Stax Museum News

Myron Walden's Countryfied Pushes the Boundaries of Soul

2010-09-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

Photographer Jacob Blickenstaff recently exhibited his solo show "Still Life in Soul" at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Since the show, part of Jacob’s continuing work has been an intimate one-on-one documentary project with multi-instrumentalist and composer Myron Walden. 

Myron Walden's new group 'Countryfied' bring the soul of American roots music forward through blues-centric composition and dynamic improvisation. It's the spirit of the blues brought into new context. Neither homage nor throwback, ‘Countryfied’ is a genuine mining of feeling, memory and idiom.

“The music of Countryfied is based in American music,” says Myron. “And American music is based in the blues.”

Myron is inspired and driven by his memories of soul and blues music he absorbed as a young man. He grew up in Florida and moved to the Bronx with his mother at the age of 10. Many of his relatives in New York also hailed from the South, surrounding him with a mix of urban and southern culture. One relative in particular, Aunt Othelle, was a special presence in Myron’s life, baking cornbread especially for him and playing Percy Sledge and Otis Redding records while doing chores. ‘Countryfied’ is an expression of that transplanted heritage and a discovery of the blues and soul influences on Myron’s musical identity.
 
In this multimedia slide show, Myron speaks about the intentions driving his music and the memories woven throughout it. We at the Soulsville Foundation are excited to see Soul Music growing and expanding in new and interesting ways.

Myron Walden's Countryfied from Jacob Blickenstaff on Vimeo.

Stax Museum Remembers Willie Mitchell

2010-01-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

The Staff and Board of Directors of the Soulsville Foundation – the nonprofit organization that operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School – is saddened by the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Willie Mitchell, who died here in Memphis, Tennessee, this morning, Tuesday, January 5, 2010.

Willie Mitchell was as much of a Memphis music legend and pioneer as anyone in the music industry. A trumpeter, bandleader, and one of the greatest music producers in the world, his accomplishments are part of the very backbone of American music. Mr. Mitchell is perhaps best known for discovering, producing, and recording soul and gospel icon Al Green (who performed at the Stax Museum’s grand opening concert, “Soul Comes Home,” in 2003). He also created indelible music with artists such as Ann Peebles, Sly Johnson, O.V. Wright, Donald Bryant, and Otis Clay. More recently, Cat Power a.k.a. Chan Marshall, John Mayer, The Bo-Keys, and Buddy Guy, among others, also recorded at his Royal Studios. Mr. Mitchell spent his entire life creating sounds that will forever remain distinctive, particularly the soul music his Hi Records label released in the 1970s.

“Poppa” Willie Mitchell was a very kind and generous mentor to many of the people with whom he worked and was known by those close to him for his incredible sense of humor. We found it fitting and long overdue when the Grammy Foundation awarded him a Lifetime Trustee Award in 2008, as well as the City of Memphis renaming the stretch of Lauderdale Street in Memphis where Royal Studio is located as “Willie Mitchell Boulevard” in 2004. In October 2007, during the Stax Records 50th Anniversary celebration, the Stax Museum hosted a special event in honor of Mr. Mitchell – a reunion concert performed by Syl Johnson and the famed Hi Rhythm Section, with all members of the group (the Hodges Brothers and Howard Grimes) playing together for the first time in 30 years. Ms. Peebles, Mr. Bryant, and other Hi Records artists attended and were recognized.

Mitchell was a great friend of Stax Records during its heyday and shared such musicians as Booker T. & the MGs’ drummer Al Jackson, Jr., the Memphis Horns, and others. Together, Stax and Hi were known as the creators of “the Memphis Sound” throughout the world, and that remains the same today.

Our thoughts and prayers now go out to Mr. Mitchell’s family, friends, colleagues, and the millions of his fans whose lives were changed through his music.

Stax Music Academy Winter Concert with CANDI STATON December 5th!!

2009-11-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

When the Stax Music Academy students take to the stage on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at Germantown Performing Arts Center in Memphis to salute some of the most popular female singers in American history, they will be joined by one of the most internationally renowned soul and gospel singers in the industry, Candi Staton.

The concert – “HEY SISTA, SOUL SISTA: A Salute to the Divas of Soul, Jazz, Pop, & R&B” – features all ensembles of the Stax Music Academy performing songs by the likes of Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Diana Ross, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Kahn, and numerous others, including contemporary stars Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, and Jennifer Hudson. The show will also feature a special tribute to the late soul singer and Tony-nominated actress Phyllis Hyman.

Staton, perhaps known for her monster disco hit “Young Hearts Run Free,” began singing in gospel choirs in the 1950s followed by a career in soul music that earned her some 16 R&B hits and 2 Grammy nominations from Rick Hall’s legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals. After decades of being one of the most sought-after gospel singers in the world, in 2000 she released her 11th album, Here’s a Blessing. Following the release of a well-received compilation of her Fame-era material (2004’s Candi Staton), Staton returned to secular music in the form of 2006’s His Hands.

The evening will also feature a tribute to former Bar-Kays trumpet player Ben Cauley and the first presentation of the Ben Cauley Honorary Scholarships to Stax Music Academy students. The scholarship was founded in September 2008 by the Stax Music Academy and attorney B.J. Wade of the Memphis-based law firm Glassman, Edwards, Wade & Wyatt, PC, and will distribute $100,000 to students of the academy and for young people to visit the Stax Museum over a five-year period.

The Stax Music Academy’s SNAP! After School Winter Concert at Germantown Performing Arts Center on Saturday, December 5, 2009 begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 each (reserved seating) and may be purchased at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore Avenue, or by calling 901-946-2535.

Partners for the concert include ArtsMemphis, SunTrust Bank, Thomas & Betts, Knox Phillips, Amro Music, and Glassman, Edwards, Wade & Wyatt, PC.

Check out this very cool video of Candi singing "Young Hearts Run Free" back in the Disco Daze!

Oh, Yeah. There is STILL LIFE in Soul at the Stax Museum

2009-11-13T10:35:00.000-08:00

William Bell with the Stax Music Academy band.

Eddie Floyd with the Stax Music Academy band.

Bettye Crutcher & Harvey Scales.

Last Friday night, November 6th, the Stax Museum had a shindig to beat all shindigs. It was the opening reception for our newest exhibit, "STILL LIFE IN SOUL: Contemporary Music Photography by Jacob Blickenstaff," but it was also a Stax Family Reunion and free party for Stax Museum members, and it was a blast!

It was also very powerful and moving in many ways. One of the reasons we chose to host this exhibit of Jacob's wonderful photographs is to emphasize the fact that soul music is alive and well and "authentic" soul music has gained an entire generation of new fans - throngs of young people disovering lifelong soul music artists and comeback artists at venues such as the Ponderosa Stomp, Brooklyn Soul Festival, Rabbit Factory Soul Revue, and through labels like Datpone Records that are cranking out "the real thing" again on vinyl. The photos are of artists who are still working all of the time, including Bettye LaVette, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Tami Lynn, Teenie Hodges, Maxine Brown . . . the list goes on and on,

So for the party, in keeping with that theme, the musical entertainment was provided by a large group of Stax Music Acadey students playing for all of the soul music veterans in house to show them how we are keeping their legacy alive. It turned into an impromptu jam session that was priceless, wiht Eddie Floyd jumping in with the band on "Knock on Wood," Harvey Scales - decked out in a lime-green suit and gold shoes - on "Can't Turn You Loose," and William Bell - the classiest man in show business - on his hit "You Don't Miss Your Water." Hate to be cliche, but it really was magical.

The entire night was full of love and good times. Jacob's photographs were a huge hit, especially among his 20-or-so family members and friends who chartered a bus (!) and came down from his hometown of St. Louis. Also in the crowd were Stax legends Al Bell, James Alexander of the Bar-Kays, Curtis Johnson and Sam Jones of the Astors, J. Blackfoot of The Soul Children, William Brown of the Mad Lads, Jody Stephens of Big Star, Willie Hall, Bettye Crutcher, Teenie and Charles Hodges, and probably a lot of others with whom I didn't get a chance to speak.

So we got to bridge the gap between the generations a little bit and show that soul music is timeless and loved by people of all ages and all walks of life. It was awesome in every way.

STAX MUSEUM OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH!

2009-09-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC TO HOST

“STILL LIFE IN SOUL: Contemporary Music Photography by Jacob Blickenstaff”
November 6, 2009 – April 30, 2010

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music announces a new exhibition, “STILL LIFE IN SOUL,” opening November 6th, 2009. The exhibit explores the current life, activity, and resurgence in popularity of soul music through portrait, performance, and documentary photography made since 2005 by music photographer Jacob Blickenstaff.

