A double-duty threat as both a soulful singer and hot guitarist, “Little” Milton Campbell was kind of Prince in his soul music generation, except without the ruffles, falsetto and androgyny.

Stax released Milton’s first two singles for the label in 1971, “If That Ain’t a Reason (For Your Woman to Leave You)” in August and his own tune “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” in December. Milton recorded lead guitar and vocals with the MGs rhythm tandem of bassist Duck Dunn and drummer Al Jackson, Jr. plus keyboardist Rudy Robinson and Stax session ace guitarists Raymond Jackson and Bobby Manuel.

The wearied yet humored “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” proved to be Milton’s most popular Stax single, ultimately landing in the R&B Top Ten (#9) singles (#59 Pop). This single was also one of his best. It cheerily bounces on the beat of a Duck bassline that seems constructed from equal portions of Windy City blues and James Brown’s torrid “Licking Stick.” Milton rips up his vocal and guitar breaks and solo the same way, singularly embodying genuine blues AND soul music, shouting out vocal lines with testifying spirit.

In the second half of his mid-song solo, he introduces a guitar technique he called “muffled picking,” where he picks staccato while muffling the reverb of the strings so each note sharply “clicks” more than it rings out (extended with sustain). “Muffled picking” helped distinguish his guitar sound from other bluesmen and became a “Little” Milton’ trademark.

STAX READIES RESPECT YOURSELF: THE STAX RECORDS STORY DVD FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 2

SAMUEL L. JACKSON NARRATED DOCUMENTARY CHRONICLES THE BIRTH AND REBIRTH OF AMERICA’S GREATEST SOUL LABEL

Rare performances by Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave and Booker T & the MGs, Staple Singers, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd and more chart the rise of the “Memphis Soul Sound” during the Civil Rights Movement

LOS ANGELES, CA Funky. Emotional. Raw. Powerful. That was soul music in the Civil Rights era and Stax Records did it like no other label. Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story traces the astonishing history of Stax, from a modest neighborhood hangout to a cultural and political empire.

Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story aired this summer on PBS’ Great Performances, earning raves from the media. Now, in its 50th anniversary year, Stax Records, reactivated by Concord Music Group, will release the DVD version of the documentary on October 2, 2007. It is available in the Anamorphic Widescreen format.

Respect Yourself was directed by the Grammy®-nominated team of Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville and is a production of Tremolo Productions, Concord Music Group and Thirteen/WNET New York. Samuel L. Jackson narrated the 113-minute documentary, which contains interviews with Isaac Hayes, Mavis Staples, Carla Thomas, Sam Moore, Booker T. Jones, Eddie Floyd and Jesse Jackson.

Also featured are rarely seen full-length performances by Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGs and Isaac Hayes, plus outtakes of footage from the legendary 1972 Wattstax concert. Included also is the first interview by Stax founder and co-owner Jim Stewart in 15 years, plus never-before-seen home movies and performances by Stax artists.

The package also adds bonus content not seen on the PBS airing: footage from the Stax Reunion rehearsal at SXSW 2007 in Austin, Texas, featuring Eddie Floyd, William Bell and Booker T & the MGs.

The Southern city of Memphis was a hotbed of racial tension, but that stopped at the doors of Stax Records. The open-door policy led to the formation of renowned house band Booker T & the MGs, one of America’s first interracial groups. Other artists like Otis Redding and Sam & Dave soon joined the roster, as well as songwriters Isaac Hayes and David Porter. With songs like “Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay,” “Soul Man” and “Knock on Wood,” Stax solidified its reputation as a hit-making machine, producing a massive catalog of Top 100 records.

Through all of this, the label overcame hustlers, bad business decisions, tragic deaths and a number of financial meltdowns. But with each reincarnation, Stax grew, branching out into film production and Broadway, and affirming its solidarity with the civil rights movement, before its demise in 1975.

