Back in the 1960s, Motown and Stax represented the two sides of the same musical coin- soul music, that is. Of the two Motown, with its slicker, more mass-produced sound, probably looms larger in the popular imagination and certainly experienced greater commercial success. If you truly want to hear the essence of soul, however, you can't go wrong with Stax. The southern soul music the Memphis-based studio produced was edgier, grittier and more true to the music's black roots than Motown. This was soul music without all the rough edges smoothed off for Top 40 radio, soul music that was as much interested in conveying deep emotion as sounding pretty.
"Respect Yourself" is the definitive documentary on Stax Records. Unlike the meandering "In the Shadows of Motown," which is little more of an aimless collection of anecdotes and middling covers, this documentary benefits from a tight chronological focus on the history of the studio from 1957 to 1975. As so often seems to be the case in music documentaries, it's a story told in terms of triumph and tragedy, however the themes ring more true here than in any hackneyed episode of "Behind the Music." The triumph, of course, derives from the fact Stax Records achieved as much as it did given the economically impoverished and racially polarized environment in which it was born (Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in the same Lorraine Hotel "Knock on Wood" and other Stax hits were written). Its music literally seemed to come from nowhere, a place that seemed 20 years behind the rest of the country, as one northern record company producer notes in the documentary.
The tragedy "Respect Yourself" covers is twofold- the personal tragedy of Otis Redding, and the public legal and financial tragedy of Stax Records. Otis Redding, whose life and career in many ways parallels that of Stax at large, propelled the studio forward in the mid-60s as its signature star, only to die prematurely in 1967, at the height of his fame and creativity. At about the same time the executives at Stax examined the fine print of their distribution agreement with Atlantic Records and discovered that Atlantic owned the rights to their entire back catalog. Under the leadership of Al Bell, the company rallied with a "soul explosion" that produced new stars like Isaac Hayes and the Staple Singers. Emboldened by the black power movement, the studio also became more engaged in the local community by supporting political causes like Operation PUSH and promoting black-owned enterprises and businesses. Although Bell's strategy enabled the studio to live on for a few more years, the little record company ultimately overextended itself, and the financial strain forced its closure in 1975.
"Respect Yourself" chronicles this story with a fast-moving combination of interviews, archival footage, and Samuel L. Jackson's narration. The interviews do a good job of capturing the personalities of the people involved in Stax Records, from the boisterous, larger-than-life persona of Al Bell and Isaac Hayes to the decidedly more reserved Booker T. Jones and Jim Stewart. The music clips are also uniformly excellent, from William Bell recreating "You Don't Miss Your Water" to contemporary performance footage of Booker T. & the MGs, Sam and Dave, Isaac Hayes, and others. Ultimately, "Respect Yourself" succeeds in not only revealing why so many love this music, but why it remains important and influential to this day.
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FUNKY. EMOTIONAL. RAW. POWERFUL.
THAT WAS SOUL MUSIC INTHE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA AND STAX RECORDS DID IT LIKE NO OTHER. "RESPECT YOURSELF," NARRATED BY SAMUEL L. JACKSON, TRACES THE ASTONISHING HISTORY OF STAX, FROM A MODEST NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT TO A CULTURAL AND POLITICAL EMPIRE. STAX IS THE STORY OF BIRTH AND RE-BIRTH AND THE SOUL OF MUSIC WHICH KEEPS IT ALIVE. THE SOUTHERN CITY OF MEMPHIS WAS A HOTBED OF RACIAL TENSION, BUT THAT STOPPED AT THE DOORS OF STAX RECORDS. THE OPEN-DOOR POLICY LED TO RENOWNED HOUSE BAND BOOKER T. & THE MGs, ONE OF AMERICA'S FIRST INTERRACIAL MUSICAL GROUPS. OTHER ARTISTS LIKE OTIS REDDING AND SAM & DAVE SOON JOINED THE ROSTER, AS WELL AS SONGWRITER ISAAC HAYES. WITH SONGS LIKE "(SITTIN' ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY." "SOUL MAN" AND "KNOCK ON WOOD," STAX SOLIDIFIED ITS REPUTATION AS A HIT-MAKING MACHINE, PRODUCING A MASSIVE CATALOG OF TOP 100 RECORDS. THROUGH ALL THIS, THE LABEL OVERCAME HUSTLERS, BAD BUSINESS DECISIONS, TRAGIC DEATHS AND A NUMBER OF FINANCIAL MELTDOWNS. BUT WITH EACH REINCARNATION, STAX GREW - BRANCHING OUT INTO FILM PRODUCTION, BROADWAY, THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT - CHANGING THE WORLD BECAUSE IT DIDN'T KNOW IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO. "RESPECT YOURSELF" PROVIDES FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ON THE STREETS AND BEHIND STUDIO DOORS FROM CELEBRATED MUSICIANS SUCH AS ISAAC HAYES, BOOKER T. JONES, STEVE CROPPER, DONALD "DUCK" DUNN AND MAVIS STAPLES, AS WELL AS LABEL PRESIDENT AL BELL, REV. JESSE JACKSON AND OTHERS. WITH RARE PERFORMANCES, PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED HOME MOVIES AND NEW RECORDINGS, GRAMMY-NOMINATED FILMMAKERS ROBERT GORDON AND MORGAN NEVILLE (MUDDY WATERS CAN'T BE SATISFIED) PRESENT THE FIRST COMPRHENSIVE LOOK AT STAX RECORDS, THE GREATEST SOULD LABEL OF ALL TIME.
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Nicholas Ronai
Brilliant. This is a must for any fan of soul music.
Calificado en Alemania el 25 de julio de 2014Gielen Hugo
Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story
Calificado en Alemania el 20 de agosto de 2013