Prom 65 - 1.09.17: Stax Records: 50 Years of Soul

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

22:15 Friday 1 September 2017 ON TV
Royal Albert Hall

Founded in 1957, Memphis-based Stax Records was synonymous with Southern Soul - a distinctive blend of funk, gospel and R&B that brought listeners across America together at a time of racial conflict and political unrest. From humble beginnings in a garage the label went on to produce some of the greatest soul artists: Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, and Sam and Dave, to mention a few.

Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra pay tribute to the pioneering label and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stax/Volt Revue's first tour of the UK. In this Late Night Prom some of Stax's greatest surviving artists come to London: Eddie Floyd, Sam Moore, Booker T Jones, Steve Cropper and William Bell. On stage with them is Tom Jones, a longtime fan of the Stax hits which influenced his own style. Joining them will be other guests including Beverley Knight, James Morrison and Ruby Turner.

Tom Jones (singer)
Ruby Turner (singer)
James Morrison (singer)
Beverley Knight (singer)
William Bell (singer)
Eddie Floyd (singer)
Sam Moore (singer)
Booker T Jones (Hammond organ)
Steve Cropper (guitar)
Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

So presumably, to avoid any accusations of biased free advertising, the BBC will now do Decca, Chandos, Hyperion, BG, Sony, Warner and Naxos Proms?

[mrbouffant]

Ah, Steve "The Colonel" Cropper - anyone remember him from The Blues Brothers film?

[BBMmk2]

Indeed yes. That would be rather good, Alpie!

[LHC]

So presumably, to avoid any accusations of biased free advertising, the BBC will now do Decca, Chandos, Hyperion, BG, Sony, Warner and Naxos Proms?

That would involve playing classical music, and so of little interest to the BBC.

[cloughie]

Does not necessarily merit a traditional Prom platform but it looks a very interesting line up. Saw Steve Cropper a year or two back in Truro - a loud guitar and a big 'ego'!

[DracoM]

Every time I see / hear this being promoted, I keep muttering 'WHY on earth are they doing this.........?'

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Every time I see / hear this being promoted, I keep muttering 'WHY on earth are they doing this.........?'

It's called being desperate to be liked.

[MrGongGong]

Every time I see / hear this being promoted, I keep muttering 'WHY on earth are they doing this.........?'

Because it's a MUSIC festival
and this is MUSIC
Not my bag but would be worth going to see Mr T on the Hammond

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Because it's a MUSIC festival
and this is MUSIC

So is a kazoo band.

[french frank]

Because it's a MUSIC festival
and this is MUSIC

Not really much of an answer, if you'll forgive me. There are hundreds of 'music festivals' but there are few, if any, that give performances of every kind of music under the sun on the grounds that they are music festivals.

That said, Proms late night concerts have extended the scope of the Proms and 'soul', Jools Holland and Blues are all 'jazz' as far as I'm concerned. Tom Jones? Well, they have to have a big name - though I'd have thought he would put people off rather than attract them. But that's because I never liked him.

[MrGongGong]

So is a kazoo band.

Would be perfect for the proms (and much better than this one IMV)

[LHC]

Because it's a MUSIC festival
and this is MUSIC
Not my bag but would be worth going to see Mr T on the Hammond

It's promoted as a classical music festival, rather than a music festival, and so questions about the amount of non-classical music included are IMV legitimate.

[teamsaint]

The non classical proms, love them or not, haven't really replaced any classical programming, just added to it in the main.

That said,I think the festival would be far better served by widening its " classical" offering into more niche areas,rather than the pop/rock/retro proms .

[MrGongGong]

The non classical proms, love them or not, haven't really replaced any classical programming, just added to it in the main.

That said,I think the festival would be far better served by widening its " classical" offering into more niche areas,rather than the pop/rock/retro proms .

Indeed it would
BUT not much chance of that really