Respect Yourself provides first-hand accounts of what really happened on the streets and behind studio doors from the Stax musicians as well as label president Al Bell, Rev. Jesse Jackson and others. With rare performances, unreleased home movies and new recordings, filmmakers Gordon and Neville (The Emmy Award-winning Hank Williams: Honky Tony Blues) present the first comprehensive look at Stax Records, the greatest soul label of all time.

Respect Yourself explains why the studio’s legacy matters. “It is both a celebration and a cautionary tale,” wrote The Los Angeles Times. Echoed Daily Variety: “Without making a direct declaration, Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville’s bracingly impressive documentary. Respect Yourself makes a great case for Stax Records as the greatest soul label ever.” And The New York Times added: “The documentary provides an essential account of auteurism in one of American music’s greatest eras.”

Stax had blues artists such as Albert King and Stax soul / R&B artists such as Johnnie Taylor and Isaac Hayes. But it’s important to remember another Stax artist who seemed to personify the best of both genres, one who sang in velvet like Bobby “Blue” Bland and play guitar with the hot sting of B. B. King.

“Little” Milton Campbell grew into a hurricane-strength force in southern soul and blues. He left the Mississippi small town he was born in when he was 15 to play guitar in regional blues and R&B tour bands, where he was picked up by Ike Turner’s keen eye. Turner delivered him to Sam Phillips’ legendary Sun Studios in Memphis, where Campbell recorded his first sides as “Little” Milton, backed by Ike Turner & the Playmates of Rhythm, in 1953.

In the 1960s, Milton stepped into the national music spotlight through numerous singles released on Checker, a subsidiary of the hallowed Chicago blues label Chess, Records. After the death of Leonard Chess, he signed with Stax Records (in a way, “coming back home” to Memphis) in 1971. Signing with Stax kept Milton in contact with southern soul and he released six albums before the label shut down, most notably the live set Grits Ain’t Groceries and the hits compilation Tin Pan Alley.

His appearance in the Wattstax concert documentary is both flattering and confusing. The music video for Milton’s 1972 blistering, soulful single “Walking the Back Streets and Crying,” which shows Milton performing the song abandoned in a railway yard and on a tenement rooftop, was inserted into the Wattstax film; the Wattstax soundtrack, however, features a superior live version of this same tune of unknown origin so it may or may not have been recorded during the Wattstax concert.

“Little” Milton Campbell was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, and received the W.C. Handy Award for Blues Entertainer of the Year from the Blues Foundation, in 1988. He passed away in August, 2005.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stax Records and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the historic Stax/Volt Revue, Stax Records (a division of Concord Music Group) and Reelin’ In The Years Productions are proud to announce the October 2, 2007 release of The Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967 on DVD. Featured for the first time on this 75-minute concert DVD are 18 classic full-length performances by some of the greatest soul artists of all time. Highlights include an amazing five-song set by the great Otis Redding and a blistering four songs by Sam & Dave. Also featured are performances by the legendary Booker T & the MGs, Arthur Conley, Eddie Floyd, and the Mar-Keys. Issued with the full cooperation of the artists or their estates, this DVD captures the Stax/Volt Revue on an amazing night during one of most legendary and important concert tours of the last five decades.

The Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967 includes a wealth of staggering performances from start to finish. Otis Redding delivers jaw-dropping versions of “Shake,” “Satisfaction,” the only known filmed concert performance of “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” and a six-minute version of “Try A Little Tenderness” in which he comes back for four encores. Sam & Dave show why they were nicknamed “Double Dynamite,” with powerful performances of “Hold On! I’m Comin’,” “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” and a chilling version of “You Don’t Know Like I Know.” Other highlights include Booker T & The MGs’ scorching rendition of “Green Onions,” Arthur Conley’s definitive version of his big hit “Sweet Soul Music,” Eddie Floyd’s soulful “Raise Your Hand,” and the Mar-Keys’ grooving take on their top-five hit “Last Night.”
 
