Stax Number Ones

Overview

Founded in Memphis in 1961, Stax Records and its subsidiary imprint Volt Records released music that came to define the very notion of deep Southern soul in the late '60s and early '70s, and the company's artist roster during those years is virtually a who's who of the genre. In all, Stax/Volt had 15 singles hit the number one spot on either the R&B or pop Billboard charts (Otis Redding topped both charts at once with the posthumous "[Sittin' On] The Dock of the Bay" in 1968 and the Staple Singers repeated the trick four years later with "I'll Take You There" in 1972), and all of those number one tracks are collected here. All have become classics in one way or another, including Booker T. & the MG's' "Green Onions" from 1962, Sam & Dave's "Hold On! I'm Comin'" from 1966 and "Soul Man" from 1967, Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood" from 1966, Isaac Hayes' cinematic epic "Theme from Shaft" from 1971, and Johnnie Taylor's "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone," also from 1971, and sort of Stax/Volt's answer to Marvin Gaye and Motown Records' "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" in that it featured the same kind of ominous, relentless rhythm, although it was good deal more lyrically specific -- Taylor actually named names. It's a very impressive run over that dozen years, and Stax left a huge and soulful footprint on the pop music of the 20th century and beyond -- it's impossible to imagine the world without Memphis soul. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	10/19/2010
Label:	Stax
UPC:	0888072322448
Rank:	5866

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Shirley Brown   Primary Artist
Isaac Hayes   Primary Artist
Booker T.   Primary Artist
The Dramatics   Primary Artist
Eddie Floyd   Primary Artist
Johnnie Taylor   Primary Artist
Jean Knight   Primary Artist
Rufus Thomas   Primary Artist
Otis Redding   Primary Artist
The Staple Singers   Primary Artist
The MG's   Primary Artist
Booker T. & the MG's   Primary Artist
Sam & Dave   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Tony Hester   Composer
Alvertis Isbell   Composer
Bettye Crutcher   Composer
Kent Barker   Composer
Isaac Hayes   Composer,Producer
Chris Clough   Research,Project Assistant
Joseph Broussard   Composer
Jimmy Hole   Package Design
Carl Hampton   Composer
David Porter   Composer,Producer
Lewie Steinberg   Composer
Raymond Jackson   Composer,Composer
Donald Davis   Composer
Anthony Hester   Composer
Abbey Anna   Research,Project Assistant
Rikka Arnold   Research,Project Assistant
James Wilson   Composer
Don Davis   Composer,Producer
Carol Washington   Composer
Eddie Floyd   Composer
Eddie Marion   Composer
Homer Banks   Composer
Wardell Quezergue   Producer
Jim Stewart   Producer
Rufus Thomas   Composer
Nick Phillips   Compilation Producer
Ralph Williams   Composer
Otis Redding   Composer
Al Jackson, Jr.   Composer,Producer
Tom Nixon   Producer
Al Bell   Producer
Henderson Thigpen   Composer
Paul Blakemore   Remastering
Steve Cropper   Composer,Producer
Booker T. Jones   Composer