Inside Stax Studios! Isaac Hayes, Booker T & MGs, Brook Benton Memphis 1969

Stax Records and their Memphis studio. At work are Isaac Hayes, Booker T & the MGs, the Memphis Horns, Bettye Crutcher, and at Fame Studios Brook Benton and more. After a brief French commentary:- a horn arrangement for The Emotions' So I Can Love You is worked out around a table. House band Booker T & the MGs (Steve Cropper, Al Jackson & Donald 'Duck' Dunn) try out the original extended intro version of 'Time is Tight'. In-house songwriter Bettye Crutcher gets asked about the Memphis sound. Over at Fame Studios in nearby Muscle Shoals, Brook Benton is recording She Knows What To Do For Me for his Do Your Own Thing album, together with Eddie Hinton and Barry Beckett.
Wayne Jackson, Andrew Love and Bar Kay Ben Cauley have been identified as the horn section with Isaac Hayes (thanks to Thad Brown and Carousel Red!). Can anyone provide any more details? "We did something different on 'Everyday People'" refers to the Staple Sisters recording the Sly Stone song with these guys (thanks Peter McLennan). Thanks to the 'EP's Vaults 2' channel for pointing out that it is Bettye Crutcher being interviewed (not Carla Thomas as I mistakenly assumed).
The Stax Studio is now the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) Studios is still operating.
This clip was originally broadcast in France on 19.04.1969, as 'Le Blues de Memphis', as one of a series of mini-documentaries called 'À l'affiche du monde' often featuring contemporary music from USA, UK and elsewhere. Another studio session was captured - the debut album recording by the Flying Dutchman Records label with top musicians, 'Hollywood Blues', here: • Plaster Caster Blues B...
#StaxRecords #IsaacHayes #MemphisSoul @Gazely Gaze

[@dashphonemail]

Seeing them work out the horn arrangement around the board room table instead of in the studio is hilarious and awesome to me for some reason

[@DarylYoung-uh7vo]

Classic music 🎶 from a Era long ago ❤

[@johannbachmann4532]

Brook Benton, R.I.P. dynamite❤❤❤❤

[@SoItGoesCAL34]

That was great. Thanks. I just finished watching the STAX documentary on Netflix. Even though was 13 years old in 1968, I learned a lot about what was happening at that time. I was more into horses than politics though I remember the assassination of MLK and RFK, etc.

[@staxmantim]

Bettye Crutcher was a great songwriter. I met her & spent a few minutes with her & pretty much, walked away with a new crush.

[@PharaohLawLess1]

I didn’t know Isaac Hayes could play the sax!

[@SoItGoesCAL34]

I didn't either. He played many instruments. A very talented and cool guy

[@barringtonsmith9147]

Well you do now😂 a lot of people are not aware that James Brown could play the piano, harmonica, guitar, and drums,

[@dennishanson9191]

Great local work there from the marvellous one and only Brooke Benton

[@ksager123]

Look at how serious music was then...

[@GazelyGaze]

... and no computers anywhere.

[@norakat]

I feel very privileged to see this.

[@nigelprettyc3]

The mg’s the gold standard fabulous stuff

[@carmelalerose742]

Great! Thanks from Italy

[@leonardmontgomery3523]

I listen to the music recorded by the Emotions during this period regularly.

[@latteliz1944]

Ooooooo Brook Benton❤❤❤❤

[@flowerpot3855]

How many times can I say THANK YOU !!

[@GazelyGaze]

Thank you!

