Motown vs Stax
 

The two empires of R&B music.

So, which do you think produced the most great music overall?

Let's see.

Motown:
The Temptations
Marvin Gaye
Stevie Wonder
Diana Ross & The Supremes
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
The Four Tops
Martha & The Vendettas
Jackson 5
Gladys Knight & The Pips


Stax:
Otis Redding
Sam and Dave
Rufus Thomas
Isaac Hayes
Wilson Pickett
Albert King
The Staple Singers
Booker T & The MGs

I live close to Memphis so you might think I'm partial to Stax. But I just gotta go with Motown.

That's such a tough one to call. Two completely different flavors of soul. Ultimately I would go with Stax. They were committed to the cause of racial integration in the music industry, They didn't hide Booker T and the MGs under the carpet the way that Motown did with the Funk Brothers for so long and their core sound was so much more distinctive. That abrasive B3 organ sound that was Booker T's signature still sounds amazing.
Admittedly there's probably more Motown Records that I would prefer to listen to than Stax, but based on business integrity and overall creativity Stax is the hands down winner.

Stax brings the funk. Motowns alright, but just a little too polished.

Stax

Yeah that's it in a nutshell. You gotta love the funk brothers though. The greatest band that, for a long time, no one knew existed.

[QUOTE=boo boo;698098]
Martha & The Vandettas
QUOTE]



Martha and the Vendettas would be a cool band name.

Very tough choice.
I don't think I can choose between the two. The Motown style puts me off mainly because of it's prevalence over other soul labels and it's conveyor belt approach to churning out mainstream pop soul doesn't suit my personal tastes.
It's subsidiary labels are far more attractive to me with their more, or should I say less, sugar sweet sound. (Martha & the Vendetta's sound like the act they should have been boo boo.)
Even with that, there's no denying the quality of The Funk Brothers with their world class musicians, including the greatest bass player that ever lived in James Jamerson.
It's songwriters were easily the best, but controlled far too much by Gordy.
asshat's comment of too polished is spot on...add too packaged as well.
And then there's Stax with Booker T & The MGs...incomparable.

If the Chess label was an option here that'd get my vote, but it isn't, so I'm sitting on the fence.

...giving marvin ***e some credit...he managed to salvage some truly cheesy songs if done by other people--I'm thinkin of "ain't no mountain high enough" or sexual healing in particular.

Motown had some greats, thats for sure, but I too feel that Stax has the edge. I find Stax to be a little less smiley and a little more gritty and I like that about them.

I went with Motown, I don't think they overproduced, the horns and strings really did suit a lot of their songs, and they had many many great session musicians including James Jamerson, the greatest rock bassist of all time.

Overall, Motown had more artists that I'm into. Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Temptations, Jackson 5.

Otis Redding and Booker T & The MGs are great. But I've never been too big on Isaac Hayes and Rufus Thomas, even though they're very much considered royalty down here in Memphis territory.

I like that each had their own unique approach, Stax's was raw and gritty, Motown's was pomp and razzle dazzle.

Knowing me, it's no surprise that I prefer the latter.

I thought about this for ten minutes, and I just can't make up my mind.

Both are literally awesome at the exact same levels, though Otis Redding very nearly seals it for Stax.