Opening Reception and Party

Friday, November 6, 2009 - 7-10 p.m.

Food, Cocktails, Former Stax Records Artists, Jacob Blickenstaff, and other Special Guests

Live Music by the Stax Music Academy

$20 General Admission - FREE to Stax Museum Members

Click Here for information about how to join!

More about "STILL LIFE IN SOUL":

Soul music was a nuanced, emotional, and energetic idiom that reached a worldwide audience at its height in the 1960s but then virtually disappeared by the end of the 1970s. After subsequent decades of disco, hip-hop, rap, and modern R&B – much of which covered and sampled original soul music classics from Stax Records and other labels – the roots of authentic soul are sprouting again with revived careers of veteran artists, dynamic new acts, successful concerts and festivals, reissue projects, and soul-driven independent labels.

According to Blickenstaff, “This started out as a project about music history, but I quickly found a community of music lovers, labels, bands, festivals, and DJ’s that were all coming together to support and create great music with the older artists. This work focuses on the current lives of the artists but the story is really about everyone working together to make it happen. It’s an amazing, passion-driven phenomenon that soul music is growing again in the 21st century.”

Artists represented in the 40 photos in the exhibit include Bettye LaVette, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Lee Fields & the Expressions, Barbara Lynn, Maxine Brown, Roscoe Robinson, Harvey Scales, Candi Staton, Sir Lattimore Brown, Otis Clay, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Skip Pitts, Ben Cauley, Mighty Hannibal, John Gary Williams (of the Mad Lads), and many others. The work chronicles performances at The Ponderosa Stomp, Lincoln Center, Dig Deeper, and the Brooklyn Soul Festival, as well as recording sessions at Daptone Studios. Performances were backed by contemporary soul bands the Bo-Keys, The Sweet Divines, and Eli Reed and the True Loves.

As the only soul music museum in the world, it’s an essential part of our mission to recognize these incredible artists and organizations that are dedicated to authentic soul music who are bringing a whole new generation of fans to the scene. It is also very much in keeping with the philosophy of our Stax Music Academy, where we carry the Stax Records legacy of playing real music into the future with a new generation.

Jacob Blickenstaff is a music photographer based in New York City. His work has been published internationally in magazines and newspapers including Rolling Stone, WIRE, Wax Poetics, No Depression, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Offbeat, Gambit Weekly, and Time Out New York. He has also been an official photographer for the Ponderosa Stomp since 2007. Additional music clients include Lincoln Center, NPR Music, Daptone Records, and Proper American Records. This is the first major exhibition of his photography.
An opening reception for the exhibit will be held November 6th at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, during which students of the Stax Music Academy will perform for guests and former Stax Records artists.

For more information, images, or to schedule an interview with the photographer, please contact Tim Sampson at 901-942-2535 or tim.sampson@soulsvillefoundation.org.

To learn more about Jacob Blickenstaff and to see more of his photography, visit his website at http://www.33-13.com/.

O My Soul! Big Star box set now available at the Stax Museum

2009-09-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

While Stax is best known for the classic soul music that it churned out in the '60s and '70s, there were also a few rock and roll bands and artists that recorded for Stax and its sister labels. One of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed bands from that era is the subject of an impressive new CD box set, which is now available at the Stax Museum Online Shop.

Big Star inspired a fevered allegiance among fans of power pop, giving rise to a cult of believers who spent decades spreading the gospel. Their enthusiasm turned this obscure Memphis pop band – one that got little airplay, sold few records, and only played a handful of times – into a remarkable rock and roll resurrection story. Big Star’s trek from obscure Memphis band to standard bearers for an entire genre of music has never been fully mapped – until now.

Keep An Eye On The Sky spans 1968 to 1975 and shows the progression of Big Star through selections from such studio precursors as Rock City and Icewater; music from Big Star’s acclaimed albums (the Ardent/Stax releases #1 Record and Radio City, as well as Third/Sister Lovers); and relevant solo work by group principals Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, who formed Big Star in 1971 with bassist Andy Hummel and drummer Jody Stephens.

This four-CD collection mixes classic Big Star tracks with a trove of unreleased demos, unused mixes, alternate versions of songs, and a 1973 concert recorded in Memphis. The lavish packaging includes extensive liner notes, rare and never-before-seen photos from William Eggleston and others, and insightful essays about the cult of Big Star and the band’s history.

ORDER NOW!

Check out some of the reviews:

4 1/2 Stars

- "The four CDs of Keep An Eye On The Sky are the last word on Big Star's first, ultimately glorious lifetime." - Rolling Stone

4 1/2 Stars - "Anybody who has ever loved the band will find something to cherish here, whether it's the crackerjack live show... or merely the context of the set, which tells the story of America's greatest cult band this side of the Velvet Underground in a complete and affecting fashion." - AllMusic.com

A - "Anyone who still needs convincing will find the case for Big Star's legendhood made beyond a reasonable doubt on Keep An Eye On The Sky." - Entertainment Weekly

9.3 (out of 10) - "Big Star aren't just rock's greatest cult band; they were arguably rock's first cult band. Keep An Eye On The Sky sounds like the one reissue that finally gets Big Star right." - Pitchfork

Stax Museum Honors Isaac Hayes' Birthday with First Hayes Signature Shirt

2009-08-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

FIRST EVER ISAAC HAYES T-SHIRT.
Entertainment icon Isaac Hayes was born in Covington, Tennessee, on August 20, 1942. Today, on what would have been the late Stax Records legend’s 67th birthday, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music is introducing the new Isaac Hayes Signature T-Shirt for men and women.

With United States exclusivity rights from Mr. Hayes’ family and his estate granted to the Stax Museum for use of his image and name on merchandise, this new t-shirt is the first in what will become the Isaac Hayes Collection, sold at the Stax Museum, through the museum’s web store, and at other locations where Stax-related products are sold.

While obviously commercial in some aspects, the museum’s intent in designing the collection is also to promote the legacy of Mr. Hayes for future generations to come. Partial proceeds from sales of the collection will benefit the nonprofit Stax Music Academy, which Mr. Hayes dearly loved.

The new t-shirt, which features a photo illustration of the sultan of soul looking over his signature sunglasses, will be available at the Stax Museum gift shop starting Saturday, August 22, 2009.

Al Bell, Stax Records, Stax Museum in The New York Times

2009-08-17T12:52:00.001-07:00

Josh Anderson for The New York Times

READ IT HERE! DEBORAH SONTAG FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES ON AL BELL, STAX RECORDS, AND THE STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/arts/music/16sont.html?hp

Grave Marker Unveiling Ceremony for Stax Legend Isaac Hayes

2009-08-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Just a little after one year of the passing of entertainment icon Isaac Hayes on August 10, 2008 at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, a special ceremony will be held on Saturday, August 22, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. at his gravesite at Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.

“ROSES FOR BLACK MOSES: A Celebration and Commemoration of the Life of Isaac Hayes” will include the unveiling of a special grave marker designed to pay tribute and memorialize the singer, songwriter, actor, Academy Award and Grammy winner, author, radio show host, and philanthropist whose works changed the course of popular culture internationally and whose philanthropic efforts have helped children and others worldwide for decades.

Hayes, born in Covington, Tennessee on August 20, 1942, came to Stax Records in the early 1960s, where he quickly formed a successful songwriting partnership with David Porter. The two went on to write more than 200 songs for the company, including “Soul Man,” “Hold On, I’m Coming,” and “When Something is Wrong with my Baby.” Both became legends in the music business and Hayes went on to enjoy a solo career in music. He was the first African-American to win an Oscar for a non-acting category for his “Theme from Shaft,” starred in more than 30 movies and television shows, became an honorary king of Ghana, where he built an 8,000-square-foot school, and was best known to younger generations for his role of “Chef” on the animated sitcom South Park.

The public is invited to “ROSES FOR BLACK MOSES”, and attendees are encouraged to bring roses, which will be placed in a large vase beside the grave marker before it is unveiled and will then be distributed to area nursing homes. There will be a short program with David Porter, members of the Hayes family, former Stax Records artists, and out-of-town guests. In case of rain, the ceremony will be held indoors at the cemetery.

STAX MUSEUM BLOG CORRECTION

2009-06-26T12:09:00.001-07:00

In the last entry where it reads in the first sentence, "artists who did record at Stax Records," that should have been "artists who did NOT record at Stax Records." Sorry for the error!

