Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. Documentary on Hulu

[Teasing the Korean]

We just watched part one of this four-part series.  Great archival footage, with the actual participants telling the story.  Refreshingly, there is no Sting, no Bono, no Bruce, no Elvis C.  Let's hope the director manages to keep them out of the next three installments. 

[JSngry]

It's a great story with a very sad ending.

[soulpope]

Rise and fall ....

[Brad]

On 5/23/2024 at 9:57 PM, JSngry said:

It's a great story with a very sad ending.

Screwed over by big corporations although the first time Stewart should have read the contract or had a lawyer do so, which he obviously didn’t have.

However, it’s a great documentary, very well done. 

Edited May 25 by Brad

[JSngry]

That bank, who was it, Union Planters?

[Brad]

6 minutes ago, JSngry said:

That bank, who was it, Union Planters?

Think so. 

[soulpope]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

Think so. 

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/557/84/272819/

[Brad]

21 hours ago, soulpope said:

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/557/84/272819/

Interesting although whether CBS committed tortious acts was not the subject of the decision which only talked about the removability of the case from state to federal court, a concept which may just be a feature of common law.

Robert Gordon has written a well received book about Stax which I’ve ordered. Al Bell blames the demise all on CBS but I’m not sure that’s a completely balanced view. Some things I’ve seen suggest that was just part of the problem. 

[JSngry]

This is the first, and imo still the best, book about Stax, start to finish:

https://www.amazon.com/Soulsville-U-S-Story-Records/dp/0825672848/ref=asc_df_0825672848/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693683181839&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16736990023880112290&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026802&hvtargid=pla-497010622035&psc=1&mcid=bb16bb1ce7bd3b76a3b46b0137be7c7f&gad_source=1

From 1997!!!

Al Bell's reach far exceeded his grasp, but Union Planters was more than happy to let him free fall and then be there to play "just business....".

They had options. All banks have options.

Ok, it looks like Rob Bowman was involved in the Hulu series. Good!

[Brad]

5 minutes ago, JSngry said:

This is the first, and imo still the best, book about Stax, start to finish:

https://www.amazon.com/Soulsville-U-S-Story-Records/dp/0825672848/ref=asc_df_0825672848/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693683181839&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16736990023880112290&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026802&hvtargid=pla-497010622035&psc=1&mcid=bb16bb1ce7bd3b76a3b46b0137be7c7f&gad_source=1

From 1997!!!

Al Bell's reach far exceeded his grasp, but Union Planters was more than happy to let him free fall and then be there to play "just business....".

They had options. All banks have options.

Ok, it looks like Rob Bowman was involved in the Hulu series. Good!

I want to read that one. Yes, Bowman had a large role in the series. 

[JSngry]

Also get this DVD if you don't already have it. Truly a treasure!

https://www.amazon.com/Stax-Volt-Revue-Live-Norway/dp/B000UB054U/ref=asc_df_B000UB054U/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693366125681&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6321415702778594931&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026802&hvtargid=pla-450284767664&psc=1&mcid=f20f3fb210863fc984233a9a884a4fb4&gad_source=1

[soulpope]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

I want to read that one. Yes, Bowman had a large role in the series. 

https://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2017/12/stax-soulsville-bowman-review.html

Btw his superb monography/booklet to the CD Set "The Malaco Records Story - The Last Soul Company Jackson MS" is another "must read" regarding Soul history ....

[Brad]

7 hours ago, soulpope said:

https://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2017/12/stax-soulsville-bowman-review.html

Btw his superb monography/booklet to the CD Set "The Malaco Records Story - The Last Soul Company Jackson MS" is another "must read" regarding Soul history ....

Great article. Thank you very much!

[JSngry]

Al Bell stands tall.

[danasgoodstuff]

On 6/13/2024 at 8:09 PM, JSngry said:

Al Bell stands tall.

Really? some might think he helped put them under.

[JSngry]

I don't think so. He had ambitions and was achieving them until he got the rug pulled out from under him, first by CBS,k then by Union Planters.

I've searched in vain to find any indication that his real error was doing anything other than pushing back against CBS when they sought to unilaterally renegotiate a contract. That might have been foolish, but it was noble, imo. The Union Planters affair was a sham, the bank screwing over the company to cover their own ass. Exoneration of Bell came, but only after the assets had all been seized.

