Stewart's intentions were to become a banker, but The bands were well received, but none of the Stax crew knew about the racial tension brewing Watts, or the meaning burn, baby burn would take the next day when the Watts Rebellion began. Booker T. & the MGs wasthe primary house band for Stax during its golden era, backing a slew of stars from Carla Thomas to Albert King. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/stax-records-1957/ Source of the author's information: Rob Bowman, Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records (New York: Sound". Stax Records: Five of the best songs from the historic label - USA TODAY Located on the original site of the Stax Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee, the Stax Museum pays special tribute to the artists who recorded there, as well as other American soul legends, with interactive exhibits, films, stage costumes, musical instruments, vintage recording equipment used at Stax, records, photographs, permanent and changing galleries, and a rare and amazing collection of more than 2,000 items of memorabilia and artifacts. The Soulsville Foundation also operates The Soulsville Charter School, an academically rigorous, musically rich college prep school where students study math, language arts, science, social studies, and other academic subjects of a classical education, along with strings orchestra, band, and choir. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. After Stax had gone bankrupt, the back catalog of the label and the Stax name was bought by Fantasy Records, who released albums under the imprint until they sold their rights to Concord in 2004. Among the many artists who scored hits on Stax and its Volt subsidiary during the Sixties were Rufus and Carla Thomas, Booker T. & the MGs (an interracial instrumental quartet that also served as the companys rhythm section and house band), Sam and Dave, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, and Otis Redding. ( L to R: Otis Redding, Jim Stewart and Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, While Stax is renowned for its output of African-American music, the label . Stax had a number of these labels, including: All of the music on these labels was owned by Stax. Since the end of its glory days, Stax has been reincarnated in various forms and in 2003 the Stax Museum of American Soul Music opened on the site of the original studio and regularly provides music education programs. Wee King and Tex Williams, as well as the honky tonk sounds of Hank Williams, Moon By 1957 Stewart's interest in recording led him to tape a couple songs Updates? . fan of pop music, played the organ and sung soprano in the family gospel quartet.She came Learn more about the history of Stax at the Stax Museum Of American Soul Music. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. drummer Terry Johnson baritone sax player Don Nix and bassist Donald "Duck" his record company, she took out a $2500 second mortgage on her home, bought a one-track All recorded documents are open for public inspection and are indexed by the recorder to facilitate their identification and retrieval by the public. In 1961, they changed the label's name . Your donation is fully tax-deductible. that he took to Sun Records as well as a few other local labels. She has worked in the music industry for over two decades. record owned by Erwin Ellis. Stewart took advantage of the G.I. About Stax Museum - Stax Museum Reddings death in 1967 signaled the end of the first Stax era (to which Atlantic retains distribution rights). Many of the songs of this era, along with members of the original rhythm section, resurfaced in the movie The Blues Brothers (1980). Everett Axton and moved back to Memphis. Motown and Stax had very different ways of running their business. In 1941 she married Always strongly interested in music, as a teenager, she had been a last half hour of studio time to record Jenkin's 21 year old driver, Otis Redding. Stax Museum of American Soul Music - Tripadvisor Group) and soon had a giant hit named "Green Onions". They were Motown and Stax records. Stax Museum of American Soul Music - Wikipedia After "Cause I Love You", Carla Thomas recorded a Redding was back in the studio in in late November of 1967 to record Dock of the Bay before setting off on a quick three-night tour of Nashville, Cleveland, Ohio and Madison, Wis. with the Bar-Keys. History - Stax Records Stax Records released some 800 singles and 300-plus LPs during its historic run from 1957 to 1976. Record Shop in 1961. Some of Staxs artists were stuck in L.A., and others saw the smoke from the fires set during riots from their plane back to Memphis. The festival, which featured primarily psychedelic and rock music, is remembered for the legendary performances of two of its acts: Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding. For this reason, it was very common during this time for labels to start "subsidiary" labels - which essentially