[@haywoodjablowme3652]

Not going to lie, i was feeling like listening to brook benton today and stumbled upon this, THANK YOU BRO❤ doing gods work

[@onesyphorus]

makes me smile❕❕🙂 deeply

[@nolanbrown6699]

Great men doing great things..music is true love🎉🎉❤❤

[@Tony-yn5es]

Wow 1969 indeed because time is tight by Booker T & The MGs was released around 1968 .& ALMIGHTY Brook Benton (underrated real king Of Soul Music subgenres Doo-Wop , Ballads & rhythm in gospel.This song was taken from his 1969 Nothing can take the place of you album.It includes hits such as "with pen in hands",oh Lord,why Lord . Perhaps the greatest soul music album of the late 60s.He followed 1970 with Rainy night in Georgia & 1971 he released his "the gospel truth" which for me is the greatest Soul music album of all times,I rank it way higher than Marvin Gaye's What's going on album 1971, Timmy Thomas everybody wants to live together 1972,James Brown Black Caesar 1973 .These albums mentioned are greatest southern soul albums of all times but Brook Benton is way greater than these great artists

[@JasonFerguson1283]

Awesome! Listen to the single coil pickup hum through the guitar amp! Thank you for this post!! 1:07

[@antilusion6960]

love it love it

[@JaySmith-mz7vg]

Brook was singing!!!!

[@CasimirLeYeti]

Cette vidéo a été diffusé à l’origine en France le 19.04.1969, sous le titre 'Le Blues de Memphis', comme l’un des mini-documentaires de la série "À l’affiche du monde" mettant souvent en vedette de la musique contemporaine des États-Unis, du Royaume-Uni et d’ailleurs.

[@GazelyGaze]

Yes, indeed! More detail in the video description.

[@croiners4166]

Wow!

[@Nakidim75]

Treasure!!! ThanXX!!!

[@OldMod67]

Absolutely amazed by this, I've been a Stax fan for forty years or so and l don't recall seeing this before. MGs in the studio - awesome! Thanks.

[@GazelyGaze]

It's wondeful to see their creative process in action. Just doing their work; luckily they weren't thinking that we'd stll be listening to them and watching this over 50 years later or they probably would have froze!

[@staxmantim]

Amen!

[@PeterMcLennan]

Thanks for sharing this, so cool! I visited the Stax Museum a few years ago, amazing place. When they mention the song Everyday people, Stax recorded a version of that for the Staple Singers.

[@GazelyGaze]

Thanks for that answer to my query! The Stax Museum is very high on my list of places to go. This brief clip certainly whets the appetite.

[@deborahmatsushita1844]

Excellent!

[@epsvault2]

Thank you for sharing this video! I believe the woman speaking at 7:53 is Bettye Crutcher. She was one of the in-house songwriters at Stax (and released her own solo album in 1974). It's definitely not Carla Thomas.

[@GazelyGaze]

Thanks for the info! I think you're right. I assumed it was Carla as the French descrption said "the horn section are working on the instrumental section of a song by Carla Thomas" - but then KZbin ID's that as The Emotions. I'll change the decription to reflect your correct version.

[@thesoulboy7976]

Definitely Bettye Crutcher. Wonderful writer.

[@jimmiesmith5811]

The one and only the late great Bettye Crutcher

[@richardharris5462]

Absolutely fascinating! I've never seen this before. Huge thanks!

[@GazelyGaze]

You're welcome! Yes it's great to see these guys at work in these legendary studios.

[@toddwilliams1380]

Classic! Thanks for sharing! Awesome!!

[@GazelyGaze]

You're very welcome!

[@gustavopagador7449]

que registro mágico!

[@alanmusicman3385]

Wow! Great stuff. Never seen this before. "Time is Tight" is my favourite Booker T track ever (I like it much better than "Green Onions" which IMO is one of the best intros ever, followed by a couple of minutes of wondering what to do next!). Never knew "Time is Tight" had this slow intro, but I love how the released version just keeps building all through. So much great music came out of that team in the 1960s ("Things get Better" by Eddie Floyd, Otis's last recordings) and the 1970s (Isaac hayes stuff and one-off goodies like Veda Brown's "Short Stoppin'" and many more) it was a soul and disco powerhouse. One little nitpick - though I guess it may have been the inhertors of the catalogue rather than original owners - why on earth did anyone think it was okay to release that emasculated stereo version of Otis' "Dock of the Bay" which all but removes Steve Cropper's great guitar fills! Luckily in the last few years Rhino seems to have stopped servicing that awful 1980s mix and it's now the mono version (or something that sounds close to it) that shows up on new compilations and streaming services - so much better! Don't believe me? Compare - contrast. Emasculated version: kzbin.info/www/bejne/raqzfIWZd7mmfLM Original Mono version from an original single. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6rImJh4oa5qkKs

