Stax documentary on PBS
- Thread starter The_Hook_Up
- Start date
im watching the show right now.
stax hit rock bottom, can some one explain the bankruptcy to me.
it seems to get confused between racism and some really shady business.
was it al bell's fault???was he set up?
stax hit rock bottom, can some one explain the bankruptcy to me.
it seems to get confused between racism and some really shady business.
was it al bell's fault???was he set up?
Read this for all the messy details you'll ever need:im watching the show right now.
stax hit rock bottom, can some one explain the bankruptcy to me.
it seems to get confused between racism and some really shady business.
was it al bell's fault???was he set up?
http://www.amazon.com/Soulsville-U-S-Sto...86026629&sr=1-1
Read this for all the messy details you'll ever need:im watching the show right now.
stax hit rock bottom, can some one explain the bankruptcy to me.
it seems to get confused between racism and some really shady business.
was it al bell's fault???was he set up?
http://www.amazon.com/Soulsville-U-S-Sto...86026629&sr=1-1
Word - Rob's book is mega-proper. And the short story is that Bell made some really phenomenally bad business decisions but it's hard running most labels and Stax would have been tough to run under most circumstances even with smarter leadership.
What happened to Stewart is a cotdamn shame and disgrace though.
great take on the entire history of the label. some of the footage was
x 10:
-otis in europe
-booker t. and the mg's in london in 68 after MLK was shot
-isaac hayes in the studio
-johnny taylor killing it with "who's making love"
i know they had some cool stax items back in the day, from high ball glasses to a leather bag stamped with the snap logo. i know it's no
, but cool all the same.
-otis in europe
-booker t. and the mg's in london in 68 after MLK was shot
-isaac hayes in the studio
-johnny taylor killing it with "who's making love"
i know they had some cool stax items back in the day, from high ball glasses to a leather bag stamped with the snap logo. i know it's no
I missed about 45 minutes of the 1st hour so I'm going to have to try to catch this again on either another PBS station in the area or hopefully on re-run. That being said, I gotta say the Booker T. stuff was the shit. I mean with a staple of artists like that it's really hard to pick one, especially because Otis is my favorite Soul singer of all time, and Sam & Dave were just wildmen out there dancing, but man, those clips of Booker T. and the MG's just had me going. I mean they were hitting that groove.
My fave footage is of the post-plane crash Bar-Kays, on TV (Upbeat, it looks like), looking badass in black leather...it's only shown for less than a minute, blink and you'll miss it, but it's there.
There's another curious clip of what looks like Otis in the studio lipsynching to "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa"...it looks like a studio rehearsal, 'cause everybody is just sitting around all casual, not really playing to the camera, but then again it synchs to the recording so well it just looks like a very odd early promotional video...I was hoping the credits would tell which clips came from what source, but it wasn't happening. Anyway, great special.
There's another curious clip of what looks like Otis in the studio lipsynching to "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa"...it looks like a studio rehearsal, 'cause everybody is just sitting around all casual, not really playing to the camera, but then again it synchs to the recording so well it just looks like a very odd early promotional video...I was hoping the credits would tell which clips came from what source, but it wasn't happening. Anyway, great special.
Al Bell really needed to own up to this in the film. He pussy footed around it, but never came out and said, "You know, I really fucked that up." Stewart wasn't a great business person to begin with (the Atlantic fineprint is a a perfect example), and he trusted that Bell was taking the company in the right direction. That being said, Stewart should have been watching credits and debits. I mean, who the fuck was that statistition? That was the shark jumping moment for sure.
In the end it's always excess, which is a great lesson for all the junior circuit label owners out there. Just because you landed a Levis commercial doesn't mean you need a Mercedes.
Al Bell really needed to own up to this in the film. He pussy footed around it, but never came out and said, "You know, I really fucked that up." Stewart wasn't a great business person to begin with (the Atlantic fineprint is a a perfect example), and he trusted that Bell was taking the company in the right direction. That being said, Stewart should have been watching credits and debits. I mean, who the fuck was that statistition? That was the shark jumping moment for sure.
In the end it's always excess, which is a great lesson for all the junior circuit label owners out there. Just because you landed a Levis commercial doesn't mean you need a Mercedes.
If you recall, the same thing that sunk Stax was the same thing that bankrupted Vee Jay - trying to expand too far in too short a time, with money thrown around everywhere. (See if you can track down Record Row, the PBS special from ten years ago about Chicago R&B in the fifties and sixties, for the documentary story about Vee Jay.)
