Stax artists

Artists such as Aretha Franklin push southern soul forward and outward—even when the records are not wholly made in the South. For Stax records—or more broadly southern soul led by Stax and Atlantic together—a stable roster drives the style. As last section said: unlike Motown’s sleek, professional sound, these Stax artists strike the public as more sincere; their voices are rougher, freer, more open. A few of them now. Start with Otis Redding. Because Stax and Atlantic are tightly linked, we must separate who truly signs to Stax from who belongs to Atlantic. Otis is a true Stax signee. He has early-1960s hits; by 1965 he crosses over with songs like “Mr. Pitiful”—No. 10 R&B, No. 41 pop. Also “Respect,” written and first sung by Otis, later Aretha Franklin’s signature—we will come to that. His 1965 “Respect” is No. 4 R&B but only No. 35 pop. Recall Motown chart positions; Otis here is No. 41 and No. 35. In 1966 his signature “Try a Little Tenderness” is No. 25 pop / No. 4 R&B. So if you only read the charts, Motown often wins; musically and stylistically Stax may leave the larger mark. Spring 1967 Otis plays the big Monterey Pop Festival with Booker T. & the M.G.’s. Steve Cropper calls the booking strange: they bring club-size amps and full mohair suits; the hippies have Marshall stacks and Les Pauls. What use are these portable amps? They play anyway; the set becomes legendary for Otis, tying him to the hippie movement and carrying his music to a wider audience. It does not last: he dies in a plane crash in December 1967. He has already cut his signature “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”; early 1968, soon after his death, it hits No. 1 pop and R&B. Commercially a blow to Stax—he is one of the few true Stax signees. His death leaves a large gap in Stax’s operation. The phrasing is a bit irreverent; the facts roughly hold. Now Sam & Dave. Atlantic signs them, then “lends” them to Stax. Jerry Wexler has them under contract and says: I am sending you to Memphis to work with Stax; I like what they do. So Sam & Dave work closely with Isaac Hayes and David Porter on a run of hits with the Stax band and “Stax horns.” Best known may be “Soul Man”—No. 1 R&B / No. 2 pop in 1967. It is also among songs the Blues Brothers cover in 1979. That year John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd form the Blues Brothers—first on Saturday Night Live, then a film, and so on. The film revives interest; Duck Dunn, Steve Cropper, Aretha Franklin appear. The Blues Brothers’ 1979 radio version sits close to Sam & Dave’s original. Good for Sam & Dave—a second career spring; high-paying offers that never came before suddenly arrive. So: signed to Atlantic, farmed out to Stax. Wilson Pickett is similar—Atlantic signed, Stax-issued. One of his best known, “In the Midnight Hour,” is No. 1 R&B / No. 23 pop in summer 1965. Steve Cropper and Pickett write it; Memphis studio players cut it locally. Cropper’s story: when Pickett seeks ideas he improvises—often gospel stock, e.g. “the Lord comes at midnight”; Cropper stitches what Pickett sings into the song. Jerry Wexler runs the project; Tom Dowd often visits and describes a dance New York kids are doing—counts 1-2-3-4 but with delayed 2 and 4: 1, -2, 3, -4, not even ticks. They catch that feel—the delayed backbeat. After “Midnight Hour” they try to bottle it again. That delayed feel often attaches to Stax. Then something happens—details unclear—and Stax’s Jim Stewart bars Pickett from the Memphis Stax studio. Wexler knows another southern room in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, whose sound he likes: Joe Tex’s “Hold On to What You’ve Got,” No. 5 pop / No. 2 R&B in 1965, cut at FAME in Muscle Shoals; Wexler especially loves Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” No. 1 R&B and pop in 1966—actually cut not at FAME but at nearby Quin Ivy’s studio. Anyway Wexler has a close partner, Rick Hall, at FAME. He moves Pickett to Muscle Shoals. Wanting “Stax horns,” he does not tell Jim Stewart the full story; he pays Stax’s horn section to drive to Muscle Shoals and cut tracks. After “Midnight Hour,” Pickett’s classic sides are made in Muscle Shoals. That puts Muscle Shoals on the map as one of the hippest-feeling pop recording spots. 1966’s “Land of 1000 Dances,” “Mustang Sally,” and 1967’s “Funky Broadway” all hit R&B and pop charts—all cut in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

The southern-soul figure who, in many ways, stands highest is Aretha Franklin—she enters the wider view late: not 1964–65 but the late 1960s. She arrives later than others, yet none outrank her. Strong gospel background: her father, the Rev. C. L. Franklin, pastors New Bethel Baptist in Detroit; he is famous locally and nationally, on radio, at national events. Aretha and her sisters hear a great deal of gospel, meet major gospel singers at dinners and social events—close contact from childhood. Ideal training for a future professional singer. In the early 1960s she signs to Columbia; Columbia seems unsure how to package her—supper-club or jazz singer—and the records do little. As the Columbia deal ends, Jerry Wexler notices her, plans a career around her strengths, and persuades her to Atlantic. He first takes her to FAME in Muscle Shoals with Rick Hall and the house band, pushing a more gospel-colored style. First results work: 1967’s “I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)” is No. 9 R&B / No. 37 pop. Then trouble in the room—arguments, drinking; the team breaks up before Wexler even finishes the B-side. With hostility in the air he will not bring Aretha back to Muscle Shoals. He finishes the album in New York, so much of her southern-soul work is actually cut in New York. Sometimes he flies Stax horns or other players up from the South, but the work is still New York. Then huge success: the 1960s singles everyone knows. “Respect” is No. 1 R&B and pop in 1967. Otis Redding, hearing her version, says he may have written and first recorded it, but now it is hers. 1968’s “Chain of Fools” is No. 1 R&B / No. 2 pop; same year’s “Think” is No. 1 R&B / No. 7 pop—also what she sings in her Blues Brothers cameo. In many ways Aretha is southern soul’s peak. The irony: she is not on Stax, and those records are not cut in the South; yet they still symbolize southern soul, running parallel to Motown, which we take up next. Next section: Motown, Stax, the British Invasion, and America’s reply—words that cover mid-1960s music. We will try to see how these currents affect one another.