[@GazelyGaze]

Wow; yeah they're so different - it's a completely different mix! Now I remember those waves sounds at the intro. Probably radio stations didn't like it so much (could like interference), so they were served a smoothed out version that relegates the backing from BT&theMGs.

[@GazelyGaze]

And ... btw Time is Tight did have a 'long version' (now called 'album version' on YT's music ID. I prefer the build-up tension in this live in the studio version though.) Here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZm6mnyrortki6M

[@youriami9411]

Where do you even find most of these records because this is how music is made, why isn't stuff like this more popular to watch?

[@GazelyGaze]

It's fascinating to me; and a growing few others. Creativity behind the scenes I guess will never be as popular as the glossy end results.

[@jrynds]

I see Ike on the baritone sax Go man go

[@melodymakermark]

This was around the beginning of the end for STAX. I don’t think they were working with Atlantic and Jerry Wexler anymore as he’d settled into Muscle Shoals or bringing the Swampers to NY to record. Also, the previous year, Dr. King had been assassinated just a few miles from there. As color blind as the Memphis music scene had been to that point, there was a devide that never fully healed. Cropper would have his own studio soon after this, and Issac hit the big screen with Shaft.

[@ClarenceScottJr]

This DEFINITELY captures Stax's 1969 "rebuilding period", after Atlantic Records got bought out by Warner Bros. and took Stax's pre-existing '59-'68 catalogue with them (thanks to a predatory contract on Jerry Wexler's part).

[@ThadBrown]

You can definitely see Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love in the room with Isaac. I could tip toe around this, but the white guy playing trumpet is Jackson and the black guy with the glasses playing sax is Love. Not sure who the other two horn players are.

[@carouselred8994]

The other trumpet is former Bar Kay, Ben Cauley.

[@GazelyGaze]

Thank you! I'll update the credits in the description.

[@GazelyGaze]

@@carouselred8994 Thanks; I'll add the credit.

[@miguelanleo]

Is the other sax player maybe Charlie Chalmers? Looks

[@etimkooroumoune5041]

Super merci j adore❤❤❤

[@joniturbe7535]

Awesome! Thanks!!! ❤️

[@GazelyGaze]

Fascinating isn't it, to see the Stax guys in situ, where they made all those immortal recordings.

[@nicolaszyx3120]

Tnx for the upload

[@Albert-lm4ik]

Magnific

[@marvinwhittaker]

They're overdubbing the horns onto the track "So I Can Love You" by The Emotions.

[@hburakurgay]

I think I saw Arif Mardin ❤

[@ladypodtron]

Gazely Gaze- Thanks for sharing this, it’s wonderful. Your channel has so many superb vids, Subscribed!

[@GazelyGaze]

Thank you; glad you're enjoying them!

[@user-fb6lf3vl7p]

So, Issac could play the horn too?

[@kailoclark7786]

Isaac Hayes played sax?!?🤯🤯

[@GazelyGaze]

He sure did! And piano. A long career; he wrote 'Soul Man' and 'Hold on I'm Coming' for Sam & Dave; he also produced them and Carla Thomas. Later he became THE Isaac Hayes with his solo albums. Despite the success, he went bankrupt. And had 14 children!

