Product Details

• Actors: Various Artists
• Format: Color, Compilation, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Stax
• DVD Release Date: October 2, 2007
• Run Time: 155 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000UD2K32
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,848 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The rise and fall of Memphis-based Stax Records remains one of the more compelling sagas in American popular music history. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, renamed in 1961 by blending the surnames of brother-sister co-founders Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, Stax was Motown's funky Deep South counterpart. From its loose atmosphere came giants, including Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas and daughter Carla, Booker T and the MGs, Eddie Floyd, Sam & Dave, Albert King, Isaac Hayes, and the Bar-Kays. Recording in a converted movie theater, the earthy results were often as stunning and transcendent as anything from the equally loose Sun Records across town or Motown itself. While celebrating Stax, its triumphs and the genius of its artists and musicians, the documentary doesn’t shy away from the label's woes, like unexamined fine print that gave Atlantic Records, who distributed Stax, the rights to classic Stax masters. While it resurged following its sale, through the successes of Isaac Hayes, the Shaft soundtrack and legendary Wattstax show, those triumphs were a prelude to the label's final, ugly collapse. The redemption comes by detailing Stax's legacy into the 21st century. The DVD extra consists of rehearsal footage from the rehearsals for a Stax reunion show. --Rich Kienzle

Product Description

Funky. Emotional. Raw. Powerful. That was soul music in the Civil Rights era; and Stax Records did it like no other. Stax quickly became a hit-making machine, producing a massive catalog of Top 100 records that defined the "Memphis Sound;" such as "Soul Man," "(Sittin On) The Dock Of The Bay," "Green Onions," "Midnight Hour," "I'll Take You There," "Respect Yourself," "Theme from Shaft" and many more. Stax also launched the careers of a who's-who of soul music greats: Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, The Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Eddie Floyd, Carla and Rufus Thomas, Albert King and Booker T. and the MGs, to name just a few. Now, with the release of this exciting new DVD, Grammy-nominated filmakers Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville ("Muddy Waters Can't Be Satisfied") present the first comprehensive look at Stax, the greatest soul label of all time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soulsville U.S.A., February 26, 2008

By	Scott Rivers (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Documentary On Stax So Far---Even Has Albert King, October 25, 2007

By	Perry Celestino (Tahmoor, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!!!!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Soul documentary, October 10, 2007

By	Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.