Stay Out of the Kitchen

AMG Review of Stay Out of the Kitchen

Cub Koda
All Music Guide

If you're a fan and/or collector of deep Southern soul music from the '60s, you would have encountered in your listening some grade-A sides from one Mable John, most notably the politically incorrect "Don't Hit Me No More." An R&B veteran who did time as one of the Raelettes, her tenure at Stax Records was short, producing little in the way of substantial hits. But what John left behind in the vaults ends up shining like triple platinum here, with 25 tracks of the best Southern soul you'll ever pop into the CD player. Even with Stax stars Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Booker T. Jones, Isaac Hayes and David Porter all aboard, the real star of the proceedings is John, and better examples of the real thing are very hard to come by.