Various – Stone Crush (Memphis Modern Soul 1977-1987)

Impossibly rare Memphis funk/boogie singles collected on vinyl for the first time ever

Definitive anthology of Memphis’ Modern Soul Scene

Compiled by Daniel Mathis and Chad Weekley

Liner notes by Memphis curator/writer Andria Lisle and Grammy Award-winning writer Robert Gordon

Unseen archive photos/ephemera

Vinyl housed in a gatefold jacket with 24-page full-color book

 

Memphis has always been a studio town, where making hit records looked easy. An unknown Elvis could walk into Sun Studios and cut a side, while Willie Mitchell worked his magic around the corner at the Hi Records studio. This vast studio ecosystem meant that even when Stax Records folded in 1975, everybody still knew somebody who could get them into a real recording facility. The city’s largest player in the business was gone, but the possibilities that it introduced were not.

 

Stone Crush is the definitive overview of Memphis’ modern soul scene of the post-Stax years. It’s a collection of funky tracks of hope—from dentist O.T. Sykes, who traded dental work for studio time, to the ad-man who moonlighted as the visionary mastermind behind Captain Fantastic & Starfleet, few of them ever had anything to do with a hit, but across the board, each believed. Like Cato Walker, whose father’s gig as B.B. King’s driver got him an in, and The Bar-Kays’ former costume maker Libra, some had tangential connections to the city’s deep-rooted music scene that gave them a head start on their hopeful path to fame. Over a decade in the making, Stone Crush is an expertly curated compilation of these home-grown slices of Memphis stylings, from roller skate boogie to private press soul to bedroom funk—rare sides whose original copies are considered holy grails by DJs and collectors all over. This collection does more than transport us to a time gone by. It helps us hear what couldn’t be heard then.

 

O.T. Skyes – Stone Crush On You – 5:09

L. A. – The Doctor – 3:55

Tom Sanders – I’ll Get To That – 3:45

Frankie Alexander – No Seat Dancin’ – 3:58

Captain Fantastic & Starr Fleet – Keep It To Yourself – 3:41

Captain Fantastic & Starr Fleet – Under Cover Lover – 5:05

Magic Morris – (I’m) Choosing You – 6:58

Sir Henry Ivy – He Left You Standing There – 2:45

Sweet Pearl – You Mean Everything To Me – 4:10

Morris – Can We Melt The Ice – 5:55

J-Phakta – Is It Love – 4:02

Cato – Slice Of Heaven – 3:29

Frankie Alexander – Take Time Out For Love – 3:25

Greg Mason – What Does It Take To Know (A Woman Like You) – 3:25

Silk Satin & Lace* – Always – 4:24

Kick – Lollie Pop – 4:01

Kick – Right Thing – 3:55

Libra – Convict Me – 6:17