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Stax Number Ones

Various Artists
1 disc

1. Green Onions - Booker T. & the MG's
2. Hold On! I'm Comin' - Sam & Dave
3. Knock on Wood - Eddie Floyd
4. Soul Man - Sam & Dave
5. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
6. Who's Making Love - Johnnie Taylor
7. (Do The) Push and Pull, Pt. 1 - Rufus Thomas
8. Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone - Johnnie Taylor
9. Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight
10. Theme from Shaft - Isaac Hayes
11. In the Rain - The Dramatics
12. I'll Take You There - The Staple Singers
13. I Believe in You (You Believe in Me) - Johnnie Taylor
14. If You're Ready (Come Go with Me) - The Staple Singers
15. Woman to Woman - Shirley Brown
Code: QZZQ
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 3205
Credits

Producer Nick Phillips (Compilation)
Engineer
Audio Remasterer: Paul Blakemore.
Founded in Memphis in 1961, Stax Records and its subsidiary imprint Volt Records released music that came to define the very notion of deep Southern soul in the late '60s and early '70s, and the company's artist roster during those years is virtually a who's who of the genre. In all, Stax/Volt had 15 singles hit the number one spot on either the R&B or pop Billboard charts (Otis Redding topped both charts at once with the posthumous "[Sittin' On] The Dock of the Bay" in 1968 and the Staple Singers repeated the trick four years later with "I'll Take You There" in 1972), and all of those number one tracks are collected here. All have become classics in one way or another, including Booker T. & the MG's' "Green Onions" from 1962, Sam & Dave's "Hold On! I'm Comin'" from 1966 and "Soul Man" from 1967, Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood" from 1966, Isaac Hayes' cinematic epic "Theme from Shaft" from 1971, and Johnnie Taylor's "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone," also from 1971, and sort of Stax/Volt's answer to Marvin Gaye and Motown Records' "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" in that it featured the same kind of ominous, relentless rhythm, although it was good deal more lyrically specific -- Taylor actually named names. It's a very impressive run over that dozen years, and Stax left a huge and soulful footprint on the pop music of the 20th century and beyond -- it's impossible to imagine the world without Memphis soul. ~ Steve Leggett