one-time golden era and these songs are nuggets. This is the best collection of Stax and if you want it all, this is the one to buy.

Probably the greatest box set there is. Out of all the tracks there are only two out and out duds - the Nick Charles ones. What is so amazing about this set is the incredible continuity of quality. Booker T. and the MG's....this truly is their legacy. What fabulous musicians...the tastiest that ever scratched their sound into vinyl. All of the Stax classics are here (Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Bookert T.,Albert King, Bar Kays, etc.) but the real treat are the ones that I was never aware of (William Bell, Mable John, The Astors, Gorgeous George). This is maybe the only huge box seat that is worth the dough.

If you think The Association was a great group, this set may not be for you. But if you want to know soul music, here's the place to start. It contains many classic recordings and shows some of the great artists as they grew. I love hearing Isaac Hayes & David Porter develop their producing style in one great single after another. "I'll Run Your Hurt Away" by Ruby Johnson, the choicest of the early Hayes-Porter productions, is worth the price of the whole set. And then there's Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd ("Big Bird" is here), Rufus Thomas, Sam and Dave, I could go on and on. The second Stax/Volt set is just as wonderful. I haven't sprung for the third yet, but I will.

Apologies to the second reviewer, but the reason it contains no David Porter is because it is the first of three chronological sets, going from 1959 to 1968. Porter had no single sides during that time, so why would you expect him to be on this compilation? This set is GREAT!!! And I doubt there is a better document of gritty southern soul. Price may seem steep, but divide it by the 9 CDs which all have about 70 to 75 minutes of music (and music of exceedingly high claiber) and you'll see that it's actually an amazing bargain. Can't imagine that any fan of R&B or 60s music worth his or her salt doesn't own this box.