Stax Records
Encyclopedia
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee
.
Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul
and Memphis soul
music styles, also releasing gospel
, funk
, jazz
, and blues
recordings. While Stax is renowned for its output of African-American music, the label was founded by two white
businesspeople, Jim Stewart
and his sister Estelle Axton
(STewart/AXton = Stax) and featured several popular ethnically-integrated bands, including the label's house band
, Booker T. & the MG's.
Following the death of Stax's biggest star, Otis Redding
, in 1967 and the severance of the label's distribution deal with Atlantic Records
in 1968, Stax continued primarily under the supervision of a new co-owner, Al Bell
. Over the next five years, Bell expanded the label's operations significantly, in order to compete with Stax's main rival, Motown Records
in Detroit. During the mid-1970s, a number of factors, including a problematic distribution deal with CBS Records
, caused the label to slide into insolvency
, resulting in its forced closure in late 1975.
In 1977, Fantasy Records
acquired the post-1968 Stax catalog, as well as selected pre-1968 recordings. Beginning in 1978, Stax (now owned by Fantasy) began signing new acts and issuing new material, as well as re-issuing previously recorded Stax material. However, by the early 1980s no new material was being issued on the label, and for the next two decades, Stax was strictly a re-issue label.
After Concord Records
acquired Fantasy in 2004, the Stax label was reactivated, and is today used to issue both the 1968–1975 catalog material and new recordings by current R&B
/soul performers. Atlantic Records continues to hold the rights to the vast majority of the 1959–1968 Stax material.
Stax Records, originally named Satellite Records, was founded in Memphis in 1957 by Jim Stewart, initially operating in a garage. Satellite's early releases were country music
, rockabilly
records or straight pop numbers, reflecting the tastes of Stewart (a white
country fiddle
player) at the time.
In 1958, Stewart's sister Estelle Axton began her financial interest in the company.
For a time in 1959, the company moved to Brunswick, Tennessee
. Around this time, Stewart was introduced to rhythm and blues
music by staff producer Chips Moman
. Satellite's first release by a black rhythm and blues act occurred in September 1959, with the Veltones' "Fool For Love" (which was soon picked up for national distribution by Mercury Records
.) However, Satellite remained primarily a country and pop label for the next year or so.
While promoting "Fool For Love," Stewart met with Memphis disc jockey and R&B singer Rufus Thomas
, and both parties were impressed by the other. Around the same time, and at the urging of Chips Moman, Stewart moved his company back to Memphis and into an old movie theater
, the former Capitol Theatre, at 926 East McLemore Avenue in South Memphis. In the summer of 1960, Rufus Thomas and his daughter Carla would be the first artists to make a recording in this new facility; the record, "Cause I Love You" (credited to Rufus & Carla) would be a substantial regional hit, and would be picked up for national distribution by Atlantic Records on their Atco subsidiary. It would go on to sell between thirty and forty thousand copies, becoming Satellite's biggest hit to that time.
As part of the deal with Atlantic, Satellite agreed to continue recording Carla Thomas, but to allow her releases to come out on Atlantic. Carla Thomas' first hit, "Gee Whiz," was originally issued on Satellite 104, but was quickly re-issued on Atlantic 2086, becoming a hit in early 1961. Carla Thomas would continue to have material issued on Atlantic through mid-1965, though much of it was recorded in the studios at Satellite (later Stax), or in Nashville under the supervision of the Stax staff.
In June 1961, Satellite signed a local instrumental band known as The Royal Spades. Changing their name to The Mar-Keys
, the band recorded and issued the single "Last Night," which shot to #3 on the US pop charts, and #2 on the R&B charts.
"Last Night" was the first single to be nationally distributed on the Satellite label—previous Atlantic issues of Satellite material were issued nationally on the Atlantic or Atco
labels. This led to a complaint from another "Satellite Records," a company that had been in operation in California for some years but who were previously unaware of the Memphis-based Satellite label. Accordingly, in September 1961, Satellite permanently changed its name to "Stax Records," a portmanteau of the names of the two owners of the company: Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton.
The label's biggest early star, soul singer Otis Redding
, also arrived in 1962. Redding, however, technically wasn't on Stax, but on their sister label Volt. In that era, many radio stations, anxious to avoid even the hint of payola
, often refused to play more than one or two new songs from any single record label at one time, so as to not appear to be offering favoritism to any particular label. To circumvent this, Stax, like many other record companies, created a number of subsidiary labels. Volt was founded in late 1961, and was the label home to Otis Redding, the Bar-Kays, and a handful of other artists. Volt releases were initially issued by Atlantic through their Atco Records
subsidiary. Other Stax subsidiaries over the years included Enterprise, Chalice (a gospel
label), Hip, and Safice.
Redding's first single, "These Arms Of Mine," issued in October 1962, hit both the R&B and the pop charts. Though the label had enjoyed some early hits with The Mar-Keys
and Booker T. & The M.G.'s, Redding became the first Stax/Volt artist to consistently hit the charts with each release—in fact, each of Redding's 17 singles issued during his lifetime charted. (Carla Thomas also charted with reasonable consistency, but her pre-1965 releases were on Atlantic, not Stax or Volt.)
Between January 1962 and December 1964, Stax and Volt released several chart hits each by Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, and Booker T. and the M.G.'s. However, despite dozens of other releases, only three other Stax/Volt artists charted during this time, and all just barely: William Bell's "You Don't Miss Your Water" hit #95 in early 1962; The Mar-Keys' "Pop-Eye Stroll" hit #94 in mid-1962 (although it was a big hit in Canada, hitting #1 on Toronto's CHUM Chart
), and Barbara & The Browns' "Big Party" made it to #97 in mid-1964.
Beginning in 1965, Stax/Volt artists would make the charts much more frequently.
and David Porter
began to establish themselves as Stax's new team of hit writer/producers. Hayes would also permanently join the Stax house band, often subbing for Booker T. Jones, who was studying music full-time at Indiana University during the mid-1960s.
In addition to hits by stalwarts Redding, Booker T. & The M.G.'s, and Carla Thomas, 1965 saw the chart debuts of Stax artists The Astors and Sam & Dave
plus Volt artist The Mad Lads. Sam & Dave were technically a duo act on the Atlantic roster, but were "leased" to Stax by Atlantic—Stax oversaw their music and put it out on the Stax label. Virtually all of Sam & Dave's Stax material was written and produced by Hayes and Porter.
