STAX 101: Pickled Priest's Guide to the 101 Best Stax/Volt Singles, Part 2: The Top 50
We continue today with the second installment of our 101 Best Stax/Volt Singles countdown. Today, we reveal the cream of the crop. Everything you desire in one convenient location. Now this is our idea of Heaven.
Every day was Record Store Day on McLemore Avenue
THE 101 GREATEST STAX/VOLT SINGLES, PART 2 - THE TOP 50
50 “Tramp” | Otis Redding & Carla Thomas (1967)
Stax were masters of the soul duet. They quickly realized they had a stable of thoroughbred horses—some stallions, some fillies—so it was a natural inclination to pair some of them up now and then to get the best of both worlds onto one recording. You'll find several of them peppered throughout this list. Stax even released an album of duets in 1969 titled Boy Meets Girl to further capitalize on the concept. That idea likely germinated from the 1967 album King & Queen which featured eleven duets featuring Otis Redding and Carla Thomas.* Without a doubt, "Tramp" was the funniest song in the entire Stax catalog to date. Otis and Carla play off each other hilariously on the track, often improvising new lyrics atop of Lowell Fulson's original (released just a couple months prior) to add some personal character to the proceedings. Otis and Carla's natural charm and comedic timing is evident throughout, with blasting support from Booker T. & the MGs and the Memphis Horns turning the song from a bit of a novelty record into a full-blown soul workout. I won't quote you any of the exchanges because print can't do them justice, so you'll have to listen to enjoy their effortless chemistry.
Also Recommended: Other great duets between Otis & Carla include "Lovey Dovey," "Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis," and "New Year's Resolution."
*The very first duet at Stax, however, dates all the way back to 1960, when Rufus and Carla Thomas paired up for a father/daughter duet on "'Cause I Love You," one of the songs that started the Stax train moving in the very early 60s.
49 “When Will We Be Paid” | The Staple Singers (1969)
I have the ultimate level of respect for the Staple Singers. That respect comes from their rare combination of musical talent and purposeful songwriting. No band put both together with the consistency of Pops, Cleotha, Mavis, Pervis, and Yvonne, the ultimate family band. Nobody spoke the truth to their own people in such a funky way quite like them. In 1969, we were still a couple years away from smashes like "You've Got to Earn It," "Respect Yourself," and "I'll Take You There," but the die was already cast for their transition from gospel stalwarts to secular music giants years prior and in truth their spirituality never really left them (very similar to Al Green in that regard). The single, "When Will We Be Paid," was as crucial to the Civil Rights Movement as any other song, demanding recognition and payment for the work black people did to build and defend this country throughout its conflicted history. It's a powerful statement, but they never let the music take a backseat to the message, which was always their secret weapon. It made you want to listen to what they had to say again and again. And listen you should.
Also Recommended: "The Challenge"
48 “The Spoiler” | Eddie Purrell (1967)
The Stax catalog featured some incendiary one-off sticks of dynamite in their arsenal that seemingly came completely out of nowhere at the time—that's how en fuego they were in the late-60s. That said, some of those dynamite tracks seemed to detonate in a black hole. How else to explain why some of them never became radio hits? "The Spoiler" was a regional hit in the Chicago area, but not nationally, which is a shame. It deserved better. Eddie Perrell* was a relative nobody at the time, until Otis Redding brought him down to Stax to record (Otis would've made an excellent A&R man if we was not such an amazing artist). Eddie immediately cut this killer slab of Memphis soul (written by Booker T. and Duck Dunn) and then drifted back into obscurity, never to return for another single. I've always wondered why this song didn't buy him one more chance. Well, he's cradled in the loving arms of soul music enthusiasts now, so "The Spoiler" will live on in the hearts of some people at least. Maybe the issue was the subject matter? Let's put it this way, the song would likely be cancelled today based on the lyrics, where Eddie plays a second-generation ladies man (a talent learned from his pops) intent on sleeping (aka "spoiling") as many women as possible for as long as possible. Somewhere Wilson Pickett is kicking himself for not getting to this song before Eddie. It would've been a perfect fit for his "Man and a Half" persona.
*Technically, it is spelled "Perrell" but Stax misspelled it on the label to add insult to injury. I will use his correct name during the rest of this entry.
47 “You Won’t Do Right” | Bobby Marchan (1964)
Here's another singer recruited by the Otis Redding Talent Agency, Inc. To say Otis had some clout at Stax is an understatement, but that didn't guarantee those artists a career or even a chart hit. Hence, we are faced with yet another underappreciated single from the early years of the label. Bobby was a true original, known in New Orleans as a bit of a novelty song singer, not to mention a groundbreaking drag queen (decades before RuPaul came along). "What Can I Do" does include a little camp from Bobby, but overall it’s a primo old-school vocal performance that finds Bobby teaching a middle-school class about the hazards of young love. Bobby was born with a shiver built into his voice at birth that emerged when he was on edge and this is a great example of how that natural gift can completely elevate a song; to this day, one of the more original vocal stylists on the Stax roster. Too bad he didn't stay for longer than a cup of coffee and a beignet.
Also Recommended: "What Can I Do"
46 “Hip Hug-Her” | Booker T. & the MGs (1967)
There are so many Booker T. & the MGs sides to pick from that it's inevitable we are not going to please everybody, let alone ourselves, so feel free to substitute your own favorites as you so desire. That said, some are non-negotiable for me and “Hip Hug-Her” is one of them mainly because it has the perfect balance of each of the four members. Booker T.'s Hammond B-3 adds the meat to the track, Steve Cropper brings some cool reverberating guitar licks, and that rock solid back-end rhythm from Al Jackson Jr. and Duck Dunn rounds out the sound. As indicated by the picture on the cover of the band’s Hip Hug-Her album, which featured some hip white kids dressed in stylish threads, the band was influenced by British mod culture around this time and the short, sharp feel of the track reflects that influence. The best of two of our favorite worlds unite!