STAX MUSEUM'S MESSAGE TO MICHAEL

2009-06-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, we have a wall of video screens where many, many artists who did record at Stax are represented with video footage and information. They include Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Labelle, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Parliament, Billy Preston, The Spinners, and lots of others.

There's also a great video of a very young man in flowered pants and a fringe vest singing lead with his brothers behind him, all in front of a massive crowd of screaming fans. The young man is, of course, Michael Jackson.

With the soul music world losing such icons in recent years as Ray Charles, the aforementioned Billy Preston, and our own beloved Isaac Hayes, it's a particularly piognant day for us as we look consider the life, career, accomplishments, and the extraordinary philanthropic contributions of Michael Jackson, one of the world's greatest entertainers for many decades.

Just like Isaac Hayes, Michael Jackson always did things his own way. He always broke new ground. He never fit into any particular category because he was unique. He respected those who had come before him and he helped pave the way for many others. He is one of the few artists living today whose music will stand the test of time, and in fact, already has become a part of the international psyche.

Tomorrow night, the Stax Music Academy is performing a special tribute concert to Motown as its Summer Grand Finale in conjunction with that label's 50th anniversary. Three Michael Jackson/Jackson Five songs were already in the show. Now when our students perform them, they will be a special tribute and will have new meaning for all of us.

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY SALUTES MOTOWN SATURDAY, JUNE 27TH!

2009-06-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY SNAP! SUMMER GRAND FINALE!
"At the Corner of Soulsville & Hitsville: Stax Salutes Motown!"

Saturday, June 27, 2009 - 7 p.m.

Buckman Performing Arts Center

$10 Advance, $12 at the Door

Special Guest Terron Brooks from Broadway's The Lion King and HBO's The Temptations!
Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door if available. Get your tickets now at the Stax Museum gift shop or by calling 901-946-2535. Does not apply to special Father's Day special.

MORE ABOUT THE STAX SUMMER MUSIC CAMP

The Stax Music Academy’s SNAP! Summer Music Camp is taking a turn this year, focusing more attention on each student and offering a wide variety of music experience with a seasoned staff and hand-picked guest instructors comprised of music business veterans from throughout Memphis and Shelby County.

The camp, which operates Monday – Friday, June 1 – 26, 2009, is designed for some 30 high school students who will benefit not only from the expertise of music instructors, but also from those with longstanding careers in writing, composing, conducting, music business, music theory, production, image consulting, and radio.

The Stax Music Academy is a program of the Soulsville Foundation, which also operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and The Soulsville Charter School, all at the original site of Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee.

While the Stax Music Academy’s mission is mentoring primarily at-risk young people through music education and unique performance opportunities, this year’s camp, according to Soulsville Foundation spokesman Tim Sampson, takes that mission to new heights by offering these valuable, behind-the-scenes life lessons so that the students gain a broader sense and detailed knowledge about the music industry above and beyond playing, singing, and performing.

In response to the global economic crisis that has hit nonprofit organizations so hard, the Stax Music Academy put a great deal of thought and effort into making this year’s summer camp as productive and efficient as possible, while still maintaining a high level of quality, by embracing the incredible talent right here in Memphis with instructors who are able to spend more focused time with a smaller group of students.

Rather than one-off workshops and/or day-long sessions, many of these music industry professionals are actually on staff for the full four-week camp. The students will gain more than ever before in terms of building relationships with these professionals, relationships that will help prepare them for college and adulthood, no matter what they major in at college or what profession they choose in the long run.

In addition to the academy’s full-time Manager of Operations and Program Development Jackie Peters, Artistic Director and Lead Music Director Ashley Keith Davis, Music Director Paul McKinney, and Program Assistant Leona Johnson, the summer camp staff includes:

Velma Cato – an award-winning producer and journalist who has worked in nationally syndicated television, radio, film, and other aspects of the entertainment industry;

Veronica Chisem – CEO and Chairman of Kindred Souls Entertainment Group, Inc. who has manages such acts as The Manhattans, The Temprees, J. Blackfoot, and Larry Dodson of the Bar-Kays, and who brings a special music finance expertise to the camp;

Diane Louie – a classically trained composer, conductor, and songwriter who has worked with the likes of Roberta Flack, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and others, and who has served as head arranger for specials such as American Idol, Grammys, and the NAACP Image Awards;

John Payne – music business teacher through the nonprofit Persuaders, Inc., owns JDP Records, which has signed Michael and Regina Winans; and is a local radio and television host;

Ken Steorts – Founder and President of VISIBLE SCHOOL – Music and Workshop Arts College in Memphis, Tennessee, and founding guitarist of the Grammy-nominated band Skillet;

Kelley Muller Smith – singer, actress, and a member of The Memphis Symphony Chorus, where she also serves on the Board of Directors;

Ralph Sutton – longtime national and international music producer who for three decades has worked with a who’s who in the music industry, including Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and a number of others, in addition to scoring film soundtracks for such movies as The Big Chill, John Q, and many others;

Marlon Wilson – radio disc jockey, special events DJ, and CD mixer for a wide variety of artists, events, and awards ceremonies. \

Gary Goin – Memphis-based writer, producer, guitarist, and protégé of Stax Records’ David Porter;

Malvin Massey – Radio producer and personality and station manager for the University of Memphis’ WUMR Jazz Station.

SPECIAL TOURISM WEEK DEALS AT THE STAX MUSEUM

2009-05-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

SPECIAL NATIONAL TOURISM WEEK OFFER:

BUY ONE ADMISSION AND GET ONE FREE!

From Monday, May 11th through Sunday, May 17th, the Stax Museum is offering buy one admission at regular price and receive one FREE! So bring a friend, family member, your sweetie, whomever and enjoy this great discount!

No other discounts apply, including special rates on groups of 15 or more.

Also, receive $4 off the regular price on the Memphis Tourism Education Foundation's documentary "I AM A MAN: From Memphis, A Life Lesson," a film about the brave 1968 Memphis Sanitation Department striking workers and their familes. The film also features students and faculty of the Soulsville Foundation's Soulsville Charter School.

Remember, we are now open again on Mondays through October 31st!

STAX OF DVDS: Read what Philadelphia Inquirer's Nick Christiano Writes about "Sam & Dave"

2009-04-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

If you haven't visited the Stax Museum Satellite Record & Gift Shop lately, check it out for recent additions, including the new CD by Booker T. Jones, "Potato Hole," which is getting rave reviews. Another is the documentary The Original Soul Men: Sam & Dave."

Here's a review from our friend Nick Cristiano at the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Capturing the magic of live performances
By Nick Cristiano
Inquirer Staff Writer

Like James Brown, Sam & Dave made great records, but they were even more dynamic on stage, where their galvanic showmanship revealed another, essential dimension of their artistry. That's what makes Sam & Dave: The Original Soul Men such a treat.

This two-hour documentary tells the story of Sam Moore and Dave Prater through interviews with Moore himself (Prater was killed in a 1988 car crash), former Stax Records chief Al Bell, and bandleader Paul Shaffer, who notes, "Sam and Dave were two preachers on stage, preaching the gospel of soul."

The heart of the set, however, is the performance clips, which capture Sam & Dave in all their sweaty, gospel-fired glory on hits like "Soul Man," "You Don't Know Like I Know," and the magnificent ballad "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby." The spectacular intensity of these performances is highlighted further by the relative tameness of a few lip-synched outings.
(There are also some oddities - a string-laden version of Bacharach-David's "Make It Easy on Yourself" and a teaming with TV host Mike Douglas (!) on an otherwise great, gospelized version of "Lucky Ol' Sun.")

Thanks, Nick.

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY SPRING CONCERT MAY 9TH WILL BE A VERY SPECIAL EVENT!

2009-04-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

Kirk Whalum Cyrus Chestnut

Stax Music Academy Graduating Senniors

SOULed ON JAZZ!

Stax Music Academy Spring Concert on May 9, 2009 with Special Guest Jazz Pianist Cyrus Chestnut and Saxophonist Kirk Whalum

Special Salute to College-Bound Seniors

On May 9, 2009, the Stax Music Academy will welcome a very special guest artist, jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut, to the SNAP! After School Spring Concert at Germantown Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. Chestnut will join SMA student musicians as well as Artist-In-Residence and internationally renowned jazz/gospel saxophonist, Kirk Whalum. The concert, “SOULed on Jazz,” will also feature a very special sendoff, including a video presentation, to some of its most dedicated and talented students, the high school seniors who have completed their last year at the academy and who are all college bound.

