The Stax Story (4-CD)

by Various Artists

The vibrant soul sounds that emanated from Stax Records in South Memphis between 1960 and 1975 have maintained a currency matched by few other genres of 20th-century popular music. More than a greatest hits collection, The Stax Story brings together most of the company's biggest selling singles along with a well-chosen sampling of rarities and an entire disc of live recordings made around the world, including a couple of previously unissued gems. The four discs trace the evolution of a truly American style from the exquisite simplicity of the firm's early output through the often-lavish innovations of the later years. Perhaps no institution mirrored the changing face of race relations in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s as boldly as did Stax.

The company stood as a model of interaction between the races - on a creative level, as well as on the business side - at a time when many other types of social liaison between African Americans and European Americans were forbidden by law. Then, after the legal fortress of segregation had finally fallen, Stax served as a beacon of the black-pride aesthetic.

In addition to its 98 scorching selections, The Stax Story is told in fascinating detail in a richly illustrated booklet featuring the commentary of Rob Bowman, preeminent Stax historian and author of the award-winning Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records; Greil Marcus, author of Mystery Train, Lipstick Traces, and other critically acclaimed books; Charlie Gillett, pioneering English R&B historian and BBC producer; and Deanie Parker, who went from working as a clerk at the company?s record shop to writing hit songs and serving as Stax publicist from 1963 to 1975.