The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/46670
Vinyl Vault Sam & Dave 'I Thank You,' Atlantic Records, 1968 Chaos seemed inescapable in 1968, even in the music world. As violence and upheaval spread across the United States, music became increasingly intertwined. In the wake of Martin Luther King's assassination in April, the city of Boston asked James Brown to televise his concert to its citizens in order to prevent rioting. Later in June, in the aftermath of the brutal Detroit riots, Motown Records began unceremoniously moving its offices to Los Angeles. Further to the south, Memphis' Stax Records was facing its own crisis: the association with distributor Atlantic Records had expired, and with it marked the end of one of the most important partnerships in the history of popular music, and the beginning of the end for Stax. When Atlantic left, the executives took with them their massive distribution and promotional network, crippling Stax's ability to compete nationally, as well as two of the label's greatest assets: the cata- logue of the late Otis Redding, and the explosive duo Sam & Dave. Sam Moore and Dave Prater originally signed to Atlantic in 1965, but were licensed to Stax when Atlantic management felt they would be a better fit for the small Memphis label, who all but defined the sound of 1960s Southern soul. The duo wasted little time once in Memphis, and their March 1966 single "Hold On, I'm Comin'" earned the R&B Song of the Year award by Billboard magazine. Through- out 1966 and 1967, the duo continued to release a string of chart-topping singles and albums, and toured relentlessly. Their now- legendary live shows earned them nicknames like "the Sultans of Sweat" and "Double Dy- namite," fusing emotional call-and-response gospel with gritty Southern soul. Unfortu- nately, the explosive chemistry between the two singers couldn't be sustained, and they all but combusted by the time of the Stax/Atlantic. Luckily, the result, 1968's "I Thank You" is one hell of a blaze of glory. Despite the tumultuous circum- stances surround- ing the making of "I Thank You," all of them miraculously seem to benefit the record. Recorded in Memphis at Stax Studios with house backing band Booker T and the MG's, and written largely by house songwriters Issac Hayes and David Porter, "I Thank You" has all the hallmarks of a classic mid-60s Stax record, but there are strong hints of heavy funk, which the label would soon begin to explore. Sam & Dave's powerful call-and-response vocals are alternately euphoric and desperate. They sing each song as if it were their last, and in some ways it was. Sam & Dave's powerful call-and-response vocals are alter- nately euphoric and desperate, and pay homage to their gospel roots. They sing each song as if it were their last, and in some ways it was. Despite being a Stax record, "I Thank You" was released by Atlantic in October 1968 into a rapidly changing world. The year before, Sam & Dave were touring Europe with other Stax artists with some of the biggest R&B hits of all time, now they were barely speaking. Atlantic never did figure out how to handle the duo, and after a string of uninspiring singles, they called it quits in 1970. Despite their meteoric rise and sad fall, "I Thank You" is soul music at its absolute best. It is equal parts powerful, tortured, heavy and sublime, just like the era it came from. James Derek Sapienza James Derek Sapienza is a 25-year-old musician and artist. His record col- lection contains more than 1,000 LPs and singles, which he has been collect- ing since he was 8. Nov. 3, 2011 O-Town Scene 7 Like us on Facebook at OTown Scene