Put on your cotton socks and get ready to dust the kitchen floor. It's a Stax dance break. Let's celebrate the amazing talents of Booker T. and the MGs as the house band. Their fingerprints are all over that Memphis soul sound we love so much.
Sam & Dave/ "Hold On, I'm Comin'"
Otis Redding/ "Try a Little Tenderness"
Johnnie Taylor/ "Who's Making Love"
Linda Lyndell/ "What a Man"
The Bar-Kays/ "Soul Finger"
Booker T and the MGs/ "Time is Tight"
This young lady was groovin' at Stax.
Better than a pile of pancakes. Look at that vinyl!
Velvet Elvis spent yesterday morning at the homeplace. I took him to Tupelo on our way back home, and he was his usual accommodating self as he posed for pictures. Thankfully, it was just the two of us, so there were no witnesses to this event, but I'll let you in on the details. See for yourself.
We stopped on Main St. too, but E took it easy in the truck while I checked out the scene.
Elvis has an historic marker in Tupelo
as well as a Country Music and Blues Trail marker.
Here he is singing "That's All Right, Mama."
Here's Mississipian songwriter Arthur Crudup performing the same tune.
This Blues Trail marker is on Main St. in Tupelo and alludes to Shake Rag as a musical influence in the local community. Although Elvis was a young teen when his family moved to Memphis, it's hard to doubt that Shake Rag contributed to the sound that he developed as a performer.
We didn't have time to visit Graceland on our way in, but here's the Graceland cam, if you want to see who's lining up right now. You can take a virtual tour here. Or do you need the free Elvis for iPad app?
For a finale, how about Elvis singing "Suspicious Minds" in one of his white jumpsuits? Thankyouverymuch for reading. Enjoy.
It's Memphis in the early 60s. Amidst the stifling climate of segregation in the South, Stax Records offered a refreshing subculture in which all talented recording artists could flourish. Booker T. and the MGs, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes & David Porter, The Bar-Kays and the Staple Singers are a part of the Stax story. I'm looking forward to the field trip we are taking to what is now the Museum of American Soul Music on the historic intersection of McLemore and College.
But if you love Otis like I love Otis, you probably remember that he also had a connection to Atlantic Records. That's all part of the dramatic story behind Stax. Talk about high highs and low lows.
You'll be fascinated by this documentary and grateful that Stewart and Axton took a chance on a venture that was extraordinary to imagine in the late 50s but responsible for bringing us so many joyful, timeless grooves to celebrate.