Writer’s Note: The public loved the track, too, and made this the band’s best-selling single behind “Green Onions.”
45 “I’ll Run Your Hurt Away” | Ruby Johnson (1966)
We now add Ruby Johnson to our growing list of Stax singers who deserved more love than they got at the time. If her only recording was "I'll Run Your Hurt Away" she'd be golden for me. It's hard to think of a track that's as earnest and loving as this one. It's downright motherly in fact. Ruby had a crack in her voice that let her vulnerabilities shine through and it's clear that songwriters David Porter and Isaac Hayes knew that all too well when they wrote it for her. The song has gained cult status over the years, but still remains a bit of a buried soul treasure for most. If you love soul music like we do, you'll relate to this song on first listen, for who hasn't wanted to take away someone else's pain at some point in their lives?
Also Recommended: "Weak Spot"
44 “A Penny for Your Thoughts” | William Bell (1971)
This is right up there with my favorite slow-simmering soul songs ever. It's not a come-on, it's an entreaty. The song lands quite a distance away from the typical gut-wrenching ballads for which Stax was most known at the time. Part of that stylistic disconnect is due to the fact it wasn't recorded at Stax at all, instead Bell cut the record at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama (artists had to record elsewhere at times since Stax only had one studio). The song is positively lush with Bell's smooth, dignified vocals suiting the arrangement perfectly. Add some sumptuous backing vocals and the song soars into the heavens. My dear, what are you really thinking right now? I want to know. I have to know.
43 “You Don’t Know Like I Know” | Sam & Dave (1965)
Double Dynamite could do no wrong in the mid-to-late 1960s and this was another example of their mastery of the tandem vocal. It's not their best single ever, but the energy was always there in spades, capable of taking any material and turning it into onstage gold (see video). I do have a quibble with the lyrics, however. The song begins as follows...
You don't know like I know
What that woman has done for me
In the morning, she's my water
In the evening, she's my cup of tea
My question is, why 'water' in the morning? Wouldn't "coffee" have fit the flow much better? It's the ultimate morning jolt, after all—the perfect analogy for a lover who puts some pep in your step from the moment you wake up. And isn't tea an afternoon thing, not an evening thing? Or is that just in England? These things bother me, but not enough to keep it off my 1965 mixtape. For the record, here's how I would've written the song.
You don't know like I know
What that woman has done for me
In the morning, she's my coffee
In the afternoon, my cup of tea
Doesn't that make more sense? No matter, it's another classic track from a duo that were on one of the greatest rolls in Stax history. It's quite possible I don't know what they know.
Also Recommended: It's painful how many phenomenal Sam & Dave cuts didn't make the cut. Including, but not limited to, "You Got Me Hummin'", "A Place Nobody Can Find," "Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody," and many others.
42 “Hard to Handle” / "Amen" | Otis Redding (1968)
Yeah, the Black Crowes song. To some, of course, but not to die-hard Otis fans. While Otis's fellow Georgians more than did the song justice, they merely added another potent version of a song that was originally released on Otis's posthumous album, The Immortal Otis Redding in 1968. Otis wasn't the easiest artist to cover, for obvious reasons, and I can only name a few covers I truly love, although there are also several I absolutely hate.* Strangely, Otis's original is a touch more unhinged than even the Crowes version (not easy to do for the Crowes were notoriosly out of control on their best days). Otis seems on the verge of losing his mind at times during the song, which makes sense considering the song's title. I love when things come together like that. In the end, we're left with two distinct songs with no common purpose and that's fine with me. I assume Stax made "Hard to Handle" the B-side to "Amen" because the latter was a more tasteful track to release in light of Otis's death. Plus, the word "Amen" represents finality in a spiritual sense and what better way to put a cap on Otis's musical life than to let him do it on behalf of all of us. Try not to choke up when you hear it. I've yet to make it through the song without a double-clutch.
Also Recommend: "Look at The Girl"
41 “Private Number” | William Bell & Judy Clay (1968)
What a dynamic duo of underrated Stax singers we have here. William Bell was rock solid and never missed nailing a vocal and Judy Clay had one of the coolest soul voices ever. She brought it in every session, but this one it perhaps her finest hour. "Private Number" is a smoking, simmering detective novel of a track, with a little mystery and a lot of implied tension throughout. The first few notes always remind me of the ominous opening notes of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower." Then William and Judy take over the dialogue, which is actually quite sweet when you pay attention to the plotline. If you haven't heard it before, I won't spoil it for you. Delve in and enjoy.
Also Recommended: "Left Over Love" and a song to be named later (hint hint).
40 “You’re Driving Me (To the Arms of a Stranger)” | Mavis Staples (1969)
There are consequences to your actions, loverboy! If you think Mavis is going to wait around all day for you to finish your carousing, you have another thing coming. She had Bob Dylan contemplating a marriage proposal back in the 60s, so she, my friend, has other options than you. So you best get with the program and fast. Mavis Staples, with apologies to Carla Thomas, is simply the greatest female voice to ever lay down a vocal track at Stax Records. And, predictably, her presence is a star-making attraction here—hell, she is even wearing a star on her forehead on the album's cover (see above). Do we have to spell it out any clearer? There’s simply no answer for Mavis in her prime. She was untouchable. She was the closer. If you needed to put a song over the top all you had to do is bring her in from the bullpen and let her do her thing.
