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They’ll Take You There: Craft Recordings Releases Staple Singers’ “Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection” on CD

September 25, 2020 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Staple Singers Come Go with Me

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released The Staple Singers’ Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection in vinyl and digital editions. The set compiled all of The Staple Singers’ 1968-1974 albums for the Stax label plus a volume of rarities, non-LP single sides, and live recordings. On November 13, that box will come to CD as remastered from the original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl.

Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection features the following original studio albums:

  • Soul Folk in Action(1968)
  • We’ll Get Over (1970)
  • The Staple Swingers (1971)
  • Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (1972)
  • Be What You Are (1973)
  • City in the Sky (1974)

plus a disc of Singles, Live and More.

Stax signed The Staple Singers – Roebuck “Pops” Staples, his daughters Mavis and Cleotha, and son Pervis (later to be replaced in the line-up by his sister Yvonne) – during a tumultuous time when the gospel greats were regularly appearing with folk and countercultural rock artists including Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company. Though the Staples had moved into the realm of secular music, there was still a deep spirituality and social conscience to their music which had crystallized and taken on new resonance in the civil rights era.

The group’s Stax debut Soul Folk in Action featured the striking “protest songs” with which the Staples had been associated as well as powerful interpretations of rock and soul hits such as The Band’s “The Weight” and Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.”  With titles like “We’ve Got to Get Ourselves Together,” “Got to Be Some Changes Made,” “The Ghetto,” and “Long Walk to D.C.,” the Staples made their voices heard loud and clear in the name of justice and equality. Producer and Stax veteran Steve Cropper returned for 1970’s We’ll Get Over, which followed a similar template of relevant originals (“When Will We Be Paid,” “Tend to Your Own Business”) as well as poignant and eclectic covers (Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People,” Spanky and Our Gang’s “Give a Damn,” Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “The End of Our Road,” Joe South’s “Games People Play,” The Guess Who’s “A Wednesday in Your Garden”).

For all their artistic merits, however, both albums failed to trouble the charts. Stax co-president Al Bell, who had originally signed the Staples, took an even more personal interest in their success. He would produce their third Stax LP. Despite the punning title of The Staple Swingers, the album was no joke. They were backed by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, upping the funk quotient as they reinvented a variety of pop and soul tunes from The Bee Gees (“Give a Hand – Take a Hand”), Smokey Robinson (“You’ve Got to Earn It”), and Jeff Barry and Bobby Bloom (“Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom).” Bell’s strategy was a success, and the album reached No. 9 on the Billboard R&B survey. It was their first charting LP.

Naturally, the Staples and Bell returned to Muscle Shoals for 1972’s Be Altitude: Respect Yourself. It became their breakthrough to mainstream stardom, reaching the top 20 of the Billboard 200 and spinning off a No. 1 pop hit on the Hot 100 with “I’ll Take You There.” Almost as successful was “Respect Yourself,” another quintessential Staples Singers recording with a potent message that needed to be heard. While their final two Stax albums – 1973’s Be What You Are and the following year’s City in the Sky – didn’t meet with pop success, the loyal R&B audience didn’t abandon the group. Both LPs reached the top 15 on the R&B chart. City in the Sky even nodded more explicitly to the Staples’ gospel roots than their previous Stax LPs.

The final disc in the box set comprises five tracks from the Staple Singers’ towering set at the 1972 Wattstax benefit concert plus non-LP single sides (including “Brand New Day,” Al Kooper’s theme to the film The Landlord), and rarities released after their Stax tenure had ended. The Staple Singers followed their time at Stax with recordings for the Curtom and Warner Bros. labels, all of which have recently been reissued by Omnivore Recordings.

The slipcased collection includes a booklet with rare photos and liner notes from historian Levon Williams (formerly of the Stax Museum and the National Museum of African American Music) and folklorist, ethnomusicologist and author Dr. Langston Wilkins.  Look for Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection on November 13 from Stax and Craft Recordings at the links below!