Atlantic's Jerry Wexler also brought Wilson Pickett
to record at Stax, though these songs were released on Atlantic. Pickett's 1965-66 hits "In The Midnight Hour
," "Don't Fight It." "634-5789" and "Ninety-Nine and A Half (Won't Do)" were Stax songs in all-but-name, as they were all co-written by Steve Cropper, recorded at Stax, and backed by the Stax house band. In early 1966, perhaps tiring of another label capitalizing on the Stax sound, Jim Stewart banned all non-Stax productions at the Stax studios. One of the Atlantic artists who wasn't allowed to record at Stax was the then-newly-signed Aretha Franklin (who instead was sent to Rick Hall's FAME
studios in Alabama, which had a sound that was similar to Stax's). Pickett's subsequent hits were recorded elsewhere, including at FAME and at American Group Productions, Chips Moman's Memphis studio.
By 1966 and 1967, Stax and its subsidiaries had hit their stride, regularly scoring hits with artists such as Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas, William Bell
, Booker T. & the MG's, Eddie Floyd
, The Bar-Kays, Albert King
, and The Mad Lads.
Unlike Motown, which frequently packaged its artists on review tours, Stax only infrequently sought to promote its acts through label-sponsored live concerts. The first of these was in the summer of 1965, in Los Angeles
rather than in Memphis. While the show was a success, the Watts riots
began the day afterward, and several Stax artists were trapped in Watts during the violence. Stax also sponsored a Christmas concert in Memphis for several years, the most notorious of which was held in 1968, when special guest Janis Joplin
performed drunk and was booed off of the stage. The most successful Stax package revue was a tour of England
and France
in 1967. Playing to sold-out crowds across western Europe
, Stax released several live albums from the tour recordings, including the best-selling Otis Live In Europe'."
The year was 1967 and the record company Stax was at the height of their fame. Alongside Otis Redding were soul singers Sam and Dave, and Carla Thomas and writer Isaac Hayes who would have a deep impact on Funk music of the 70’s. Also signed on to the record label was the house band Booker T. and the MG’s who were breaking boundaries in integration. Half of the band was black and the other half was white which at the time was unheard of because of such racial turmoil that was occurring at this time in the United States. Stax was located in Memphis, Tennessee which at the time was still segregated and would later that year witness the death of the leader of the Civil Rights Movement Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While there was much racism around the artists the Stax recording studio seemed to be an escape from the turmoil that was happening in the real world. When the artists got in the studio they were there for one reason only and that was to make hits, and some of which had a social conscious that became soundtracks to the Civil Rights Movement. That same year some of the Stax artists traveled Europe and were taken back by the reception that they received. The artists received a better reception in some of Europe then they ever did back in the United States.
, which activated a clause in the Stax/Atlantic distribution contract calling for renegotiation of the distribution deal. At this point, it was pointed out to Stewart that he had unknowingly signed away the rights to the original master recordings for all of Stax's Atlantic-distributed recordings. The executives at Warner refused to return ownership of the Stax masters to Stewart. As a result, Stewart did not renew his distribution deal with Atlantic, and instead sold Stax a week later to Paramount Pictures
(who also owned Dot Records
), a unit of Gulf+Western
, in May 1968. As a result, Stax was forced to move forward without the most desirable portion of its back catalogue and without Sam and Dave, who remained at Atlantic after the split. To make matters worse, Stax's biggest artist, Otis Redding, as well as all but two of the members of the Bar-Kays, died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.
Stewart remained at the company, and former Stax marketing executive Al Bell
became the company's vice-president, taking on a more active role as Stewart became less active in Stax's day-to-day operations. Estelle Axton, who disagreed with Bell's visions for the company, left Stax after the sale.
After the Atlantic distribution deal expired in May 1968, Atlantic briefly marketed Stax/Volt recordings made after the split. These recordings feature the alternate Stax/Volt logos used on the album covers on their labels, as opposed to the original Atlantic-era logos, such as the "Stax-o-wax" logo. Stax label recordings were reissued on the Atlantic label, and Volt label material on the Atco label. Gulf+Western-owned Stax/Volt releases used new label designs, new logos (including the recognizable finger snapping logo) and new catalogue numbering systems to avoid confusion among the record distributors.
gave Stax its first big post-Atlantic hit with "Who's Making Love" in 1968. To build up a catalog to replace the catalog lost to Atlantic/Atco Records, Stax/Volt/Enterprise released a whopping 27 albums and 30 singles in 1969. Producer and songwriter Isaac Hayes
stepped into the spotlight with Hot Buttered Soul
, which sold over three million copies in 1969. By 1971, Hayes was established as the label's biggest star, and was particularly noted for his best-selling soundtrack
to the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft
. Hayes' recordings were among the releases on a third major Stax label, Enterprise, which had been founded in 1967.
The label also enjoyed great success when it had the Staple Singers shift from Gospel music
to mainstream R&B. Even Rufus Thomas
, one of the first artists signed to the label, enjoyed a popular resurgence with a string of hits. However, Stax's record sales were down overall, under Gulf+Western/Paramount/Dot's poor management. In 1970, Stewart and Bell purchased the label back, and Stax subsisted on its own for the next two years.
By this time, the Stax recording studio was accepting outside work again. In 1973, Elvis Presley
recorded three albums at Stax in July and December. They were: Raised On Rock, Good Times, and Promised Land which produced four top 20 hits.
As co-owner, Bell undertook an ambitious program to make Stax not only a major recording company, but also a prominent player in the black community. The Stax logo was slightly altered with the finger-snapping hand recolored brown. He began signing many more artists to the label, Frederick Knight
and The Soul Children
among them. For the first time, many of the label's acts began frequently recording at outside studios (such as Ardent Studios
in Memphis and at recording studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
) and working with outside producers, signaling an end of the signature Stax sound. Bell even created a comedy subsidiary label, Partee Records
, which released albums from the likes of Richard Pryor
and Moms Mabley
; and he made a bid for the white pop market by signing Big Star and licensing albums by Terry Manning
, the UK progressive rock band Skin Alley
, and Lena Zavaroni
. In addition, Bell also became heavily involved with various causes in the African-American community, and was a close friend of the Reverend Jesse Jackson
and a financial supporter of his Operation PUSH.
On August 20, 1972, the Stax label presented a major concert, Wattstax
, featured performances by Stax recording artists and humor from rising young comedian Richard Pryor. Known as the "Black Woodstock," Wattstax was hosted by Reverend Jesse Jackson
and drew a crowd of over 100,000 people, most of them African-American. Wattstax was filmed by motion picture director Mel Stuart
(Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
), and a concert film of the event was released to theaters by Columbia Pictures
in February 1973.
