Stax
(Est. 1959, includes Volt Records) Stax Records is synonymous with Southern soul music. Originally known as Satellite, the Memphis company was founded in 1959 by Jim Stewart and his sister, Estelle Axton, and took its new name in 1961 from the first two letters of their last names. 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 company\'s rhythm section), Sam and Dave, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, and Otis Redding. Redding\'s death in 1967 signaled the end of the first Stax era (to which Atlantic retains distribution rights). Subsequently the company spawned a new crop of hit-makers, among them Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, and the Dramatics. In June 1977, a year-and-a-half after Stax went bankrupt, the company\'s masters were purchased by Fantasy, Inc., which revived the Stax and Volt logos for new recordings, in addition to reissuing older material.
STAX FEATURED ARTISTS
Otis Redding
Otis Redding was the quintessential Southern soul singer. Not only has his emotion-gripping Georgia-hewn style come to epitomize the Stax/Volt Memphis sound of the Sixties, but as a vocalist, songwriter, and arranger, he played a key role in shaping it.
MORE
Booker T. & The MGs
Although the Sixties were a time of upheaval and change, one thing that remained constant was the laid-back, tightly locking Memphis sound of Booker T. & the MGs. They were not only the instrumental group of the decade, but they were its rhythm section.
MORE
The Staple Singers
Staples and his three singing daughters - Mavis, Yvonne, and Cleo-have come a long way from the main part of Mississippi. From their gospel beginnings through the folk-rock era to their soul music peak, the Staple Singers have traveled a long, artistically-rich road into the mainstream of American music.
MORE
