Can Stax be beaten?

Which iconic label is this the home of?
Image courtesy of www.bluescentric.com

After the success of last weeks head-to-head challenge between Motown and Stax records, where Stax emerged as the premier R'n'B label in an incredibly tight contest, I thought it was time to up the hyperbole and try to find out if Stax could also hold the mantle as the premier record label of all time. To do this I'll be throwing the Stax line-up against the best line-ups from labels from other genres of music.
But before we get to today's challenger, I thought I'd clarify the selection process for these labels, which is quite stringent. To qualify for this contest a label must:

• Be of a specific genre - Any label that has "various" under its genre, or claims to suit a wide range of musical tastes is out.
• Can be easily associated with a location or recording studio - Take Motown with Detroit or Stax with Memphis as examples.
• Artists and music have a common thread, be it a distinct sound, songwriters, producers etc.

So as you can see many labels, especially the larger ones (such as Warner Bros., Virgin, Atlantic or Colombia) cannot qualify for this contest, leaving it to the smaller more specialised labels. If you can think of any labels that might fit the bill, feel free to mention them in the comments section.

So, onto today's challenger. A contemporary of Motown and Stax, this label was responsible for much of the blues music that came out of the Windy City in the 1950s and '60s. It was also involved in the evolution of the Chicago blues sound, characterised by the electrification and amplification of traditional blues instruments. This electrification also led to the early rock and roll record releases. Music critic Cub Koda dubbed this label as "America's greatest blues label." He was talking about Chicago's Chess records.

Image courtesy of
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_Records

Founded by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess in 1950, Chess records and its main subsidiary label Checker Records (no I haven't made that up) helped launch the careers of many blues icons, including Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. It all came out of the iconic Chess Studios, which became somewhat of a musical Mecca for later groups, including The Rolling Stones. The Chess brothers, along with Ralph Bass were also the producers of much of the music that came out of Chess, along with Willie Dixon who was one of the label's chief songwriters. Chess was also known for its core of session musicians, many of whom went on to form the funk band Earth, Wind, & Fire.

But to the all-important lineup, and with apologies (again) to the artists that missed out here are the representatives of Chess Records.  If you need a refresher of last week, Stax's line-up can be found here.

Image courtesy of www.howlinwolf.com

Team Chess:

Chuck Berry: Route 66, You Never Can Tell

Howlin' Wolf: Smokestack Lightnin', Evil (Is Going On)

John Lee Hooker: Boom Boom, One Bourbon

Bo Diddley: I'm a Man, Who Do You Love?

Muddy Waters: Hoochie Coochie Man, Got My Mojo Working

Etta James: At Last, Something's Got a Hold On Me

Gene Chandler: Duke of Earl, Groovy Situation

Little Walter: Blues With a Feeling, Juke 

Verdict: On a song for song basis Stax might still have the edge, but its arguable that the artists and music from Chess had a larger influence on the development of other music styles, notably early rock and roll and funk.

The Book Club

Welcome to the book club, a new very irregular part of the blog. Today's book is a bit of a classic, and my favourite book I've read so far. But which book is it?

The review was also to get reacquainted with the wonderful Final Cut program, which after using Adobe Premiere is a bit like going from chocolates to boiled lollies.

Everybody R'n'B Now

In light of the tremendous success of Channel Ten's Everybody Dance Now, it appears that Australia was not ready for a series of poorly choreographed dance-offs posing as a star vehicle for American "R'n'B" artists. But there is no need for the producers of Everybody Dance Now to throw the baby out with the bath water, as they did have some components of a thoroughly entertaining show. Head-to head duels. Tick. R'n'B artists. Tick. Sarah Murdoch as host. Maybe not so much. See where this is heading?
If we are going to have a battle between legendary rhythm and blues technicians, we may as well start at the very top. The crème de la crème of the R'n'B world. The heavy-hitters that made R'n'B music so popular in the second of half of the 20th century. I'm talking about a battle between north and south, polish versus passion. Hitsville vs Soulsville. Detroit vs Memphis. It is of course a battle between Motown and Stax Records.
But the question is: who's side are you on? Can't decide? Excellent. It gives us a chance to take a closer look at the teams, and more importantly listen to some fantastic tunes.

Motown Records:

Launched in January 1959 by Barry Gordy, Motown was up and running early with it's first hit, "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong, reaching No. 2 in the charts by August. Motown's first No.1, Smokey Robinson's' "Shop Around" came a year later and kick started an astonishing run of 110 top-ten hits between 1961-1971. The label was underpinned by songwriting by the likes of Strong, Robinson, Norman Whitfield and the indomitable trio Holland-Dozier-Holland, and were responsible for the creation of the Motown sound, a simple yet distinctive, tambourine-heavy style that had massive crossover appeal. The Motown sound was produced by a core of musicians who became known as the Funk Brothers, who went on to play on more number one records than The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys combined.

Stax Records:

Also founded in the late 1950's by siblings Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, Stax and it's various subsidiary labels cranked out over 800 singles and 300 LP's in a 14 year period. Like it's northern rival Motown, it was responsible for the creation of it's own style of R'n'B music, the Memphis sound. The Memphis sound was of a somewhat grittier nature than Motown, and was typified by melodic horn sections and driving bass lines and drum beats. Amazingly much of Stax's output during that time was written and produced by what became known as the Big Six - Isaac Hayes, David Porter, Al Jackson Jr., Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn, on top of their own roles as artists in their own right.

Head to Head:

So if this were to come down to a song for song contest between the two R'n'B behemoths who would be involved and what would they play? With apologies to the artists that missed out, here are some prospective line-ups:

Team Motown:

Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through the Grapevine, What's Going On?

Smokey Robinson - Tears of a Clown, I Second That Emotion

Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life, Superstition

The Temptations - Ain't To Proud to Beg, My Girl 

The Four Tops - I Can't Help My Self, Reach Out I'll Be There

Jackson 5 - ABC, I Want You Back

Diana Ross & The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On, Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - Dancing in the Street, Nowhere to Run

Team Stax:

Otis Redding - (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay, Try a Little Tenderness

Sam & Dave - Soul Man, Hold on, I'm Comin'

Wilson Pickett - Land of 1000 Dances, Mustang Sally

Eddie Floyd - Knock on Wood, Soul Street

Albert King - Laundromat Blues, Crosscut Saw

Booker T. & the MG's - Green Onions, Hip Hug Her

Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music, Funky Street

Rufus Thomas - The Memphis Train, Walking the Dog

Verdict: If you are able to definitively split those teams, you're a braver person than me.

Karl the Robot

As a tribute to his great work hosting the Olympics for Channel Nine, here is Karl Stefanovic before they add the sound filter. To quote another Get This favourite, this is dizzy stuff!