The Beatles’ impact across several music genres is sprawling to say the least, influencing everything from rock to soul — and the legendary musicians at Stax Records were likewise inspired by the Fab Four. From the mid-1960s onward, Stax artists had begun covering Beatles tracks for the label, with their output peaking towards the late 1960s and early 1970s. Released widely on vinyl for the first time, this eight-track LP includes vocal and instrumental performances alike from legendary Stax Records artists, who imbue the Beatles’ catalog with a rousing mix of soul, funk, and R&B.
“While the songs of the Beatles are classics in anyone’s mind,” PopMatters observed, “the Stax treatment adds a twist that only further serves to reassure the genius of both sides.” The latter admiringly singled out Otis Redding’s “gruff voice and energy…along with those bright blasts of Stax horns that fit so well into the song’s original guitar riff.” AllMusic said of Stax Does the Beatles, “It’s all a lot of fun, and for those who doubt that the Beatles had soul, the proof that they did is here. Nobody made soul music better than the musicians at Stax Records, so they ought to know. Case closed.”
In the book Stax: Soulsville, U.S.A. Booker T. famously remarked, “I was moved by the Beatles. I thought they were doing really great things. Their records didn’t sound alike ever."
The feeling was mutual. The Beatles’ appreciation of Stax, which was founded nearly 70 years ago, is storied. In particular, an unearthed 1966 letter from the late George Harrison revealed that the Beatles once hoped to recruit famed Redding producer Jim Stewart to help them record Revolver at Stax Studios.
To that end, Beatles bassist Paul McCartney enthused years later about Stax, “The only reason you want to record in those kinds of studios is because you love the records that come out of the studios.”
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