But, this era was also the dawn of the "slow jam," and if I have any substantial criticism of It's Christmas Time Again, it's that some tracks (mainly holiday standards reinterpreted as soul ballads, such as the Rance Allen Group's "White Christmas") slow things down too much. Nevertheless, It's Christmas Time Again is a topnotch album and an interesting postscript to the fascinating Stax story.

In 2004, Fantasy merged with Concord Records (and later Telarc) to form the Concord Music Group. This led to a wholesale refurbishing of their catalog, producing such gems as Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration in 2007. Later that year, the label issued a rejiggered version of It's Christmas Time Again as Christmas In Soulsville (initially sold exclusively through Best Buy).

As mentioned above, the Stax masters distributed through Atlantic stayed with Atlantic when the two labels parted ways. However, Stax retained the rights to any unreleased masters, which made releases like Otis Redding's Remember Me (1992) possible, even though all his official records had been released through Atlantic subsidiary Atco. This also made it possible for Christmas In Soulsville to include alternate takes of Otis' "Merry Christmas Baby" and Booker T. & The MG's "Winter Wonderland" - both recorded during Stax's Atlantic-distributed heyday.

Even better, the label tacks on Rufus & Carla Thomas' "That Makes Christmas Day," the long-lost, reverent b-side of Rufus' ribald "I'll Be Your Santa Baby." The whole package is crisply remastered and, all together, these upgrades make Christmas In Soulsville a necessary purchase for Stax acolytes - even for those who already own It's Christmas Time Again.

A Couple Of Notes. Little Johnny Taylor contributes an unexceptional-but-serviceable cover of Charles Brown's "Please Come Home For Christmas" to It's Christmas Time Again. It was recorded for Galaxy Records in 1965, and it appears to have been included simply because Fantasy also owned that catalog. By the way, Little Johnny Taylor (best known for 1963's "Part Time Love") is not the same person as Johnnie Taylor, who recorded for Stax for many years ("Who's Makin' Love," "Cheaper To Keep Her") but, to my knowledge, never recorded any Christmas songs.

For those keeping score, however, I know of at least one other post-Atlantic Stax Christmas single, a funky ode called "Season's Greetings" recorded by the long-forgotten Cix Bits in 1973. Sadly, this track is not included on either It's Christmas Time Again or Christmas In Soulsville, and is only available on the massive boxed set, The Complete Stax-Volt Singles Vol. 3 (1994). [top of page]