Stax Records Looks Forward To ‘Stax Christmas’ With New Compilation
The album features Yuletide gems from the label archives and unreleased tracks by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas.
Stax Records and Craft Recordings have announced the new, 12-track festive collection Stax Christmas, to be released on September 29. The album features some of the biggest recording names in the hallowed label’s history, including Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, and the Staple Singers.
The set will be available on vinyl, CD, and digitally including hi-res digital formats, and offers a number of rarities, two of which are previously unreleased recordings: a stunning rendition of writers Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson’s perennial “Blue Christmas” by Carla Thomas, and an alternative mix of Redding’s much-loved interpretation of “Merry Christmas Baby,” which is now available to listen to.
A white vinyl exclusive edition of Stax Christmas is available at StaxRecords.com with bundle options including new merchandise. Forever a Music Store (FAMS), the collective of independently Black-owned record stores across the US, will stock an exclusive red vinyl edition. All formats have the album’s hand-picked selection of a dozen gems from the Stax archives of the 1960s and ’70s, with reimagined classics, slow jams and seasonal, soulful social commentary.
Among the interpretations of Yuletide favorites are original compositions such as Hayes’ romantic “The Mistletoe and Me,” blues giant Albert King’s recording of the Mack Rice composition “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin,’” and the ever-ebullient Rufus Thomas’ “I’ll Be Your Santa Baby.” He’s also on board for a duet appearance on “That Makes Christmas Day” with his daughter Carla.
Also included is the Emotions’ plaintive “What Do the Lonely Do At Christmas?,” while the Staple Singers remind listeners about the real meaning of the holidays on “Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas.” Other traditional numbers to get the Stax treatment include
“Winter Wonderland” by Stax house band Booker T. & the M.G.’s, “White Christmas” by gospel greats the Rance Allen Group, and the reflective “It’s Christmas Time Again (The Christmas Song)” by the Temprees. The album also includes liner notes by Deanie Parker, Stax’s original director of publicity and later the founding president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation.
Pre-order Stax Christmas, which is released on September 29.
