An era was finding its end. Union Planters National Bank had finally pulled up the roots of Stax Records, leaving hundreds of musicians locked out of 926 East McLemore and the Chicago chapter of 24-Carat Black on the hook for months spent in the studio. Their debut album, a commercial and financial disaster, was par for the course during Al Bell’s reign as the Memphis label’s head. Rediscovered in the early 90s by Britain’s rare groove scene, Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth has since been known as 24-Carat Black’s first and final chapter, barely a footnote in the well documented history of Stax. Dale Warren’s brainchild band simply pushed past their concept’s conclusion, piling up dozens of reels for an intimate follow-up album that no one in the world wanted to hear. With their ambitious LP downgraded to cutout status when Stax finally shuttered in 1975, 24-Carat Black found themselves watching their moment recede in the rearview.