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Think of Stax Records and chances are you'll think of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, the Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Johnnie Taylor or others among the company's major soul acts. Not unreasonably so, either, as in both its blue and yellow incarnations Stax was rightly celebrated as the epicentre of quality Southern Soul. But as befits a predominantly black music label based in the "Home Of The Blues" the company also gave maximum respect to the genre of music that originally put Memphis on the musical map, and thus for most of its lifespan there was a steady stream of quality blues releases interspersed among the classic soul 45s released on Stax, Volt and the company's other subsidiary labels. If any of this sounds unlikely to you, consider all of the following; artists of the calibre of Albert King and Little Milton are acknowledged as having made some of their finest ever recordings for Stax. Before he became the doyen of all things dancefloor, Rufus Thomas would regularly fill the flipsides of classic club workouts such as Walkin' The Dog and Can Your Monkey Do The Dog with his versions of Fine And Mellow and Have You Ever Loved A Woman, and even acts not usually associated with out-and-out blues such as Jimmy Hughes, Otis Redding and Johnnie Taylor could always be found cutting quality examples of down-homery on their albums (Check out Otis' version of Little Richard's Send Me Some Lovin' for a real uptiteandouttasite blues groove.). If the bluesier side of the Stax catalogue is occasionally overlooked, it can only be because the soul side is so consistently praiseworthy, rather than for any doubts about the blues content. This compilation throws the spotlight firmly and fully on the bluesier side of Stax, and it's our hope that its quality might encourage some of you who are less than familiar with the blue side of the label to investigate it further via other fine releases in Ace's catalogue. We'll Play The Blues For You features 18 excellent tracks that span Stax's entire existence: covering everything from the vintage jug band music of Gus Cannon and the proto-bluesoul of Mable John and Ruby Johnson, through the thrilling aural spectacle of Albert King fronting the best rhythm sections he ever worked with (Booker T and the MGs and the Bar Kays) up to Jimmy McCracklin, in tandem with the best rhythm section he's ever worked with (Willie Mitchell's fantastic Hi Records team, also featuring MG drummer Al Jackson Jr). It also takes in bluesy material that Stax leased from Zorn Productions in Detroit (the harp blues of Aaron "Little Sonny" Willis) and a self-produced session cut in Hollywood by sometime Sly Stone-Bobby Womack homeboy Joe Hicks. It even throws in a vintage John Lee Hooker track or two from a wonderful album that Stax put out in 1969, featuring masters produced by Henry Stone in Miami several years earlier. All in all, there's nearly 70 minutes of optimum quality blues and bluesoul here, by some of the most beloved names in American rhythm and blues, spanning more than a dozen years and all yours for less than the price of a round of drinks They'll Play The Blues For You. The least you can do is listen.
Track listing:01 ANGEL OF MERCY Albert King 02 BABY, WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO Little Sonny 03 BABY PLEASE DON'T GO John Lee Hooker 04 JUST GOT TO KNOW Jimmy McCracklin 17 DON'T ASK ME NO QUESTIONS Little Sonny 18 BLUES POWER Albert King 05 BEAR CAT AKA HOUND DOG Rufus Thomas 06 TIN PAN ALLEY Little Milton 07 NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU'RE DOWN AND OUT Joe Hicks 08 WALK RIGHT IN Gus Cannon 09 HELLO SUNDOWN Johnnie Taylor 10 SEND ME SOME LOVIN' Otis Redding 11 AIN'T GIVING IT UP Mable John 12 OH, PRETTY WOMAN Steve Cropper 13 WEAK SPOT Ruby Johnson 14 THE SKY IS CRYING Albert King 15 GOIN' DOWN TO LOUISIANA John Lee Hooker 16 THAT'S WHAT LOVE WILL MAKE YOU DO Little Milton