Come Go With Me: The Stax Collection (Stax/Craft Recordings, 2020)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: Soul Folk in Action (Stax STS-2004, 1968)

  1. We’ve Got to Get Ourselves Together
  2. (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay
  3. Top of the Mountain
  4. Slow Train
  5. The Weight
  6. Long Walk to D.C.
  7. Got to Be Some Changes Made
  8. The Ghetto
  9. People, My People
  10. I See It
  11. This Year

Disc 2: We’ll Get Over (Stax STS-2016, 1969)

  1. We’ll Get Over
  2. Give a Damn
  3. Everyday People
  4. The End of Our Road
  5. Tend to Your Own Business
  6. Solon Bushi (Japanese Folk Song)
  7. The Challenge
  8. God Bless the Children
  9. Games People Play
  10. A Wednesday in Your Garden
  11. The Gardener
  12. When Will We Be Paid

Disc 3: The Staple Swingers (Stax STS-2034, 1971)

  1. This Is a Perfect World
  2. What’s Your Thing
  3. You’ve Got to Earn It
  4. You’re Gonna Make Me Cry
  5. Little Boy
  6. How Do You Move a Mountain
  7. Almost
  8. I’m a Lover
  9. Love Is Plentiful
  10. Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom)
  11. I Like the Things About You
  12. Give a Hand – Take a Hand

Disc 4: Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (Stax STS-3002, 1972)

  1. This World
  2. Respect Yourself
  3. Name the Missing Word
  4. I’ll Take You There
  5. This Old Town (People in This Town)
  6. We the People
  7. Are You Sure
  8. Who Do You Think You Are? (Jesus Christ the Super Star)
  9. I’m Just Another Soldier
  10. Who

Disc 5: Be What You Are (Stax STS-3015, 1973)

  1. Be What You Are
  2. If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)
  3. Medley: Love Comes in All Colors/Tellin’ Lies
  4. Touch a Hand, Make a Friend
  5. Drown Yourself
  6. I Ain’t Raisin’ No Sand
  7. Grandma’s Hands
  8. Bridges Instead of Walls
  9. I’m on Your Side
  10. That’s What Friends Are For
  11. Heaven

Disc 6: City in the Sky (Stax STS-5515, 1974)

  1. Back Road Into Town
  2. City in the Sky
  3. Washington We’re Watching You
  4. Something Ain’t Right
  5. Today Was Tomorrow Yesterday
  6. My Main Man
  7. There Is a God
  8. Blood Pressure
  9. If It Ain’t One Thing It’s Another
  10. Who Made the Man
  11. Getting Too Big for Your Britches

Disc 7: Singles, Live & More

  1. Stay With Us
  2. Brand New Day (Theme from The Landlord)
  3. Walking in Water Over Our Head
  4. Oh La De Da
  5. I Got to Be Myself
  6. Trippin’ on Your Love
  7. Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom) (Live at Wattstax, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – 8/20/1972)
  8. Are You Sure (Live at Wattstax, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – 8/20/1972)
  9. I Like the Things About You (Live at Wattstax, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – 8/20/1972)
  10. Respect Yourself (Live at Wattstax, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – 8/20/1972)
  11. I’ll Take You There (Live at Wattstax, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – 8/20/1972)

Track 1 from “Long Walk to D.C.” single – Stax STA-0007, 1968
Track 2 from The Landlord: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – United Artists UAS-5209, 1971/Stax single STA-0074, 1970
Track 3 from expanded edition of Be Altitude: Respect Yourself – Stax STX-32876, 2011
Track 4 from Stax single STA-0156, 1973
Tracks 5-6 from This Time Around – Stax MPS-8511, 1981
Tracks 7-8 from Wattstax: Music from the Festival & Film – Stax STX3-30315, 2007
Tracks 9-11 from Wattstax: The Living Word – Stax STS-2-3010, 1972

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, Vinyl Genre: Gospel, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Mavis Staples, The Staple Singers

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

Connect With Joe: FacebookTwitter

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Comments

  1. LeVan says

    September 25, 2020 at 1:54 pm

    I’m glad this set is coming to CD!

    Reply
    • Robert Lett says

      September 27, 2020 at 5:46 pm

      Me too. Definitely buying.

      Reply
  2. Zubb says

    September 26, 2020 at 2:12 am

    Another well timed release and another name checked off my Christmas gift list.

    Reply
  3. RecordSteve says

    September 26, 2020 at 3:56 pm

    Ditto!

    Reply
  4. Andrew says

    November 13, 2020 at 9:56 am

    Any idea whether the sound in the remastered CDs beats that of the CDs issued a decade or two ago? Thanks.

    Reply

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