. CBS Records President Clive Davis
saw Stax as a means for CBS to fully break into the African-American market and successfully compete with Motown. Bell had originally proposed that CBS buy 50% of the company, but Davis discussed it with CBS's corporate attorneys, who saw anti-trust problems, so a national distribution deal was worked out instead. However, Davis was fired by the company shortly after signing the Stax distribution deal. Without Davis at the helm, CBS very quickly lost interest in Stax.
The Stax labels' profits were cut severely, particularly since the CBS distribution agents bypassed the traditional small mom-and-pop record sellers in the black community which had been the backbone of Stax's distribution, and weren't pushing the Stax product to the larger retailers for fear of undercutting rack space for CBS R&B artists such as Earth Wind and Fire, The Isley Brothers
, and Sly & the Family Stone
. Reports came in to Stax of stores in cities such as Chicago
and Detroit being unable to get new Stax records despite consumer demands, and the company attempted to annul its distribution deal with CBS. However, although CBS was uninterested in fully promoting Stax, it refused to release the label from its contract, for fear that Stax would land a more productive deal with another company and then become CBS's direct competitor.
The last big chart hit for Stax was "Woman to Woman" from Shirley Brown
in 1974, and the single's success helped delay the inevitable demise of the company for several months. By 1975, all of the secondary Stax labels had folded, with only the main Stax label remaining. Al Bell attempted to stave off bankruptcy with bank loans from Memphis' Union Planters Bank. Jim Stewart, unwilling to see the company die, returned to active participation in Stax and mortgaged his Memphis mansion to provide the label with short-term working capital
. However, the Union Planters bank officers soon got cold feet, and foreclosed on the loans, costing Stewart his home and fortune.
Stax/Volt Records was forced into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy
on December 19, 1975.
during the Stax bankruptcy proceedings, but was acquitted of those charges in August 1976. In early 1977, Union Planters sold Stax, its master tapes, and its publishing arms for about four million dollars to a holding corporation. This corporation then sold the Stax-owned master recordings, as well as the name "Stax Records," to Fantasy Records
later that same year.
Effectively, that meant that Fantasy owned and controlled the following:
Fantasy also had the right to issue new recordings under the Stax Records banner.
Note that Stax's one-time McLemore Ave. headquarters was not sold until 1981, when Union Planters deeded it to the Southside Church of God in Christ for ten dollars.
to head up a revived version of the Stax label which was relaunched in January 1978. Porter signed several new acts to Stax, including Fat Larry's Band
, Rick Dees
and Sho Nuff, as well as re-signing former mid-70s Stax acts Rance Allen, Soul Children and Shirley Brown
. As well, Porter was responsible for overseeing compilations of previously unissued material by Isaac Hayes
, Randy Brown
, The Bar-Kays, Albert King
and The Emotions
.
This iteration of Stax released over two dozen singles, including nine that made the US R&B charts. By far the biggest hit of this era was The Bar-Kays' "Holy Ghost", a #9 R&B hit in 1978; it was a remixed and over-dubbed version of a track the band recorded for Stax in 1975. (By 1978, The Bar-Kays were long-gone from Stax, and were enjoying a string of hits on Mercury Records
.)
Porter left Stax in 1979, and the label's new releases slowed to a trickle. By late 1981, Stax was strictly in the business of reissuing material recorded between 1968 through 1975, or issuing previously-unreleased archival material from the sixties and seventies.
.
Fantasy, meanwhile, also repackaged and re-released the Stax catalogue it controlled, on the Stax label. Because Fantasy owned the non-master recordings of all Stax material, for several of its Stax compilations, Fantasy issued alternate takes of the Stax hit recordings in place of the master recordings owned by Atlantic.
In 1988, Fantasy issued the various artists album Top of the Stax, Vol. 1: Twenty Greatest Hits. This marked the first time an album was issued with both Atlantic-owned and Fantasy-owned Stax material; it was issued by arrangement with Atlantic Records. A second volume was released by Fantasy in 1991.
In 1991, Atlantic issued The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959–1968, a nine-disc compact disc
boxed set
containing all of the Atlantic-era Stax a-sides. This release earned Grammy Award
nominations for boxed-set producer Steve Greenberg
in the Best Historical Album category and for writer Rob Bowman in the Best Album Notes category. The boxed-set was certified gold in 2001, the largest collection of CDs ever to have earned that certification. Fantasy followed their lead and issued volumes two and three of the Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles series in 1993 and 1994, respectively. Volume Two compiles the Stax/Volt singles from 1968 to 1971, while Volume Three completes the collection with the singles issued from 1972 to 1975. Volume Three earned a Best Album Notes Grammy Award
for Rob Bowman. In 2000, Fantasy issued a boxed set titled The Stax Story, which includes pre-1968 material by arrangement with Atlantic.
was constructed at the site and opened in 2003. A replica of the original building, the Stax Museum features exhibits on the history of Stax and soul music in general, and hosts various music-related community programs and events.
Concord Records
purchased the Fantasy Label Group in 2004, and in December 2006 announced the reactivation of the Stax label as a forum for newly-recorded music. The firstacts signed to the new Stax included Isaac Hayes
, Angie Stone
, and Soulive
.
The formal relaunch came with the release on March 13, 2007 of Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration, a 2-CD box set containing 50 tracks from the entire history of Stax Records.
The first Concord-distributed Stax album of all-new material was a various artists CD which was released on March 27, 2007 and titled Interpretations: Celebrating The Music of Earth, Wind & Fire. Soulive was the first artist on revived label to release an album of all-new material with No Place Like Soul
released July 10, 2007.
On August 28, 2007, a 3 CD Deluxe Edition box set of the 1972 music event Wattstax
was released, simply titled "WATTSTAX". For the first time in over 30 years almost half of the 25-plus performers at that event were finally heard for the first time, released in remastered stereo. The 3 CD set still only covers about one-third of the entire Wattstax concert, which lasted 10+ hours; Concord has not issued any statement as to the possibility of preparing future releases that would cover the remaining Wattstax material.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
.
Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul
Southern soul
Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues , country, early rock and roll, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern African-American churches. The focus of the...
and Memphis soul
Memphis soul
Memphis soul, also known as Memphis Sound, is stylish, funky, uptown soul music that is not as hard-edged as Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, bass, and a driving...
music styles, also releasing gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
recordings. While Stax is renowned for its output of African-American music, the label was founded by two white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
businesspeople, Jim Stewart
Jim Stewart (music)
Jim Stewart is a former record company executive and producer who co-founded Stax Records.- Biography :Raised on a farm in Middleton, Tennessee, Stewart moved to Memphis in 1948, after graduating from high school. He worked at Sears, at First National Bank, and then was drafted into the United...
and his sister Estelle Axton
Estelle Axton
Estelle Axton was the co-founder, with her brother Jim Stewart, of Stax Records.Born in Middleton, Tennessee, Estelle Stewart grew up on a farm...
(STewart/AXton = Stax) and featured several popular ethnically-integrated bands, including the label's house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
, Booker T. & the MG's.
Following the death of Stax's biggest star, Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, in 1967 and the severance of the label's distribution deal with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in 1968, Stax continued primarily under the supervision of a new co-owner, Al Bell
Al Bell
Al Bell is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. Bell is best known as one of the key figures behind and a co-owner of Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records during the latter half of the label's nineteen-year existence...
. Over the next five years, Bell expanded the label's operations significantly, in order to compete with Stax's main rival, Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
in Detroit. During the mid-1970s, a number of factors, including a problematic distribution deal with CBS Records
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
, caused the label to slide into insolvency
Insolvency
Insolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due. Usually used to refer to a business, insolvency refers to the inability of a company to pay off its debts.Business insolvency is defined in two different ways:...
, resulting in its forced closure in late 1975.
In 1977, Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
acquired the post-1968 Stax catalog, as well as selected pre-1968 recordings. Beginning in 1978, Stax (now owned by Fantasy) began signing new acts and issuing new material, as well as re-issuing previously recorded Stax material. However, by the early 1980s no new material was being issued on the label, and for the next two decades, Stax was strictly a re-issue label.
After Concord Records
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
acquired Fantasy in 2004, the Stax label was reactivated, and is today used to issue both the 1968–1975 catalog material and new recordings by current R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
/soul performers. Atlantic Records continues to hold the rights to the vast majority of the 1959–1968 Stax material.
Early years as Satellite Records (1957–1960)
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
records or straight pop numbers, reflecting the tastes of Stewart (a white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
country fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
player) at the time.
In 1958, Stewart's sister Estelle Axton began her financial interest in the company.
For a time in 1959, the company moved to Brunswick, Tennessee
Brunswick, Tennessee
Brunswick is an unincorporated community in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. Brunswick is northeast of Bartlett....
. Around this time, Stewart was introduced to rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
music by staff producer Chips Moman
Chips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
. Satellite's first release by a black rhythm and blues act occurred in September 1959, with the Veltones' "Fool For Love" (which was soon picked up for national distribution by Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
.) However, Satellite remained primarily a country and pop label for the next year or so.
While promoting "Fool For Love," Stewart met with Memphis disc jockey and R&B singer Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
, and both parties were impressed by the other. Around the same time, and at the urging of Chips Moman, Stewart moved his company back to Memphis and into an old movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, the former Capitol Theatre, at 926 East McLemore Avenue in South Memphis. In the summer of 1960, Rufus Thomas and his daughter Carla would be the first artists to make a recording in this new facility; the record, "Cause I Love You" (credited to Rufus & Carla) would be a substantial regional hit, and would be picked up for national distribution by Atlantic Records on their Atco subsidiary. It would go on to sell between thirty and forty thousand copies, becoming Satellite's biggest hit to that time.
Name change to Stax, and partnership with Atlantic begins (1961)
With the success of "Cause I Love You," Stewart made a distribution deal giving Atlantic first choice on releasing Satellite recordings. From this point on, Stewart focused more and more on recording and promoting rhythm and blues acts. Not having really known anything about the R&B genre prior to having recorded acts such as The Veltones and Rufus & Carla, Stewart likened the situation to that of "a blind man who suddenly gained his sight." From 1961 on, virtually all of the output of Satellite Records (and successor labels Stax and Volt) would be in the R&B/southern soul style.As part of the deal with Atlantic, Satellite agreed to continue recording Carla Thomas, but to allow her releases to come out on Atlantic. Carla Thomas' first hit, "Gee Whiz," was originally issued on Satellite 104, but was quickly re-issued on Atlantic 2086, becoming a hit in early 1961. Carla Thomas would continue to have material issued on Atlantic through mid-1965, though much of it was recorded in the studios at Satellite (later Stax), or in Nashville under the supervision of the Stax staff.
In June 1961, Satellite signed a local instrumental band known as The Royal Spades. Changing their name to The Mar-Keys
Mar-Keys
The Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an American studio session band for the Stax label from Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing music formed the foundation for the early 1960s Stax sound.-Career:...
, the band recorded and issued the single "Last Night," which shot to #3 on the US pop charts, and #2 on the R&B charts.
"Last Night" was the first single to be nationally distributed on the Satellite label—previous Atlantic issues of Satellite material were issued nationally on the Atlantic or Atco
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
labels. This led to a complaint from another "Satellite Records," a company that had been in operation in California for some years but who were previously unaware of the Memphis-based Satellite label. Accordingly, in September 1961, Satellite permanently changed its name to "Stax Records," a portmanteau of the names of the two owners of the company: Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton.
Stax and Volt in ascendancy (1962–1964)
By 1962, the pieces were in place that allowed Stax to turn from a successful regional label into (alongside Motown and Atlantic) a national R&B powerhouse. Throughout the rest of the 1960s, the label's operations would be greatly aided by several unique factors, including the label's record store and studio, and its A&R department and house band.- Record Store: While Stewart ran the recording studio where the auditorium was, Axton ran the Satellite record shop where the refreshment stand had been. (The store was later moved next door to a vacated barber shop.) The record shop sold records from a wide variety of labels, which gave the Stax staff first-hand knowledge of what kind of music was selling—and was subsequently reflected in the music that Stax recorded. The store was also used to 'test-market' potential future Stax singles, as acetates of recently recorded Stax music were played to gauge customers' reactions.
- A&R: Original A&R director Chips Moman left the company at the end of 1961 after a royalty dispute with Stewart; he soon opened his own studio across town. Mar-Keys member Steve CropperSteve CropperSteve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
replaced Moman as Stewart's assistant and official A&R director. Cropper would quickly become a writer, producer and session guitarist on scores of Stax singles. - House band: Through the first few years of Stax, the 'house band' varied, although Cropper, bassist Lewie SteinbergLewie SteinbergLewie Steinberg is an American musician best known as the original bass guitar player for soul music group Booker T. & the M.G.'s....
