Customer Reviews

Stax Story

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This set provides a welcome alternative to the pricey Complete Singles Vols. 1-3 box sets. This set is four discs. The first disc contains 26 well known Stax hits. The second disc highlights the Atlantic distribution period 1960-68. It contains lesser known singles and album tracks. Disc 3 highlights the years Mid 1968-1973 with more obscure singles and album tracks. The last disc is a sort of a live "Best of the Stax/Volt Soul Revue". All four discs are filled to capacity which is a good value. The 64 page booklet is well annotated with chart positions and contains rare photos of lp covers and promo literature as well as photos of some of the artists included in the set. The set highlghts not only the tight playing of Booker T. & the MGs but also the excellent songwriting of the Stax writers including; the MGs, Isaac Hayes, David Porter, Eddie Floyd, Mack Rice et al. Highlights abound with Albert King, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, the Staple Singers and others. The lesser known cuts by the stars are just as good or better in some cases, than their hits. Some of the more obscure artists included such as the Mad Lads and Ollie & the Nightingales are highlighted with excellent cuts. Someone might have a quibble with the track selection but if so think about investing in cds by the individual artists or the much more expensive singles collections. This is an interesting and judiciously chosen sampler of one of the best soul/funk labels of the sixties and early seventies. If you like this set I highly recommend the "Otis: The Definitive Otis Redding" 4 cd box set on Rhino and "Time Is Tight" a 3 cd Booker T. & The MGs box set from Fantasy.

If you want just the very best of Stax/Volt, get this box: you'll be in good hands. About 95% of the very best these labels had to offer is here, and the price is right. If I tell you I wish they had included "The Preacher and the Bear" by Rufus Thomas, you'll know I'm just being picky. But since I am picky, I will say that this box is weighted towards the first years of the labels, but hey, that's when the big hits came. A note to the discerning: what on this site is called "Big Ford" is in fact the magnificent Eddie Floyd non-hit "Big Bird."

WOW, This is the real thing...The motherlode...Incredible!!! Sure the Complete Stax Volt Singles 6-CD box set gives you every single released up until Atlantic pulled out as their national distributor. The Atlantic Rhythm & Blues collection covers the years 1947-1974 and includes numerous artists of the late forties and fifties like Ruth Brown, Al Hibler, Big Joe Thorton, Lavern Baker and Ray Charles. Then there's the Rhino box set, Thirty Years of Rhythm and Blues, a great retrospective in that it crosses over numerous labels and artists. This is a great place to explore the diversity of styles covering all the great regional styles from Motown to Philly to Memphis.

But if your bent is hard driving, gut wrenching, R&B with a pinch of gospel and soul, then look no further. This collection is the bomb. With 98 (count 'em...98) bonifide super soul hits, this is positively essential for any collector. Five Stars just scratches the surface. This one should get 98 Stars (count 'em...98) one for every great single in this marvelous set.

Then buy this set of quality disks before the sun sets! (Sun Recording, Memphis has already set!) THIS IS THE true Memphis sound and one that many of us have tried to copy over the years. At the center of the Memphis sound are the several music pros in this set...if you get a chance, attend a Memphis Blues Festival held annually (at different dates and times) and puts all the rest to shame. This music was around a long time before Beal Street ever came on the scene and it's a real treat to sit in the clubs during Festival and watch who walks up from the audience and sits in...some well knowns, a lot of unknowns but don't let appearances fool you. It is a treat for me and likely for you to put one of these disks on, sit back in an easy chair and I defy you to not tap your foot and snap your fingers! This is music at it's finest........

This is great. Period. If you're into soul & funk, you need this in your collection. It's got everything you want, and then some. The graphic design of the packaging is terrific, too.

Because I couldn't afford the 1959-1968 Complete Stax-Volt box set, I got this instead. Practically all the songs I care about are here. The only obvious omission is "Hip Hug Her" by Booker T. & the M.G's. But since that's on the Atlantic Rhythm & Blues box set which I also own, I didn't mind that too much. Disc one has the songs you hear on oldies stations. The lesser known but still essential tracks covering the Atlantic era (Kinda Blue) and the post-Atlantic era (Finger Snapping Good) are on discs two and three with the volume titles inspired by the Stax label designs of those two eras. Disc four features tracks recorded live. As exciting as the songs are as recorded in the converted movie theater on McLemore Avenue, they were even more exciting when performed on stage.

I had come across some of the earlier Stax material via Atlantic R&B record set years ago,including the unbelievable "These Arms of Mine" by Otis R.I was inspired by a recent excellent 2 hour TV doco.about Stax to chase up this 98 track collection.Certainly some of the tracks have not stood up well over years but, along with the expected quality tracks from Otis R. and Sam and Dave, I did find several gems I would not have known b4, especially a Mel and Tim track and Albert King`s rendition of a great Etta James song.I also bought the DVD of the Stax Live show in Norway 1967, which was strongly covered in the TV Doco. and is an excellent companion to this CD set.

This is a wonderful anthology of top ten hits interspersed with lesser known gems. Any true soul enthusiast should make this part of their collection.

This is a good review of the Stax catalog. The "live" CD is especially good. I didn't care much for the way they categorized the music. One CD is call Finger Snappin' music. Most of the songs on that CD don't have that tempo. Overall, it's a good way to hear music from some of the lesser know talents in the Stax fold.

As an intro to the label from soulsville usa, Stax Story can do little wring. with favorites from hitmakers Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and Isaac Hayes, to the sweet,sweet b-sides of Booker T, Rufus Thomas, and the Staple Singers, the only complaint from this reviewer is that there simply wasn't enough (despite over 100 tracks).