Ace has long been associated with the Stax catalogue and we are continually looking for new ways to keep the connection going via packages of exciting vault discoveries. Many of our recent Stax compilations have concentrated on the company’s later era – the yellow period, as it’s known in collector circles – but we’re starting our 2016 schedule with a project that draws on releases from their earlier blue period.
“The Other Side Of The Trax” brings you two-dozen Stax and Volt B-sides that have thus far managed to avoid release on CD. Given how well-known some of the artists are, that might seem unlikely, but this is indeed the official CD debut of all 24 tracks. And what great tracks they are. It must have been really difficult for the company’s A&R team to consign them to B-sides when they are clearly of A-side quality. In the time that has passed since they were issued on 45s, many have achieved greater popularity among collectors than their A-sides.
With the exception of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Booker T & the MGs – whose entire Stax/Volt catalogues are available elsewhere on CD – you will hear from every major act to have recorded for the company between January 1964 and March 1968. All tracks are taken from the original singles masters, with the exception of Johnnie Taylor’s northern soul classic ‘Changes’, which appears in a new stereo mix. The rest are the way they were meant to be heard – in pristine Memphis mono.
Tony Rounce
