Booker T. & The MGs
McLemore Avenue
Stax Records Remasters
www.concordmusicgroup

The Staples Singers
Be Altitude: Respect Yourself
Stax Records Remasters
www.concordmusicgroup.com

Johnnie Taylor
Taylored In Silk
Stax Records Remasters
www.concordmusicgroup.com
By George W. Harris

The South’s answer to Motown, Memphis’ Stax Records was at one time THE label for soul that didn’t mind getting dirt under the fingernails. The home of Otis, Sam & Dave, and of course Booker T. and The MG’s as the regular house band (most of the time), this label defined the sixties and seventies soul and civil rights movement, warts and all. These three reissues capture the mind, body and soul of the times.

Booker T Jones and his team of Steve Cropper/g, Donald Dunn/b and Al Jackson Jr/dr were the heart of the Stax Label, recording and touring with all of the essential vocalists, as well as putting out hits like “Green Onions” and “Time Is Tight.” McLemore Ave (the street which housed Stax Records) was a tribute to the just released and seminal Beatles album Abbey Road. The band put together a bunch of the songs as a handful of medleys, and did a spotlight on “Something.” Also included here are some other Fab Four tunes that were featured on previous albums. The funky treatment of tunes like “Polythene Pam”, as well as the churchified funk of “Lady Madonna” show how musical genres could cross the street at one time in pop history without batting an eye. Almost as good as George Benson’s Other Side Of Abbey Road.

The soul of Black “Soul” Music started in the church. The Staples Singers came out of their to get people back into it. First focusing on Civil Rights songs, they eventually started a style called “Message Music”-not quite gospel in words, but definitely in spirit. Some songs like “I’ll Take You There” and “Are You Sure” definitely show their hope is not in this world, but in heaven, while “Who Do You Think You Are?” points to the foundation of their church. Others, like the mega hit “Respect Yourself” embody the heart of the soul movement like nothing else. It’s amazing how many of these lyrics seem as fresh as ever, not to mention the iconic groove. Why doesn’t anyone do stuff like this anymore. An absolute classic about eternal meanings.

Singer Johnnie Taylor, at one time, was a member of gospel groups like The Soul Stirrers (which also had Sam Cooke as an alumnus). While he still contained a few positive messages in his songs, such as “Cheaper To Keep Her,” the emphasis here is on the consequences of the “Free Love” movement of the 60s, which actually cost a lot of families. Unfaithful love, cheatin’ love, lost love, searching for love, and selfish love are all sung about here, rarely with the consequences that we now pay a heavy price for in terms of broken homes and relationships. Music, Si, message No.