Great watch last night. Bowman's book is the definitive account if you want the hairy details. For me the best part was watching the Sam and Dave clips. One the of the most underrated duos of all time. I probably played "I Thank You" or "Hold On" at 90% of the gigs I ever played. The clip of the them singing "You Don't Know Like I Know" is a masterpiece of gutbucket soul. One thing I wish had been emphasized more was the improtance of women within the creative and business structure of Stax. Deanie Parker, who was featured a number of times, was essential to the admin side of the things and Bettye Crutcher and others wrote a lot of great songs. This was also revoluntionary for the time.
...but did we REALLY need to hear what Bono thought? What was he adding besides his goofy mug? Did he fund the thing?
They had that back in the day? Not saying you're wrong, but that sounds like the souvenir items they have in the Stax gift shop today!
I thought it was funny to have a noted Stax hatter, Jack Ashford, speak on Motown, only to have Rufus seconds later say how much more raw Stax was than Motown. I heart Rufus.
It was a good documentary. I know some of the people involved in the making of it and they are quite aware of the shortcomings. However, I think they should have spent a little time in the history of Satillite and the name change...the subsidiaries..but I supppose that is just the record nerd in me....
It was a good documentary. I know some of the people involved in the making of it and they are quite aware of the shortcomings. However, I think they should have spent a little time in the history of Satillite and the name change...the subsidiaries..but I supppose that is just the record nerd in me....
They had that back in the day? Not saying you're wrong, but that sounds like the souvenir items they have in the Stax gift shop today!
Yeah, but there were OG Stax items...I have some OG finger snap shot glasses. All the shit in the gift shop today is emblazened with "MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC" and has trademark and copyright shit on it. The OG stuff doesnt have that on it....
Yeah, Motown was cool, but I always got the distinct impression that the Funk Brothers (as well as the Chess studio band) were older, high-and-mighty jazz guys who were pissed that they had to make these pop records to earn a living. Booker T. & the MG's, however, evidently grew up on R&B, and weren't too proud to collaborate or even hang out with the artists.
I always did wonder if the Stax and Motown people ever met up...you know, get to know the competition (without giving away your secrets). Did Al Bell and Berry Gordy ever go to lunch and compare strategies? Did Duck Dunn and James Jamerson ever sit around and talk shop about hip bass patterns? Did Hayes & Porter ever chew the fat with HDH? I reckon that since these were the two biggest soul labels in the sixties, they would have crossed paths at some point.
And if they did meet up like that, wouldn't you have fucking killed to be a fly on the wall at the meetings?
Loved the show. I missed some of the end because after Bono Duprie and Costello I up and left the room in disgust.
I'm sure you know that Stax recorded some in Detroit and leased some Detroit recordings. I'm trying to think of artists who recorded for both labels. There must be at least someone like Homer Banks who shows up on both. There is no way that touring Memphis artists never met touring Detroit artists on the road.
it was great showing Otis singing My Girl right after the the Temps. Did Motown ever cover any Stax songs? What other Motown songs made their way to Stax records?
I can't think of any.
Doesn't Jim Stewart still own East Memphis Publishing? That catalog is off the hook. Not only all the great Stax songs (including Wilson Pickett's collabs with Cropper and others) but also Hi studio stuff from Al Green and Willie Mitchell. If he still has ownership in that we can stop crying.
I think people are a little hard on Al Bell. Stax is just one of a long list of indepents that went under. Good times people spend money, banks loan money, bad times you wonder where it went. Remember that Atlantic show a few weeks ago. They sold out cheap to Warner the first time they came knocking because they saw so many independants go under. All that gangster stuff was bs, and too sad. Did you see at the end it said that one gangster is now the minister at a church in Harlem? It might have been Abyssnian Baptist.
I'd love to see two hours just on:
Al Bell
Sir Mack Rice
Booker T Jones
Rufus Thomas
Staple Singers
They talked about Otis singing the horn parts to all the musicians. Check out Otis records and other Stax records from the same time. The horn parts are always better on the Otis records.
Columbia is a big reason for the collapse of Stax. Stax gave them product and they never released it. Fantasy has now released a lot of that stuff.
OK, that is all for now. I thought it was great, I'm still thinking about it. I love Stax. Just think how bad it would have been if they had kept cutting to Bono and Nora Jones explaining the meaning of soul like some docs do. I just wish it was longer. A lot longer.