, drummer Curtis Green, and horn players Floyd Newman, Gene "Bowlegs" Mille, and Gilbert Caple were relative constants.
- By 1962, pianistPianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
/multi-instrumentalist Booker T. JonesBooker T. JonesBooker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. and the MGs. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime...
was also a regular session musician at Stax (he actually played sax on "Cause I Love You"), as was bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. Jones, Steinberg and Cropper would be joined in mid-1962 by drummer Al Jackson, Jr. to form Booker T. & the M.G.'sBooker T. & the M.G.'sBooker T. & the M.G.'s is an instrumental R&B band that was influential in shaping the sound of southern soul and Memphis soul. Original members of the group were Booker T. Jones , Steve Cropper , Lewie Steinberg , and Al Jackson, Jr....
, an instrumental combo that would record numerous hit singles in their own right, as well as serving as members of the de facto house band for virtually every recording made at Stax from 1962 through about 1970. Dunn would slowly become the house band's primary bassist, and officially replace Steinberg as an MG in 1964.
- Other members of the house band included horn players Andrew Love and Wayne Jackson. Also auditioning for Stax in 1962 was Isaac HayesIsaac HayesIsaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
; though he was not successful at the time, by 1964 he would be a vital part of the Stax house band, along with his songwriting partner David PorterDavid Porter (musician)David Porter is an American soul musician. Porter is best known as the songwriting and production partner of Isaac Hayes at Stax Records during the 1960s...
. The sextet of Cropper, Dunn, Hayes, Jackson, Jones and Porter were collectively known as the "Big Six" within the halls of Stax, and were (either as a group, or working in various combinations) responsible for producing almost all of the label's output from about 1963 through 1969.
- The Studio: Another important factor in Stax's success was the actual Stax studio itself. The Stax recording studio in the converted movie theater still had the sloped floor where the seats had once been. Because the room was imbalanced, it created an acoustic anomaly that translated into the recordings, often giving them a big, deep yet raw sound. Soul music historian Rob BowmanRob Bowman (music writer)Rob Bowman is a contemporaneous Canadian professor of ethnomusicology and a music writer. He currently lives in Toronto with both his children....
notes that because of the distinctive sound, soul music fans can tell often within the first few notes if a song was recorded at Stax.
The label's biggest early star, soul singer Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, also arrived in 1962. Redding, however, technically wasn't on Stax, but on their sister label Volt. In that era, many radio stations, anxious to avoid even the hint of payola
Payola
Payola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under U.S...
, often refused to play more than one or two new songs from any single record label at one time, so as to not appear to be offering favoritism to any particular label. To circumvent this, Stax, like many other record companies, created a number of subsidiary labels. Volt was founded in late 1961, and was the label home to Otis Redding, the Bar-Kays, and a handful of other artists. Volt releases were initially issued by Atlantic through their Atco Records
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
subsidiary. Other Stax subsidiaries over the years included Enterprise, Chalice (a gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
label), Hip, and Safice.
Redding's first single, "These Arms Of Mine," issued in October 1962, hit both the R&B and the pop charts. Though the label had enjoyed some early hits with The Mar-Keys
The Mar-Keys
The Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an American studio session band for the Stax label from Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing music formed the foundation for the early 1960s Stax sound.-Career:...
and Booker T. & The M.G.'s, Redding became the first Stax/Volt artist to consistently hit the charts with each release—in fact, each of Redding's 17 singles issued during his lifetime charted. (Carla Thomas also charted with reasonable consistency, but her pre-1965 releases were on Atlantic, not Stax or Volt.)
Between January 1962 and December 1964, Stax and Volt released several chart hits each by Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, and Booker T. and the M.G.'s. However, despite dozens of other releases, only three other Stax/Volt artists charted during this time, and all just barely: William Bell's "You Don't Miss Your Water" hit #95 in early 1962; The Mar-Keys' "Pop-Eye Stroll" hit #94 in mid-1962 (although it was a big hit in Canada, hitting #1 on Toronto's CHUM Chart
CHUM Chart
The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM 1050 AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station...
), and Barbara & The Browns' "Big Party" made it to #97 in mid-1964.
Beginning in 1965, Stax/Volt artists would make the charts much more frequently.
Stax/Volt's continued success (1965–1967)
By 1965, Stax had signed a formal national distribution deal with Atlantic Records. Carla Thomas also formally rejoined the Stax label in 1965. Perhaps more importantly for the label's fortunes, the songwriting team of Isaac HayesIsaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
and David Porter
David Porter (musician)
David Porter is an American soul musician. Porter is best known as the songwriting and production partner of Isaac Hayes at Stax Records during the 1960s...
began to establish themselves as Stax's new team of hit writer/producers. Hayes would also permanently join the Stax house band, often subbing for Booker T. Jones, who was studying music full-time at Indiana University during the mid-1960s.
In addition to hits by stalwarts Redding, Booker T. & The M.G.'s, and Carla Thomas, 1965 saw the chart debuts of Stax artists The Astors and Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...
plus Volt artist The Mad Lads. Sam & Dave were technically a duo act on the Atlantic roster, but were "leased" to Stax by Atlantic—Stax oversaw their music and put it out on the Stax label. Virtually all of Sam & Dave's Stax material was written and produced by Hayes and Porter.
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
to record at Stax, though these songs were released on Atlantic. Pickett's 1965-66 hits "In The Midnight Hour
In the Midnight Hour
"In the Midnight Hour" is a song originally performed by Wilson Pickett in 1965 and released on the 1966 album The Exciting Wilson Pickett. It was composed by Pickett and Steve Cropper at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis where Martin Luther King, Jr. would later be murdered in April 1968...
," "Don't Fight It." "634-5789" and "Ninety-Nine and A Half (Won't Do)" were Stax songs in all-but-name, as they were all co-written by Steve Cropper, recorded at Stax, and backed by the Stax house band. In early 1966, perhaps tiring of another label capitalizing on the Stax sound, Jim Stewart banned all non-Stax productions at the Stax studios. One of the Atlantic artists who wasn't allowed to record at Stax was the then-newly-signed Aretha Franklin (who instead was sent to Rick Hall's FAME
FAME Studios
FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...
studios in Alabama, which had a sound that was similar to Stax's). Pickett's subsequent hits were recorded elsewhere, including at FAME and at American Group Productions, Chips Moman's Memphis studio.
