Customer Reviews

Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This documentary on the Stax soul powerhouse is very well done. Fine mix of rare performance clips and interviews that puts the story in full perspective. Those who have seen the documentary on PBS may be disappointed in the small number of extra features (just a rehearsal cut of the surviving MGs, William Bell, and Isaac Hayes done earlier this year), but that's okay, as the documenary itself does such a brilliant job.

The scenes where Stax was temporarily ruined by gangsters is an eerie foretelling of the Suge Knight/Death Row saga involving rap music in recent times. At least Stax and Motown never had shootouts with each other in spite of their rivalry (the Motown musician's snobbish comments about Stax and Otis Redding in particular will shock and anger many fans today).

Miraculously, the documentary ends on a high note in spite of the thuggery, mismanagement, and failure to read the fine print that doomed the label for a number of years. The scene of Booker T. and the MG's perfoming "Time is Tight" (trust me, you'll know this if you hear it) as the label's fortunes crumble is a masterpiece of editing.

On the whole, this documentary is as entertaining and inspiring as it is informative. However, their rivals in Detroit (Berry Gordy and co.) need to get with it and put some of their stuff on DVD as Stax is doing such an excellent job with this, the Otis Redding documentary, and the 1967 Live Stax-Volt Tour DVD.

Support these so that more classic soul can at long last be available on non-bootleg DVD in America.

This film is the best, most comprehensive documentary on Stax Records ever released. It covers the entire history of Stax from its origins in Memphis to its resurrection as a part of the Fantasy Organization in the 1980s and 1990s. All the famous artists are there, unlike some of the other footage that has been released, starting with a French documentary in the early 1990s. It makes fascinating viewing for all Soul enthusiasts.

However, this is not meant to be a comprehensive review. This film's highlight is that it contains the rarest clip of Albert King EVER shown (this is besides his brief appearance in Wattstax and the bonus clip of him doing "I'll Play The Blues For You"). It is in colour and he is playing his break from "Blues Power". While the audio narration goes over part of this, if you are a Blues lover this is the rarest film of him ever shown. He is also playing his Korina wood Gibson Flying-V original "Lucy" (now worth in excess of $100,000). Wouldn't it be unbelieveable to see the entire concert--King at his height in the late 1960s! It is in colour and the sound is great too! To access it on the DVD-go to scene selection and view it from "CBS".

I apologise if my enthusiasm for this may be too much. But this is so rare, and even if it's only just over a minute, all Blues lovers should see this. It is at least 12 years earlier than anything ever released so far.

Plus the documentary is five stars too!!!!

This excellent documentary on the classic Stax Records label emerges as a fascinating social and cultural overview. From Booker T. and the MGs to the Staple Singers, the Stax icons are seen in all their glory. Filmmakers Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville have done a remarkable job chronicling the soulful triumphs and brutal realities of the Memphis hit factory. "Respect Yourself" packs a dynamic musical punch.

The music made at 926 E. McLemore in Memphis, Tennessee has always been one of my passions. Funkier than Motown and every bit as innovative and important as Sun, Stax records turned out some of the best music ever recorded. So I was very excited to learn that Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville were directing a documentary about the history of Stax ,but after watching it, I feel that `Respect Yourself' falls far short of the glory of it's subject.

`Respect Yourself' has many flaws both as a film, and as a telling of the Stax story. First of all, the history of Stax can hardly be done justice in two hours. This is made all the worse by the directors apparent lack of understanding about using context to further a story. Martin Scorsese used context masterfully in his Bob Dylan bio, No Direction Home. He richly illustrated how Dylan's work fit into the society and time period it was a part of, and because of it he created a powerful film that can be enjoyed even by those who aren't Dylan fans. In `Respect Yourself' not a word is said about the history of Memphis music leading up to the creation of Stax, and the contemporaneous events in the music scene and civil rights struggles are given only very fleeting mentions (with the exception of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.). The ineptitude with context causes the director to constantly go back to interview snippets of people saying `this was the only place in the south where black people and white people could work together' which becomes repetitive to the point of being patronizing. (Ok, I get it, let's talk about the music, or at least WHY that was significant and HOW it was influential).

This repetitiveness is made all the more infuriating when one sees the superficial coverage of the art and careers of giants like Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and Rufus Thomas. Thomas was marginalized to only a scant retelling of the making of `Because I Love You' which seems over before it begins, Redding and Sam and Dave fare slightly better, but not by much.

At times the interviews seem somewhat fragmented and handled in a clumsy manner, as if the directors wrote the script first, and then plugged in clips that fit their story, rather than gathering the interviews first and weaving a narrative out of them. Performance clips also seem to be chosen in a somewhat haphazard fashion, with sometimes awkward and inferior performances chosen over other far superior ones available.

