Booker T. & the M.G.'s were an American instrumental, R&B, and funk band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1962. The band is considered influential in shaping the sound of Southern soul and Memphis soul. The original members of the group were Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the Mar-Keys, the rotating slate of musicians that served as the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, and Albert King. They also released instrumental records under their own name, including the 1962 hit single "Green Onions". As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of its era.
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. He was initially successful at Stax Records with the number-one R&B hits "Who's Making Love" (1968), "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone" (1971) and "I Believe in You " (1973), and reached number one on the US pop charts with "Disco Lady" in 1976.
"You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" from Method Man and Mary J. Blige.
Eddie Lee Floyd is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s, including the No. 1 R&B hit song "Knock on Wood".
Barbara Jean Acklin was an American soul singer and songwriter, who was most successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her biggest hit as a singer was "Love Makes a Woman" (1968). As a songwriter, she is best known for co-writing the multi-million-selling "Have You Seen Her" (1971) with Eugene Record, lead singer of the Chi-Lites.
"Angel of the Morning" is a popular song written by Chip Taylor, originally recorded by Evie Sands but which first charted with a version by Merrilee Rush. The song has been covered by many artists including Chrissie Hynde, Dusty Springfield, P. P. Arnold, Connie Eaton, Mary Mason, Guys 'n' Dolls, Melba Montgomery, Olivia Newton-John and Juice Newton, who reached the Billboard Top Ten with her version in the early 1980s.
"Knock on Wood" is a 1966 hit song written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper and originally performed by Floyd. The song has become covered by later artists, most notably Amii Stewart in 1979. Stewart's disco version was the most successful on weekly music charts.
"Mr. Big Stuff" is a song by American singer Jean Knight. The song was released in 1971 on the Stax label as a single from Knight's debut album of the same title, and became a big hit in the US, reaching No. 2 on Billboard Hot 100. The song was certified double platinum and was the No. 1 Soul Single of the year.
"Am I the Same Girl?" is a popular song written by Eugene Record and Sonny Sanders. First recorded in 1968 by Barbara Acklin, "Am I the Same Girl?" charted most successfully in the US as a 1992 release by Swing Out Sister. However, the song had its greatest impact as a 1968–69 instrumental hit single by Young-Holt Unlimited under the title "Soulful Strut".
"Please Send Me Someone to Love" is a blues ballad, written and recorded by American blues and soul singer Percy Mayfield in 1950, for Art Rupe's Specialty Records. It was on the Billboard's R&B chart for 27 weeks and reached the number-one position for two weeks; it was Mayfield's most successful song.
Homer Banks was an American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are considered classics on the Northern Soul scene. Many of the songs he wrote have become contemporary classics.
Young-Holt Unlimited, were a U.S. soul and jazz instrumental musical ensemble from Chicago, Illinois, United States.
"(I Wanna) Testify" is the first hit single by the soul singing group The Parliaments.
"Hold On, I'm Comin'" is a 1966 single recorded by soul duo Sam & Dave, issued on the Atlantic-distributed Stax label in 1966.
Raymond Earl Jackson was an American rhythm and blues songwriter, guitarist and record producer. His most successful songs, mostly written at Stax Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, were "Who's Making Love", co-written with Homer Banks and Bettye Crutcher; "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", and "If You're Ready ", both co-written with Banks and Carl Hampton.
"Sunday Mornin'" is a song written by Margo Guryan. It was recorded as "Sunday Morning" and appeared on her 1968 album Take a Picture as well as on the B-side to her single "Spanky and Our Gang."
"Take Care Of Your Homework" is a single recorded by American singer Johnnie Taylor and released on the Stax label in early 1969. The single reached number two on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Stax staffers Homer Banks, Don Davis, Raymond Jackson, and Thomas Kelly. The B-side featured the song "Hold On This Time", written by Homer Banks, Don Davis and Raymond Jackson.
"Today I Started Loving You Again" is a 1968 song written by Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens. Haggard first recorded it as a B-side to his number 1 hit, "The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde", but it failed to chart. It also appears on his 1968 album, The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde. The song was later recorded by Al Martino in 1969, followed by many other artists, including Waylon Jennings 1968, Conway Twitty 1968, Gene Summers 1980, Charlie McCoy 1972, David Peters, Jerry Lee Lewis 1968, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition 1972, Bettye Swann 1969, Connie Smith 1969, Barbara Mandrell 1974, Sammi Smith 1975, Bobby Bland 1975, Emmylou Harris 1986, Skeeter Davis 1970 and Dolly Parton 1996. More recently it was recorded by Jeff Carson and Merle Haggard for Carson's 1997 album, Butterfly Kisses.
Eargasm is an album by the American R&B singer Johnnie Taylor, released in March 1976 on Columbia Records. The album contains "Disco Lady", which was a No. 1 pop hit for four weeks, and achieved the first platinum certification for a single, with two million copies sold. Eargasm was Taylor's first album for Columbia Records, after many years spent recording for Stax.
Bettye Jean Crutcher was an American songwriter. She was a staff writer for Stax Records. Crutcher teamed with Homer Banks and Raymond Jackson as We Three, and co-wrote "Who's Making Love" for Johnnie Taylor, which earned a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. Crutcher also wrote music for the Staple Singers, Sam & Dave, and Albert King.