[@flowerpot3855]

Isaac Hayes playing sax. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmnQipibndCkd6M

[@GeecheeLionsJourney]

He played sax on the Sahara Tahoe Album. I'm his musical Son, so I would know. Isaac and I wrote a song together Hung Up On My Baby released 2022.

[@michaelfigulla1366]

Also wenn man sich mit der Musik beschäftigt, dann weiß man das

[@michaelfigulla1366]

Isaak hayes war genial, beweist auch sein Musik-Oscar zu shaft

[@automatedelectronics6062]

Sure wish this was in English!

[@Yemsky]

Your video is going to get a lot of hits now that Questlove has posted the part where Isaac Hayes arranges the horns for The Emotions - So I Can Love You from their 1969 album by the same name on Volt. Can you verify what you write in the description that "This clip was originally broadcast in France on 19.04.1969" as this would be amazing considering that the single was released in March 1969 and the album was released in August 69.

[@GazelyGaze]

Hi, thanks; yes that's the broadcast date I found. It appears the music-fan producers travelled across the USA filming the music scene of the time. Other mini-docs posted at this channel are a 'Hollywood Blues' studio session from Flying Dutchman Records' launch album: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aX_Lo32NabmhoJY , an 'unknowns' feature capturing Karen Dalton kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip-TqKGXetN7r5o and a 'Jazz at St Pauls Cathedral' clip from London kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJ7Kp3Wojqxkh6c Great to hear it's being shared; I'm sure many would like to see this.

[@GazelyGaze]

Aah; Questlove didn't link this but edited the Hayes section to make his own short clip (as I did with the Booker T & MG's section). Some extra views here but not the amount he's generated. (Though somehow you found this version via Questlove?) Nice one; I'll now make my own version of his edit, for YT.

[@Yemsky]

@@GazelyGaze No, I found your channel and this particular upload by searching for it on YT. Many people asked on Questlove's IG where the footage was from. I replied to half a dozen of them and told them to come here ;-)

[@GazelyGaze]

@@Yemsky Great, thank you!

[@micktarrant7733]

​@@GazelyGazeMon Dieu! Simply amazing footage, have never even glimpsed any of it previously despite being a huge Stax and Muscle Shoals fan. Big thanks for posting this clip. Un grand merci also to everybody who added background detail. I often wondered if Brook Benton had recorded at Fame studios and will now track down the album mentioned. A rare sighting of Eddie Hinton is a bonus.

[@karlkiwi]

Is this on a DVD somewhere? How can we see the whole thing?

[@GazelyGaze]

This is the whole mini-feature, from French TV in 1969. Sorry, no DVD. A team travelled the USA documenting music scenes - here's another studio session, from Hollywood: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aX_Lo32NabmhoJY

[@gregmorton292]

W O W

[@feliciahahne3976]

Is that Brook singing I know you ???????

[@GazelyGaze]

Brook is tagged in the description as: "Over at Fame Studios in nearby Muscle Shoals, Brook Benton is recording She Knows What To Do For Me for his Do Your Own Thing album, together with Eddie Hinton and Barry Beckett." But maybe there's other snippets in there too?

[@digitaldesigner5284]

Time when singers and musicians sang and played real instruments and songs were not made with artificial intelligence.

[@Sool101]

If you enjoy the music making process, please go make music. If you enjoy listening to music, does it really matter by who and how it's made? Just enjoy it.

[@debomb721]

Song at 3:15?

[@GazelyGaze]

I think that's The Emotions' 'So I Can Love You', that they're working on the horn arrangements for.

[@debomb721]

@@GazelyGaze thanks, I’ll kiss you on the mouth

[@GazelyGaze]

@@debomb721 Why, thank you! Actually it was easy; youtube's auto-recognition flagged it as that song and they'll pay the owners a few fractions of cents.

[@SolomonandTheIncentives]

song at 6:47?

[@GazelyGaze]

It's The Emotions' 'So I Can Love You'. Isaac Hayes & co are actually working out the horn arrangements for it from 2:27.