Rob Bowman - Soulsville USA

Grammy Award-winning historian Rob Bowman discloses the behind-the-scenes deals and business transactions that contributed to the rise and fall of Stax Records. It appears to tell the real inside story of the landmark label. Written with such authority that you feel you're almost there in the studios which produced all that great music. Good photographs and excellent period detail. It goes without saying that Bowman's depth of knowledge is second to none and the book only occasionally drifts into a dry and overly scholarly presentation. Mostly, it's authority delivered with passion.

The book is more than the story of a successful record label. Stax was one of the first truly integrated studios and the book overviews the recording and production processes well, detailing the background of the black and white musicians, songwriters and executives who all contributed to the definitive Stax sound and its success in the record business. It's an uplifting story but, ultimately, its the history of a doomed and flawed venture.

I have read a few reviews which argue that Bowman goes overboard on the detail.....but the decline of Stax in particular is a complicated business and it's such a fascinating story that those of us with a passion for the music the label created can't fail to be moved by it. If you're not interested in the 'business' of Stax, then you can afford to give those details a miss and still find the rest of the book a rewarding read, but that would almost be missing the point. The story of Stax is a complex mix of great music, superb artists, entrepreneurs, business acumen and, ultimately, glorious failure.