Also Recommended: "Endlessly"
39 “Glory of Love” | Otis Redding (1967)
Otis Redding’s swinging take on the old classic “Glory of Love” (which was written by Billy Hill in 1936) luxuriates in the miracle of true love. It radiates the joy that accompanies finding it and even provides a roadmap for sustaining it in the future—one where two people will laugh and cry together at different moments, in sickness and in health. Otis sounds born again at the realization and it comes through in his vocal. He seems to be having a grand old time, like he's singing at a couple's wedding reception. Maybe that’s why my wife and I chose it for the first dance at our own wedding. We were feeling the same things he was when he recorded it.
Also Recommended: "Chained and Bound"
38 “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down” | Sam & Dave (1967)
Another spectacular B-side, “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down” is perhaps Sam & Dave’s most heartbreaking song ever. I’m in jeopardy of repeating myself, but I’ll say it again, 'How can you hear this song and relegate it to a B-side?' Just find a lesser track and release another single! How hard is that? It turns out the A-side was their incendiary live version of Sam Cooke's “Soothe Me,” but still. Ask Elvis Costello, who covered this to great effect on his Get Happy!! record and he’ll set you straight. This track, written by ace staff songwriters Homer Banks and Allen Jones in a room right off the main studio, is the definition of soul music: imported pain directly from their gut to yours.
37 “Outrage” | Booker T. & the MGs (1965)
The Stax house band hit it big with "Green Onions" (Pickled Priest's #1 song of the year from our 1962 mixtape), but dig deeper than that, I beg of you. There's instrumental gold all the way into the early 1970s if you're up for it. "Outrage," the B-side of the equally great albeit more conventional "Boot-Leg" (song #77 on this countdown), is one of the band's most cacophonous singles, relying on a wild keyboard jag from Booker T. and some tough, raw-dog drumming from the incomparable Al Jackson Jr., both almost teetering on the brink of chaos at times. It's a deliriously wonky cut, a bit atypical of the band's usual sound in a good way, perhaps influenced by some mid-take bathroom psychedelics. If you want to hear the hottest backing band in the land get loose, look no further.
36 “Respect” | Otis Redding (1965)
“I just lost my song! That girl took it away from me!”
-Otis, upon hearing Aretha Franklin's cover of "Respect,"
as detailed in Peter Guralnick's book, Sweet Soul Music
Sure, Aretha "stole" his song, but one look at the royalty statement should assuage any angst over the matter. That said, let's not for one second believe there isn't room for two definitive versions of the song, one from the female perspective, one from the male perspective. Aretha's total reinvention of the song was the most relevant (and needed) at the time, but everyone deserves respect at the end of a working day. Ironically, Otis didn't really need to ask for it. He already had it.
35 “Shame On the Family Name” | Calvin Scott (1971)
A distinct Temptations feel dominates this explosive track by Calvin Scott, another artist who recorded a couple sides for Stax and then went "poof" and disappeared. In many ways, the tough "Shame On the Family Name" is the alternate side of the coin to the Temps' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." Here, we find a father intent on holding the family together while the mother wreaks havoc on the family dynamic. Meanwhile, dad is working his ass off to bring respectability to the family. All he asks is that everyone reward his efforts by living up to his precedent. It doesn't quite work out that way. Still, we're left with one of the most impassioned and intense cuts in the whole Stax catalog, which is saying something. Research tells me he soon quit the music business and took a government job. If that's a case, it's a crying shame for his stage name, for the guy had some serious mojo working on this fireball of a track. How could you quit after hearing this? Why didn't somebody talk him out of it?
34 “Love’s Sweet Sensation” | William Bell & Mavis Staples (1969)
This track is credited to 'William Bell with Mavis Staples,' but to be fair it should really be listed as 'Mavis Staples with William Bell.' No slight to Bell, but Mavis Staples is responsible for bringing this song home. She simmers and boils over in equal measures and it's glorious to witness. A sweet sensation indeed.
33 “How Can You Mistreat the One You Love” | Jeanne and the Darlings (1967)
No punctuation, just an incredulous rhetorical question from Jeanne and the Darlings, a group that made the most of their chances at Stax, nailing pretty much every opportunity they had to shine. Sadly, today they'd likely generate a stumped shrug from all but the most astute soul music lovers. The song asks a burning question: Why exactly do people hurt the ones they love? Why do things have to be this way? In some ways, it boils down the essence of soul music into a three-minute song. Let's face it, love can be a terrible thing at times. There's a distinct Motown feel to this recording, which couldn't be avoided back in the 60s with the omnipresence of multiple sensational girl groups. Surely there's room for one more in people's memory banks.
32 “Bar-B-Q” | Wendy Rene (1964)
The sound of hot soul and the smell of smoked meat are Siamese twin sensations, inseparable for many. Both sizzle in their own unique, satisfying way. When Wendy sings, “I like a Bar-B-Q! ...You like a Bar-B-Q" … "We like a Bar-B-Q!” she brings both worlds together for three finger-licking minutes. Or paw-licking minutes in some cases, because both the dog with the bone and “the old cat sittin’ on a stone wants some Bar-B-Q! (it rhymed, what else can be said?). Well, you can bet your sweet, tangy ass that soul Bar-B-Q doesn’t involve flipping a switch on a propane grill either. This feast is the real, open-pit deal; one that celebrates modern man’s greatest accomplishment: outdoor cooking!
31 “Love Is Taking Over” | Eric Mercury (1973)
Oh Canada, Stax shed its grace on thee! I do believe Eric Mercury has the distinction of being the only Canadian to ever release a single on the iconic Memphis label, but when he did, it was incredible. Incredibly overlooked as well, unfortunately. I don't think this countdown will set matters straight once and for all, but personally I consider "Love is Taking Over" to be the most underappreciated Stax single ever released by the label and there's a lot of competition. The song captures the jubilant feel of a Baptist church service, one where everyone in the congregation raises their hands in the air as if possessed by the spirit of the Lord himself (as seen in the Blues Brothers movie, if you need a reference). Dancing in the aisles encouraged, but likely involuntary anyway. At this service, Eric Mercury plays the preacher role, whipping everyone into a froth toward unbridled emotional release. That uplift everyone feels? That's love taking over. It's a feeling that's hard to achieve, but one you'll never want to go away when it does.
