![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/stax_written2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nContinued from Part One\u2026 <\/i><\/p>\n
Some of the demos on the new set feature vocal and simple accompaniment; others are more fully arranged, often including an entire band. The demos in that latter category often don\u2019t sound like \u201cdemos\u201d at all; they have all of the characteristics of a finished recording ready for commercial release. \u201cThe songwriters wrote [each song] with the idea in mind that people would hear it,\u201d explains Deanie Parker, who joined the Stax family in 1963 and stayed there until the end. She says that songwriters like herself hoped that the songs would be chosen for further development \u2013 \u201corchestra, background singers or whatever\u201d and then given to \u201cthe hottest artists on the Stax label.\u201d And that happened quite often.<\/p>\n
Parker would release two singles on Volt, one of Stax\u2019s sister labels. And she wrote songs that would indeed be recorded by high-profile stars. A co-write with guitarist Steve Cropper, her demo of \u201cI\u2019ve Got No Time to Lose\u201d is included on Written in Their Soul<\/i>. The song would be recorded by Carla Thomas and released (on Atlantic Records) in 1964.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But very good songs were in great supply at Stax, and as a result some solid tunes never found their way to release. Written in Their Soul<\/i> collects demos of some 66 original compositions \u2013 three CDs\u2019 worth \u2013 that have never been released in any form until now. Parker\u2019s wonderfully bouncy, gospel-tinged \u201cSpin It\u201d and a deep soul duet with Mack Rice titled \u201cNobody Wants to Get Old\u201d are just two examples. Cropper\u2019s distinctive guitar tone enlivens the former. And in retrospect, it\u2019s likely that only its slightly out-of-tune piano kept the latter from being suitable for release just as it was.<\/p>\n
Some of the house songwriters at Stax were prolific. Written in Their Soul<\/i> features quite a few tracks from the pens of writers like Rice, Eddie Floyd, Bettye Crutcher and Homer Banks. But for her part, Parker says that she has never been the kind of songwriter who created on demand. \u201cI\u2019m not a career writer,\u201d she explains. \u201cI write on inspiration. When you’re having some kind of emotional experience with something happening in life, that’s what I relate to most in writing.\u201d Clearly, Parker has had a great deal of inspiration; looking through her BMI song registration list, she notes that she is credited with \u201csomewhere between 50 and 100\u201d songwriting credits.<\/p>\n
Asked if she composed \u201cI\u2019ve Got No Time to Lose\u201d with Queen of Memphis Soul Carla Thomas in mind, Parker responds quickly. \u201cI wrote it for someone at Stax to do it, namely Deanie Parker!\u201d she says. \u201cIn my mind, I had the first follow-up to the first two singles that had been released on me previously.\u201d But she has no regrets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just wasn’t in the cards,\u201d Parker says. \u201cAnd I am certainly not begrudging.\u201d She believes that having her song assigned elsewhere was the best thing that could have happened to her. \u201cIt helped me to determine that fulfilling the demands of a professional, dedicated, skilled artist was not in my DNA,\u201d she says. \u201cI could not have endured some of the things that our male and female artists \u2013 especially those whom were Black \u2013 had to endure in order to be successful.\u201d Instead, Parker channeled her energies into working behind the scenes at Stax, serving as editor, photographer, press correspondent, publicist, secretary and other key roles at the Memphis label. \u201cThank god for Jim Stewart,\u201d she says. \u201cHe saw that I could make a contribution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parker\u2019s activities at Stax continued to include songwriting and even session work. Six of the 11 songs on Carla Thomas\u2019 1967 LP The Queen Alone<\/i> were co-written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, but \u201cGive Me Enough (To Keep Me Going)\u201d is a Deanie Parker original. \u201cI doubled [the vocal] with Carla on that,\u201d she says. And as a skilled pianist, her input was often invaluable, even if she didn\u2019t play on a session. \u201cIn the case of Marvell Thomas, I showed him how I formed a chord that got a specific sound that he could not duplicate,\u201d she says with a smile. \u201cBecause he was a learned<\/i> musician. I play from ear. I could sight read, but I didn’t care about the construction of a chord. I was going from sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Stax\u2019s initial run, Deanie Parker went on to other worthy pursuits. When the Soulsville nonprofit organization was formed, she served as its first president and CEO, leading the creation of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and related projects. She remains proud of the Memphis label\u2019s legacy and her part in its success. \u201cStax Records was the first business that branded Memphis and its music globally. But there was no plan, there was no diagram, there was no architectural rendering,\u201dshe says. \u201cIt was built on desire and inspiration.\u201d And the inspiration of the label\u2019s songwriters is on vivid display in the new multi-disc collection.<\/p>\n
As massive and in-depth as it is, Written in Their Soul<\/i> is by no means exhaustive. Pawelski \u2013 who has been working on the project in various ways for nearly two decades \u2013 notes that she culled the 146 tracks from the 665 she found. \u201cI love giant, almost impossible projects; they\u2019re my favorites.\u201d With a wink, she adds, \u201cThere could certainly be future projects; I\u2019m ready, willing and able.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stay tuned for lots of bonus material from my interviews with Deanie Parker and William Bell. \u2013 bk <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Continued from Part One\u2026 Some of the demos on the new set feature vocal and simple accompaniment; others are more fully arranged, often including an entire band. The demos in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,41,49,60,69],"tags":[3514,5240,4070,5241],"class_list":["post-26042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compilation","category-interview","category-new-release","category-rb","category-soul","tag-cheryl-pawelski","tag-deanie-parker","tag-stax-records","tag-william-bell","cat-19-id","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-60-id","cat-69-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26042"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26049,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26042\/revisions\/26049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}