This will be one of the coolest nights in the history of our organization because this is our mission coming to life. From the onset of the Stax Music Academy’s programming in 2000, our focus has been mentoring primarily at-risk, urban young people through music education and unique performance opportunities to make certain they move on to college, whatever field of study and profession they choose to pursue. As much as we hate to see them leave us, we couldn’t be more thrilled that every single one of our graduating seniors are going to college.

The 2009 Spring Concert is the culmination of the 2008-2009 Stax Music Academy SNAP! After School program for high school students from throughout the Mid-South, including the Soulsville, USA community surrounding the Stax Museum and Stax Music Academy. All ensembles of the academy will perform: StreetCorner Harmonies, Premier Percussionists, Stax Music Academy Rhythm Section, and the Soulsville Swing Band (jazz). Students from The Soulsville Charter School’s Soulsville Symphony Orchestra will also perform.

Tickets are $10 each (reserved seating) and are on sale in the Satellite Records Gift Shop at the Stax Museum at 926 E. McLemore Avenue. Gift Shop hours are Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. All proceeds from the concert go directly back into programming at the Academy.

During the 2008-2009 SNAP! After School program, 51 students participated, with 44 of those students attending via need-based scholarships, scholarships made possible through generous donations from both individuals and organizations in the community. In addition to after-school music classes, the students also participated in workshops and/or performed with many music industry professionals, including world renowned violinist Augustin Hadelich, pianists Emanuel Ax and Yoko Nozaki, founding Stax Records” Bar-Kay trumpet player Ben Cauley, former Stax Records’ producer and keyboardist Lester Snell, Grammy winning gospel singer Smokie Norful, former BLACKstreet vocalist Dave Hollister, and many others. Two of the academy’s students – Amber Robinson and Ashton Riker – were also chosen to sing backup for Faith Hill in October 2008 at the National Civil Rights Museum’s Freedom Award Dinner and Ceremony. Riker also signed a major record deal with Vision Records/EMI and is scheduled to tour this summer with Rare Earth and Con Funk Shun.

The colleges to which the graduating seniors have been accepted include Tennessee State University, Murray State University (Kentucky), The Art Institute of Tennessee – Nashville, Berklee College of Music in Boston, Rhodes College, University of Memphis, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign, and University of Memphis.

We hope you'll all come out to not only enjoy the great music that the concert will provide from our students and special guests, but also to stand and cheer for these young people for all of their hard work and dedication in preparing for and applying to these colleges and universities. They stand as role models for our other students as they eventually become seniors . They deserve a big, city-wide congratulations and this concert is everyone’s opportunity to express that to them.

STAX MUSEUM NOW OPEN ON MONDAYS AGAIN!

2009-03-30T08:37:00.001-07:00

Spring has sprung and all things Stax and Soul are back on Mondays at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music! Hours are 10 a.m.- 5.m. Monday-Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. on Sundays.

If you haven't seen the incredible exhibit "OTIS REDDING: From Macon to Memphis," now is your chance! Also, check out new merchandise in the museum's Satellite Record & Gift Shop.

STAX MUSEUM & MOTOWN IN THE NEW YORK TIMES!

2009-03-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

What a great time to wish MOTOWN a big Happy 50th Anniversary, with The New York Times reporting today on both that label and the Motown Museum, as well as its gritty cousin Stax and the Stax Museum. Check it out here on line (which includes an audio slide show) at the link below or in today's print edition.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/arts/artsspecial/19ROCK.html

OWN IT TODAY: "SWEET SOUL: STAX/VOLT REVUE LIVE IN EUROPE 1967," AS SEEN ON PBS!

2009-03-04T09:07:00.001-08:00

Every now and then, a rare treasure surfaces that adds yet another layer to the unique and incredible Stax Records story. Now, after being locked in a vault in an Oslo, Norway televsion station for some 40 years, one of the greatest live Stax concerts of all time is available on DVD.

As an edited version "Sweet Soul: Stax/Volt Revue Live in Europe 1967" begins airing nationally on PBS this month, underwritten by the Stax Museum and the Soulsville Foundation, be sure to support the Stax Museum by purchasing your own full-length copy of the documentary by clicking HERE to visit our newly designed online web store. You'll find hundreds of other Stax and soul related items, including a wide variety of other DVDs, CDs, clothing, books, gifts, and much, much more. And remember that a portion of the proceeds from all sales benefits the work we do with primarily at-risk, urban young people at the STAX MUSIC ACADEMY!

Click HERE to read a review of

"Sweet Soul: Stax/Volt Revue Live in Europe 1967" in

The New York Times!

Stax Museum Closing Early Saturday, February 21st

2009-02-16T08:43:00.000-08:00

In order to prepare the Stax Museum for Staxtacular '09 Presented by SunTrust, the largest fund-raiser of the year for the Stax Music Academy, the museum will close for tours at 1 p.m. and close at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 21st. But then at 7 p.m. the party starts, so if you haven't purchased your tickets yet please do so by calling 901-261-6385 or visit www.staxtacular.com!

See you at the shindig!

STAXTACULAR: HAVE A PARTY, CHANGE A LIFE!

2009-01-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

It's time again for the Stax Music Academy's largest fund-raiser of the year, Staxtacular 09 Presented by SunTrust! The party is Saturday, February 21st, at the Stax Museum and is hosted by the Memphis Grizzlies' Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, and OJ Mayo. There will be great good and cocktails, a silent auction of fantastic items you won't find anywhere else, and tunes spun by DJ Buck Wilders.

Tickets to the event are $150, and while we're all feeling the crunch of the economic downturn, maybe this is a good opportunity to just have a great time and give back to the children of the community who need your help.

If you aren't familiar with what goes on from day to day at the Stax Music Academy, we encourage you to learn more. While we work primarily with at-risk inner-city teenagers, the Stax Music Academy now offers mentoring, music education, and unique performance opportunities to a wide range of students from throughout the community. We are fortunate in that we are here on a daily basis and get to see first-hand how the kids grow and develop, how their self esteem improves dramatically, how they grow more and more anxious to attend college, and how the camaraderie among the diverse group of young people is so much like the family that was Stax Records. It's young people learning to respect themselves and others. It's learning to get along with others. It's learning that hard work and dedication pays off. It is nothing short of life-changing for most of the "kids." All of this presents its own set of challenges to us both in terms of expense and quality of service, but we know from our daily experiences that we are helping create strong character among the youth we serve and we know it has to continue.

It has a lot more to do than just helping a teenager learn to play an instrument or sing. When you see a young person from Memphis fly on a plane for the first time, see the ocean for the first time, play in front of dignitaries from around the world for the first time, or, in some cases, just finally have a safe place to be among responsible adults and good friends for the first time, it is an experience that can't be measured in any really rational way. It is very emotional and very fulfilling.

So please know that by attending this year's Staxtacular fund-raiser, you'll not only have a great time but you will also be helping us with this tremendously necessary work. Stax has a glorious, fascinating past. This is the way we ensure it continues into the future forever.

Click here for more information on Staxtacular 09 Presented by SunTrust and/or to purchase tickets online.

STAX LEGEND AL BELL LAUNCHES NEW COMPANY/WEB SITE ON ALL THINGS SOUL

2008-12-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Benjamin Krain

NEVER one to rest on his laurels, former Stax Records owner Al Bell is at it again. And he's at it to change the music industry once again, just as he has done so many times before.

Mr. Bell's new company, "Al Bell Presents," just launched its new website, www.AlBellPresents.com, a 24/7 cornucopia of classic soul music, new soul music, and everything in between in an attempt to “entertain, engage, excite, inform, and educate," fans of all ages regarding all sub-genres of soul music, from Stax and Motown to hip-hop and neosoul. He is carefully hand-picking the programming and has included a great mix of music, bios, personal observations, and much, much more. And in the process of this progress in the works, he will be doing some great things to help promote the Stax Museum, Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School. Al has always been a great "giver-backer" and that's one of the many things we appreciate about him. That and he is just plain cool!

Look for the industry to pay attention to this, as "Billboard" has already bitten and wants more. And click here to read a recent, indepth profile in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

If you like some of the 2,000 tracks of music on the site, there's plenty more at the newly revamped Stax Museum Online Web Store.

Here is the official press release from Al Bell Presents.

Stax Records Legend Al Bell Launches
“Al Bell Presents,” And Announces New
Internet Radio Station and Website

LITTLE ROCK, AR and CHARLESTON, SC (December 11, 2008): Former Stax Records owner and Motown president Al Bell, a legend in the evolution of American music, today announced the launch of a new company, Al Bell Presents, LLC. The centerpiece of this new venture is a full-service website and the first of several Internet music channels, “Al Bell Presents American Soul Music,” both of which were built by
Charleston, SC-based American Media Services-Interactive.