By 1966 and 1967, Stax and its subsidiaries had hit their stride, regularly scoring hits with artists such as Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas, William Bell
William Bell (singer)
William Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter, and one of the architects of the Stax-Volt sound. As a performer, he is probably best known for 1961's "You Don't Miss Your Water" ; 1968's "Private Number" ; and 1976's "Tryin' To Love Two", Bell's only US top 40 hit, which also hit #1 on the...
, Booker T. & the MG's, Eddie Floyd
Eddie Floyd
Eddie Lee Floyd is an American soul/R&B singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s and the song "Knock on Wood".-Biography:...
, The Bar-Kays, Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
, and The Mad Lads.
Unlike Motown, which frequently packaged its artists on review tours, Stax only infrequently sought to promote its acts through label-sponsored live concerts. The first of these was in the summer of 1965, in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
rather than in Memphis. While the show was a success, the Watts riots
Watts Riots
The Watts Riots or the Watts Rebellion was a civil disturbance in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California from August 11 to August 15, 1965. The 5-day riot resulted in 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries, and 3,438 arrests...
began the day afterward, and several Stax artists were trapped in Watts during the violence. Stax also sponsored a Christmas concert in Memphis for several years, the most notorious of which was held in 1968, when special guest Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
performed drunk and was booed off of the stage. The most successful Stax package revue was a tour of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1967. Playing to sold-out crowds across western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, Stax released several live albums from the tour recordings, including the best-selling Otis Live In Europe'."
The break from Atlantic Records (1968)
In 1967, Atlantic Records was sold to Warner Bros.-Seven ArtsWarner Bros.-Seven Arts
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was formed in 1967 and became defunct in 1970, when Seven Arts Productions acquired Jack Warner's controlling interest in Warner Bros. for $32 million and merged with it. The deal also included Warner Bros. Records, Reprise Records and the B&W Looney Tunes library...
, which activated a clause in the Stax/Atlantic distribution contract calling for renegotiation of the distribution deal. At this point, it was pointed out to Stewart that he had unknowingly signed away the rights to the original master recordings for all of Stax's Atlantic-distributed recordings. The executives at Warner refused to return ownership of the Stax masters to Stewart. As a result, Stewart did not renew his distribution deal with Atlantic, and instead sold Stax a week later to Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
(who also owned Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
), a unit of Gulf+Western
Gulf+Western
Gulf and Western Industries, Inc., for a number of years known as Gulf+Western, was an American conglomerate.- History :Gulf and Western's prosaic origins date to a manufacturer named Michigan Bumper Co. founded in 1934, though Charles Bluhdorn treated his 1958 takeover of what was then Michigan...
, in May 1968. As a result, Stax was forced to move forward without the most desirable portion of its back catalogue and without Sam and Dave, who remained at Atlantic after the split. To make matters worse, Stax's biggest artist, Otis Redding, as well as all but two of the members of the Bar-Kays, died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.
Stewart remained at the company, and former Stax marketing executive Al Bell
Al Bell
Al Bell is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. Bell is best known as one of the key figures behind and a co-owner of Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records during the latter half of the label's nineteen-year existence...
became the company's vice-president, taking on a more active role as Stewart became less active in Stax's day-to-day operations. Estelle Axton, who disagreed with Bell's visions for the company, left Stax after the sale.
After the Atlantic distribution deal expired in May 1968, Atlantic briefly marketed Stax/Volt recordings made after the split. These recordings feature the alternate Stax/Volt logos used on the album covers on their labels, as opposed to the original Atlantic-era logos, such as the "Stax-o-wax" logo. Stax label recordings were reissued on the Atlantic label, and Volt label material on the Atco label. Gulf+Western-owned Stax/Volt releases used new label designs, new logos (including the recognizable finger snapping logo) and new catalogue numbering systems to avoid confusion among the record distributors.
Stax as an independent label (1968–1972)
Although Stax had also lost their most valuable artists, they recovered quickly. Johnnie TaylorJohnnie Taylor
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from rhythm and blues, soul, blues and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco.-Early years:...
gave Stax its first big post-Atlantic hit with "Who's Making Love" in 1968. To build up a catalog to replace the catalog lost to Atlantic/Atco Records, Stax/Volt/Enterprise released a whopping 27 albums and 30 singles in 1969. Producer and songwriter Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
stepped into the spotlight with Hot Buttered Soul
Hot Buttered Soul
Hot Buttered Soul was Isaac Hayes' second studio album. Released in 1969, it is recognized as a landmark in soul music.-Album history:The album almost never came to be...
, which sold over three million copies in 1969. By 1971, Hayes was established as the label's biggest star, and was particularly noted for his best-selling soundtrack
Shaft (album)
Shaft is a double album by Isaac Hayes, recorded for Stax Records' Enterprise label as the soundtrack LP for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1971 Soul Cinema Classic film Shaft. The album mostly consists of instrumentals composed by Hayes as score for the film. Three vocal selections are included:...
to the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft
Shaft (1971 film)
Shaft is a 1971 American blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An action film with elements of film noir, Shaft tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob neighborhoods in order to find the...
. Hayes' recordings were among the releases on a third major Stax label, Enterprise, which had been founded in 1967.
The label also enjoyed great success when it had the Staple Singers shift from Gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
to mainstream R&B. Even Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
, one of the first artists signed to the label, enjoyed a popular resurgence with a string of hits. However, Stax's record sales were down overall, under Gulf+Western/Paramount/Dot's poor management. In 1970, Stewart and Bell purchased the label back, and Stax subsisted on its own for the next two years.
By this time, the Stax recording studio was accepting outside work again. In 1973, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
recorded three albums at Stax in July and December. They were: Raised On Rock, Good Times, and Promised Land which produced four top 20 hits.
As co-owner, Bell undertook an ambitious program to make Stax not only a major recording company, but also a prominent player in the black community. The Stax logo was slightly altered with the finger-snapping hand recolored brown. He began signing many more artists to the label, Frederick Knight
Frederick Knight (singer)
Frederick Knight is an American R&B singer, songwriter and record producer.- Biography :Knight recorded with Mercury and Capitol in New York before signing with Stax Records in 1972. He had his only UK hit single, "I've Been Lonely For So Long," in 1972. The song was on the chart for 10 weeks and...
and The Soul Children
The Soul Children
The Soul Children was an American vocal group who recorded soul music for Stax Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They had three top ten hits on the Billboard R&B chart – "The Sweeter He Is" , "Hearsay" , and "I'll Be The Other Woman" – all of which crossed over to the Hot...
among them. For the first time, many of the label's acts began frequently recording at outside studios (such as Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee. Ardent Records/Ardent Music is the in-house label.- History :Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and was initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first Ardent Records 45's. In 1966 the operation moved...
in Memphis and at recording studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
) and working with outside producers, signaling an end of the signature Stax sound. Bell even created a comedy subsidiary label, Partee Records
Partee Records
Partee Records was a daughter label of Stax Records which was specialised in comedy music....
