Hey, it's time for Friday Night Rabbit Hole! I ran into a demo of "Respect Yourself", the song that was a hit for the Staple Singers. It was written be Mack Rice. Never heard of him. But I love that song so it was a no-brainer. Ho-ly shit, I was blown away at how different the songwriter's demo was. It's good, totally different feel. Seriously, it actually sounds like a demo Mick Collins would have done. What amazed me was what the Staples did with it. How do you transform something like that into gospel soul anthem?
Here's where the rabbit hole comes in. I remembered reading an article recently in the New Yorker about Stax demos so I went and found it. (I haven't re-read it yet but I'm sure Mack Rice is in there. As a preventive measure I redact my "Never heard of him.") It was a good read the first time I read it, but I don't remember all of the details (there are many). I continued poking around and found, on Stax's YouTube channel no less, the whole box set of recently uncovered Stax demos, 146 in all. This will take a while....
Mack Rice - Respect Yourself (demo) mp3 at Internet Archive
Staple Singers - Respect Yourself mp3 at Internet Archive
Staple Singers - Respect Yourself (live) mp3 at Internet Archive
Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos (Complete) at YouTube
Visit:
The Secret Sound of Stax at The New Yorker
1 comment:
Really?
Unfamiliar with Mack Rice? I hope it is only because you did not connect it to "Sir Mack Rice"?
Because if you still think he is unfamiliar, I shall have to repossess your copy(|ies) of "Mustang Sally".
Oh dear. Anyhow, the online radio station I just discovered is Wild Vibes Radio from Toronto, Ont., Canada.
It is ostensibly "classic rock". But I can get behind a 'classic rock' station that expands to Benny Golson, Buddy Guy, Zombie Hyperdrive, The Velvelettes, George Strait, and Exile {and not that one hit they had}.
I've stopped listening to Boss Radio 66 because it does not get along with my Firefox browser.
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