Mr. Bell notes that both the website and online radio station were launched as works in progress so that the consumer, the recorded music industry, entertainment industry, and businesses in general would know what he is doing. Bell insists that, during these changing times, he wishes to create an entity that can be ‘of service’ to many.

The Al Bell Presents website is designed to function as an interactive Internet portal that offers users a variety of elements designed to “entertain, engage, excite, inform and educate.” Within these parameters it serves as a fully integrated online experience that will be scalable and constantly updated in order to provide its audience the most up-to-date content possible.

Similarly, Al Bell Presents American Soul Music features musical selections hand-picked and programmed by Mr. Bell, including over two thousand classic tracks from Stax, Motown, Philadelphia International, and other record labels’ catalogs. Mr. Bell has committed his expert ear and sense of radio formatics to develop this channel into the quintessential online listening experience for all fans of Soul, R&B, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Neo-Hip-Hop, Neo-Rap, and Neo-Soul. In addition to the music, the channel will feature Al Bell’s personal observations about the artists, the emotions, the history, and the heritage.

Both the online channel and the website can be experienced at http://www.albellpresents.com/

“It is my desire to provide a music experience that has not been enjoyed before,” commented Al Bell, chairman and chief executive officer of Al Bell Presents. “It is my desire through this diverse mixture of music to provide a connection to the past and a life line into the future. I ask all who will listen to help me. Please give me your comments and recommend the music we should be playing. Make this your – our – radio station. Email me at al.bell@albellpresents.com.”

“Mr. Bell came to our offices in Charleston to sit down with me and learn what our capabilities were,” recalls Edward F. Seeger, chairman of American Media Services. “I showed him what we had done thus far with TheRadio.Com and our ‘Stax Trax’ channel, which featured the artists he worked with and the label he ran in Memphis. He then shared with me his vision of the future for music, programming, and sales, and it was a perfect fit with mine, so we came to the conclusion to make it work together. AMSI is proud to work with Mr. Al Bell, an icon of the music industry, and to take this concept into the digital realm. The site is outstanding with its streaming 24 hour music format and the plans for more and more features will make this a must-visit site for anyone who appreciates Soul music. There is a profound change coming – no, it's already here and quickly growing from analog to digital. The venture between American Media Services-Interactive and Mr. Al Bell will be a front-runner in this new music era.”

More About The Website
The Al Bell Presents website is being designed with a “contemporary-retro” look and state-of-the-art functionality that provides users a number of audio and visual features, including:
· On Air: Online radio.
· Artists: Up-to-date bios, photo galleries, classic videos, and other information about dozens Soul, R&B, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Neo-Hip-Hop, Neo-Rap, and Neo-Soul artists.
· Backstage Access: Exclusive artist interviews, behind the scenes stories, in-studio videos, etc.
· Screening Room: Artist videos, classic performances, movie trailers, and other visual representations of classic and contemporary music.
· People’s Music: New music from unique, up-and-coming artists and musicians.
· Merchandise: Lots of great stuff available for free (and some for sale).

Each individual element of the website has an intrinsic value crafted to attract corporate co-branding and sponsorship opportunities. Because the website was designed so that features are changing constantly, it is believed that users will keep coming back on a regular basis – allowing for advertiser to achieve significant “reach and frequency.”

More About Al Bell Presents American Soul Music
Al Bell Presents American Soul Music provides a unique experience to a global audience that wants to listen to quality Soul, R&B, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Neo-Hip-Hop, Neo-Rap, and Neo-Soul programming, something that currently does not exist on terrestrial radio or on the Internet. Mr. Bell used his 50 years’ experience in the radio and recording industries to develop a sound unlike that heard on any terrestrial or Internet radio station, and it shows. Listeners have already found the station and the “time spent listening” statistics demonstrate their unanimous love for the channel.

About American Media Services-Interactive
American Media Services Interactive is a digital media enterprise whose services include “leading edge” solutions for emerging media, engagement strategies for audio/video streaming, customized and branded music channels, HD radio formats, content management systems, custom application development, website programming and design and corporate/retail “storecasting” at point-of-purchase. AMSI is an affiliate company of American Media Services, an engineering and broadcast development firm that has worked with virtually every public radio group in the U.S., including Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting, ABC Radio, Cumulus Media, Radio One, and Saga Communications. More information about AMSI may be found at http://www.amsinteractive.com/

For more information contact:
Reed Bunzel, 843-388-5024
mailto:rbunzel@ams.fm

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STAX MUSEUM LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE WEB STORE!

2008-12-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

WE'RE SELLING OUR SOUL..AND A WHOLE LOT MORE OF IT!!

If you can’t get it at the mall, can’t find it at a major record store, can’t watch it on television, and can’t find it on any other web site, you must be looking for Stax Records music and other hard-to-find soul music CDs and DVDs, as well as soul music-themed apparel, books, giftware, mouse pads, keychains, magnets, and other merchandise that is now available to anyone in the world via the new online web store of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

Launched in early December in time for holiday shopping, the new “We’re Selling Our Soul” web store has many items that can’t be found for sale at any other location in the world other than in the museum’s physical Satellite Record & Gift Shop. The site uses the most recent technology to make shopping easy and fun, with You Tube video samples of some of the music offered and other new features. New Stax-related items, new music and DVD releases, and other merchandise will be added regularly. Shoppers will also be treated to Soulsville Picks of the Week, New Arrivals, Best Sellers, and more.

From rare compilations to new releases and repackaged classics, the selection of music available in the web store has been carefully chosen by the Stax Museum staff to appeal not only to fans of the Stax family of artists, but to fans of other classic soul music as well.

To make shopping in the store even more fulfilling, the Stax Museum donates a portion of all proceeds to the Stax Music Academy, the Soulsville Foundation’s learning center where primarily at-risk, inner-city young people are mentored through music education and unique performance opportunities.

For more information on the Stax Museum, please visit http://www.staxmuseum.com/ and to go directly to the new store, please visit shop.staxmuseum.com.

STAX ALIVE AND WELL IN 51ST GRAMMY NOMINATIONS

2008-12-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought back in 1957 when Jim Stewart founded Satellite Records and a couple of years later changed its name to Stax Records, that the little label would grow so big that its artists and influence are still garnering Grammy nominations today? Yesterday, when the nominations were announced, Stax was in the house in four different categories, and we at the Soulsville Foundation couldn't be happier for those involved.

Drumroll, please......

Best Long Form Music Video (For video album packages consisting of more than one song or track. Award to the Artist and to the Video Director/Producer of at least 51% of the total playing time.)
Respect Yourself — The Stax Records Story(Various Artists)Robert Gordon & Morgan Neville, video directors; Mark Crosby, Robert Gordon & Morgan Neville, video producers[Stax/Tremolo Productions/Concord Music Group]

Best Pop Instrumental Performance (For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, without vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)
Love Appetite - Steve Cropper & Felix CavaliereTrack from: Nudge It Up A Notch[Stax]

Best Pop Instrumental Album (For albums containing 51% or more playing time of INSTRUMENTAL tracks.)
Sax For Stax Gerald Albright[Peak Records]

Best Gospel Performance (For solo, duo, group as collaborative performances. Singles or tracks with vocal containing Gospel lyrics. All genres of Gospel music are eligible.)
I Understand - Kim Burrell, Rance Allen, Bebe Winans, Mariah Carey & Hezekiah Walker's Love Fellowship Tabernacle Church ChoirTrack from: Randy Jackson's Music Club, Volume One[Concord Records/Dream Merchant 21 Ent.]

Congratulations to all in the Stax Family for these nominations, and for all of the nominations and Grammys you've received since the early days of Stax. Robert Gordon, director of the nominated Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story, summed it up this way today after learning of the film's nomination:

"The success of the Stax documentary is a reflection of the power of Stax, not just the music but also the circumstances that created the story. The soul of Stax is deep, and it resonates across generations, because of the bridge built between the races at 960 E. McLemore. At a time when racial cooperation was illegal, disparaged, and resented, the people at Stax were open-minded, honest, and fair, and you can hear that in the music. We were honored to be able to share that story in the documentary. The nomination is a nod to everyone who made Stax what it was then, and what it is today."

Amen!

