Round 5 Stax/Volt

[rayge]

A The Staple Singers – Long Walk to D.C.



B The Tonettes - Stolen Angel

[Deleted]

Vote B

[Deleted]

Neither are what you'd associate with Stax are they? Kudos to the adventure of the picks, but if I'm honest I'd be happier with some grittier, danceable soul.
A is a little worthy for me, the kind of soul music white middle aged academics listen to. B is a bit wonky, the arrangement is all over the place, but that gives it a certain naive charm. Relatively weak selections for me but...

B

[Mr. FOLLARD]

I think G undersells A quite a lot, although I do know what he means. But I thought it was a joy. The guitars sound incredible, those vocals are just irresistible, that's just one hell of a band rolling along - you see why Keith Richards loved 'em. B is a half-hearted bit of tinkling about by comparison

A very easily

[toomanyhatz]

I think G undersells A quite a lot, and I have no idea what he means. I find nothing whatsoever academic about A - but then civil rights anthems with a gospel beat and Pops' guitar and Mavis's voice are all things that pretty much hit my pleasure center pretty instantaneously.

I like B just fine - it's perfectly good for what it is, but it's clearly a previous era to Stax's peak.

[Deleted]

Long Walk to DC is a very underappreciated Staples Singers song.

A

[Deleted]

Lord knows (see what .. unch) anyway, I do *love* the Staple Singers, really. But even with Papa's playing and Mavis's feeling the spirit, it's pretty lacklustre by their standards. Whereas B - they're proper teenage girlie belting it, dodgy notes an all.

B

[DarknessFish]

There's an energy about the vocal, and the guitar has a nice roll to it, but it's all a bit lightweight. Just seems to be a filler track, rather than anything particularly inspiring.

B's kinda annoying, the vocals are horrible, both backing and fronting. Just not really of interest.

A

[fange]

B has some really sweet early-'60s girl group charm, but A is just a cut above by almost every measure for me. Great pick.


A

[oleandermedian]

Both rather indifferent picks. A is OK. So is B and charmingly shouty or out of whack in places. It strikes me this category is not doing justice to Stax/Volt at all so far!

B

[Deleted]

Mar 23, 2020 11:28:23 GMT oleandermedian said:

 It strikes me this category is not doing justice to Stax/Volt at all so far!

I think I'd agree. It's like people are trying a little too hard to pick outside the box.

[rayge]

A a rare bit of proper church soul on Stax. Great guitar and vocals, but of course you expect that. Haven't heard this before...Could have done with a climax rather than a fade, but that's very nice

B Jeez, I never heard this before, either, and this is pretty damn marvellous, this sort of thing is slap back in my teenage. The vocals may be a bit too brash, but by Gob she really sells that.

Really difficult, two very different tracks that I like a lot, but for very different reasons.

B

[osgood]

I was surprised that A wasn't better known around here. First time I heard it on Stax box Vol 2 I was immediately impressed. Just now I learned that it didn't make the charts (wiki), I had expected it had been some kind of hit, it has all the ingredients. One of my fave Staples song.
B is a sample of early Stax with its charm but as often happened a bit undercooked.