News

Craft Recordings has been doing great things with the Stax Records catalogue in honor of its 60th anniversary (check out our most recent review of the new Isaac Hayes box set for proof!) – and now, they’re continuing a beloved box set series with a new collection of the label’s singles.

Continuing the trend established by The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968 (released in 1991 and reissued by Rhino in 2016), The Complete Stax-Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 2: 1968-1971 (1993, reissued 2014) and The Complete Stax-Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 3: 1972-1975 (1994, reissued 2015), Stax Singles Volume 4: Rarities & The Best of the Rest is six discs of odds and ends across the Memphis label’s diverse catalogue, as well as their various imprint labels over the years.

Covering the breadth of the Stax catalogue, this set promises rare sides from Carla and Rufus Thomas, Booker T. & The MG’s, Sam and Dave, Johnnie Taylor, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers and many other notable names you expect from the label. There’s also tracks from The Bar-Kays, Delaney & Bonnie (whose first album in 1968 was a Stax album) and Billy Eckstine (whose latter day works were on the Enterprise imprint). Labels on the Stax periphery are covered here too: not only the earliest works from the label (then known as Satellite Records, but works issued on Enterprise, Hip, spiritual labels Gospel Truth and Chalice, and of course Ardent Records, home of power-pop legends Big Star. (Three of their most popular sides, “In the Street,” “O My Soul” and “September Gurls,” appear on this volume.) Thanks to the scope of the set, Craft includes not only tracks from their owned portion of the Stax catalogue but also licenses in key early Stax works which are now the purview of Rhino.

The set is rounded out with 80 pages of liner notes, including four new essays from writers Lee Hildebrand, Alec Palao, Bill Belmont (also the set’s co-producer) and Rob Bowman, author of Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records. (The first three discs were assembled by Bowman himself.) You can add this to your collection when it’s out on February 9 – pre-order links and the full track list are below!

Stax Singles Volume 4: Rarities & The Best of the Rest (Craft Recordings, 2018)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)

Disc 1

1. Deep Down Inside – Carla & Rufus
2. Yeah, Yea-Ah – Rufus and Friend
3. All the Way – Prince Conley
4. I’ll Never Give Her Up – The Canes
5. Just Enough to Hurt Me – The Astors
6. I Found a Brand New Love – Eddie Kirk
7. Fine and Mellow – Rufus Thomas
8. Fannie Mae – Booker T. & The MG’s
9. Sassy – Floyd Newman
10. I Want to Get Married – Rufus Thomas
11. That’s the Way It Goes – Bobby Marchan
12. Shake Up – The Cobras
13. You Belong to Her – Barbara and The Browns
14. Watchdog – Dorothy Williams
15. Free for All – Barracudas
16. I Don’t Want Trouble – Barbara and The Browns
17. Sweet Thing – Gorgeous George
18. I Found Out – The Astors
19. We’re Tight – Rufus & Carla Thomas
20. Chicken Scratch – Rufus Thomas
21. Weak Spot – Ruby Johnson
22. Talkin’ ‘Bout True Love – Rufus Thomas
23. If You Give Up What You Got (You’ll See What You Lost) – Mable John
24. A Small Portion of Your Love – Sam and Dave
25. Keep On Keeping On – Ruby Johnson
26. Greasy Spoon – Rufus Thomas
27. Left Over Love – Mable John
28. Girl, You Have My Heart Singing – Ollie & The Nightingales
29. Don’t Get Caught – Mable John

Disc 2

1. I’m So Glad You’re Back – Shirley Walton
2. We’ve Just Been Feeling Bad – Delaney & Bonnie
3. I Don’t Know – Linda Lyndell
4. Love-Eye-Tis – Judy Clay & William Bell
5. Remove These Clouds – Judy Clay
6. Stay With Us – The Staple Singers
7. So Hard to Get Along With – Rufus Thomas
8. I Like What You’re Doing to Me – Jeanne & The Darlings
9. Over Easy – Booker T. & The MG’s
10. Shouldn’t I Love Him – Mable John
11. Left Over Love – William Bell & Judy Clay
12. Sweet Things You Do – Jimmy Hughes
13. Grab a Handful – Art Jerry Miller
14. Consider Me – Eddie Floyd
15. Soul Clap ’69 – Booker T. & The MG’s
16. Standing In the Need of Your Love – Jeanne & The Darlings
17. I Thank You – The Bar-Kays
18. Make It Good – The Soul Children
19. I’ll Be Your Everything – Ollie & The Nightingales
20. Let Me Ride – William Bell
21. Sunday Sermon – Booker T. & The MG’s
22. Hi De Ho (That Old Sweet Roll) – Carla Thomas
23. A Love Affair That Bears No Pain – Shack
24. Just a Little Overcome – The Nightingales
25. Mannish Boy – The Newcomers