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY WINTER CONCERT TO HONOR ISAAC HAYES, THURSDAY DEC. 18TH

2008-12-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

Photo by Andrea Zucker

"GO DOWN MOSES! A STAX MUSIC ACADEMY TRIBUTE TO ISAAC HAYES"

This year's Stax Music Academy SNAP! After School concert will be held Thursday, December 18th at 7 p.m. at the Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC). The concert, titled "Go Down Moses: A Tribute to Isaac Hayes," will honor the late Stax legend and international entertainment and philanthropy icon with performances of songs that trace his unparalleled career.

Featuring all ensembles of the Stax Music Academy along with The Soulsville Charter School's Soulsville Symphony Orchestra, the concert will also feature former Stax artists including Ben Cauley, Lester Snell, and others. Tickets are just $10 and are available at the Stax Museum gift shop and at the door night of concert.

What: Stax Music Academy SNAP! After School Winter Concert
When: Thursday, December 18th, 7 p.m.
Where: Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC)
Tickets: $10. Available in advance at the Stax Museum Gift Shop and at the door night of concert if not sold out.

SOUL ICONS DOMINATE ROLLING STONE 'GREATEST SINGERS OF ALL TIME' LIST

2008-11-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

Stax and soul fans will want to pick up a copy of the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine, which lists the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, as determined by a poll of prominent musicians, critics, and industry insiders.

All of us here at the Stax Museum are thrilled to see Otis Redding all the way up at #8, accompanied in the magazine by a nice essay from Booker T. Jones. Other Stax and Memphis-related artists making the list are Al Green at #14, Bobby "Blue" Bland at #44, Mavis Staples at #56, Wilson Pickett at #68, Sam Moore at #85, and B.B. King at #96.

But just like the Stax Museum covers more than just Stax and Memphis Soul, Rolling Stone's list pays tribute to all of the icons of American soul music. Seven of their Top 10, and ten of the Top 20, are classic soul or blues artists spotlighted in the Stax Museum. Check it out:

1. Aretha Franklin
2. Ray Charles
4. Sam Cooke
6. Marvin Gaye
8. Otis Redding
9. Stevie Wonder
10. James Brown
14. Al Green
17. Tina Turner
20. Smokey Robinson
22. Etta James
26. Jackie Wilson
40. Curtis Mayfield
44. Bobby "Blue" Bland
49. Donny Hathaway
51. Gladys Knight
56. Mavis Staples
65. David Ruffin
68. Wilson Pickett
78. Sly Stone
85. Sam Moore
89. Solomon Burke
95. Patti LaBelle
96. B.B. King

Just goes to show how timeless and influential soul music truly is. But if you've been through the Museum, you probably already know that, don't you?

Congratulations to all of our soul heroes that made this list!

FREE HEALTH SCREENINGS & OTHER SPECIALS AT THE STAX MUSEUM NOVEMBER 29TH

2008-11-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

If you’re looking for an alternative to the normal leftover turkey and mad dash shopping on the weekend after Thanksgiving, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music will be offering something special on Saturday, November 29th.

The museum will be the location that day for the National Urban League and Walgreen's Take Care Health Tour, which is visiting 22 urban communities across the country as part of an 11-month mobile health campaign. The tour’s 38-foot customized educational health screening bus features six free screenings, worth more than $115 in value. All services take place inside the customized vehicle and include screenings for blood pressure, bone density, glucose levels, cholesterol levels, waist circumference and body mass index. Anyone who takes advantage of the free health screening will receive $1.50 off regular admission to the Stax Museum. Museum and health screening hours are 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Also, if you have friends and family in town and want to treat them to a unique experience, the Stax Museum is offering one free admission for every three paid and a free holiday CD with any $50 purchase in the museum’s Satellite Record & Gift Shop, which offers unique music and gifts of all kinds that can be found at no other retailer.

STAX MUSEUM ACQUIRES FAMED MIXING CONSOLE FOR PERMANENT DISPLAY

2008-10-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

Our great friend and supporter, John Fry, founder of the renowned Ardent Studios, has donated the historic Auditronics console, which was used for many years in his studios, to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. The console was often used in shaping the sound of countless Stax Records hits during a period when Ardent worked closely with the Stax label and recording studios.

The console was made by the Memphis company Auditronics, owned by Welton Jetton and Steve Sage. Auditronics had supplied smaller consoles to both Ardent and Stax in 1966. The donated console was fabricated from amplifiers and equalizers made by Spectrasonics of Odgen, UT. The 20-input, 8-output console was installed at Ardent's location on National Street in 1969 and moved to Ardent's present location on Madison Avenue, where it served in Studio B until 1985. Auditronics also supplied Stax with an identical console for its A Studio in 1970.

Songs recorded on the Ardent console now at the Stax Museum include Isaac Hayes' Hot Buttered Soul; The Staple Singers' The Staple Swingers; Best of Sam & Dave; Led Zeppelin III; James Taylor's Mudslide Slim and the Blue Horizon; Big Star's #1 Record and Radio City; ZZ Top's Fandango and Tejas; the Bar-Kay's Too Hot to Stop, Booker T. & the MGs' McLemore Avenue, and hundreds of other recordings that define the sound and songs of a generation.

A little-known fact to many: Estelle "Lady A" Axton produced the crazy 1977 Rick Dees mega-hit "Disco Duck." And yes, it was mixed on this console!

Thank you, John, for this great donation and ALL of your support.

STAX/CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT DOCUMENTARY SCREENED IN BARCELONA!

2008-10-27T09:29:00.001-07:00

Pictured at top, David Moreu and Valencia Robinson with students of The Soulsville Charter School at a special screening of "Down to Earth."

Last week, a new short film by Spanish journalist and filmmaker David Moreu was screened at the Barcelona Blues & Boogie Festival to rave reviews. This was all the result of one email in the summer of 2007.

David Moreu emailed us looking for a photograph of Booker T. & the MGs for an article he was working on and after much correspondence, he eventually ended up traveling to Memphis in November 2007 to cover the Stax Museum during our Stax 50th Anniversary celebration. While here, he conducted interviews with many people for several articles he later published in the Spanish press. But he interviewed his subjects on film.

After a lot of hard work in the editing room, Moreu finally finished "Down to Earth," a 30-minute documentary about Memphis and the Civil Rights Movement and its relation to soul music, particularly that of Stax Records. The film includes interviews with former Stax Records publicity director and former Soulsville CEO Deanie Parker; Stax songwriter and recording artist David Porter; Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles, who was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he was assassinated there in 1968; Memphis-based soul singer Valencia Robinson; Hi Records legend Willie Mitchell; and various barbers and beauticians from the Soulsville, USA community.

The film had been screened only once before, privately at the Stax Music Academy for special guests and students from The Soulsville Charter School. The Barcelona screening was the first public screening, and we hope there are many more!

THIS FRIDAY: STAX LEGEND WILLIAM BELL AT THE LEVITT SHELL!

2008-10-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

William Bell.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the newly renovated Levitt Shell in Overton Park in Memphis, this coming Friday night, October 3rd at 7 p.m. will be the perfect time. There's a free concert by none other than Stax royalty William Bell, backed by the Bo-Keys, that hard-working Memphis soul band that includes other Stax royalty Ben Cauley and Skip Pitts!

The newly renovated Levitt Shell (where the Stax Music Academy Summer Soul Tour Band opened for Kirk Whalum recently) is great. Gone are those uncomfortable benches and now there's a nice grassy lawn that slopes down to the stage, landscaped grounds, food consessions by Memphis restaurateur Karen Blockman Carrier, and just a great vibe.

I can't think of a better way to spend a crisp October evening than hanging out under the stars and listening to William and the Bo-Keys. And for free? Can't beat that!

TIME MAGAZINE HONORS STAX MUSEUM AS TENNESSEE'S MOST AUTHENTIC AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

2008-09-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

TIME magazine just named its picks for America's Top 50 Authentic American Experiences. For the state of Tennessee, they chose the STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC!

Click here to read what they have to say!

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1840345_1839927_1839917,00.html

SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION, CITY OF MEMPHIS CELEBRATE "BEN CAULEY DAY" AND ESTABLISH BEN CAULEY HONORARY SCHOLARSHIP AT THE STAX MUSIC ACADEMY

2008-09-18T14:16:00.001-07:00

Stax Records and Memphis music legend Ben Cauley. Photo by Justin Fox Burks.

Left to Right: B.J. Wade, Ben Cauley, Karla Redding-Andrews, Zelma Redding, & Deanie Parker.

Last Friday, September 12th, was a very special day for all of us here at the Soulsville Foundation and for the entire City of Memphis, not to mention the music-loving world.

As many of you know, Ben Cauley was the only member of the Bar-Kays aboard Otis Redding's plane to survive the horrible crash on December 10, 1967 that also took Otis's life and that of his pilot. Since that time, Ben has been not only a Memphis music tradition and institution, but also an inspiration for generations of young musicians.