, which released albums from the likes of Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
and Moms Mabley
Moms Mabley
Jackie "Moms" Mabley, born Loretta Mary Aiken , was an American standup comedian and a pioneer of the so-called "Chitlin' Circuit" of African-American vaudeville.-Early years:...
; and he made a bid for the white pop market by signing Big Star and licensing albums by Terry Manning
Terry Manning
Terry Manning is a music producer, songwriter, photographer and recording engineer known for work in rock, rhythm and blues, and pop music genres....
, the UK progressive rock band Skin Alley
Skin Alley
Skin Alley was a progressive British- rock combo, that existed from 1969 to 1974. They are best known for their track, "Living In Sin".-Career:...
, and Lena Zavaroni
Lena Zavaroni
Lena Hilda Zavaroni was a Scottish child singer and a television show host. With her album Ma! He's Making Eyes At Me at ten years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the UK album chart top ten. Later in life she hosted TV shows and appeared on stage...
. In addition, Bell also became heavily involved with various causes in the African-American community, and was a close friend of the Reverend Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
and a financial supporter of his Operation PUSH.
On August 20, 1972, the Stax label presented a major concert, Wattstax
Wattstax
Wattstax is a 1973 documentary film by Mel Stuart that focused on the 1972 Wattstax music festival and the African American community of Watts in Los Angeles, California. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Documentary Film in 1974...
, featured performances by Stax recording artists and humor from rising young comedian Richard Pryor. Known as the "Black Woodstock," Wattstax was hosted by Reverend Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
and drew a crowd of over 100,000 people, most of them African-American. Wattstax was filmed by motion picture director Mel Stuart
Mel Stuart
Mel Stuart is an American film director and producer.Stuart directed the fantasy-musical Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory...
(Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 musical film adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, directed by Mel Stuart, and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. The film tells the story of Charlie Bucket as he receives a golden ticket and visits Willy...
), and a concert film of the event was released to theaters by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
in February 1973.
Decline and bankruptcy (1972–1975)
Despite the success of Wattstax, the future of Stax was unstable. In 1972, Bell bought out Stewart's remaining interest in the company, and established a distribution deal with CBS RecordsSony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
. CBS Records President Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
saw Stax as a means for CBS to fully break into the African-American market and successfully compete with Motown. Bell had originally proposed that CBS buy 50% of the company, but Davis discussed it with CBS's corporate attorneys, who saw anti-trust problems, so a national distribution deal was worked out instead. However, Davis was fired by the company shortly after signing the Stax distribution deal. Without Davis at the helm, CBS very quickly lost interest in Stax.
The Stax labels' profits were cut severely, particularly since the CBS distribution agents bypassed the traditional small mom-and-pop record sellers in the black community which had been the backbone of Stax's distribution, and weren't pushing the Stax product to the larger retailers for fear of undercutting rack space for CBS R&B artists such as Earth Wind and Fire, The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
, and Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
. Reports came in to Stax of stores in cities such as Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Detroit being unable to get new Stax records despite consumer demands, and the company attempted to annul its distribution deal with CBS. However, although CBS was uninterested in fully promoting Stax, it refused to release the label from its contract, for fear that Stax would land a more productive deal with another company and then become CBS's direct competitor.
The last big chart hit for Stax was "Woman to Woman" from Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown is an American soul singer, best known for her million-selling single "Woman to Woman" which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.-Woman to Woman:...
in 1974, and the single's success helped delay the inevitable demise of the company for several months. By 1975, all of the secondary Stax labels had folded, with only the main Stax label remaining. Al Bell attempted to stave off bankruptcy with bank loans from Memphis' Union Planters Bank. Jim Stewart, unwilling to see the company die, returned to active participation in Stax and mortgaged his Memphis mansion to provide the label with short-term working capital
Working capital
Working capital is a financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business, organization or other entity, including governmental entity. Along with fixed assets such as plant and equipment, working capital is considered a part of operating capital. Net working capital is...
. However, the Union Planters bank officers soon got cold feet, and foreclosed on the loans, costing Stewart his home and fortune.
Stax/Volt Records was forced into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
on December 19, 1975.
Stax in limbo (1976–1977)
Al Bell was arrested and indicted for bank fraudBank fraud
Bank fraud is the use of fraudulent means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently representing to be a bank or financial institution. In many instances, bank fraud is a criminal offense...
during the Stax bankruptcy proceedings, but was acquitted of those charges in August 1976. In early 1977, Union Planters sold Stax, its master tapes, and its publishing arms for about four million dollars to a holding corporation. This corporation then sold the Stax-owned master recordings, as well as the name "Stax Records," to Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
later that same year.
Effectively, that meant that Fantasy owned and controlled the following:
- All Stax material recorded after May 1968.
- The handful of pre-May 1968 Stax singles and albums Atlantic initially declined to distribute nationally in the 1960s (none of which were hits).
- All unreleased tracks and alternate takes of Stax recordings, including those recorded before May 1968.
Fantasy also had the right to issue new recordings under the Stax Records banner.
Note that Stax's one-time McLemore Ave. headquarters was not sold until 1981, when Union Planters deeded it to the Southside Church of God in Christ for ten dollars.
Stax resumes operations (1978–1981)
In November 1977, Fantasy appointed long-time Stax writer/producer David PorterDavid Porter (musician)
David Porter is an American soul musician. Porter is best known as the songwriting and production partner of Isaac Hayes at Stax Records during the 1960s...
to head up a revived version of the Stax label which was relaunched in January 1978. Porter signed several new acts to Stax, including Fat Larry's Band
Fat Larry's Band
Fat Larry's Band was an American R&B/funk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who enjoyed some commercial success in the early 1980s.-Career:...
, Rick Dees
Rick Dees
Rigdon Osmond "Rick" Dees III is an American comedic performer, entertainer, and radio personality, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown and for the novelty song "Disco Duck." He is a People's Choice Award recipient, a Grammy-nominated...
and Sho Nuff, as well as re-signing former mid-70s Stax acts Rance Allen, Soul Children and Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown is an American soul singer, best known for her million-selling single "Woman to Woman" which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.-Woman to Woman:...