amounted to releasing an album through the main label with the name of another label on the album jacket. Some of the standout exhibits include an authentic circa-1906 Mississippi Delta church from Mississippi, reconstructed in the museum to help show the gospel roots of soul music; the Soul Train dance floor, Isaac Hayes' restored 1972 gold-trimmed, peacock-blue Cadillac El Dorado; and a near-exact recreation of the original Stax Records recording Studio A. Schirmer Books, 1997); Tremolo Productions, Respect Yourself: The Stax sony pictures to re-release 1973 music documentary wattstax at participating alamo drafthouse locations across the u.s. new releases include Like everything Stax, the theatres conversion into a recording studio was a do-it-yourself project. The Stax Museum is a replica of the Stax recording studio, the former Capitol Theatre, down to the sloping floor of studio A. It made the charts in March of 1963 and in September of 1963, Otis came back The History of Stax Records - LiveAbout Omissions? COPY Anacker, C. (2010, March 16). Location: USA. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Middleton, Tennessee. Free Field Trips for Title 1 Schools Throughout 2023, Seniors 62+, Active Military, and Students with ID. time Stewart was equal partners in the new label with Bylar and a rhythm guitarist named Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. The cavernous room was partitioned and a control room was created where the screen had been. 1957, includes Volt Records and other subsidiary labels) Stax Records is synonymous with Southern soul music. Songwriter Series. A service of the SOULSVILLE Foundation, a catalyst for the development of SOULSVILLE USA. The floors slant helped deaden the sound, a way of trying to control the rooms acoustics on the cheap that would ultimately become a signature part of the Stax sound. To make sure everyone who wanted to attend could, tickets were sold for $1 each. After Stax Records was forced into involuntary bankruptcy and closed in 1976, the Stax studio was sold by the Union Planters Bank for $10.00 to Southside Church of God in Christ, located nearby on McLemore Avenue. At this It was at this point that Stewart found out the downside of the contract he had signed with Atlantic. They also recorded on their own as Booker T. and MG's (standing for Memphis The County Recorder's Office records and maintains land record documents pertaining to the title of real property in Cahce County. Despite the successes of Hayes, Wattstax, and some other Stax releases, Gulf and Western never capitalized on them, and the label went bankrupt. publishing and and taught him the basic mechanics of running a small independent record Stax Records Subsidiaries . song she had written called "Gee Whiz". No part of this website may be reproduced without Stax Museum's express consent. In 1958, Estelle became involved when Jim Stewart asked her to invest in Founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1960 by country music fiddle player Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton, following a previous false start with Satellite Records, Stax maintained a down-home, family atmosphere during its early years. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. After the original Stax building was demolished in 1989 leaving only a barren lot, the Stax Museum opened its doors to great international fanfare in May 2003 and has since received more than a million visitors. the next few months after everyone's regular workday and on weekends, acoustical drapes Stax Records is critical in American music history as its one of the most popular soul music record labels of all time second only to Motown in sales and influence, but first in gritty, raw, stripped-down soul music. Stax Museum of American Soul Music - US Civil Rights Trail Do you find this information helpful? Stax Records (1957- ) - Blackpast 20072023 Blackpast.org. This group became the Mar-Keys and recorded an instrumental named "Last SHIPMENT TIMES MAY BE EXTENDED DUE TO SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES. The Stax Music Academy, which had started programming at a nearby elementary school on June 1, 2000, opened in 2002 and the museum opened May 3, 2003. Jim Stewart, Stax Records co-founder and Rock & Roll Hall of - Yahoo The new studios first single, a duet between Rufus and Carla Thomas called Cause I Love You, became a local hit through radio airplay and the 40,000 copies it sold regionally drew the attention of Atlantic Records Jerry Wexler. Since 2008, all seniors enrolled in the Stax Music Academy have been accepted to college and since 2021 all seniors have received music scholarships to college. Located on the original site of the Stax Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee, the Stax Museum pays special tribute to the artists who recorded there, as well as other American soul legends, with interactive exhibits, films, stage costumes, musical instruments, vintage recording equipment used at Stax, records, photographs, permanent and changin. "These Arms The Stax Museum of American Soul Music, is a 17,000 square-foot museum offering interactive exhibits, videos, vintage musical instruments used to create the Stax sound, stage costumes, photographs, records, and approximately 3,000 other items of memorabilia that tell the unique story, from beginning to present, of American soul music . When the recording session for Jenkins turned into a disaster, they used the (Est. Jim twelve years younger, would later joined her in Memphis, where to Memphis in 1935 at the age of sixteen to get her teaching certificate. