Mighty Memphis soul.
Forgotten sax hero's first and long overdue anthology.
You may not have heard
of Charles Packy Axton, though things could, and should have been so
different. Born into the all conquering soul dynasty of Memphis based
Stax Records, (Packy's mother Estelle Axton and his uncle Jim Stewart
were the label founders), he was perfectly placed and talented enough
to have capitalised on his advantageous position. Packy took up the
saxophone at a young age and formed The Royal Spades, with Steve
Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn, both later to have greater
success as members of Booker T & The MG's, the legendary Stax
house band. The Royal Spades became The Mar-Keys. Axton's partying
was to eventually cause a split with the band along with a career
damaging rift with Stax Records.
Axton continued to
record though and had a national hit with 1965's “Hole In The
Wall”, credited to The Packers is basically Booker T. And The MG's
in all but name, featuring Axton, Cropper, Booker T, and drummer Al
Jackson. Only bassist Dunn is missing from the line-up. It's at the
heart of this new compilation which features seventeen mainly
instrumental tracks.
Click over the jump for more on Late Late Party 1965-67.