30 “Born Under a Bad Sign” | Albert King (1967)
It could be argued that the blues standard "Born Under a Bad Sign" is the ultimate explanation of why some people get the blues and others don't. Bad luck, bad love, bad women, bad men, bad mojo, bad habits, you name it, if it's been bad, it's been covered in a blues song, a real misfortune cookie of a genre if there ever was one. In the song, which was written by Booker T. and William Bell, Albert explains to us why all this bad shit keeps happening to him of all people. It's his fate, written in the stars, out of his direct control. When he delivers this assessment in his rich, beefy voice while wailing on his trademarked Flying V guitar, everything starts to make perfect sense. So, what's your sign?
Also Recommended: "Drowning on Dry Land"
29 “You Don’t Miss Your Water” | William Bell (1961)
William Bell's main talent was letting the song be the star of the show. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially when surrounded by vocal dynamos day in and day out at Stax. His vocal style gave the song exactly what was needed and nothing superfluous or showoffy. “You Don’t Miss Your Water” has become a soul standard over the years, covered countless times by many different artists, but William Bell wrote it and remains the owner of the definitive version. And that statement contemplates versions by Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, the Byrds, and Lou Rawls to name just a few. There’s just something moving about his plain-spoken approach that suits the song’s thoughtful message. You don’t miss something until it's gone. And by then, it’s usually too late.
28 “Whatcha See Is Watcha Get” | The Dramatics (1971)
Speaking of romantic overtures, praise be the Dramatics, who show us how it’s done with their Motown-via- Stax paean to real love, “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get.” The song dismisses 'players' who cheat at the game of love while professing to be the genuine article. (“Some people are made of plastic / Some people are made of wood / Some people have hearts of stone / Some people are up to no good”). William “Wee Gee” Howard brings this convincing plea to us on bended knee, “Baby, I’m for real! / I’m as real as real can get!” It’s a spectacular vocal, moving the Temptations sound down to Memphis for an application of some true Southern grit. But one nagging thought remains: If a guy says he’s for real, is it more or less likely that he actually is for real? Isn’t claiming you’re for real exactly what a scam artist would say? No wonder love is so complicated.
27 “Wrap It Up” | Sam & Dave (1968)
“Wrap It Up” was the B-side of “I Thank You,” Stax Records’ first single of 1968. Personally, if I was in charge, I would’ve made it the A-Side. Revived admirably by the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1986, the original is by far the definitive version by a Memphis mile, with Double Dynamite ripping through the Dave Porter/Isaac Hayes burner (the two were kicking juicy cuts out at a dizzying rate at the time) with their finely-honed tandem vocals. Electrifying comes to mind every time Sam Moore and Dave Prater stepped up to their microphones. Amazingly, it's still not their greatest single, but strong enough to make any list of killer soul sides and near the top of the Greatest B-sides ever list. The combo of both tracks? Also among the best two-sided singles of all-time.
26 “Who’s Making Love” | Johnnie Taylor (1968)
Other than Isaac Hayes, Johnnie Taylor and the Staple Singers were arguably the two most important artists in the second life of Stax Records, which started in mid-1968. Most everything Stax released prior to that date was distributed by Atlantic Records and in one of the worst contractual agreements of all time, control of past Stax catalog reverted back to Atlantic Records on a set date leaving Stax to start a new catalog from scratch. To their credit, Stax didn’t sit still. Although they didn’t reach the heights they achieved during the Otis Redding era, they did manage to produce a goldmine of vintage soul singles, many of them as great as before, but hampered by the loss of Atlantic's nationwide marketing muscle. Johnnie Taylor’s “Who’s Making Love” was one of those classics that did break huge and rose to be a Top 5 hit on the pop chart and a #1 hit on the R&B chart. The song exposed a long-standing male double-standard, with Johnnie pointing out, to the delight of ladies everywhere, that while a man is out womanizing, the ladies aren’t just sitting home doing the dishes. (“Now tell me/Who’s making love to your old lady/While you were out making love?”)
Also Recommended: "Take Care of Your Homework" and "Jody Got Your Girl and Gone," both songs in the same with the same general topic of "Who's Making Love." You could say he was obsessed with infidelity and you would be right.
25 “What a Man” | Linda Lyndell (1968)
“Another ounce of his love / And I think I’m gonna slip, lose my grip, and do backflips.”
I don't know how many people knew of Linda Lyndell’s “What a Man” before Salt-N-Pepa sampled it for their #3 smash hit "Whatta Man" in 1993, or even after that song became a hit for that matter, but any Stax fan knew where the main hook of the song came from. All the way back in 1968, Stax Records put out that rare song sung by a white soul artist and while it was only mildly successful on the charts at the time (#50), it has received a second life as a result of its rap resuscitation. And if you've wondered if a white girl singing an R&B song for a label of mostly black artists was controversial at the time, ask Linda how many threats she received from the Ku Klux Klan. It ain't pretty. Through all of the bullshit, however, a great R&B song remains. It wasn't only that, but it put the woman in charge of lusting over the man this time. A much needed turnabout. As seems to be the trend, this was Linda's last single for Stax after which she retired from music. Why‽
24 “Theme from Shaft” | Isaac Hayes (1971)
I’ve always found it interesting that despite this song’s flattering portrayal of John Shaft as a badass, sex machine, and intriguingly complicated danger junkie, the singer of the movie's theme song actually seems more of a badass, even more of a sex machine, and even more of a complicated, ballsy man than the fictional character himself—and the script writers got to make up anything they wanted! In the early 70s, Isaac Hayes was the original Most Interesting Man in the World—complete with a vest made of gold chains, a teal, fur-lined Cadillac El Dorado with 24K gold plating (with built-in refrigerator and TV), and probably the best bald head of all time (for proof see cover of Hot Buttered Soul). Fuck, he released an album called Black Moses and nobody (except Hayes himself initially) checked in with claims of blasphemy. Most just nodded and said “That’s about right.”
