Entertainment For Lively Minds
Stax - when soul ruled the world
Posted by N2Peach on 29 July 2008 - 10:39am.
Did any body catch the documentary on BBC 4 last Friday on Stax records? 2 hours long and not one minute of boredom. When was the last time you could say that? It certainly clarified any idealised impressions of Memphis - in the 60's it was a horribly segregated town, even the grave yards!The death of Otis Redding and Martin Luther King tinged every thing with regret but the music was pure joy. I think the music was and is more loved in Europe than it ever was in the USA -shame on them.
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DVD
You can get the DVD here along with the concert on disc two. Can't recommend it highly enough.
Yeah...
...wonderful programme. Otis Redding's death was particularly sad when you see him on top form in concert. Was great to see focus on one of my own favourite soul albums, 'Hot Buttered Soul', too. Maybe because it wasn't made by them, I found it so much more satisfying than some of the programmes that get shown on BBC4 (witness that awful 'Pop On Trial' series!), the two-hour running time really meant it was fully fleshed-out.
Best couple of hours of telly in a long while...
Let's hope that BBC2 or BBC4 repeat Soul Deep sometime soon.
The tightest musical backing ever:
The Stax house band remain the template for the ultimate soul/r'n'b sound. Anyone looking to instantly recreate that mood just copies the stylistic licks, whether the clipped guitar, the rolling organ or rapier bass and drum interplay, punctuated by staccato stabs of horn. Magnificent. And without suggesting any the better because of the colour of the musicians, surely some wonder that there was a multiracial mix there at that time, in the deep south of america.
I remember the first time I actually listened to(as opposed to heard) Aretha Franklin, on a compilation. I couldn't believe all the licks I recognised so well, from paler imitations and retreads. Imagine the first time these had ever been aired, it must have been devastating.
Been saving this one
I downloaded this from iplayer on Sunday night and am quivering with excitement at getting a chance to watch any of it. It's good to hear the Word panel giving it the thumbs up. Ever since wearing out my sister's copy of 'This Is Soul' in the mid-80s, I've been in love with this sound.
Seen this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Soul-Remastered-Expanded-Replica/dp/B000N3T...
Its got more tracks and the remastering is just right.