Going Back to the River

The fount of Americana music flows not from upstate New York and a big pink house, or from the laid-back psychedelic country of Southern California sweetheart’s rodeo. The headwaters of Americana music flow straight out of little towns in Alabama — Florence and Muscle Shoals — and out of a bigger river town, known these days more for Graceland and barbeque and kitschy versions of the blues: Memphis. In many ways, Memphis, more than any other town, is the birthplace of Americana music, not only because the musical forms — blues, soul, jazz, rock, country — flowed into one another in studios around town, but also because the political and social landscape of Memphis provided songwriters and artists rich material for their lyrics. Stax Records was home to many of the musicians and songwriters that produced not only the rhythms and melodies that provided the undercurrents for soul music, but also the lyrics that challenged, protested, and confronted the shape of civic life in Memphis and the nation.

In 1968, Stax came to a crossroads. In December 1967, Otis Redding, who was Stax’s iconic star, died in a plane crash, and Stax Records’ distributorship deal with Atlantic Records fell apart, which gave Atlantic rights to Stax’s back catalog. When the deal with Atlantic dissolved, Stax also lost Sam & Dave, Atlantic artists who released their music on Stax. “We were trying to insure we had something to sell,” says legendary Stax recording artist William Bell. “Releasing these songs was how we were going to survive.”

Musicians and writers faced perhaps their greatest challenge when Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated in April at the Lorraine Motel, just a few blocks from the studio. “We helped quell a lot of the unrest and fury after King’s assassination,” says Bell, “and I think Stax helped Memphis redefine itself as a city in the aftermath of Dr. King’s death. We were more conscious then of the need to improve our lives and the importance of creating some kind of rapport to bridge the era’s racial divide. Both races were looking for that kind of rapport.”

A new collection, Stax ’68: A Memphis Story, captures the diversity of the music that Stax created during this fraught year, illustrating the rich variety of musical styles emanating from the studio as it struggled to keep on keeping on. The five-disc set contains the A- and B-sides of every single Stax released in 1968, and the songs range from the familiar — Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and “The Happy Song (Dum-Dum),” for example, and Rufus Thomas’ “I Think I Made a Boo Boo,” among many others — to less familiar songs by artists such as The Soul Children, The Mad Lads, and Jeanne & The Darlings.

“There were some great artists that never got their due because of what we were going through at the time: The Soul Children, The Mad Lads, Jeanne & the Darlings — they were background vocalists but they were very good when they sang as their own group — Linda Lyndell,” says Bell.

This new collection reveals the stunning breadth of music released out of Stax in this one year. Late in 1968, two novelty songs by The Pop Corn Generation — “Kitchy Koo” and “Shake It” — reproduce the sounds of other groups such as the 1910 Fruitgum Company and its 1967 hit “Simon Says.” The Staple Singers deliver a gospel-inflected shout and protest march anthem, underscored by Pops Staples’ stinging guitar, on “Long Walk to D.C.,” and their “Stay With Us,” is a plea for Dr. King not to leave the singers and everyone in the struggle for civil rights, but also an affirmation that no matter what “we’re gonna make it.” The Aardvarks represent psychedelic folk and soul with “Unicorn Man,” while Bobby Whitlock delivers a move-across-the-dance-floor pop soul anthem in the vein of the Grass Roots on “And I Love You.” Lyndell funks it up with “What a Man” and “I Don’t Know” (one of the highlights of the set). During these years at Stax, Isaac Hayes made a name for himself as a songwriter and moved into the national spotlight as a singer and pianist with songs such as “Precious, Precious” and “Going to Chicago Blues,” which features a slow jazz piano floating under his blues growl.

In addition to the 120 songs collected here, the set also features a 56-page book that includes liner notes written by Andria Lisle, Robert Gordon, and Steve Greenberg, as well as previously unseen photos.

The songs on Stax ’68: A Memphis Story reveal the beauty, the funk, the aching heartbreak, the angry protest, and the shimmering songs of love and hope that flowed out of this Memphis studio in a fraught time that in many ways we’ve never left behind. Listening to this music now not only soothes the soul but also encourages us to rise up to act in our own communities for justice.

1. Otis Redding: “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”
2. Otis Redding: “Sweet Lorene”
3. Sam & Dave: “I Thank You”
4. Sam & Dave: “Wrap It Up”
5. The Memphis Nomads: “Don’t Pass Your Judgement”
6. The Memphis Nomads: “I Wanna Be (Your Lover & Your Honey)”
7. Shirley Walton: “I Was Born to Love You
8. Shirley Walton: “I’m so Glad You’re Back”
9. Otis Redding & Carla Thomas: “Lovey Dovey”
10. Otis Redding & Carla Thomas: “New Year’s Resolution”
11. Ollie & the Nightingales: “I Got a Sure Thing”
12. Ollie & the Nightingales: “Girl, You Have My Heart Singing”
13. Eddie Floyd: “Big Bird”
14. Eddie Floyd: “Holding on with Both Hands”
15. Bar-Kays: “A Hard Day’s Night”
16. Bar-Kays: “I Want Someone”
17. Johnnie Taylor: “Next Time”
18. Johnnie Taylor: “Sundown”
19. William Bell: “Every Man Oughta Have a Woman”
20. William Bell: “Tribute to a King”
21. Mable John: “Able Mable”
22. Mable John: “Don’t Get Caught”
23. Rufus Thomas: “The Memphis Train”
24. Rufus Thomas: “I Think I Made a Boo Boo”
25. Jeanne & the Darlings: “What Will Later on Be Like”
26. Jeanne & the Darlings: “Hang Me Now”

