Originally formed as The Royal Spades in 1958, the group struggled to get a recording deal, even though group member Charles ‘Packy’ Axton’s mother and uncle owned a local record label in Satellite, later to become better known as Stax. When a deal finally came through, it was Packy’s mother Estelle Axton that convinced the group to change their name, with The Mar-Keys subsequently being adopted. The group would score a million selling single in Last Night, which also became the title to their debut album in 1961. A year later, The Mar-Keys returned with Do The Pop-Eye, an album based around one of the latest dance crazes. Such recordings were commonplace in the early 1960s (witness the success of Chubby Checker, Dee Dee Sharp and Little Eva, for example), but few artists were able to sustain them for a whole career. In the case of The Mar-Keys, their exceptional musicianship led to virtually all of them becoming Stax’ first house band, whilst the individual members would go on to help such studio groups as the Memphis Horns, The Packers and, in the case of Steve Cropper, Booker T & The M.G.’s.

1. Pop-Eye Stroll
2. Wimp-Burger
3. Straight From The Can
4. Cause I Love You
5. Squint-Eye
6. Pop-Eye Rider
7. Gonna Work Out Fine
8. Sit Still
9. Too Pooped To Pop-Eye
10. Sweet-P Crawl
11. Muscles A-Comin' Home
12. Sailor Man Waltz