On Friday, Memphis attorney B.J. Wade and his associates at the Memphis law firm of Glassman, Edwards, Wade & Wyatt settled an unrelated class action lawsuit in Circuit Court Division VI at the Shelby County Courthouse and allocated funds from the settlement to several Memphis organizations, including the University of Memphis Shool of Law and Memphis Area Legal Services.

In addition to those, Mr. Wade, a longtime fan and friend of Ben Cauley and champion of Ben's amazing story, allocated a gift of $100,000 over the next five years to establish the "Ben Cauley Honorary Scholarship" at the Stax Music Academy. Before the court proceedings, a reception was held at the law firm's office. Attending both the reception and courtroom proceedings were Ben and his family, along with many, many friends and Stax Family members, including Zelma and Karla Redding-Andrews (Otis Redding's widow and daughter), Bar-Kays members James Alexander and Larry Dodson; Mable John, David Porter, and many others.

We are extremely grateful to Mr. Wade for making all of this possible, and to Ben for being such a hero to us and so many others. This scholarship will help countless children in the years to come as we mentor them through music education and unique performance opportunities, much as Stax Records did for Ben and his bandmates more than 40 years ago.

Thanks to all who participated, attended, and helped us celebrate what Mayors WW Herenton and AC Wharton proclaimed "Ben Cauley Day" in Memphis and Shelby County.'

BEN, WE LOVE YOU!

R&B LEGEND FRANKIE BEVERLY PAYS SPECIAL VISIT TO SOULSVILLE

2008-09-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

Frankie Beverly (left) and Soulsville Foundation board chairman Howard Robertson at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

One of the hardest-working men in show business today, Frankie Beverly of Frankie Beverly & MAZE, paid a very special trip to Soulsville last Thursday, September 11th, to visit with students of The Soulsville Charter School and tour the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. He spent a great deal of time with the students, fielding questions from our 7th grade Soulsville Symphony Orchestra class about his career, the music industry, and even his wardrobe and the first love of his life! Mr. Beverly enouraged the children not only to attend college upon graduation but also to pay close attention to their love of music.

Mr. Beverly also presented the Stax Museum with a generous cash donation and some items of memorabilia, including one of his signature white suits made especially for him by his costume maker of some 35 years. He then toured the Stax Museum and promised he would return soon.

The following night he and MAZE delivered a knock-out sold-out performance at Memphis grand Orpheum Theater as the main entertainment headliner of the Southern Heritage Classic Annual Cultural Celebration.

Thanks, Frankie! We had a great time.

SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION HONORS ISAAC HAYES' BIRTHDAY, AUGUST 20TH

2008-08-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

The Stax Museum marquee.

Photo by Ronnie Booze.

Needless to say, it has been a very emotional time for the Soulsville Foundation, as it as the rest of the Stax music family and many others, since Isaac Hayes passed away on August 10th. While the foundation has other plans in the works, today, August 20, 2008 will be honoring his memory and his legacy on what would have been Isaac's 66th birthday with a special celebration in the Stax Music Academy and The Soulsville Charter School.

The event will include:

Welcome/Occasion: Soulsville Charter School Chancellor and Stax Music Academy Executive Director Cary Booker;

Introduction of the Soulsville Symphony Orchestra & brief remarks: Soulsville Charter School orchestra instructor Bobby Hawkins;

Soulsville Symphony Orchestra: Performance of Isaac Hayes’ “Theme From Shaft” and other musical selections;

Brief Remarks: Soulsville Charter School students;

Remarks: Soulsville Foundation CEO Marc E. Willis;

Closing Remarks: Soulsville Charter School Principal NeShante Brown

Guests at the Stax Museum will be invited to attend. The event should last approximately 30 minutes. Special photographs of Isaac Hayes will be on display.

Please check back by visiting the Stax Museum News Blog at www.staxmuseum.com for further updates.

We miss you, Isaac.

ISAAC HAYES MEMORIAL SERVICE ANNOUNCED; SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION HUMBLED BY FAMILY'S GENEROSITY

2008-08-13T07:28:00.001-07:00

Photograph by Andrea Zucker

The Soulsville Foundation is sad to post this information about the memorial service planned for Isaac Hayes on Monday, August 18th. We are extremely honored that the family of Mr. Hayes has requested that in lieu of flowers, those wishing to memorialize Mr. Hayes should send donations to the Stax Music Academy. The following is a statement by Soulsville Foundation CEO Marc E. Willis, followed by an announcement about the service and a statement from the Hayes family:

Marc Willis, CEO of the Soulsville Foundation in Memphis (which operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School) said today: “While we continue to mourn the loss of our dear friend Isaac Hayes, we wish to express how humbled and grateful we are to his family for asking that people make their memorial donations to the Stax Music Academy. The academy, which is adjacent to the Stax Museum, has been mentoring thousands of primarily at-risk young people through music education and unique performance opportunities since 2000, and we have changed many lives by providing this positive experience through scholarships we offer to more than 90 percent of our students.

“Just as Isaac Hayes made an indelible mark on the music industry,” Mr. Willis continued, “Stax Records, and international popular culture, his legacy will live on by helping us help these young people become successful adults for generations to come. Our heartfelt thanks go out to his family for their generosity during this difficult time, and his memory will always be alive and in our hearts and souls at the Soulsville Foundation.”

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM ISAAC HAYES' FAMILY:

ENTERTAINMENT ICON ISAAC HAYES, TO BE REMEMBEREDAT MEMPHIS-AREA MEMORIAL SERVICE ON MONDAY
Family Issues Statement on the Occasion of Hayes’ Passing

A memorial service will be held on Monday at Hope Presbyterian Church, 8500 Walnut Grove Road, Cordova, Tennessee from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to celebrate the life of pioneering soul icon Isaac Hayes, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 65.

Born in the rural poverty of a sharecropper's family on August 20, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee, Hayes rose to artistic success as an accomplished GRAMMY®, Golden Globe® and Academy Award® winning composer/musician, paving the way for his fellow African Americans in the arts and entertainment world. As well as being a published author, actor and radio personality, Hayes is a coronated King of Ghana in western Africa. Instead of a palace, he built an 8,000 square foot educational facility as he felt that education and literacy is the key to a successful life.

He is survived by his wife of three years Adjowa Hayes, and their two–year–old son Kwadjo Hayes, ten children—Jacqueline Fields, Felecia Hayes Fisher, Veronica Hayes, Vincent Hayes, Melanie Hayes, Nikki McGhee, Heather Hayes, Isaac Hayes III, Darius Caston and Lillian Bryant—14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The family issued the following statement: “We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and love from Isaac’s dear friends, colleagues and fans from every corner of the world, and we thank each and every one of them for their kind thoughts and prayers. While he was an iconic figure to many, to us he was husband, father and friend. We will ever miss his love, wisdom, humor and the familiar comfort of his voice.”

To celebrate Hayes’ constant support of the Stax Music Academy and his Stax Records Legacy, the Hayes family, in lieu of flowers requests that donations be sent to the Stax Music Academy in Memphis, made out to Soulsville, 926 E. McLemore Avenue, Memphis, TN 38106. Please specify “In memory of Isaac Hayes.”

Condolences may be sent to the family at message@isaachayes.com.

MORE ABOUT THE STAX MUSIC ACADEMY

The Stax Music Academy mentors young people - primarily those residing in the Soulsville, USA neighborhood of Memphis - through music education and unique performance opportunities, with the goals of enhancing their leadership and academic skills and inspiring them to become facilitators for community change. The Stax Music Academy began its first music program—a summer camp for area youth—in Summer 2000. It has since grown to serve several hundred young people from throughout Memphis every year with a variety of music classes and performance opportunities, as well as vital mentoring, tutoring assistance, and leadership development programs. Regardless of how long they pursue their interest in music, all Academy students learn values—hard work, responsibility, self confidence, respect for others, and community awareness—that will serve them for the rest of their lives. As part of the non-profit Soulsville Foundation, the Stax Music Academy is funded through generous individual gifts, grants, and corporate sponsorships.

ISAAC HAYES' MEMORIAL SERVICE INFORMATION TO COME

2008-08-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

As the details about a memorial service for the late Isaac Hayes are being finalized, we ask that if you would like to stay updated, please visit http://www.staxmuseum.com/ and sign up for our e-news service. Simply click on the e-news icon on the right side of the main page and enter your name, email address, and postal code.

