VARIOUS ARTISTS
MEMPHIS 60

Last year saw BGP take a look at the Memphis soul and funk sounds of the 1970s with our Memphis 70 compilation, that delved into the years after Otis Redding-era Stax dominated the city. This time we step back a decade and look at the soul, R&B and proto funk that the real music city was releasing in the 1960s. These feature some classic artists, but also many who were never heard of outside the myriad small clubs that filled the city. Some of these records are sought after collectors’ items, others are newly-discovered gems that we are pleased to place under the spotlight.
A large part of our CD is made up of obscure recordings from Stax Records and its various subsidiaries. These include our opener ‘The Hawg’ by Eddie Kirk, only ever distributed in the Memphis area. It is a big mod floor-filler, and sells for serious money. The same is true for Prince Conley’s ‘I’m Coming Home’, early R&B on the pre-Stax Satellite label. We also have Isaac Hayes’ first single ‘Blue Groove’ released as Sir Isaac and the Doo Dad’s. A certain Stax floor-filler is ‘The Spoiler’ buy Eddie Purnell which was the inspiration for Paul Weller and Andy Lewis on their single ‘Are You Trying To Be Lonely’, and the two gospel cuts by the Dixie Nightingales owe more to Otis than Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
We also take a long hard look at the vaults of the smaller but exquisitely formed Goldwax label, Stax’s only real rival in the output stakes of Memphis soul. From there we bring you Spencer Wiggins’ most frenetic dancer ‘Soul City USA’ and Willie Walker’s fantastic take on the Beatles’ ‘Ticket To Ride’. Walker comes back again with the wonderful ‘Ain’t Gonna Cheat On You No More’. The best from this bunch is the previously unreleased ‘Let The Best Man Win’, an uptempo group sound with plenty of Memphis grit by an unknown group.
Of the more obscure recordings from around the city we bring you LH and the Memphis sounds, whose wonderful Packy Axton related 45 is a £200 northern collectable. ‘Tram?’ (sic) by Junior Kimbell is a funky blues version of the Lowell Fulsom classic by the man who as Jr Kimbrough became highly lauded in the garage blues revival at the start of this decade. Our Queen of Memphis Barbara Brown is present and correct as is a previously unreleased R&B shouter called ‘Shake, Shake, Shake’ recorded by Willie Bollinger for her label, XL.