Light In The Attic LITA 067
LP Compilation
Charles "Packy" Axton was an American rhythm and blues tenor saxophone
player and bandleader, who was a member of The Mar-Keys and later The Packers.
He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Everett and Estelle Axton.
Estelle Axton and her brother Jim Stewart were the founders of Stax Records.
By 1959, Packy Axton had become a member of The Royal Spades, a group formed by
Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Charlie Freeman and Terry Johnson,
which expanded to include a horn section comprising Axton, Don Nix
and Wayne Jackson. In 1961, they renamed themselves The Mar-Keys,
and had a major hit (# 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, # 2 on the R&B chart)
with "Last Night". In fact, only Axton and Jackson from the band
appeared on the record which was mostly performed by session musicians.
After Cropper left the band in 1961, soon followed by Dunn, Axton
became the effective leader of the Mar-Keys, and also worked as a
session musician at Stax. He left in 1965 to live in Los Angeles,
reportedly after a series of disagreements with Jim Stewart.
Later in 1965, the Stax Revue performed in Los Angeles,
and radio disc jockey Magnificent Montague persuaded
Axton to record there with Cropper, Booker T. Jones and
Al Jackson, of Booker T. & the M.G.'s. They recorded an
instrumental track together, "Hole In The Wall",
which Montague then released as by The Packers; it
reached # 43 on the pop chart and # 5 on the R&B chart.
Axton then formed a pick-up group to promote the record,
later returning to Memphis. There, he recorded several
singles credited to The Pac-Keys, which mostly featured
members of The Bar-Kays. After 1967, he ran the Satellite
Record Shop in Memphis, occasionally performing
with musicians such as Charlie Rich.
tracks list:
A1 – Martinis, Holiday Cheer
A2 – Martinis, Bullseye
A3 – Martinis, Hung Over
A4 – Stacy Lane No Ending
A5 – L.H. & The Memphis Sounds House Full Of Rooms
A6 – Pac-Keys, Stone Fox
A7 – Packers, Hole In The Wall
A8 – Martinis, South American Robot
A9 – Pac-Keys, Dig In
B1 – L.H. & The Memphis Sounds Out Of Control
B2 – Martinis, Key Chain
B3 – Pac-Keys, Hip Pocket
B4 – L.H. & The Memphis Sounds I'm A Fool (In Love)
B5 – Stacy Lane No Love Have I
B6 – Pac-Keys, Greasy Pumpkin
B7 – Martinis, I'll Always Love You
B8 – Martinis, Late Late Party