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Editorial Reviews
Mable John went from Motown to Stax via the Raelets, but this is her own album debut, combining issued Stax sides with a truck load of unissued material. Reissued to due popular demand and John is of course featured in the pending 'It Came From Memphis' concert at the Barbican, where she will be joined by the Bo-Keys and Stax stalwarts Booker T & The MGs, Eddie Floyd, William Bell and other special guests.
--This text refers to an alternate
Audio CD
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Undimmed by time,
By
This review is from: Stay Out of the Kitchen (Audio CD)
In the sixties, Mable John's recorded output was restricted to just a handful of singles on Tamla and Stax. Thanks to the CD format there are now two full length albums of her sixties work on sale, each additionally containing a number of recordings never released at the time. Her Tamla years are documented by Complete Collection - My Name Is Mable, which collected the four singles she made for the label, A-sides, B-sides and variants, and rescued a number of previously unknown gems from the vaults.
Stay Out Of The Kitchen continues the story from when she joined the legendary Stax roster of artists in 1966, swapping the Detroit sound of the Funk Brothers for the grittier Southern soul grooves of Booker T and the MGs. Her two years at the label probably represent the time for which she is best known, because after 1968 she joined the ranks of Ray Charles's Raelettes and ceased to be a solo performer for a long time. The difference in styles between Tamla and Stax is best demonstrated by the song Able Mable, as it appears on both discs in quite different arrangements. On the Tamla collection, My Name Is Mable, the unreleased early version under its original title gives the album its name. Unlike the Tamla collection, however, this CD does not represent everything that Mable John recorded for the label. A generous eighteen of the tracks are previously unreleased and some at least must have been intended for an LP that never materialised. The trademark sounds of the MGs are augmented by Isaac Hayes on piano, backing vocals from staff writer Deanie Parker, members of Jeanne and the Darlings (who get name checked in a couple of the songs) and brother Raymond John, and the crisp tones of the Memphis Horns. Isaac Hayes also produced and co-wrote several of the songs alongside David Porter, Mable John has several of her own songs and other notable writers include Steve Cropper, who produced several of the tracks (and of course contributes some very tasteful guitar figures throughout), Eddie Floyd and Homer Banks. The final song on the disc is her moving tribute to her brother Little Willie John who had just died, his signature song Need Your Love So Bad, written by another brother, Mertis John. The playing is at times bluesy, at times funky, generally favouring piano to organ, and is always solid and quite uniformly excellent. We had to wait nearly thirty years to get a chance to hear them, but their power is undimmed by time. When it comes to the singles that Stax put out between 1966 and 1968, the collection takes a perverse turn. If there is one song for which Mable John will be remembered it is the stunning Your Good Thing (Is About To End), her Memphis debut. This is described in the notes as "a monster R&B record that peaked at #6", but it is not included on the disc. In fact, of the seven singles she released only three feature here: I'm A Big Girl Now, Able Mable and Running Out. Two of these, I'm A Big Girl Now and Able Mable, are both presented in alternative takes (Able Mable gaining an extra verse), leaving Running Out as the only original single in the 25-track collection. Her other singles (Your Good Thing, You're Taking Up Another Man's Place, Same Time Same Place, Don't Hit Me No More) are all represented only by their B-sides (the superb It's Catching, If You Give Up What You Got, Bigger And Better, Left Over Love, Don't Get Caught, Shouldn't I Love Him). I love the B-sides but would have welcomed the opportunity to hear the A-sides I'm not familiar with. The notes point out that all the A-sides are available on the nine-CD box The Complete Stax/Volt Singles: 1959-1968. It seems a little unfair to expect purchasers to shell out around $90 (£80) to hear half-a-dozen tracks they might reasonably have assumed they had just bought. However, the sixty-seven minutes of music that is on offer can only be warmly welcomed.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Left-Overs (Some Tasty Treats),
By
This review is from: Stay Out of the Kitchen (Audio CD)
Mable John is noteworthy as the first woman signed to Berry Gordy's Tamla Records (the predecessor to the cultural phenomenon that was Motown Records). There, four songs were released. Seven songs were released were released by Stax; three were released by Tangerine. She was also lead singer of Ray Charles's Raelettes.
STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN consists of 25 songs, all but seven (2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 19, 20) of which are previously unreleased (some as alternate takes), recorded 1966-1968 for Stax Records (tracks 2, 7, 9, 11, 19, 20, 21 are mono). Most of the songs are collaborations with Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Booklet includes a lengthy essay (four panel) by Rob Bowman, no lyrics, no photos, and very limited track information (only songwriters and occasionally "take" numbers; no recording dates, chart information, or personnel information). The song "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)" described a her "monster R&B record that peaked at #6" is not included in this compilation. All but two of the songs (3, 35) are under 3 minutes long. Total running time is 67:08. I don't find this to be the best example of Southern Soul or 1960s Soul. Despite the input of Hayes & Porter, Mable John's sound is not that of a solo female Sam & Dave. (But apparently is more Soulful than the Pop recordings made with pre-Motown Berry Gordy several years earlier.) She is not comparable with Etta James or Millie Jackson - or Ann Peebles or Ruth Brown or Koko Taylor or Esther Phillips, for that matter. Her voice lacks vigor, intensity, urgency, gut-wrenching emotion, or true distinction. But her voice is pleasant and the music is enjoyable (My favorite is the sassy "Sorry About That"). For the right price, this compilation is worth adding to one's collection.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Back to the famous Stax sound - and what a voice!,
By
This review is from: Stay Out of the Kitchen (Audio CD)
25 tracks - of which only 7 previously issured - recorded by the sister of Little Willie John (of "Fever" fame), accompanied by the best Stax musicians, no less than Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Isaac Hayes, Al Jackson at al.
No alternate tracks, or outtracks, or demos; real finished pieces,18 of which who knows why never released at the time. Buy and enjoy! Mario "Nini" Gibellini - R'n'B fan from Verona, Italy
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