I find it interesting (and valedictory) that he eventually went to work for Barry Gordy when Gordy was navigating the sale of Motown to MCA.

[soulpope]

7 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said:

Really? some might think he helped put them under.

I believe the shift away from the pure Southern Soul focus - to broaden the "customer base" - did the initial damage .... further missteps followed - and the industry changed ....

[JSngry]

Isaac Hayes was damage?

[John L]

18 hours ago, soulpope said:

I believe the shift away from the pure Southern Soul focus - to broaden the "customer base" - did the initial damage .... further missteps followed - and the industry changed ....

In some ways, I think that the Southern Soul focus at Stax became even stronger with time, even as it evolved.   Yes, some influences from the "North" were brought in.  But it could be argued that they were consistent with the particular stage of development of the music.   The smooth Stax sides that Don Davis produced for Johnnie Taylor arguably became the blueprint for the further development of Southern Soul to this day.  

[JSngry]

The Staple Singers were damage?

Wattstax was damage?

[JSngry]

The last record made by Bell/Stewart was pretty damn "Southern".

 

25 minutes ago, John L said:

In some ways, I think that the Southern Soul focus at Stax became even stronger with time, even as it evolved.   Yes, some influences from the "North" were brought in.  But it could be argued that they were consistent with the particular stage of development of the music.   The smooth Stax sides that Don Davis produced for Johnnie Taylor arguably became the blueprint for the further development of Southern Soul to this day.  

Johnnie Taylor was Southern as fuck. His offices were for decades in Dallas, Southern Dallas, about a six hour drive to Jackson.

When the bus was running, not far at all. I20 almost all the way.

[soulpope]

6 hours ago, John L said:

In some ways, I think that the Southern Soul focus at Stax became even stronger with time, even as it evolved.   Yes, some influences from the "North" were brought in.  But it could be argued that they were consistent with the particular stage of development of the music.   The smooth Stax sides that Don Davis produced for Johnnie Taylor arguably became the blueprint for the further development of Southern Soul to this day.  

Thnx for your thoughts ... Stax - as described in detail by Rob Bowman in his book - started as a small Southern Soul label and  both the expansion (artistically and economically) and the myriad of "hits" in the 60`s - based on superb songwriting -  simply happened .... while the Memphis productions were textbook raw Southern Soul, the early diversification with Don Davis stepping in was a first change in direction .... at the end of the the decade a more pro-active search - you could say enforcement of - for top selling records started and the story how songwriter Isaac Hayes ended as singer (aka "try and error") is quite telling ..... the industry changed, innocence was lost and and money (greed) increasingly beacame the name of the game .... Stax subsequently concentrated on a handful of top performers and other acts started flying under the radar marketingwise .... so no disrespect to the productions/efforts in the 70`s, but if listening to the "Complete Stax (Volt) Singles" compilation in chronological order gives an audiblle documentation of the changes .... 

You quote of "Johnnie Taylor arguably became the blueprint for the further development of Southern Soul" made me think, but obviously there is no definition of "Southern Soul" and to me a genre of "Soul/Blues Crossover" would more apply ....

The collapse of Stax happened before the heydays of Disco, so we will never know how the company if still active would have mastered this challenge ....

Nevertheless the "Stax Story" is one of a kind and the heritage remains treasurous ....

[JSngry]

 

[John L]

13 hours ago, soulpope said:

Thnx for your thoughts ... Stax - as described in detail by Rob Bowman in his book - started as a small Southern Soul label and  both the expansion (artistically and economically) and the myriad of "hits" in the 60`s - based on superb songwriting -  simply happened .... while the Memphis productions were textbook raw Southern Soul, the early diversification with Don Davis stepping in was a first change in direction .... at the end of the the decade a more pro-active search - you could say enforcement of - for top selling records started and the story how songwriter Isaac Hayes ended as singer (aka "try and error") is quite telling ..... the industry changed, innocence was lost and and money (greed) increasingly beacame the name of the game .... Stax subsequently concentrated on a handful of top performers and other acts started flying under the radar marketingwise .... so no disrespect to the productions/efforts in the 70`s, but if listening to the "Complete Stax (Volt) Singles" compilation in chronological order gives an audiblle documentation of the changes .... 

You quote of "Johnnie Taylor arguably became the blueprint for the further development of Southern Soul" made me think, but obviously there is no definition of "Southern Soul" and to me a genre of "Soul/Blues Crossover" would more apply ....

