Influential Memphis label Stax is shining a light on the songwriters who shaped their sound, and in turn the wider world of soul music.
While artists like Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, and Carla Thomas are known to most music fans, names like Bettye Crutcher, Homer Banks, and Veda Brown might not.
The latter three are just a small sampling of the artists featured on Written in their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos, a seven CD, 146 song compilation featuring early versions of songs that would go on to be huge hits for Stax.
Some of these artists would make it big performing their own songs, others never got the chance to step out into the spotlight. This album shows the quality of their writing, whether an early acoustic demo or full band rendition from the studio.