Disc 3

1. Let Love Fill Your Heart – Ilana
2. Ridin’ On Love’s Merry-Go-Round – The Soul Children
3. I Can’t Win for Losing – Hot Sauce
4. Ain’t Nobody Like Me Baby – Lee Sain
5. Echoes From the Past – Hot Sauce
6. Did My Baby Call – The Mad Lads
7. Baby I’m-a Want You – Isaac Hayes & David Porter
8. Pick Up the Pieces – Jean Knight
9. Stop Teasing Me – Johnnie Taylor
10. Type Thang – Isaac Hayes
11. In Love With You – John Gary Williams
12. Since I Lost My Baby’s Love – Major Lance
13. Mama’s Baby (Daddy’s Maybe) – Hot Sauce
14. Poem On the School House Door – The Soul Children
15. That Makes Christmas Day – Rufus Thomas
16. What’s Your Thing – The Staple Singers
17. Yes Sir Brother – Shirley Brown
18. Funny – Hot Sauce
19. Let’s Make a Deal – Frederick Knight
20. Can’t Give You Up (I Love You Too Much) – The Green Brothers
21. Just Ain’t No Love (Without You Here) – John Gary Williams

Disc 4

1. The Ballad of Otis B. Watson – Sid Selvidge
2. Black Hands White Cotton – The Caboose
3. Love’s Not Hard to Find – Dallas County
4. April – Casper Peters
5. Reaching for a Rainbow – Clark Sullivan
6. I Wanna Be Your Baby – Billy Eckstine
7. Why Did It Take So Long – Chuck Boris
8. Why Did It Take So Long – Barbara Lewis
9. Gypsy – Finley Brown
10. Slip Away – O.B. McClinton
11. When Something is Wrong – Billy Eckstine
12. Good Times Are Coming – Ben AtkinsSome Other Man – River City Street Band
13. Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You – O.B. McClinton
14. Would I Be Better Gone? – Big Ben
15. Black Cat Moan – Don Nix
16. She’s a Friend of Mine – Don Nix
17. Rock ‘N Roll Warning – Larry Raspberry and The Highsteppers
18. Conquistadores ’74 – Chico Hamilton
19. The Way I’m Needing You – Cliff Cochran
20. Let’s Get Together – Connie Eaton
21. The Way I’m Needing You – Karen Casey

Disc 5

1. Stop – Quit It – Poor Little Rich Kids
2. Cigarettes – Lonnie Duvall
3. It’s Mighty Clear – Poor Little Rich Kids
4. Warm City Baby – The Honey Jug
5. For a Little While – The Goodees
6. For Your Love – The Honey Jug
7. Groovy Day – Kangaroo’s
8. And I Love You – Bobby Whitlock
9. Smell of Incense – Southwest F.O.B.
10. Condition Red – The Goodees
11. Family Portrait – Billy Lee Riley
12. The Children Have Your Tongue – This Generation
13. Show Me Your Soul – Billy Lee Riley
14. Day In and Out – The Waters
15. Hey Jack (Don’t Hijack My Plane) – The Village Sound
16. Cool My Desire – The Cheques
17. Goodies – The Goodees
18. Miss Rita Famous – Paris Pilot
19. Someone Something – The Knowbody Else
20. Feel Alright – Cargo
21. In the Street – Big Star
22. I Love You Anyway – Cargoe
23. Say What You Mean – The Hot Dogs
24. O My Soul – Big Star
25. I Walk the Line – The Hot Dogs
26. September Gurls – Big Star

Disc 6

1. The Assassination – The Dixie Nightingales
2. Hush Hush – The Dixie Nightingales
3. I Don’t Know – The Dixie Nightingales
4. Wade In the Water – The Stars of Virginia
5. Forgive These Fools – The Dixie Nightingales
6. Our Freedom Song (Free At Last) – The Jubilee Hummingbirds
7. Press My Dying Pillow – The Jubilee Hummingbirds
8. God’s Promise – The Pattersonaires
9. Hello Sunshine – Rev. Maceo Woods and The Christian Tabernacle Baptist Church Choir
10. Tryin’ Time – Roebuck “Pops” Staples
11. His Love Will Always Be – Terry Lynn Community Choir
12. Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You (Don’t Let the Devil Fool You) – Reverend W. Bernard Avant Jr. & The St. James Gospel Choir
13. There’s Gonna Be a Showdown – The Rance Allen Group
14. That Will Be Good Enough for Me – The Rance Allen Group
15. The Magnificent Sanctuary Band (Marching for the Man) – Reverend Maceo Woods & The Christian Tabernacle Concert Choir
16. Better Get a Move On – Louise McCord
17. Satisfied – Charles May & Annette May Thomas
18. I Got to Be Myself – The Rance Allen Group
19. He Included Me – The People’s Choir of Operation Push Under the Direction of Reverend Marvin Yancy
20. We’re the Salt of the Earth – The Rance Allen Group
21. Reflections – Louise McCord
22. Ain’t No Need of Crying – The Rance Allen Group