RESPECT YOURSELF: STAX RECORDS AND THE SOUL EXPLOSION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Robert Gordon | 480 pages | 09 Apr 2015 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9781608194162 | English | New York, United States Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion PDF Book This is the unexpurgated story. This a good book and you don't have to be a music fan. It's about a small independent company's struggle to survive in a business world of burgeoning conglomerates. This book tells the story of Stax Records, but it isn't just a the story of Stax the record label, as it also places the story in the context of Memphis and the civil rights movement, and there are some very interesting parallels between the rise and fall of Stax and other American businesses. One of the best music books I've ever read. I absolutely ate Loved this well-written book and highly recommend it! Everything is lost, and the sanctuary that flourished is ripped from the ground. For anyone interested in independent record labels and their music in midth-century America. If you're interested in the soul music of the 60's and 70's, Respect Yourself is a must-read. Respect Yourself chronicles the rise and fall of Stax Records. The story has three arcs: The simple days of creating a new genre of music and building a record company to bring the tunes to a diversified audience The story of Stax Records unfolds like a Greek tragedy. That was Marvell heading to heaven. Enjoyed this one so much more! And always at the center of the story is Memphis, Tennessee, an explosive city struggling through heated, divisive years. Hayes was one of the stars of Wattstax, a concert sponsored by the company in Los Angeles in to mark the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots. A generation later, Stax is rebuilt brick by brick to once again bring music and opportunity to the people of Memphis. Memphis was reeling under racial tension but the record store was a place where racism didn't exist and the If you want to make the soul music aficionado's eyes light up, just mention Stax Records where many of the great soul singers began their careers against all odds. Truly an amazing read. He was always doing for others. It's full of interviews with most of the major players but it also moves along at a pretty brisk clip for a book as long and detailed as it is. Don't Miss. The Stax sound, at least at first, was instantly recognizable. Uncut — February Read More. The author goes deep, not just talking about the artists and music, but also how the history of Stax paralleled, and often informed, the 60s civil rights movement and the socioeconomic issues of the 60ss.. Enter: Al Bell. Hardcover , pages. Top charts. But the core of this book is about the music and the dedication lesser known musicians like Donald "Duck Dunn, Steve Cropper and, of course, Booker T gave to the music. Thirty-year-old Hayes had recently become the first black musician to win an Oscar for his Theme from Shaft. Blogs John Robinson - 7th December 0. Everything is lost, and the sanctuary that flourished is ripped from the ground. In , the label hosted the Wattstax Festival at the Los Angeles Coliseum, proof that a stadium of over , blacks from a riot-torn corner of a major city could party peacefully all day long. Stax is my favourite soul label and this book was given to me as a gift because of that. For them it was the day the music died. Gordon deftly narrates the stories of the many musicians who called Stax home. Of course I knew race relations in the late sixties and early seventies was going to be part of the Stax story, but the first hand accounts throughout the book told me so many things about that time period that I either hadn't known, or hadn't fully felt. It is also the unlikely tale of white siblings, he a banker, she a school-teacher, and their personal journey from the segregated society of Jim Crow Tennessee to the heart of something they created in an old cinema on East McLemore in South Memphis: Soulsville, a place where blacks and whites could record together at a time that they could not publicly share a dining table together. Well This is the most detailed and deeply-researched book on the Stax Records story. It is also the unlikely tale of white siblings, he a banker, she a school-teacher, and their personal journey from the segregated society of Jim Crow Tennessee to the heart of something they created in an old cinema on East McLemore in South Memphis: Soulsville, a place where blacks and whites could record together at a The history of Stax is more than the familiar tale of an independent record label that went from rags to riches only to collapse under the weight of its unprecedented growth. This book made me appreciate anew the amazing confluence of things that made Stax music so incredible and enduring. The story of Stax is really a three part'er: creative "classic" Stax , corporate the Al Bell years and chaos the unraveling of Stax the company and the ethos that underpinned it. And Bell hired the thuggish Johnny Baylor to take charge of protection and of relations with radio stations and stores, a duty he often discharged through threats. It describes the corporate and violent air What a wonderful book. There is all sorts of fascinating trivia in Respect Yourself: - Booker T. Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion Writer Jun 04, Heather Pagano rated it really liked it Shelves: history , music. Due to smart business acumen like this among other factors, Stax Records quickly found itself gaining successful in a short period of time that other labels would never taste. Sep 06, patrick Lorelli rated it it was amazing Shelves: music-biographies. Author Robert Gordon's lyrical prose and exquisite word choices, are difference maker, elevating the book beyond just a good story, simply told. Uncut — February Read More. BookPeople is open at limited capacity! Will the tenacious belief in white supremacy manage to destroy progress made in demanding and preserving equal rights and respect for people of color? Uncut - 7th December 0. Rating details. Many would later claim that Stax never recovered from the loss of Otis and it was further deeply demoralised when Warner Bros bought out Atlantic who it now turned out owned their entire back catalogue, the result of an overlooked clause in their original agreement of which Wexler later unconvincingly argued he had no knowledge. Surely this is a story that could have been worked into Respect Yourself. But the core of this book is about the music and the dedication lesser known musicians like Donald "Duck Dunn, Steve Cropper and, of course, Booker T gave to the music. Their success is startling, and Stax soon defines an international sound. It also really brings awareness to myself living in Memphis, and what this city was not that long ago, and what it is starting to become again. But I was wrong. Ecstatic creativity and bitter infighting. It's about a small independent company's struggle to survive in an increasingly conglomerate-oriented world. Uncut - 4th November 0. It describes the corporate and violent air What a wonderful book. When the hits started coming, there seemed to be no end to them. Jun 01, Jill Hutchinson rated it really liked it Shelves: film-music-history. From the nervy minimalism of their debut to the Robert Gordon's prose vividly brings to life the characters involved in the rise and fall of Stax, showing how, amidst segregation, violence, and a plethora of bad business decisions, they managed to produce some of the greatest records of the 20th century. Other books somewhat equalize the contributions by Jim Stewart, Estelle Axton, and Al Bell, but this book presents many more stories about Al Bell than I've read about before. Jackson: "When we started, it was about family, and genius and Otis [Redding] and the fun we were having — and now Paramount wants to know where we are every hour and there's guys walking around in the halls with guns? Gordon got me through it. Nat D. Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion Reviews The assassination of Martin Luther King on the balcony of Memphis's Lorraine motel, a musicians' hangout, soured the atmosphere inside an organisation still reeling from the death of its star turn, Otis Redding, a few months previously. Uncut - 7th December 0. The first order of business for the company was to rebuild the catalog. See larger image. Deep cultural and social history enlivened by a cast of colorful characters. Reviews "A marvelous history. It was a riveting read for me. They were blown away. But mostly it Outstanding, exhaustive, and very well written history of Stax Records. Uncut — December Buy Now. Chart-topping hits and bankruptcy. US President Lyndon Johnson may have introduced the Civil Rights Act in , but Memphis simply ignored it, as if federal legislation had no legitimacy here and would therefore not be heeded or obeyed. Sep 14, John Steel rated it it was amazing. Click here to buy a copy of the new issue online Welcome to the final edition of Uncut for Then, after losses both business and personal, the siblings part, and the brother allies with a visionary African-American partner. I'm glad Robert Gordon did that and more.