Not Recommended: "Son of Shaft" by The Bar-Kays. It just doesn't have the same Isaac Hayes cool.
23 “Running Out” | Mable John (1968)
Another sizzling soul single from the seemingly endless riches in the Stax vaults, Mable John’s “Running Out” works as the female perspective to “24 Hours,” the oft-recorded blues classic about a man who mistreats his woman, regrets it, and then pines for her return. (“You’ve been gone 24 hours / And that’s 23 hours too long.”) But Able Mable blows him the last kiss-off: “If you don’t believe I’m leavin’ / Just count the days I’m gone.” A great song written by none other than future superstars Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson (most known for their 1983 hit, "Solid").
Also Recommended: "Able Mable" and "You're Good Thing (Is About to End)"
22 “On a Saturday Night” | Eddie Floyd (1967)
This song has quite a swing in its backyard. You can and should dance to it. The title is a tip-off that this slab of soul is one of the quintessential "Saturday Night" records, the perfect track with which to kick off a wild night out. Or maybe a wild night in, if you catch my drift. Eddie's Floyd's ideal Saturday night is a bit different than most. When he "entertains" at home, he is known to "kick back the rugs and pull down the shades." After all, he tells his lady, "If we're gonna have a good time...it might as well be a good time." Wink wink, nudge nudge. While that lyric might sound ham-fisted, at least he's telegraphing his intent in advance. If the lady isn't down with that proposal, she can walk away right now. Later, Eddie gets even more transparent..."When I find my baby, we're gonna go in the back door / I'm gonna lock up the front door," and if that means what I think it means, and I don't know for sure it does, things are about to get a little freaky at the Floyd residence.
21 “Soothe Me” | Sam & Dave (1967)
If I had to rank the greatest breakthroughs in chemistry, this is what I would put in my Top 5 :
1. Louis Pasteur’s disproof of spontaneous generation
2. John Dalton’s Atomic Theory
3. Jerry Wexler’s decision to send Sam & Dave down to Stax Records
4. Alexander Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin
5. Frederick Griffith’s genetic transformation experiment
Yep, Atlantic didn’t quite know what to do with Sam & Dave, so Wexler’s decision to send them to Stax to record in Memphis with Isaac Hayes & David Porter caused the phenomenon we all now understand to be the principle of “Double Dynamite,” a chemical reaction that occurs when two white-hot elements react with a similar pairing of red-hot catalysts. It resulted in a series of spontaneous explosions both in the laboratory and onstage. In fact, the onstage detonation was even more spectacular, mystifying everyone exposed to the experiment. To this day, the increased impact and intensity in a live setting has not been recreated in a controlled environment. Later, scientists theorized that the infusion of an audience watching the reaction was the primary driver of this accelerated explosion. How this didn't win a Nobel Prize for Chemistry is still a mystery as well.
20 “Just Keep On Loving Me” | Johnnie Taylor & Carla Thomas (1969)
Like Motown, Stax did some incredible duets using their superstar lineup in the 1960s and 70s. Motown gets most of the accolades, but I’ll put the best Stax duets up against Motown's best any day of the week. In 1969, Stax even put out a whole album of duets, Girl Meets Boy, just to make that very point. The highlight of that album is this cut with second-gen Stax superstar Johnnie Taylor and first-gen mainstay, Carla Thomas, the undisputed Queen of Memphis Soul. Johnnie checks in with a fine vocal here, but even he would admit that Carla is the star of this show, delivering one of her most kinetic vocal performances ever. She's also a forgiving soul, allowing Johnnie to make a borderline unforgivable mistake and still remaining by his side, convinced that their destiny is to be together forever. I don't know if I agree with her, but I'll gladly let her try to convince me one play at a time.
19 “Sweeter Tomorrow” | Margie Joseph (1970)
The most optimistic song in the entire Stax canon without a doubt. No matter how bad things get, Margie is sticking with you. If "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie was a little too schmaltzy for you, perhaps a soul music take on the same concept will be up your alley. She turns in a killer vocal on the track and she seems to mean every word of it. May everyone find a mate with such a positive outlook on life!
Also Recommended: "Your Sweet Lovin'"
18 “Last Night” | The Mar-Keys (1961)
The original Stax instrumental, released about a year prior to “Green Onions.” I’m not making the argument that without “Last Night” there would be no “Green Onions” or Booker T. & the MGs, but it certainly wouldn’t have helped if “Last Night” tanked on the charts. Would Stax have been reluctant to release further instrumentals if that were the case? Probably not, but when Stax got a big hit out of the song they were hungry to repeat the formula. It’s easy to see why the public responded in kind to the track. Its groove is timeless, its horn bursts infectious, its production explosive. It came first, but it still ranks with the greatest instrumentals in the entire Stax catalo, plus it spawned countless imitations over the years, all hoping to tap into that same irrepressible vibe. Pretty fucking danceable for an all-white band that included future MGs Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn as well as Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns.
Side note: “Sequel culture” is not a recent phenomenon. Stax was as guilty of it as any record label back in the 60s. It’s the American Way, doggone it. We find something that works and then milk it as long as humanly possible, hoping to recreate the feel of the original until people tire of it. The Mar-Keys followed “Last Night” with “Morning After” and “About Noon” before retiring the concept. None of those songs were bad, but none captured quite the same lightning in a bottle funk of the original. Thank goodness they quit before they could record "Afternoon Nap."