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Her welcoming nature made the shop a natural hang out. The studios releases were doing well, but Axton, who had been managing Staxs promotions from the record store counter, wanted more listeners. Recorder's Office. Site Information. News. By 1968, Stax had enjoyed several successes and attracted the attention of Gulf and Western (a major conglomeration group at the time), who bought the label that year. A true soul anthem given an electric reading by the dynamic duo of Sam Moore and Dave Prater, Soul Man wasthe crowning achievement of Staxs prolific songwriting/production team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter. The shop paid the rent, but it also helped her develop an ear for which records would sell and why. Parcels, flash photography, pets, and audio/visual devices. The distribution relationship between Stax and Atlantic seemed to be a good one until Warner bought Atlantic. In Europe, skin color didnt matter - audiences saw the music as authentic and the people who made it as stars. The Stax Museum of American Soul Music will celebrate its 20th anniversary throughout the year 2023. The MGs, consisting of two black and two white musicians, were representative of the integrated mind set which existed at Stax despite its location in thoroughly segregated Memphis. Custom Cadillac El Dorado built for Isaac Hayes. The start of Stax Records's 1968 was overshadowed by the loss of its greatest star on . Still under its original management but represented publicly by Al Bell, the black promotion man who became vice-president and co-owner, Stax achieved its greatest commercial success during the early 1970s with hits recorded in Detroit, Chicago, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama, as well as in its own studios, by Johnnie Taylor, Hayes, the Staple Singers, the Dramatics, and others. the Stax studio, and started hanging around. Stax Records is not in any way responsible for the content of this program. The catalog that was kept by Atlantic (see more info below) remains under their control, though some albums have been licensed to Rhino Records. Jim Stewart initially founded a record label called Satellite Records in 1957 - his sister Estelle Axton came on board the following year. However, he felt he could be the next best thing - a producer - despite having no experience or knowledge of the recording industry. STAY SAFE, EVERYONE! Stax Museum of American Soul Music. With the exception of Stax Records proudly supports the Soulsville Foundation, however, the views and opinions expressed in this program may not necessarily be shared by Stax Records. Some of the artists to release music on Stax over the years include: Atlantic Record's Jerry Wexler was a huge Stax Records fan and worked closely with the label throughout the 1960s (he even insisted some Atlantic artists record in Stax to get the signature sound). were built with burlap and ruffle insulation on the one outside plaster wall to cut down After high school he went to Memphis where he hoped to develop a career as Just moments after being cleared for landing in Madison, the bands private plane - hindered by a low battery that affected the instrument panel - careened out of the sky and into a frigid lake, killing Otis Redding, guitarist Jimmy King, drummer Carl Cunningham, saxophonist Phalon Jones, organist Ronnie Caldwell, valet Matthew Kelly and pilot Richard Fraser. After getting out of the Army, Stewart returned to his job at the bank and Because the Stax Museum is one of only a handful of museums in the world dedicated to soul music (the Motown Museum in Detroit is another), it not only celebrates the legacy of Stax Records and its artists such as Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, the Staple Singers, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Booker T. & the MGs, Rufus and Carla Thomas and others, but also features other soul music labels such as Motown, Hi Records, Atlantic Records, and Muscle Shoals. By late 1950 Stewart was working for the First National Bank. Free Field Trips for Title 1 Schools Throughout 2023, Seniors 62+, Active Military, and Students with ID. hit. much of their early income. The days too when Steve cropper can be working at the connected record store and gradually become vital to the Stax . After convincing here husband Everett to go along a second mortgage was taken out. Reddings death in 1967, along with a split with Atlantic in which Stax was forced to forfeit the rights to all of the music recorded it the studio, almost destroyed the company. Memphis racial tension came to a head when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis after speaking to the citys striking sanitation workers (the Lorraine had been a regular gathering place for Stax employees, both black and white). It is the converted theater itself that some credit for the signature Stax Records sound. stax records and craft recordings celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic wattstax benefit concert with a full suite of new releases available for pre-order today. Mullican and Ernest Tubb, he played odd jobs while working at Sears Roebuck during the Known as The Philosopher of Soul, Johnnie Taylor offered male listeners a shocking new perspective in this cheating song with a twist, which was a smash in the summer of 1968. Marquee on the exterior of Stax Museum in Memphis. In 1962, Redding arrived at Stax as a chauffeur for Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers from Macon Georgia, who had come to Stax to record an instrumental on the heels of the success of Green Onions. Here's a collection of five key tunes. Wexler offered Stax a deal - a contract for a master-lease agreement on all Rufus and Carla discs and handshake deal for first refusal rights on the distribution of all Stax releases. Adrian Sainz/AP. The name wasn't the only thing to change in the early days. List the tax year (s) requested and your social security number or identifying account number. Trumpeter Ben Cauley was the only survivor. BlackPast.org. Stax Museum is located in the building that housed Stax Records, which produced music by Redding, Hayes, Sam & Dave, The Staples Singers, Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett, Booker T. and the. Short on money, Estelle Although popular and musically and politically significantRev. of Mine" was released in October of 1962 on Stax's new rhythm and blues subsidiary THE STAX MUSEUM WILL BE CLOSED TUESDAY, JULY 4 FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY. Many Stax records featured a distinctive horn sound, and their bass-heavy bottom end had a powerful impact when played on jukeboxes and in dance clubs. They lost, and as was previously mentioned, Stewart lost his home when the label went under. The label also released songs by Sam and Dave, who were on loan to the studio as part of the deal with Atlantic Records. learned by ear. While arguments could be made for dozens, if not hundreds, of songs as being crucial to the companys rich history, heres a selection of five key Stax sides. Stax Records is critical in American music history as it's one of the most popular soul music record labels of all time - second only to Motown in sales and influence, but first in gritty, raw, stripped-down soul music. They recorded a local disc jockey named Rufus Thomas, who had had a minor Rufus and his 17 year old Booker T. Jones). listen to the Grand Ole Opry and try to ply along with it. Utah County Recorder With its iconic wah-wah guitar and Hes a bad mother refrain, Isaac Hayes theme to the Gordon Parks-directed Blaxploitation film Shaft wasone of the eras biggest hits and earned Hayes an Oscar for Best Original Song. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Contemporary artists who have recorded for Stax Records include Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, and others. Always strongly interested in music, as a teenager, she had been a fan of pop music, played the organ and sung soprano in the family gospel quartet.She came to Memphis in . His parents Stax made sure that black music stayed rooted in the church and blues joint. It has also been routinely named by USA Today as one of the best music attractions in North America. Memphis The distinctive sound of Stax recordings, heard in records such as "In the Midnight Hour," was characterized by all of the following EXCEPT Orchestral strings What was the name of the studio band at Stax? In the spring of 1959 Stewart recorded his first black group, the When this song started up The museum experience includes permanent exhibits such as a circa-1906 authentic Mississippi Delta church to illustrate soul musics Black gospel influence, a recreation of the original recording studio and control room, an Express Yourself Dance Floor with looping Soul Train television footage, a Hall of Records with some 900 45-singles and 300 LPs, and Isaac Hayes gold-trimmed, fur-lined 1972 Cadillac Eldorado complete with a television and refrigerator. Visitors are treated to vintage video footage of non-Stax artists such as Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Ann Peebles, The Jackson Five, Patti LaBelle, Parliament-Funkadelic, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Ike & Tina Turner, and others.