Continuing in the tradition of DVDs produced by Reelin’ In The Years such as Dreams To Remember: The Legacy Of Otis Redding, The Temptations — Get Ready! The Definitive Performances 1965–1972 and Marvin Gaye — The Real Thing In Performance 1964–1981, The Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967 features re-mastered sound and video as well as a host of bonus features. Steve Cropper, the legendary guitarist for Booker T & the MGs; Wayne Jackson from the Mar-Keys/Memphis Horns; and GRAMMY®-award-winning Stax historian Rob Bowman contribute a warm and insightful full-length commentary track sharing memories and stories from the tour. The DVD also features additional bonus interviews with Jackson, Cropper, Sam Moore (Sam & Dave), and Jim Stewart, the founder of Stax Records, providing additional reminiscences about this legendary tour. Finally, the Bonus Features section includes an additional performance of “Green Onions,” also from Norway, that provides an interesting contrast demonstrating how unique each performance could be.

The entire concert has been re-transferred from the original master tapes that had been resting in the television vaults for the last 40 years. The producers also discovered an additional lost reel with an extra 20 minutes of previously unseen performances from the same concert. This footage had been edited out and forgotten for the last four decades, but now the missing songs have been restored, making this DVD the longest and most complete visual record of the legendary 1967 Stax/Volt tour.
 
The Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967 also features a 24-page booklet with an extensive essay by Bowman (author of Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records), who also conducted the interviews and co-produced this DVD. In addition, the booklet includes rare photographs and memorabilia documenting the tour.
 
The Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967 also marks the 50th anniversary and reactivation of Stax Records. Concord Music Group purchased Stax Records in 2004 and is in the midst of a year-long celebration that also includes the release of Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding DVD, also produced by Reelin’ In The Years and due out September 18. The 90-minute DVD features 16 classic full-length performances by the great soul artist. Interspersed between the performances are over 40 minutes of exclusive new interviews documenting Otis’s incredible life and career. Also part of the 50th anniversary celebration are several reissue CDs, a documentary (Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story, which premiered on PBS on August 1) and the re-signing of veteran Isaac Hayes as well as several new artists, who will usher in a new era of soul music.
The Concord Music Group is one of the largest independent record and music publishing companies in the world and owner of a rich and, in many cases, historically significant catalog of recordings.  Concord Music Group’s legendary family of labels include Concord Records, Concord Jazz, Fantasy, Stax, Milestone, Riverside, Specialty, Telarc, Peak, Heads Up, Pablo, and Prestige, to name a few.  They include titles from some of the most admired and enduring names in music, including Ray Brown, Rosemary Clooney, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Isaac Hayes, Little Richard, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, Tito Puente, George Shearing and Mel Torme.  The group’s current roster of world-class artists includes: Karrin Allyson, George Benson, Chick Corea, Kurt Elling, John Fogerty, Gerald Albright, Will Downing, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Sergio Mendes, Jane Monheit, Ozomatli, John Pizzarelli, Poncho Sanchez, Spyro Gyra, Curtis Stigers, Angie Stone and Tierney Sutton.

In 2007 Concord partnered with Starbucks Entertainment to form Hear Music, an innovative record label rooted in quality, authenticity and passion, Hear Music works directly with artists, both emerging and established, to bring quality music to the widest possible audience, in both Starbucks locations and traditional music retailers worldwide. Hear Music’s initial roster include Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. Reelin’ In The Years Productions LLC is the world’s largest music footage library and has produced over 30 DVD releases including the four-volume DVD series The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1969 DVD. Released to universal critical acclaim, Volume One was nominated for a GRAMMY® award in the category of “Best Long Form Music Video.” 2006 saw the release of the certified-platinum The Temptations — Get Ready, The Definitive Performances 1965–1972, the certified-gold Marvin Gaye — The Real Thing In Performance 1964–1981 and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles — Definitive Performances 1963-1987, the first official DVD anthologies of classic archival television performances by Motown artists. Also in 2006 were the first nine DVDs in the Jazz Icons™ series with the next seven DVDs in the series to be released in September 2007.