The collapse of Stax happened before the heydays of Disco, so we will never know how the company if still active would have mastered this challenge ....

Nevertheless the "Stax Story" is one of a kind and the heritage remains treasurous ....

Thanks, Soulpope.    What you write here is indeed broadly consistent with the story told in Bob Bowman's book as well as Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music.  

It is, in fact, a fitting end to a fairytale-like story that we might want to believe.   The first part of the story is a Mom & Pop startup that somehow created an environment in Memphis in the early 50s where black and white musicians could work together in harmony like a small family, and end up creating something very profound against all odds.  That part of the fairy tale is true.   So it is fitting that the end of story should be that the shattering of this small family through commercialization, greed, expansion, and the rise of racial tensions following MLK's assassination in Memphis would bring a decline of musical quality and management that would eventually take the company down. 

That story feels very compelling...except that I am not sure that it is true.   While I had always sort of accepted this story, I have always been bothered by the apparent inconsistency between this story and what I hear in the music.  When I listen to volumes 1 and 2 of the complete Stax singles, I really don't hear a fall in musical quality at all.  Only by the end of Volume 3 does it sound like something is not right, although some good music was somehow still made until the end. 

I really appreciated the recent documentary because it presented a different perspective, and mostly that of Al Bell.   This perspective may also be biased but it feels more compelling to me in light of the extraordinary music Stax continued to churn out in the 1970s.  

 

On another point, the term southern soul is indeed used in different ways.   The reference in my post was to the current musical genre of "Southern Soul" that still has strong popularity in the US South (Ms. Jody, Pokey Bear, Omar Cunningham, etc.) and is commonly referred to as "blues" in the African American community.  Those Don Davis-produced Stax sides for Johnnie Taylor are still covered quite often in current Southern Soul circles, and are widely recognized as pioneering music for establishing the current Southern Soul genre.   

 

 

Edited June 18 by John L

[soulpope]

14 minutes ago, John L said:

Thanks, Soulpope.    What you write here is indeed broadly consistent with the story told in Bob Bowman's book as well as Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music.  

It is, in fact, a fitting end to a fairytale-like story that we might want to believe.   The first part of the story is a Mom & Pop startup that somehow created an environment in Memphis in the early 50s where black and white musicians could work together in harmony like a small family, and end up creating something very profound against all odds.  That part of the fairy tale is true.   So it is fitting that the end of story should be that the shattering of this small family through commercialization, greed, expansion, and the rise of racial tensions following MLK's assassination in Memphis would bring a decline of musical quality and management that would eventually take the company down. 

That story feels very compelling...except that I am not sure that it is true.   While I had always sort of accepted this story, I have always been bothered by the apparent inconsistency between this story and what I hear in the music.  When I listen to volumes 1 and 2 of the complete Stax singles, I really don't hear a fall in musical quality at all.  Only by the end of Volume 3 does it sound like something is not right, although some good music was somehow still made until the end. 

I really appreciated the recent documentary because it presented a different perspective, and mostly that of Al Bell. This perspective may also be biased but it feels more compelling to me in light of the extraordinary music Stax continued to churn out in the 1970s.  

On another point, the term southern soul is indeed used in different ways.   The reference in my post was to the current musical genre of "Southern Soul" that still has strong popularity in the US South (Ms. Jody, Pokey Bear, Omar Cunningham, etc.) and is commonly referred to as "blues" in the African American community.  Those Don Davis-produced Stax sides for Johnnie Taylor are still covered quite often in current Southern Soul circles, and are widely recognized as pioneering music for establishing the current Southern Soul genre.   

Been in touch with numerous contemporary witnesses in the later 80's/early 90's (when memories seemed to be still rather intact) and the story of the music business in Memphis/Muscle Shoals told was sort of a fairytale, but with rather bitter ending(s) .... a lot of the people/artists lived in a rural area, had nothing and out of nowhere became famous and (comparatively) rich .... when sure-fire success took different routes it caused a lot of struggles and some people had to learn the hard way that they simply had a lucky break .... drugs unfortunately were a recurring issue too ....

Obviously great Stax releases saw the light of day in the 70's, but they happened less often compared to the incredible "natural" flow of the 60's ....

Btw everybody is entitled to tell his side of the story and so is Al Bell ....