17 “All For the Love of a Woman” | William Bell (1971)
“All for the Love of a Woman” is one of William Bell's hottest soul sides and it’s certainly one of his most muscular. Bell tells us what a man will do for love throughout the song—kill for it, steal for it, cry for it, lie for it, and even do a "dirty rotten deal" for it—but it seems clear that the thrill of the chase could be clouding his judgment here. Is love what men really want in the end? History tells us otherwise. Men like to conquer things and don’t often care who, or what, they leave in their wake during the pursuit. Thankfully, not many women consider first-degree murder an appealing romantic overture.
16 “Respect Yourself” | The Staple Singers (1971)
The Staple Singers always voiced a desire for societal change in their music, whether it was channeled through their early gospel records or their more sociological and political sides from their second incarnation in secular music. While Marvin Gaye was asking “What’s going on?” the Staple Singers were trying to solve the problem. And their answers weren’t always what the congregation expected, or wanted, to hear—they revealed some hard truths, albeit served on a deliciously funky platter. “You’ve Got to Earn It,” “We’ve Got to Get Ourselves Together,” “Got to Be Some Changes Made,” “Tend to Your Own Business,” and their signature classic “Respect Yourself” all professed sentiments that personal dignity must come before anything else. And people bought into it by the truckload.
15 “B-A-B-Y” | Carla Thomas (1966)
There are more "baby's" on this song than there are in Nick Cannon's nursery. At some point, Stax Records' songwriting duo nonpareil, Isaac Hayes and David Porter, heard Carla coo the word "baby" (by the coffee machine in the lunchroom, we can speculate) and said "Man, the way she says 'baby' really gets me hot. Let's write her a song where she has to sing it pretty much non-stop." And they did. And singing it wasn't enough apparently. They made her spell it, too. And to this day, I can't think of a better "Baby" song, including ones by Aretha, Diana, and Donna either. And don't come at me with Britney or Bieber. Priest don't play that.
Also Recommended: Original Stax hit, "Gee Whiz," which didn't make this list because it's just a little too 50's sounding for a soul music countdown.
14 “Big Bird” | Eddie Floyd (1968)
Written while stuck in London’s Heathrow Airport as he was trying to get back to the states for Otis Redding’s funeral, this song’s “Get on up big bird!” chorus may just be Eddie willing his plane into the air. But I like to think he’s actually watching Otis himself ascend into the heavens. Maybe it’s both. Either way, the majestically escalating horn chart seems capable of carrying anything as high as it needs to go—even the notoriously sizeable Otis Redding (they didn’t call him the Big O for nothing). I gotta believe Otis would’ve been thrilled to ride into the skies behind such muscle. The wicked guitar licks, supplied by Booker T. Jones no less, only fire the engines that much hotter. In the end, it was disguised as a love song, but to me it will always be about brotherly love.
13 “My Baby Specializes” | William Bell & Judy Clay (1968)
The pace at which Stax was working in 1968 is mind-boggling. In the onslaught, it might've been easy to miss William Bell's electrifying duet with Judy Clay, "My Baby Specializes," my absolute favorite duet in Stax Records history. At Stax, the ladies tended to steal the show from the men and that is also the case on this track. It should be billed as Judy Clay & William Bell. Whatever happened to 'Ladies first'? This is, without a doubt, her finest recorded moment at Stax. Soul music features a lot of talk about chasing women and sleeping around, but this time we’re moving to the bedroom on a more conservative—read monogamous—basis. Red states rejoice! In the song, Judy claims her man "has a love degree / When it comes to satisfying me” but what kind of degree would that be exactly? A Bachelor of Bedroom Arts? While that seems appropriate, maybe we can bestow some degree that doesn't include the word "Bachelor" in its description.
12 “Try a Little Tenderness” | Otis Redding (1966)
And you thought Otis's cover of "Glory of Love," first recorded in 1936, was going to be Otis Redding's oldest source material for a cover. Not the case, as "Try a Little Tenderness" dates all the way back to 1932! He didn't care how old a song was, he knew a song he could work with when he heard one. I don’t think anyone, even the songwriters, could've been prepared for what Otis would do to the song when he recorded it in 1966, a full thirty-two years later. A light beat introduces Otis, who settles into a comfy chair across from us to convey a revelatory way for modern man to deal with the complex emotions of the opposite sex. He seems to be speaking to each of us one-to-one, mano y mano; that's how intimate the song feels. It turns out, what he has discovered is as old as time (or the 1930's, whichever comes first). Fast forward to the the 1960s, where a brand new generation has has lost touch with the basics of female interaction and no longer have the navigational skills to handle choppy relationship waters anymore. Suddenly, the conversation gets a little animated, as if Otis senses his message isn’t quite getting through to you the other way. He decides to ramp up the intensity of his lesson more and more until he explodes out of his chair to passionately argue his point inches from your face so there’s no mistaking his intent. Otis was willing to do whatever it took to make you understand that trying a little tenderness is the secret formula to love. You'd be best to take his advice, too.
11 “Knock On Wood” | Eddie Floyd (1966)
When you believe in things
That you don't understand
Then you suffer
Superstition ain't the way
-Stevie Wonder, "Superstition"
Eddie isn't superstitious, but he doesn't want to lose his lady so, just this one time...he'll try anything and everything. Have you ever hopped over a crack in the sidewalk, thrown a pinch of salt over your shoulder, or avoided getting your haircut on a Tuesday? Then you know what he's talking about. The message of "Knock on Wood" couldn't be clearer. Don't tempt fate. And if you're gonna write a song about knocking on anything, let the drummer simulate said knocking with a tap on a snare drum or cowbell, whatever sounds the most like wood. They'll love you for it. Actually, if you must know, the key moment of the song for me is the "Your love is better than any love I know / It's like thunder, lightning / The way you love me is frightening" pre-chorus. It's what sells the need for such desperate measures in the first place. Nobody should be knockin' on wood for boring, vanilla bean love. Wood knocking? That's reserved for the sky-quaking, earth-shaking, borderline scary kinda love. Thunder buddies for life, me and Eddie.
