Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Stax: The Soul of Hip-Hop



And the Stax obsession continues!! I just can't seem to get enough of that record label. My most recent Stax purchase is called Stax: The Soul of Hip-Hop and it features all of the Stax songs which have been sampled by various hip hop artists throughout the years. The album consists of several Stax all-stars such as Booker T. and the MGs, The Bar-Kays, Isaac Hayes, David Porter, etc. etc. This record is straight BEAST!!!! There is no other music, other than the Grateful Dead and Terry Cashman, that put me in as good a mood as the music of Stax Records and this record just makes me want to get up and Shake a tail feather! It's funny how I came to buy this record. My dear friend Jeff and I were at J&R Music in lower manhattan. J&R is a huge music and electronic store which actually sells records and is where I bought my first record, Jerry Jeff Walker's Contrary to Ordinary. Jeff and I used to go there for their 99 Cent Bins which have since become 29 Cent Bins and are filled with a lot of crap mainly because we bought the last of anything good that they had left (PakalaMeredith, I'm talking about you!). Anyway, we went there to shop for a microphone for our podcast "The 99 Cent Bin." We didn't find one as we are uncertain which mic we need so we ended up leaving but before we left, being the record junkies that we are, we went over to the "29 Cent Bins" just to see if there was anything worth picking up but unfortunately the bins were littered with the usual: Oak Ridge Boys, Barbara Mandrell, about 20 of the same Lee Greenwood records and of course it wouldn't be a "29 Cent Bin" without Sha-NaNa and the Legal Eagles soundtrack. Jeff and I actually did manage to find some decent records i.e., an obscure Van Morrison LP, Priscilla Coolidge Jones, Waylon Jennings but then we ventured from the "29 Cent Bin" to the "29 Dollar Bin." We didn't expect to buy anything expensive, just browse, but when I found this Stax record and noticed that it was under 15 bucks, well lets just say I told Van, Rita and Waylon that it was nice knowing ya, no hard feelings, but Booker T, William Bell and I have a date with The Emotions! (I actually didn't say that to those records but instead I didn't even bother taking them back to the 29 Cent Bin. I just left them in the Expensive bin. Sorry).

I just finished listening to this record and there are several Wu Tang samples on it. Now while I love Wu Tang and always will, fuck you guys for touching this music. I mean I get it, you clearly love it as much as I do but come up with your own beats and let Stax be Stax. I mean seriously! Shame on a Nigga!

Southern Funkin': Louisiana Funk and Soul 1967-1979



My most recent record purchase is an album called Southern Funkin. I have been on a mission to find a Louisiana funk and soul record for some time now. About a month ago, a guy I know had this album which was called New Orelans Funk and Soul and it blew me away. This guy had a girlfriend who I am friends with and when they broke up recently, I asked her: "Can you steal his New Orleans Funk and Soul record for me?" I told her that I was kidding but I definitely wasn't. All that jealousy that I felt towards this guy owning that record went away when I found Southern Funkin'. It is amazing!!! In fact I have been very interested in rare funk and soul records from different regions of the US ever since I found a record that featured rare funk and soul from Norfolk, Virginia. I bought that particular record for both my interest in the genre of music and the fact that I went to college in Virginia and have a special place in my heart for that state. I was having a conversation with my friend, DJ Partner, fellow record collector and boss, Jeff about these rare records from various places in the country (he just picked up one from Seattle and one from Chicago) and he said that while they are really good records, they all sound the same. He makes a good point because you could play Southern Funkin for me without me knowing it was from Louisiana and tell me that it was rare funk and soul from Myrtle Beach and I'd believe you. But even if this record sounds just like my record from Virginia and probabaly even sounds like Jeffs records from Seattle and Chicago, every song is amazing and I no longer have to worry about planning some sort of record heist from my friends ex-boyfriend although I haven't ruled that out just yet.