So why is Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles 1959 -1968 on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
At a staggering 244 songs (Spotify classifies the total length at “about 10 hours”!), it’s hard to know where to begin with this massive collection that ranges over nearly a decade of music from the likes of Otis Redding, Booker T. & The MG’s, Rufus Thomas, Sam & Dave, Albert King, and many others.
For example, I’m listening to the first track on the album, “Fool In Love,” by The Veltones, and each time it finishes I throw it on again because it’s so good and compelling. I love the combination of crooning doo-wop vocals, early 1960s rock and a gorgeous little surf rock twang to the running guitar line.
You can hardly go wrong of diving in anywhere in this collection, but hunt around enough and you’ll stumble across massive hits. Example: “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” a gorgeous R&B/soul song that shows off Otis Redding’s iconic vocal stylings.
I also dig Redding’s more upbeat “Mr. Pitiful” quite a bit.
“Hold On! I’m A Comin’,” by Sam & Dave, might be one of many songs where you won’t recognize the name of the song or even the artist but when you listen to it you’ll say, “Oh, of course I know that one.” This is indeed one of those, and it has a classic driving soul-rock song that you’ll surely appreciate.
These examples obviously only scratch the surface. This collection serves as a near-definitive history of the Stax/Volt label, the Memphis soul counterpart to Motown.
Plug in, enjoy, and get supercharged.
Some stats & info about Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles 1959 -1968
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? R&B, Blues, Soul, Memphis Soul, Southern Soul, Doo Wop
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles 1959-1968 released? 1991
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #708 out of 1,000
Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles 1959 -1968 on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles 1959 -1968 that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I’m just a fool in love with you.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.