Hey all. I wrote:
>>I can see, I guess, how we might argue that Chess paved the way for Motown
>>in that it proved there was a crossover market for black artists (Chuck
>>Berry, Bo Diddley), but if that's what you mean, why not also include King
>>or Imperial and whoever else?
And Tera responded:
>Excellent point. The oh-by-the-way indie's and the major label offshoots
>did provide a stylistic vehicle by which major labels honed their artists.
Well, thank you. But is that what I even said?
Tera also said:
> I do believe
>Satellite was in operation in 1957.
Then added:
>Wasn't "Blue Roses" the first Satellite release in '57?
Oh sure, but what is normally thought of as the beginning of the Stax/Volt
enterprise is not the beginning of Satellite in '57, but Stewart's
partnership with his sister Estelle in '59 and their first release by the
Veltones. For example, this is the distinction made on the essential
Stax/Volt box, The COMPLETE Stax/Volt Singles: 1959-1968 (my emphasis). And
actually that's even a kind of cheat, since what we REALLY think of as Stax
is when Jim and Estelle moved operations to that old memphis theater studio.
But have it your way. I still don't see how those early Satellite releases,
between '57 and '59, helped pave the way for Motown in any way shape or
form. I mean, no one bought those things, right, or even heard them?
>Whoa, wait a minute. I said image concept. Now, I will give you that in
>trying to keep the post short I did not explain my "phrase" as it were, but
>I was definitely talking "image". Presley took some raw energy from r&b
>performers (vocal phrasing, timing and inflection) and added that to his
>overall "sound". Sooo, I was trying to equate his fusion of style
>"concepts" to the current wave of "hot country" acts, in particular Shania
>Twain whose image much like Presley's preceeded her in terms of gossip and
>anticipation. Well, no one took a bite on this so I'll not go any further
>noting similarities in career ascension..
I still don't follow. You seem to be suggesting that Elvis didn't already
have R&B elements in his image or otherwise, from the first day he walked
into Sun. That is, that he started recording rockabilly, then at some later
date, transferred (to use, I think, your original word) some R&B into the
rockabilly he was already making. That's not right. Elvis and rockabilly
had R&B sound and image in it from breath one. If it hadn't, it would've
just been country.
>Stax was gritty and Motown was pretty. I love both, except I think Stewart
>allowed more artistic freedom, whereas I've heard that Gordy flaunted the
>whip with his artists. Much good music came out of Motown, but still I have
>to wonder how much of it was "manufactured" for top 40 sake?
ALL of it was manufactured for top 40's sake, at least during the label's
first decade or so. And that was good, as the resulting records prove over
and over. You know, sometimes a whip cracker can be a good thing. Once The
Corporation let Wonder and Gaye loose on their own, they produced some
great albums, no question--but they also produced Here My Dear and The
Secret Life of Plants, for example, both of which, while sporadically
strong and conistently interesting, could've used some good old fashioned
whip cracking. If you ask me... --david cantwell
