The Start up Way

The Staple Singers are perhaps best remembered for their period recording for Stax Records in Memphis between 1968 and 1975, where they enjoyed a string of pop, soul and international hits. Here though Jasmine focus on the groups early recordings when they were strictly a religious group steeped in American Gospel traditions. Although the line-up was unusual for the time, male and female groups were not common in Gospel music then, they undoubtedly appealed to the huge number of migrants who had moved to Chicago from the rural south. 'Pops', as he was known, had a guitar style highly reminiscent of the Mississippi blues singers of the 1920s and 30s and the vocal arrangements that he gave the girls were also similar to those of the earliest jubilee style gospel groups of the pre-war years like the Golden Gate Quartet and The Charioteers. Here then are their famous early recordings as released by Vee Jay Records who continued to reissue their repertoire on LP for many years.

Inspired by The Looking Series collections on RPM of UK 60s Nuggets, we now look in the world mirror at New Zealand. The country furthest from the UK and in this context the country most like the UK. For the latest in the RPM /Frenzy Music collaborations, following sets from Larry’s Rebels , The Fourmyula , Ray Columbus, The Dave Miller Set , and the Girl Group Sound down-under on “Come and See Me”, we explore the mid 60’s club scene and the various classic singles tailored for that scene.