Southern Soul: Part 2

But both Charles and Brown stood outside the main axis of soul - they were performers who went very much their own way, unconventional, and iconoclastic. Charles was probably the first black performer to record straight country and make it popular with 1961's Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, while Brown's very specific form of music was largely inimitable.

"The big band era was gone, and the groups had stripped down."

While Brown and Charles were charting their own paths, the face of R&B was changing. The big band era was gone, and the groups had stripped down. No more large horn sections; now there was little more a trumpet and a sax. In Memphis, that had become the norm, and the groups of Willie Mitchell and Ben Branch - the two best-known ensembles in town - were no exception. They became the training ground for a whole generation of musicians, including Donald 'Duck; Dunn, the bass player who'd join the Mar-Keys and later Booker T. and the MGs. He would be, in fact, the only white musician in Branch's orchestra. But Memphis, as any Memphian will gladly tell you, is different. In terms of music, the color lines were quite elastic, as they'd soon prove even further south. And Memphis had Sun Records, the blues label that became the epicenter of early rock'n'roll.

The city had a musical history going back to W.C. Handy and beyond, and it was there that a country musician turned banker, Jim Stewart, got the idea for a label called Satellite. He started out recording himself, along with a bit of rockabilly (even Hi, considered one of the mightiest soul companies, began as a rockabilly label), before Stewart teamed with his sister, Estelle Axton. They moved the label, with its mono recorder, out of town for a year, to Brunswick, Tennessee, before returning and taking over the famous address - the old movie theater at 926 E. McLemore, the home of Satellite, the label which would soon change its name to Stax (from Stewart and Axton), after another Satellite Records was discovered.

The '60s - The Heyday of Stax

The label's first success was with Rufus Thomas (a DJ on WDIA) and his daughter Carla, with "Cause I Love You." Originally released on Satellite, it sold well locally, and was picked up by Atlantic - a deal which astutely gave Atlantic first refusal on all future Stax product, and forming a relationship which would last until 1968, until Warners bought Atlantic. Then Carla Thomas, going solo, showed bright things for the fledgling label with "Gee Whiz," which made #5 on the R&B, and #10 on the national pop charts. But the record which truly established Stax was one of the all-time great party records, "Last Night" by the Mar-Keys. According to legend, it wasn't recorded all in one session, but pieced together from any number of late nights, to the point when the personnel playing on the release could have been pulled from any number of players.

The real Mar-Keys, however, had evolved from a band called The Royal Spades, who loved R&B, and found their way to Stax through Estelle Axton's son, Packy. Among the members of the Royal Spades were Steve Cropper, bassist 'Duck' Dunn, trumpeter Wayne Jackson, and sax player Don Nix. "Last Night" was a huge hit, #2 R&B, #3 pop, and it was, in fact, the first release on Stax. It was in the tradition of Memphis instrumentals, such as "Raunchy" or "Smokie Pt. 2," as well as what was being played in the clubs, a tradition that would continue over the next few years. The Mar-Keys hit the road, but Cropper, who didn't like touring, stayed home, and was soon working sessions at Stax. Also there was a young Booker T. Jones.

But the first great soul record to emerge from Stax was one essentially produced by a white singer and guitar player, who'd also been the label's A&R man - Chips Moman. "You Don't Miss Your Water," came from William Bell, a song he'd wrote in New York. It was something that largely defined the fledgling genre; looked at one way, it was a country song, another way it was soul. Not long after, a disagreement about money between Moman and Jim Stewart led to Moman's departure, after which he set up American Recording Studio, which would contribute its share of fine sides (and Moman would play on a number of sessions. By the middle of 1962, Stax had set up a second label, Volt, and had a house band for its sessions, consisting of Booker T. Jones on keys, Al Jackson, Jr., drums, Steve Cropper on guitar, and bassist Lewie Steinberg - the first version of Booker T. and the MG's, who would be augmented for sessions by the nascent Memphis horns. Volt 102 was the first MG's single, "Green Onions," now considered a classic. However, Atlantic suggested it be released on Stax instead, and so it was, becoming a #3 pop hit, and #1 R&B. It was the start of a auspicious career for the band, who would go on to have fourteen chart hits and make ten albums. Cropper, in particular, would prove to be not only a seminal guitar player, but also a marvelous writer, co-composing a number of hits for Stax artists.

The hits were coming, and the reputation was growing. Stax had a sound, but the best was best to come, courtesy of the relationship with Atlantic. It was while recording one of their artists, Johnny Jenkins, that Stax came across Otis Redding. At that point, Redding worked with Jenkins's band, the Pinetoppers. After the session, however, Redding cut some songs, among them "These Arms of Mine," which appeared on Volt, and was, by far, the most soulful thing yet to come out of the studio, eventually climbing the R&B charts, and offering a blueprint for the first part of Otis's caree. Quite how far it could have gone, will never be known, of course, given his tragic early death in a 1967 plane crash.

Rufus Thomas, too, was back on the hit trail, first with "The Dog," and then the more successful "Walking the Dog" (which would hit #10 pop, and spawn a bunch of covers). By now the pattern had been set at Stax. The soul was there, and so were the singles. Most of them weren't hits, but, like any label, the big sellers kept all the rest afloat. And just because something didn't sell in large quantities didn't mean it wasn't good. There was hardly a bad track coming out of the studios, and the house musicians were kept busy. New people were arriving through the doors every single day, among them a duo going by the name of Sam and Dave. Samuel Moore and David Prater had been singing together for almost four years by the time they reached Stax in 1965. After teaming up in Miami, they'd released five singles and an album, to no result. Finally, Jerry Wexler signed them to Atlantic, although their material would be recorded in Memphis and appear on the Stax label.

Southern Soul: Part 3 >>

Southern Soul: Part 2

"The big band era was gone, and the groups had stripped down."

The '60s - The Heyday of Stax

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