The sounds of Stax Records have recently been all over the airwaves as Greasy Tracks presented a six-hour, two-part tribute to Jim Stewart — the co-founder of the iconic label — who passed away at age 92 on Dec. 5.
Part 1 aired on Dec. 24. Check out the archive by clicking here. Part 2 aired Jan. 7. Listen here, while playlists are here.
Included was music from across the history of the label as well as interviews with some of those who worked with and knew Stewart, including William Bell, Steve Cropper, Robert Gordon, Don Nix, Deanie Parker, Tim Sampson and Vaneese Thomas.
Sam Phillips, who founded Memphis Recording Service — later known as Sun Studio — in 1950, is the one who got the recording studio ball rolling in the city and where the likes of Ike Turner, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Milton, Johnny Cash, Bobby Bland and Roy Orbison all recorded.
Joined by his sister, Estelle Axton, Stewart — heavily influenced by hearing Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say” — ultimately followed the influential Phillips with Satellite Records.
Taking over an old movie theater, the former Capitol Theatre, at 926 East McLemore Ave., in South Memphis, in 1957. Prior to the label’s formation, Axton ran Satellite Records, a record shop, adjacent the movie house. It was probably named after Sputnik which was launched the year before. In the years that followed, such legendary studios as American Sound, Ardent and Royal were formed.
“I was converted, immediately,” Stewart said of hearing the Charles track. “I had never heard anything like that before. It allowed me to expand from country into R&B, into jazz, into gospel, wrapped all in one. That’s what Stax is!”
Perhaps not a household word like Motown, Stax proved over its often-turbulent history that it could more than keep pace with Detroit’s “Hitsville U.S.A.” Under Stewart’s direction in the studio and boosted by the likes of Booker T & the MG’s as its primary house band, the label would create “The Memphis Sound” while churning out innumerable classic hit singles as it introduced the world to some of the most captivating soul and blues artists ever to grace the stage or the airwaves.
Bell along with Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Sam & Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas, The Staple Singers, Eddie Floyd and Johnnie Taylor each made an indelible mark on music, but also enjoyed their greatest success while at Stax Records.
Guests on the program include the veritable who’s who when it comes to Stax- and Memphis-related go-to people.
William Bell, the first male solo artist signed to Stax, released his classic debut single, “You Don’t Miss Your Water”, in 1961. Guitarist Steve Cropper was part of The Mar-Keys and Booker T & the MGs as well as doing A&R, production, engineering and songwriting. Memphis-based Robert Gordon is a Grammy/Emmy-winning author/director/producer who has written six books and been involved with eight documentaries.
Don Nix was a member of The Mar-Keys, the label’s first house band. He later went on to a solo recording career as well as a producer. Deanie Parker first recorded at Stax as a high school student, but over the years would sign to the label as an artist and writer before leading the label’s publicity department. Tim Sampson is the communications director for the Soulsville Foundation, the nonprofit organization that operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Stax Music Academy and The Soulsville Charter School. Vaneese Thomas is a recording artist who contributed to many sessions at Stax, often in the studio with her father Rufus Thomas and sister Carla and brother Marvel who was the first piano player at the label.