. As well, Porter was responsible for overseeing compilations of previously unissued material by Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
, Randy Brown
Randy Brown
Randy Brown is a retired American basketball player. A 6'2" guard who played at New Mexico State University, Brown was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the second round of the 1991 NBA Draft...
, The Bar-Kays, Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
and The Emotions
The Emotions
The Emotions are an American all female soul and R&B singing group. The group was formed in its current hometown of Chicago, Illinois originally consisting of the three Hutchinson sisters, all the children of Joseph and Lillian Hutchinson....
.
This iteration of Stax released over two dozen singles, including nine that made the US R&B charts. By far the biggest hit of this era was The Bar-Kays' "Holy Ghost", a #9 R&B hit in 1978; it was a remixed and over-dubbed version of a track the band recorded for Stax in 1975. (By 1978, The Bar-Kays were long-gone from Stax, and were enjoying a string of hits on Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
.)
Porter left Stax in 1979, and the label's new releases slowed to a trickle. By late 1981, Stax was strictly in the business of reissuing material recorded between 1968 through 1975, or issuing previously-unreleased archival material from the sixties and seventies.
Stax as a reissue label (1982–2003)
Through much of the 1980s and 1990s, Stax activities focused exclusively on re-issues. Because Atlantic owned (and still owns) most of the Atlantic-era Stax master recordings released up to May 1968, the Atlantic-controlled material has been reissued by co-owned Rhino Records or licensed to Collectables RecordsCollectables Records
Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene was previously associated with New York City's Times Square Record Shop, Philadelphia's Record Museum retail chain, and the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels....
.
Fantasy, meanwhile, also repackaged and re-released the Stax catalogue it controlled, on the Stax label. Because Fantasy owned the non-master recordings of all Stax material, for several of its Stax compilations, Fantasy issued alternate takes of the Stax hit recordings in place of the master recordings owned by Atlantic.
In 1988, Fantasy issued the various artists album Top of the Stax, Vol. 1: Twenty Greatest Hits. This marked the first time an album was issued with both Atlantic-owned and Fantasy-owned Stax material; it was issued by arrangement with Atlantic Records. A second volume was released by Fantasy in 1991.
In 1991, Atlantic issued The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959–1968, a nine-disc compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
boxed set
Boxed set
A box set is a compilation of various musical recordings, films, television programs, or other collection of related items that are contained in a box.-Music box sets:...
containing all of the Atlantic-era Stax a-sides. This release earned Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations for boxed-set producer Steve Greenberg
Steve Greenberg (record producer)
Steve Greenberg is a record producer currently heading the S-Curve Records label. He is noted for "discovering" popular musical acts such as Hanson, Baha Men, Jonas Brothers and Joss Stone. He received a 2000 Grammy Award in the "Best Dance Recording" category as a producer of "Who Let the Dogs...
in the Best Historical Album category and for writer Rob Bowman in the Best Album Notes category. The boxed-set was certified gold in 2001, the largest collection of CDs ever to have earned that certification. Fantasy followed their lead and issued volumes two and three of the Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles series in 1993 and 1994, respectively. Volume Two compiles the Stax/Volt singles from 1968 to 1971, while Volume Three completes the collection with the singles issued from 1972 to 1975. Volume Three earned a Best Album Notes Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Rob Bowman. In 2000, Fantasy issued a boxed set titled The Stax Story, which includes pre-1968 material by arrangement with Atlantic.
Stax Museum, and label revival (2003–present)
After a decade of neglect, the Southside Church of God in Christ tore down the original Stax studio in 1989. Over a decade later the Stax Museum of American Soul MusicStax Museum
The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is a museum located in Memphis, Tennessee, at 926 McLemore Avenue, the former location of Stax Records. It is operated by Soulsville USA, which also operates the adjacent Stax Music Academy.-History:...
was constructed at the site and opened in 2003. A replica of the original building, the Stax Museum features exhibits on the history of Stax and soul music in general, and hosts various music-related community programs and events.
Concord Records
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
purchased the Fantasy Label Group in 2004, and in December 2006 announced the reactivation of the Stax label as a forum for newly-recorded music. The firstacts signed to the new Stax included Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
, Angie Stone
Angie Stone
Angie Stone is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She has been nominated for three Grammy Award. She is more successful on the charts R&B charts, with four Top 10 albums, forms including a number one album and 10 singles on the R&B chart,...
, and Soulive
Soulive
Soulive is a funk/jazz trio that originated in Woodstock, New York, and is known for its solos and catchy, upbeat songs. The band consists of Eric Krasno , Alan Evans , Neal Evans...
.
The formal relaunch came with the release on March 13, 2007 of Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration, a 2-CD box set containing 50 tracks from the entire history of Stax Records.
The first Concord-distributed Stax album of all-new material was a various artists CD which was released on March 27, 2007 and titled Interpretations: Celebrating The Music of Earth, Wind & Fire. Soulive was the first artist on revived label to release an album of all-new material with No Place Like Soul
No Place Like Soul
No Place Like Soul is an album by Soulive that was released on July 31, 2007. It is produced by Jeff Krasno, with additional tracking and mixing done by Joel Hamilton....
released July 10, 2007.
On August 28, 2007, a 3 CD Deluxe Edition box set of the 1972 music event Wattstax
Wattstax
Wattstax is a 1973 documentary film by Mel Stuart that focused on the 1972 Wattstax music festival and the African American community of Watts in Los Angeles, California. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Documentary Film in 1974...
was released, simply titled "WATTSTAX". For the first time in over 30 years almost half of the 25-plus performers at that event were finally heard for the first time, released in remastered stereo. The 3 CD set still only covers about one-third of the entire Wattstax concert, which lasted 10+ hours; Concord has not issued any statement as to the possibility of preparing future releases that would cover the remaining Wattstax material.
Stax artists
Atlantic Records era (1957–1968)
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Post-Atlantic years (1968–1975)
Concord years (2006-present)
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Informational sites
- History of Stax
- The Stax Site - includes full Stax album and singles discographies
- Stax/Volt albums discographies by Both Sides Now Publications
- Stax/Satellite Discography by Global Dog Productions
Documentaries and interviews
- P.O.V. Wattstax companion website (featuring streaming audio of performances and a podcast interview with director Mel Stuart)
- Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story - PBS documentary on Stax and 2008 Grammy Award nominee for Best Long Form Video
- The Otis Redding French site
- MP3 audio interview with Stax Records expert Rob Bowman on the radio program The Sound of Young AmericaThe Sound of Young AmericaThe Sound of Young America is a public radio program and podcast based in Los Angeles, California and distributed by Public Radio International...