1. Derek Martin: “Soul Power”
2. Derek Martin: “Sly Girl”
3. Linda Lyndell: “Bring Your Love Back to Me”
4. Linda Lyndell: “Here I Am”
5. Carla Thomas: “A Dime a Dozen”
6. Carla Thomas: “I Want You Back”
7. Kangaroo’s: “Groovy Day”
8. Kangaroo’s: “Every Man Needs a Woman”
9. Isaac Hayes: “Precious Precious”
10. Isaac Hayes: “Going to Chicago Blues”
11. The Mad Lads: “Whatever Hurts You”
12. The Mad Lads: “No Time Is Better Than Now”
13. Otis Redding: “The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)”
14. Otis Redding: “Open the Door”
15. Albert King: “(I Love) Lucy”
16. Albert King: “You’re Gonna Need Me”
17. Johnnie Taylor: “I Ain’t Particular”
18. Johnnie Taylor: “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire”
19. Eddie Henderson Quintet: “Georgy Girl”
20. Eddie Henderson Quintet: “A Million or More Times”
21. Shirley Walton: “Send Peace and Harmony Home”
22. Shirley Walton: “The One You Can’t Have All by Yourself”

1. Booker T. & The MG’s: “Soul Limbo”
2. Booker T. & The MG’s: “Heads or Tails”
3. Eddie Floyd: “I Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do) “
4. Eddie Floyd: “I’m Just the Kind of Fool”
5. Delaney & Bonnie: “It’s Been a Long Time Coming”
6. Delaney & Bonnie: “We Just Been Feeling Bad”
7. Linda Lyndell: “What a Man”
8. Linda Lyndell: “I Don’t Know”
9. Harvey Scales & The Seven Sounds: “Broadway Freeze”
10. Harvey Scales & The Seven Sounds: “I Can’t Cry No More”
11. Johnny Daye: “Stay Baby Stay”
12. Johnny Daye: “I Love Love”
13. Bobby Whitlock: “Raspberry Rug”
14. Bobby Whitlock: “And I Love You”
15. Judy Clay and William Bell: “Private Number”
16. Judy Clay and William Bell: “Love-Eye-Tis”
17. Jimmy Hughes: “I Like Everything About You”
18. Jimmy Hughes: “What Side of the Door”
19. The Delrays: “Lollipop Lady”
20. The Delrays: “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me”
21. Lindell Hill: “Remone”
22. Lindell Hill: “Used to Be Love”
23. The Aardvarks: “Subconscious Train Of Thought”
24. The Aardvarks: “Unicorn Man”
25. Fresh Air: “Somebody Stole My Gal”
26. Fresh Air: “Somebody Stole My Gal” [Instrumental]
27. Judy Clay: “Bed of Roses”
28. Judy Clay: “Remove These Clouds
29. The Staple Singers: “Long Walk to D.C.”                     

1. Staple Singers: “Stay With Us”
2. The Soul Children: “Give ‘Em Love”
3. The Soul Children: “Move Over”
4. Johnnie Taylor: “Who’s Making Love”
5. Johnnie Taylor: “I’m Trying”
6. Rufus Thomas: “Funky Mississippi”
7. Rufus Thomas: “So Hard to Get Along With”
8. Carla Thomas: “Where Do I Go”
9. Carla Thomas: “I’ve Fallen in Love “
10. The Mad Lads: “So Nice”
11. The Mad Lads: “Make Room”
12. Charmells: “Lovin’ Feeling”
13. Charmells: “Sea Shell”
14. Jeanne & the Darlings: “It’s Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul)”
15. Jeanne & the Darlings: “I Like What You’re Doing to Me”
16. Southwest F. O. B.: “Smell of Incense”
17. Southwest F. O. B.: “Green Skies”
18. The Village Sound: “Sally’s Got a Good Thing”
19. The Village Sound: “The La La Song”
20. Eddie Floyd: “Bring It on Home to Me”
21. Eddie Floyd: “Sweet Things You Do”
22. Booker T. & The MG’s: “Hang ‘Em High”
23. Booker T. & The MG’s: “Over Easy”
24. Ollie & the Nightingales: “You’re Leaving Me”
25. Ollie & the Nightingales: “Showered with Love”
26. The Pop Corn Generation: “Kitchy Kitchy Koo”
27. The Pop Corn Generation: “Shake It”
28. Bar-Kays: “Copy Kat”
29. Bar-Kays: “In the Hole”

1. Dino & Doc: “Mighty Cold Winter”
2. Dino & Doc: “A Woman Can’t Do (What a Man Do)”
3. William Bell: “I Forgot to Be Your Lover”
4. William Bell: “Bring the Curtain Down”
5. The Goodees: “Condition Red”
6. The Goodees: “Didn’t Know Love Was so Good”
7. Mable John: “Running Out”
8. Mable John: “Shouldn’t I Love Him”
9. Billy Lee Riley: “Family Portrait”
10. Billy Lee Riley: “Going Back to Memphis”
11. Judy Clay and William Bell: “My Baby Specializes”
12. Judy Clay and William Bell: “Left Over Love”
13. The Soul Children: “I’ll Understand”
14. The Soul Children: “Doing Our Thang”
15. The Staple Singers: “The Ghetto”
16. The Staple Singers: “Got to Be Some Changes Made”
17. Albert King: “Blues Power”
18. Albert King: “Night Stomp”
19. The Epsilons: “The Echo”
20. The Epsilons: “Really Rockin”
21. Rufus Thomas: “Funky Way”
22. Rufus Thomas: “I Want to Hold You”
23. The Generation: “The Children Have Your Tongue”
24. The Generation: “Give Her What She Wants”
25. Daaron Lee: “Who’s Making Love”
26. Daaron Lee: “Long Black Train”
27. Johnnie Taylor: “Take Care of Your Homework”
28. Johnnie Taylor: “Hold on This Time”