Booker T and the MGs, McLemore Avenue
Staple Singers, Be Altitude: Respect Yourself
Johnnie Taylor, Taylored in Silk
These three albums were originally issued by Stax Records between 1970 and 1973. The rejuvenated Stax has begun a remastering campaign and these three titles are the first of what I hope will be a long campaign to get this vital music out to the public.
In my collection of vinyl I had only one LP by Booker T and the MGs. Oh, I had “Green Onions” and “Hang ‘Em High” as 45s, but the only album I managed to buy was their rendition of the Beatles’ Abbey Road, entitled McLemore Avenue. It was perfect right down to the band shuffling across the street on the cover. Abbey Road had reached record stores in September of 1969, and it was the new era Beatles album they had been promising. John Lennon is quoted (in the liner notes of this Stax reissue) as saying, “It’s pretty hard trying to fit three guys’ music onto one album…we don’t have conceptions of albums. I think Paul has conceptions of albums–or attempts it. Like he conceived the medley thing…I sing…only unfinished bits of crap that I wrote in India.” John was a harsh critic! Well, take that medley concept, pass it through another band, mix it and mash it up, and maybe you’ll come away with something as satisfying as McLemore Avenue.
It starts with a gentle organ intro from Booker T, and some of Steve Cropper’s trademark guitar, Duck Dunn’s bass and then the solid backbeat of Al Jackson all on a medley combining “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” “The End,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Come Together.” Not content with following the pattern of the original medleys these Memphis musos create their own from the material at hand.
The album is made up of three of these medleys, and a solo “Something” being the only original song left to stand on its own. This means that the listener is not som much comparing and contrasting these interpretations with the original running order but has the opportunity to simply enjoy what the MGs have created here.
Stax has packaged all three of these albums with bonus tracks, recreated cover designs (front and back!) and new liner notes. The bonus tracks on McLemore Avenue include a half dozen other Beatles’ tracks they had recorded for different projects. It’s a wonderful cornucopia.
The Staple Singers were a family group who established themselves in the ’50s as a gospel group, then moved into the folk music of the 60s with close ties to the civil rights movement, and joined Stax to move into the next stage of their careers as Stax artists sending out positive messages through their funky R&B. Pops Staples passed on a few years ago, but Mavis is enjoying another late career boost with recent albums produced by Ry Cooder and Jeff Tweedy. I saw her in concert last summer and she still manages to rock the joint!
Be Altitude: Respect Yourself finds the family at the height of their soul sanctifying power. “Respect Yourself” was getting plenty of airplay and remains the best known song on the CD but there’s plenty more where that came from. It starts with the first notes from Pops’ guitar on “This World” and continues through the rest of the album. The titles give you a clue as to the kind of messages they were preaching. “This Old World,” “I’m Just Another Soldier,” “Who Do You Think You Are (Jesus Christ the Superstar)?” and “We the People” all feature rhythmic bass and drums, some of Pops’ guitar and the close family harmonies of Mavis and sisters Yvonne and Cleotha. They are supported by some tremendous Muscle Shoals musicians, Barry Beckett (keyboards), Eddie Hinton & Jimmy Johnson (guitars), David Hood (bass) and Roger Hawkins (drums). There’s not a non-funky note to the whole album. Two unreleased bonus tracks and the other hit single “I’ll Take You There” make this almost the perfect Staple Singers album!
The third album is the least well-known. Johnnie Taylor was undergoing a change from slow blues in the 60s to what Stax describes as “a hard-edged, uptempo attack that energized [Taylor's] sopund like never before.” They brought in producer Don Davis to accomlpish this task, and Taylored in Silk is the product of this partnership.
It begins with “We’re Getting Careless With Our Love” (a Top 5 R&B hit) which showcases Taylor’s powerful but mellifluous voice over a solid rhythm track and a wash of strings. No musicians are listed but one might assume the presence of the Muscle Shoals rhythm unit (as from the Staple Singers album). There are two other Top 10 hits on this album, “I Believe In You” and “Cheaper to Keep Her” but the other tunes are strong and maintain the flow of the album. Hall & Oates had a hit with “Starting All Over Again” and essentially copied Taylor’s arrangement.
Bonus tracks on here add a couple more Top 20 singles and a handful of rare cuts. Stax is providing the soul hungry music fan with a wealth of historic material. With their eye to great packaging added to their ear for great music (and a deep library to draw from) we can look forward to many more collections of this quality.
(All Stax Records, 2011)
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