The soulful sounds of Stax to be reborn
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 | 3:04 PM ET
CBC Arts
Stax Records, the legendary Southern record label that gave birth to the likes of Otis Redding and Booker T. & the MG's, is being resurrected 30 years after it went out of business.
Concord Records, which acquired the label two years ago from Fantasy Music Group, announced the soulful sounds of Stax would be relaunched in 2007.
Former Stax artist Isaac Hayes, seen in this undated photo, has re-signed onto his old label.
"This is an opportunity to fill the void for real soul and R&B," said John Burk of Concord.
Burk said the label will put out a series of CD collections and DVDs in its catalogue. They include Stax 50: A 50th Anniversary Celebration, a two-CD anthology of the company's most memorable hits.
The first two artists to sign up with the refurbished label are former Stax artist Isaac Hayes and contemporary soul singer Angie Stone. Both albums are expected out in the fall.
"Stax has been and always will be soul music," said Hayes. "It's like coming home."
Hayes's bestselling Hot Buttered Soul album was released in 1969 by Stax. In 1972, Hayes won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the film Shaft.
Stax hit its height during the civil rights movement of the 1960s and into the 1970s. It was located in Memphis, Tenn., when the South was still segregated, and became known as Soulsville, U.S.A.
A symbol of integration in the South
Jim Stewart founded Stax in 1961. Stax is a combination of his name and the last name of his sister, Estelle Axton, who mortgaged her home to finance the new business.
Over the years, Stax has worked with Sam & Dave, The Staple Singers, Eddie Floyd and Johnnie Taylor. Booker T. & The MG's was its house band. Stax used musicians from a variety of backgrounds and for many in the South, it symbolized integration.
Stax artists collected eight Grammy Awards, produced a dozen Top 10 hits and three No. 1 songs between 1959 and 1975.
The studio, in a renovated theatre in downtown Memphis, also saw the likes of Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. Stax was closely associated with Atlantic Records and Columbia, so many artists from those labels used Stax's studios.
The studio was torn down in 1981. The Stax Museum of American Soul now stands on the site.
Burk says the company plans to work with the city to "help reinvigorate [the Memphis] music community."
