Any of you guys ever manage to come across an album with Otis doing "My Girl?"
Always hated that song- It was played at every goddamned wedding when I was a kid, and most movies- But I caught a few seconds of Otis doing it ont he Stax documentary and it was like a whole new song. Loved it… Just can't seem to find out…

Dude! You're right! I know for sure I was thinking "Isaac Hayes" and yet, somehow I ended up typing "Otis Redding."
You get the point though. Wattstax rules.

@CantStandYa- An original is hard to find, but at least that one's been re-pressed fairly recently, so if you're looking to play it, it's available (oldies.com usually has it, I think).
Bar-B-Q has, as far as I know, yet to be re-pressed, so any copy I've ever spotted has been snapped up for anywhere from $35US for a…

As good a singer as Sam Cooke was, a lot of his songs leave me cold. The big-band, Black Sinatra vibe of much of his stuff gets to me. His live album, though, is my pick for greatest live album of all time. Pure, real, SOUL.

I don't know about greatest… I would say he is merely tied, with Marty Robbins.

I know, I already said this, but Eddie Floyd's "Bring It On Home To Me."

HAhahaha I love that one. "Power to the people, let's go back up into the stands!"

Truth. His performance on the WattStax documentary is goddamned genius! Easily found on youtube- When he gets the whole crowd on the field, then coaxes them all back up into the stands, except for one guy "That's a brother alright, but I'll be damned if he's my brother!"

I believe he says "Ain't I'm cleeeeean?!" which is fairly typical Rufus Thomas phrasing- I recently found a copy of his album "Can You Heard Me?" at a thrift store, for example.

Yeah, but much like the real Beatles and the real Stones, the Stax Stones make the Motown Beatles sound like pussies.

They're not on either the 50th anniversary CD or the Complete Stax singles box set. Shame, I sure do love them and actually didn't even realise they were on the label.

Ahh, new poster as I am, I didn't know about the whole delay thing. So I started over. I tried to just ignore it, so as not to draw attention, but no dice.

I get what you're saying, but as much as Motown's production was always somewhat… Thin, Stax's stuff has so much power… That and with the Stax stable focused more on the pure SOUL POWER and less on the pop and girl group type stuff, it definitely comes across as being more raw.

It's up there, for sure. Also see: Trojan records

Favorite Stax recordings?
Carla and Otis' version of "Knock On Wood," I think, is essential. Tramp's good, but Knock on Wood is the real essential track on that King and Queen record.

Favorite Stax recording?
It's a toss-up between Carla and Otis' version of "Knock on Wood" (Which makes Eddie Floyd's also- quite-good version sound fuckin' BORING) and Wendy Rene's "Bar-B-Q." I have been searching for a few years for a copy of the latter on vinyl and it is nigh impossible to track down in any kind of…