Various
Artists
‘Stax ’68: A
Memphis Story’
Craft Recordings
When Elvis Costello was recording “Get
Happy,” he writes, “I bought myself a stack of Stax
singles.” No wonder; some of pop music’s greatest tunes originated at the
Memphis label. “Stax ’68: A Memphis Story,” contains
every single from 1968, with120 songs spanning five CD’s. The collection begins
with Otis Redding’s “The Dock of The Bay,” released after Redding died in a
plane crash at the age of 26. That masterpiece is followed by Sam & Dave’s
“I Thank You,” showcasing Stax’s trademark fusion of
gospel and soul. Vocalists varied, but the musicians boasted greats like Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes.
With the assassination of Martin Luther
King in Memphis, 1968 was turbulent. Stax reflected
that with tunes like “Long Walk to D.C.” and “The Ghetto” by The Staples
Singers. But most of the songs, like Johnny Taylor’s “Who’s Making Love,”
involved romance. With the zeitgeist shifting toward psychedelia, Stax had to reinvent itself, resulting in tunes like The Aardvarks’ “Unicorn Man” and Southwest F.O.B.’s “Smell of
Incense.” Thankfully, R&B prevailed.
This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2018.