10 “I’ll Take You There” | The Staple Singers (1972)
This is Mavis Staples at the top of her game, belting it out under the influence of a higher power, but fully aware of how things are done down here on planet Earth. The M.O. of the Staple Singers in general was to exhort black people to lift themselves up in the present with the understanding that their ultimate future was secure in the arms of God. "I'll Take You There" is an incantation, an invocation, a conjuration, a declaration, and a celebration all at once. It's gospel in every sense of the word, complete with a singer who seems to be channeling a divine message much like a baptist preacher, but the trick is that is was veiled just enough to get on secular radio (where it went to #1 on both Pop and R&B charts). But rest assured, we all knew what they were really singing about.
09 “Cigarettes and Coffee” | Otis Redding (1966)
I consider "Cigarettes and Coffee" to be one of the greatest late-night soul songs of all time. It chronicles Otis's late-night conversation—and I mean conversation, with no ulterior motive—with his lady. Yes, they are spending the night together, but this time he's hanging on her every word, unrushed and content to be with her. Just a deep, late-night chat over a cig and cuppa. That's when you know it's for real, gentlemen.
08 “When Something is Wrong with My Baby” | Sam & Dave (1967)
The original Blues Brothers, Sam & Dave, had an absolutely epic 1967, cutting multiple soul classics in a row, all of them high on this countdown. That said, there's something extra special about the undeniably genuine and moving “When Something is Wrong with My Baby” (Next line: Something is wrong with me). In my mind, it is right up there with the greatest love songs ever written and one of the best vocals ever recorded. It’s right up there in the same league with Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now),” Lorraine Ellison’s “Stay With Me,” and even Aretha’s “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You)”. If soul music is supposed to, in theory, drill down to the deepest recesses of your being to find what you really need in life, this epitomizes that desire.
07 “Soul Man” | Sam & Dave (1967)
Yes, Sam & Dave strike gold again in 1967 with this Hayes and Porter track that became an anthem of sorts for every soul singer to follow for the rest of time. It's so much a part of the soul furniture, you might as well nail it to the floor. It ain't going anywhere. Everyone knows the song, but I beg of you to listen to it again with fresh ears. Play it again and again. The propulsion of the track is next level, continually pushing the needle into the danger zone.
Not Recommended: "Soul Girl" (why not "Soul Woman"?) by Jeanne & the Darlings was a rare miss from the all-girl group, failing to capture anything close to the infectious groove and momentum of the original, although it did have some decent lyrics, like "When you get to me, you're coming to something / It ain't no baby child, it's a whole lotta woman." Unfortunately, a major missed opportunity where it should've been a sure thing.
06 “Long Walk to D.C.” | The Staple Singers (1968)
Could the Staple Singers have, in their wildest dreams, thought they’d see a black president in their lifetime when they added this Homer Banks song to their Soul Folk in Action record in 1968? Probably not, but that wasn’t going to stop them from becoming the musical voice of black America for years to come. Somehow not mentioned alongside the great Staple Singers tracks (it’s not even on their Greatest Hits) “Long Walk to D.C.” finds Mavis Staples turning in one of the most underrated vocal performances of all-time. And coming on the heels of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. just a few months before, the song couldn’t have made a clearer statement. We’re coming to Washington now, or maybe forty years from now, but know one thing for sure: We ARE coming. And they were right.
Also Recommended: "I Could Never Be President" by Johnnie Taylor
05 “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” | Otis Redding (1968)
This one hurts. Mainly recorded on November 22, 1967 (with some additional studio work done on December 6 and 7), we came remarkably close to not having “Dock of the Bay” in the soul lexicon at all. A mere two days after Otis’s last recording session, his plane plunged into the icy waters of Madison, Wisconsin’s Lake Monona. A month later, Stax issued his last recording, which became a posthumous #1 hit (actually, the first posthumous #1 ever). The song finds Otis contemplating the state of his life and he’s not happy about it. It soon becomes readily apparent why he needed 3,000 miles of space to find solace. He stares into the Frisco Bay (a world away from his home in Macon, Georgia) watching boats sail in, watching them sail out, resting his weary mind, overwhelmed by life’s demands. Many have used the song in similar ways, to drift away from their problems for a short while, to lament things not going as planned, to seek some form of shelter from the storm. Sadly, it’s one of those songs which has had some of its majesty eroded via repetition. But give it another listen and reconnect with its original intent. Focus on his voice. It conveys so much with so little and in such a short amount of time. Many years later, on a different lake in Wisconsin, I sang this very song to my one-year-old son (whose middle name is Redding) as we lounged in a hammock together. As I sang the song to him (poorly), he for some reason locked eyes with me the entire time almost like he knew he would forever have a small symbolic connection to Otis (he was tired and/or confused more likely). Either way, I took it as confirmation of a genetic predisposition to the power of Otis’s music. Three years later, when my second son was born on September 9th, Otis’s birthday, I couldn’t rationalize away the divine connection any longer. Otis was sending me a message of some sort whether he knew it or not. There has always been something in Otis’s voice calling to me and this is just one of many times he has done so.
