The Mar-Keys entered Stax Information folklore early, because the storied label’s first home band, in addition to being the workforce of A-list gamers who had a soul and crossover pop smash in 1961 with the instrumental “Last Night.” However the group needed to wait from one finish of the Nineteen Sixties to the opposite for his or her one and solely look on Billboard’s R&B album bestsellers, when Damifiknow! entered Finest Promoting Rhythm & Blues LPs within the concern dated July 12, 1969.
The shut correlation in line-up and musicianship between the Mar-Keys and labelmates Booker T. and the MGs was such that the latter group was taking precedence in Stax advertising and marketing by the mid-Nineteen Sixties. The identify of the Mar-Keys disappeared from each pop and soul singles lists after 1966’s “Philly Dog.” In 1967, the 2 teams shared a Stax launch within the type of the stay LP Again To Again, which reached No.98 on the all-genre album chart, however missed out on particular R&B recognition.
However even when the Mar-Keys had been solely an occasional recording presence of their latter years, the late Nineteen Sixties noticed them gathering in a strong six-man aggregation that reduce the Damifiknow! lengthy participant. Previewed by the funky single “Double Or Nothing” in March 1969, backed by their model of Eddie Floyd’s Stax staple “Knock On Wood,” the LP featured the formidable line-up of Steve Cropper, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Booker T. Jones, and Al Jackson (collectively higher identified, in fact, as Booker T. and the MGs) with mighty ammunition from Andrew Love and Wayne Jackson, quickly to develop into the Memphis Horns.
The LP was marketed in a late Might commerce advert purchased by Stax to advertise its present releases. They included titles by Johnnie Taylor, Rufus Thomas, William Bell, Albert King, and, certainly, the brand new one by Booker T. and the MGs underneath their very own identify, The Booker T. Set. The Damifiknow album was additionally prominently pushed on the first Stax/Volt gross sales conference, held on the Rivermont Resort in Memphis in mid-Might, 1969.
The album included another high-quality late 60s soul originals, together with Jackson and Cropper’s “Coffee Cup” and Jackson and Love’s equally horn-laden, rock-tinged “Black.” Cropper, Love, and Jackson had been joined on the composers’ desk by Stax resident Isaac Hayes for the percussive, swinging “One With Sugar.” The headshaking “Jive Man” was equally infectious.
The report additionally featured the Mar-Keys’ variations of such indelible soul favorites as Aretha Franklin’s “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man” and Sir Mack Rice’s composition immortalized by Wilson Pickett, “Mustang Sally.” A tackle John Sebastian’s Lovin’ Spoonful hit “Daydream” was a step right into a poppier sound, and Booker T.’s nimble organ sound led the ensemble into the closing “Heads or Tails.”
Damifiknow! progressed just one rung from its R&B chart entry to peak at No.34 in a five-week run. Nevertheless it stays a rewarding pay attention within the historical past of southern soul, because it grew ever extra funky within the fingers of some stellar gamers.
Purchase or stream Damifiknow!
