Review: 'Written in Their Soul – The Hits: The Stax Songwriter Demos'

A Stax record is instantly recognizable by a distinctive voice like Otis's or Carla's and the raw but thick backing from house bands Booker T. & The MG's and The Mar-Keys. Of course, a record doesn't begin with what you hear on the radio or vinyl. It usually starts off as lyrics and chords on a piece of paper and then first achieves sound on a rough demo to give producers and artists a clearer taste of the song. 

Hearing a Stax hit that doesn't quite sound like a Stax record is a bit jarring and more than a little fascinating, and that's what you can expect from Written in Their Soul – The Hits: The Stax Songwriter Demos. A familiar item such as The Staple Singers' "Respect Yourself" is nearly unrecognizable in co-composer Mack Rice's minimalistic, distorted, aggressive guitar and voice demo. Eddie Floyd's "I'll Always Have Faith in You", recorded by Billy Eckstine, is stripped to Floyd's haltingly and hauntingly beautiful voice and guitar that makes the finished record sound over-dramatic rand over-produced in comparison. However, Carla Thomas's "A Woman's Love" sounds nearly finished with the artist's own extraordinary voice in place and a comparatively full arrangement of piano and echoing guitar. Deanie Parker gets full band accompaniment for "I've Got No Time to Lose", which Carla Thomas ended up recording 

These demos were originally included on an expansive CD set called Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos, but a baker's dozen of the most recognizable numbers from that collection have been distilled on the limited edition (5,000 units) orange vinyl Hits for Record Store Day. By nature demos aren't always hi-fi, but this is as nice of a presentation as you can get on flat, quiet vinyl.