04 “These Arms of Mine” | Otis Redding (1962)
"Dock of the Bay" wasn't the typical Stax single. It broke the mold. "These Arms of Mine" set the mold. Both are defining moments in the history of Stax Records, and music in general. “These Arms of Mine” gets one slot higher because it's the song that rocked Stax to the core and altered its future forever when Otis Redding stepped to the microphone for the first time in the converted movie theater in South Memphis that would become his recording home for the next six years. The story is legendary, with limo driver Redding asking to use the extra time at the end of a Johnny Jenkins recording session to sing a track or two. From that session we got the incomparable “These Arms of Mine.” And it was an original composition, no less!* If someone sent you the lyrics of this song in advance, you’d probably take a hard pass—they’re nothing spectacular, really, just some sad, sappy poetry. But when you overlay Otis’s unbridled passion, nuanced pacing, and unique phrasing you have a soul classic on your hands. When they call something soul music, this is another example of what they mean. Something summoned from depths previously unknown, possessed by emotion, compelled by feeling. The reason I love Otis Redding more than any other singer is his ability to become the song, not just sing the song. I’ll forever be in awe of his rare and raw talent. From the first few seconds of ‘These Arms of Mine” you’re hanging on his every word. Musicians used to sleep in the studio when he was in town to record because they didn’t want to miss one magical moment. And that all started right here.
*"These Arms of Mine" is technically not Otis's first ever recording or single. In 1960, while in California, he cut a vocal with the Shooters titled "She's All Right" which even at the time was credited to 'The Shooters with Otis' on the original label. And I would know. I have a framed copy of the single hanging on my wall at this very moment.
03 “Green Onions” | Booker T. & the MGs (1962)
Our #3 song of all-time from the Stax label is an instrumental and a B-Side (the original A-side, “Behave Yourself,” was just good, but not great). When the single was originally sent to radio stations, DJs smartly flipped the record over and played “Green Onions” instead. Soon it became a local then national sensation and remains a worldwide phenomenon to this day. Listening now, it’s shocking that someone could listen to both songs and not opt to put "Green Onions" on the A-side to begin with, but these decisions are not always clear in the moment, I assume. “Green Onions” is without a doubt the foundation of the Stax sound in a nutshell, created by the house band that backed almost every major record the label produced during its glory years. Booker T.’s phat grooves on the Hammond B-3 organ (now on display in the Stax Museum), Steve Cropper’s famously restrained jabbing guitar licks, Al Jackson’s rock solid backbeat (one of the greatest drummers of all time), and the thick basslines of Lewie Steinberg (“Duck” Dunn wasn’t a member of the band until 1964) all combined into a multi-colored, pot boiling, deep frying, soul-strutting groove machine. It set the tone for everything that was to come at Stax. The reason Stax is my all-time favorite record label can be found right here.
02 “Hold On! I’m Comin’” | Sam & Dave (1966)
Undoubtedly the greatest song ever inspired by someone sitting on the toilet (with Isaac Hayes famously prodding songwriting partner David Porter to get off the can and back into the studio), "Hold On! I'm Comin'" is also one of the finest examples of that Memphis thing; the tight grooves, bawling horns, and gritty vocals found echoing off the studio walls of Stax Records. Like their Northern counterparts at Motown, Stax songwriters were often inspired by the unintentional poetry of everyday communication; common words and phrases became timeless song fodder in the right hands, from Motown's Smokey Robinson ("I Second That Emotion") to Stax's dynamic duo of Hayes and Porter. So, when they came up with "Hold On! I'm Comin'" (I would've put another exclamation point at the end), it made sense that they'd offer it up to another of Stax's dynamic duos, Sam & Dave, also known as "Double Dynamite." The song was inspired by back-and-forth banter, and no artists in music history embodied that reciprocal approach with quite the same zeal as Sam & Dave (even though they didn't like each other much!). Their energy on the song is loosely intuitive, and like their best work, seemingly caught live in its natural habitat—the stage. But let's face it, without the meaty backbone of Booker T. & the MGs and the ascending, circulating horns of the Mar-Keys, which come out of the gate positively sizzling from second one, this song doesn't soar to the triumphant levels is achieves for the next, sausage-tight two-and-a-half-minutes. So, there you have it: one prolonged trip to the Porter-Potty birthed one of music's defining slabs of sweaty, steaming soul.
Writer's Note: If this song has taught me anything, it's that you really should think long and hard about using one of your favorite songs as your ringtone. This has been my ringtone for many years, with no threat of replacement (it's undeniably perfect in such context), mainly because I knew it would catch my attention every time my phone rang. It has however, caused me endless confusion over the years, what with the ubiquity of the song in public places, advertisements, etc. And please note: if you call me and I don't answer right away it's because I'm letting the song play until the end first.
01 “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)” | Otis Redding (1965)
He stopped loving her today...
-George Jones
Recorded with an urgent purpose, to hold on to his girl, Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)" isn't so much a love song as it is a desperate, down-on-his-knees plea, a slow burn compliment meant to heat up a cooling romance, a streetlight serenade from a giant man with an aching heart. All that's missing is some pouring rain. Very few songs in recorded history approach the level of authenticity heard on the song. This is emotion on a physical level. Otis puts everything he's got into it. In fact, it unfolds as if it wasn't necessarily written, but recorded live mid-supplication, even though we know if was actually a co-write between Redding and the Impressions' Jerry Butler. Since then, it has become the anchor track of Otis Blue, the greatest soul album ever made. Here we Otis attempting to work out his feelings on the spot, not always 100% sure what's going to come out of his mouth next. Buoyed by an all-star Stax backing band, elevated by a swooning horn section, and held together by that powerful force-of-nature voice, there are few who could resist such a convincing declaration. And unsurprisingly, it worked. The girl in question, Zelma Atwood, married Redding a year after the song was released and carries his torch to this day, never remarrying after his death in 1967. She's been loving him too long to stop now. The feeling goes both ways sometimes.
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I've been loving Stax too long to stop now, so in a week or so, one last post of some of my favorite Stax moments, oddities, songwriters, lists and anything else we think of. We're not ready to let go just yet.
Cheers,
The Priest