All of these faults conspire to throw of the pacing of the first half of the film covering the studio's most important years (1960-1967). There are a few highlights in the first half, such as the inspired juxtapositioning of the performances of `My Girl' by the Temptations and Otis Redding. It is an absolutely perfect way to bring into focus the contrasts between the polished Motown and the Soulful Stax.

In the second half, after the death of Otis Redding, things pick up a bit and it is obvious that this is the story the directors really wanted to tell. The Al Bell years are covered very competently, and the coverage of Stax's involvement in African-American struggles gives the viewer at least some idea of why Stax was important.

The performance footage shown here of Booker T & The Mg's playing `Time Is Tight' circa 1970 is absolutely incredible, and I would LOVE to see this full performance. These guys are without peer when it comes to a band functioning as a unit to make a unified groove. Gordon and Neville do a good job of showing the success and relevance of the company in it's last years, and portray Al Bell as the complex figure that he is in relationship with the company's history.

I also would like to say that this film LOOKS great, and whoever handled the graphic design did an EXCELLENT job, and that can't be overstated.

Despite all of it's faults, `Respect Yourself' is an entertaining two-hours, and packed with great music. It is however, far from the definitive statement on Stax. I hope one day Stax will get the treatment it deserves, until then however, this will have to do.

The story of Stax Records is a great story. The rise and fall of a legendary record company that produced some of the greatest music during a time when there was no shortage of great music. Stax was one of those places where you had the right people at the right time. RESPECT YOURSELF is a cool documentary on a record company that was home to legends of American music including Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, The Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Eddie Floyd, Carla and Rufus Thomas, Albert King and Booker T. and the MGs. Check it out.

The story of Stax Records is a story of dizzying success and gut-wrenching heartbreak; of great good fortune and the vicissitudes of fate. In short, the label's history is much like the best soul music: It can make you dance with joy one moment, and sob achingly in a way Frank Sinatra's "Only The Lonely" ballads could only aspire to without actually attaining.

"Respect Yourself: The Story of Stax Records" documents the astonishing musicians who came together to create some of the greatest rhythm and blues/soul/gospel music of the 1960's and 1970's. And it is a story about how a small independent record label defied the Jim Crow segregation of Memphis -- and the result in the form of timeless music speaks for itself. As label founder Estelle Axton notes in the film, "We never looked at color -- we looked at talent."

The talent of these men and women is properly highlighted in the film: Rufus and Carla Thomas, Booker T. and the MG's, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Isaac Hayes, Rance Allen, the Staple Singers, Albert King, et. al. found at 926 East McLemore Avenue a place where they could come together to exchange ideas and make music -- even as the rest of the city was rigidly imposing an American apartheid.

[The quote I've used for this review comes from Donald "Duck" Dunn, legendary bass player for Booker T. and the MG's].

The second thread of the story is how this small company was royally shafted (no pun intended) by a series of other companies. Stax founder Jim Stewart discovered that the distribution deal he signed with Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records gave Wexler's firm ownership of the master recordings -- so that Stax found itself a record company with no records. Stax attempted (rather successfully) to rebuild its catalog from 1968 forward, and had an agreement with Clive Davis of CBS Records that effectively ended when Davis was fired from that company. Stax was ultimately purchased by Fantasy Records -- which was later itself sold to the Concord Music Group which is today reviving the label and embarking on an ambitious reissue program.

In addition to being informative and entertaining, this program is a great educational resource as it places the Stax story within the context of larger cultural and historical matters. All these factors make this a MUST for all music fans and students of the music business.

I've viewed this great documentry on PBS so I won't offer any assesment of the quality of the DVD and packaging. The story of STAX Records is what's significant here. And the fact that this story takes place in one of the most racially divided cities in the South is almost unbelievable. But the music and the vintage live performances are the real reasons to own this DVD. Sam & Dave, Booker T & the MG's, William Bell, Rufus & Carla Thomas, The Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Eddie Floyd and of course Otis Redding. Man with that kind of all-star roster who could compete with STAX?.....Who?.......Who you say?....You say that other soul label?.... That one way up North in Detroit?....You know the one they call Motor-Town or somethin' like 'dat....Surely You Jest!!!!!

If you don't know the story of Stax, this will set you straight. It's an amazing tale that could not happen again today, most likely. The music business hasn't been like this since, well, since Stax. You know the songs. You may not know the personalities like Booker T, Al Bell, Isaac Hayes, Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper. Read Peter Guralnik's book, 'Sweet Soul Music,' in conjunction with this film, and you will be well versed in this aspect of American pop culture. A real gem.

Best yet documentary on Soul Powerhouse STAX Records. Includes rare video footage of late 60's and eary 70's. A must buy for the Soul and R & B fans.

This DVD was very good. A must for anyone that was a fan of the Stax Records Sound. The history of Stax Records and the entertainers that recorded there is worth the purchase of the DVD. Another part of music history that must be kept alive. Very well put together.

Bev