Roots Archives Forum

Hi all, I heard a soul-funk song with the bassline of Liquidator. I guess the soul is the original...could you tell me the band and song name?
Thanks

the soul-funk you listened to is probably"i'll take you there"which really put the staple singers(a stax based group)in 1972 on the map all over the world.but the archives show that stax took the guitar rythm from"the liquidator"by harry j all stars which was back then none other than the beverly all stars comprised by paul douglas on drums,jackie jackson on bass,hucks brown on guitar,gladstone anderson on piano,winston wright on organ etc...this liquidator dates back from 1968 or 1969.so it must have been the original.there is so much which was never told.the compilation "the liquidator"and "the return of the liquidator" by trojan
fadel

Klive Walker's book "Dubwise" provides a brief history of how the Staple Singer's "funk-dafied" the "Liquidator" bassline for "I'll Take You There."
I don't even think those recent Trojan books (Young Gifted and Black and Tighten Up) mention it.

the twinkle brothers i think

hi darewon;i would be very glad to go through the detais of this book or at least have a photocopy of ome of the pages that are related to this episod.whose idea was it t,or who(he must have been related to the stax or been to jamaica at that time)for reggae was not taken setriously back then.how did that happen.i would like to know the details
rootsman,what did the twinkle brothers do as related to"liquidator'
fadel

Hi Darewon

Please tell more. I am really surprised about this.
I know The Impressions regularly toured Jamaica over this period, but were the Stax musicians touring there as well? Actually Booker T was still at school then so I assume they weren't. I am intrigued.

hi
how come that booker t was still at school;you kidding.we are talkinga bout 1969 and booker t jones,al jackson,steve cropper and duck dunn had been already paart of the mar-keys and the other guys started already doing their stuf"green onions""pink cadillac".the band has been formed in 1962.
so they were not born yesterday
fadel

Hi Fadel

When I say school I do use the term loosely.

He was definitely at college in 1964 as Isaac Hayes sat in for him when he couldn't make it because he was studying. I was under the impression he was studying over that period as sessions were often arranged around his studies.

He had moved to California by 1969 and by 1971 was refusing to have anything to do with any artist with Stax. Consequently, wouldn't have had anything to do with "I'll Take You There."

Incidentally, I am happy to stand corrected on any of this as a lot of this is from my ever-deteriorating memory.

Hey all,

Here's a direct quote...hope I don't get sued:)

"Rock and pop acts were not the only American musicians incorporating reggae into their music. The influence of Jamaican music on rhythm and blues, soul, and blues dates back to the early 70s. The Staple Singers 1972 recording "I'll Take You There" was energized by a funky interpretation of a reggae rhythm borrowed from the 1969 Jamaican instrumental "The Liquidator." The bumpety-bump reggaefied funk of "I'll Take You There" complemented the endearing raspy soul of Staple Singers' lead voalist Mavis Staples" (202). From Klive Walker's Dubwise, Insomniac Press, 2005.

Hi Darewon

Thanks for that. For some reason I assumed it was the other way round.