For guitarist Steve Cropper, an intuitive sense of things served him well. Twice, when it came to legendary riffs on what would become legendary Stax songs, he simply did what came naturally. You May Also Like: Wilson Pickett and Steve Cropper were strangers who hit it big: ‘Why don’t youRead More

The Lorraine Motel, refurbished now as the National Civil Rights Museum, has become a cultural touchstone in the wake of Martin Luther King’s murder. But that Memphis landmark holds another place of historical significance. You May Also Like: Steve Cropper on the Beatles’ flirtation with Stax: ‘Didn’t happen for aRead More

So much for the long-held notion that Elvis Presley had simply thrown away his own gifts by the 1970s. In fact, these soul-soaked sessions at Memphis’ legendary Stax Studios show an artist still deeply committed You May Also Like: Presley’s Beatles, “Can’t Help Falling In Love / Let It Be”Read More

Friends, hold on to The Complete Stax/Volt Singers Collection. Squeeze it. Never leave it. After all, the best-known songs on Disc One alone are more than enough to make the case for Otis Redding You May Also Like: No related posts.

Booker T.’s “Father Son Blues” — which, yes, features his talented offspring Ted Jones — opens with a grease-popping organ lick before recapturing a groove familiar to anyone who ever soaked up a Stax Records side back in the day. You May Also Like: It’s unclear when, or if, BookerRead More

Playing an upside down Gibson Flying V, Albert King set about turning everything you thought you knew about the blues, about rock, and certainly about the left-handed guitarist himself on its head with this stunning Stax release. You May Also Like: Greg Lake compares this era to the one thatRead More

A meditation on the most wrenching, soul-deep cries for love from the master of such things, Lonely and Blue illuminates Otis Redding’s way with a lyric in a manner that straight-forward greatest hits packages never have. You May Also Like: No related posts.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idpYuJeAi0U&w=420&h=315] Big names don’t delve in “small” productions that often, which is reason alone why this collaboration between Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite is a happy occasion. You May Also Like: Ben Craven, “Revenge of Dr. Komodo” from Last Chance to Hear (2015): One Track Mind Charlie Hunter gotRead More

That there wasn’t one already seems unfathomable. Now that the Memphis Music Hall of Fame has been created, however, its inaugural class can assembled with a snap resembling the legendary hometown Stax Records logo. You May Also Like: No related posts.

A sizzling outburst of lean pre-funk soul-rock, Green Onions introduced the world to the genre-jumping delights of Booker T, and the MGs. You May Also Like: Inside the naming of Booker T. and the MGs’ ‘Green Onions’ : ‘The stinking-est music I’ve ever heard!’ Booker T. and the MGs’ agelessRead More