Will do not bombard our e-news suscribers with constant emails, but this is a way for you to be contacted with the latest news in the most efficient way. When the details of the memorial service are released, we will send you the information.

Thanks, and in the meantime, please enjoy the wonderful photograph above of our dear, dear friend and colleague, Isaac, taken in March this year by Andrea Zucker.

ISSAC HAYES ARTICLE DECEMBER 2006 IN MEMPHIS MAGAZINE

2008-08-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to everyone who has visited the blog here and left such warm and loving comments about Isaac Hayes. Everyone at the Soulsville Foundation is still very shocked and we held an internal moment of silence today for all who work here.

I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to sit down and interview Mr. Hayes at length for a cover story for Memphis magazine and for those of you who live in faraway lands, I have posted a link to it below. It was the December 2006 issue of the publication and in it Mr. Hayes offers some interesting insight into his life and David Porter talks about his lifelong soul brother.

The more recent photos are by Andrea Zucker.

Hope you enjoy.
Thanks,
Tim
http://www.memphismagazine.com/gyrobase/Magazine/Content?oid=oid%3A22752

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY BACK FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER!

2008-07-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

Stax Music Academy Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx concert in Melbourne's Federation Square.

Well, it has been a while since the ol' Stax Museum News blogger has posted any news, but that's because things have been hopping at the Soulsville Foundation.

We recently returned from the Stax Music Academy Summer Soul Tour Sponsored by FedEx, which was a two-week concert tour and cultural exchange with 15 of our academy high school students to Australia. While in the Land Down Under, we first visited Melbourne (after the 20-plus-hour trip there!) and hit the ground running. Literally, the staff and students had to hightail it straight from the airport to the hotel and then to the site of the first concert venue for interviews with the Aussie press.

The concert was in the city's really wonderful Federation Square, an architecturally stunning outdoor/indoor gathering spot as well as home to several museums, restaurants, and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), whose staff members did so much work in advance for us it was almost embarrassing. Before the concert on Fed Square's Main Stage, the students were treated to ACMI's current exhibit, "Game On," which tells the history of the video game. Now, you might think 15 high school students wouldn't have much interest in checking out 150 portals where they could play video games but....kidding!

The concert that evening drew a crowd of approximately 700 people, most of whom were dancing in the plaza not only to the students' Stax set, but also to the special tribute to Australian music, which included tunes by AC/DC, Little River Band, the Bee Gees, Men At Work, and others. While in Melbourne, the academy students also performed a special concert/workshop for the Song Room Foundation, an organization that helps recently arrived refugee children to Australia from all over the world. Even though most of them did not speak English, they understood the music and had a blast. The students also performed for the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.

In addition to their performances and workshops, the students took a trip to Phillip Island, stopping along the way at a park where they got up close and personal with and got to pet and hand feed some tame kangaroos, and at a nature reserve where they watched Koalas mostly sleep in the trees. And yes, they are as cute in person as they are in photos.

On Phillip Island, we first traveled to a spot atop some cliffs with the ocean waves crashing onto the beach below. No tourist attractions, just pure, beautiful nature, including plenty of wallabies hopping about the hillsides. From there we sat at dusk near the beach to watch the Fairy Penguins make their way from the ocean across the beach and into their burrows. Yes, they waddle like little men and women wearing feathered tuxedos.

From Melbourne, we traveled to the Australian capital city of Canberra, where the students performed for roughly 400 guests at the city's newly renovated Llwellyn Hall at the University of Australia Canberra. A highlight of the Canberra trip was having tea with the United States ambassador to Australia and his wife -Ambassador Robert McCallum and Mimi McCallum. Both the ambassador and his wife are native Memphians, and welcomed us to their embassy residence with such hospitality we felt like we were in our own home. In a way we were, since our tax dollars pay for it! They were very quick to point that out.

Then, ah, on to Sydney. Sydney is one of the most laid-back but majestic cities most of us had ever seen. While there we performed at two high schools, the Royal Children's Hospital, and a special July 4th party hosted by the U.S. Consulate General at one of Sydney's nicest hotels. We generally rocked the house and had a ballroom full of diplomats stirring in their suits.

We also visited La Peruse, the site of the first Aboriginal community in Australia, and were treated to a tour by a man man named Vic, an Aboriginal activist who helped reclaim the land for the original/Aboriginal owners. We stood at the very site where Captain John Cook sailed into Botany Bay and discovered the continent and all its riches. We also had great visits to Bondi Beach and the Toronga Zoo, which takes up most of an island in the Sydney Harbor.

A trip like this is life-changing on many levels. For many of the students, it was the first time they had flown on an airplane, first time to visit another country, and the first time to see the ocean. And while those firsts are great experiences, they barely scratch the surface of what it means to travel like this.

First of all, in many respects it's hard work. Nine performances in ten days in three cities is no easy feat. Getting the music just right, being on time, leaving the hotel at 6 a.m. many days, and having to all get along with each other are also challenges. Oh, and I didn't even mention performing live in Sydney on national television in front of viewing audience of millions with one day's notice.

All in all, it was a great trip and we can't thank FedEx enough for helping make this possible. The Stax Music Academy Summer Soul Tour students and staff will never forget this incredible journey.

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY GEARS UP TO GET DOWN....UNDER!

2008-06-17T07:31:00.000-07:00

Well, we’re at it again. And this time it’s going to be in the land Down Under!

This coming Sunday, June 22nd, 16 Stax Music Academy high school students and 5 administrators from the Soulsville Foundation are leaving for a tour of Australia on the Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx. We’ll be having concerts, workshops, cultural exchanges, sightseeing trips, and other cool opportunities in Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra over a 10-day period.

Coming on the heels of Australia’s Guy Sebastian’s successful “Memphis Album” and his spring tour with Booker T. & The MGs original members Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn, this will be one more great opportunity for the people of Australia to experience the soul music created in Memphis by Stax Records, as well as the students’ versions of some hits that came from Australia, including songs by AC/DC, Men at Work, The Bee Gees, and others. I just hope we survive the flight there!

PUBLIC CONCERTS SCHEDULED FOR THE TOUR INCLUDE:

Wednesday, June 25th performance on the Main Stage in Federation Square in Melbourne (5:30-6 p.m.) followed by a special event and screening of the film “Wattstax” at the adjacent Australian Center for the Moving Image (ACMI) at 7 p.m. The film will be introduced by staff from the Soulsville Foundation.

Sunday, June 29th performance at Canberra’s Llewellyn Hall (2:30).

PRIVATE CONCERTS/WORKSHOPS SCHEDULED FOR THE TOUR INCLUDE:

Wednesday, June 25th concert/workshop for The Song Room Foundation in Melbourne

Thursday, June 26th visit and concert at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne

Thursday, June 26th concert/workshop for The Song Room Foundation in Melbourne

Wednesday July 2nd workshop with Woolooware High School Sydney

Thursday, July 3rd Special July 4th Celebration Concert for US Consulate General Sydney

While in Canberra, the students and faculty of the Stax Music Academy will be treated to tea at the United States Embassy with U.S. Ambassador Robert McCallum and his wife, followed by a tour of the embassy grounds. Ambassador McCallum is a native of Memphis, Tennessee and an avid Memphis music fan. We’re also going to pet some koala bears and kangaroos!
The Stax Music Academy Summer Soul Tour began in 2006, when 14 Stax Music Academy students traveled to Italy to open the festivities for the prestigious Porretta Soul Festival in Porretta Terme. . In the summer of 2007, a group of students went on a domestic Summer Soul Tour, performing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio; Afro-American Music Institute in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Sunoco Welcome America Festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and capped off the tour with a July 4th concert at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. This performance was also filmed and was featured on The Kennedy Center’s web site.

But none of us has ever been to Australia and this will be the first time most of the students have been outside the United States. It’s a fantastic opportunity for our students, all of whom have been working like crazy rehearsing every day and getting ready for the trip.

We’ll have a special Summer Soul Tour web site so you can keep up with us. I’ll post more details about that before we leave. In the meantime, wish us luck!

IT WAS A BIG WEEKEND FOR THE SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION

2008-05-21T12:40:00.001-07:00

Left to Right: Andria Lisle, Karla Redding-Andrews, Wayne Jackson, Ben Cauley.

This past weekend was filled with activity for the Soulsville Foundation, the nonprofit parent company that operates the Stax Museum, Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School.

Friday morning, as I posted earlier, we held a press conference with AT&T to unveil the new AT&T Real White Pages with the museum on the front cover. I can't wait to see what happens when the 580,000 of them printed are distributed in the coming weeks.

The following night, we had our Stax Music Academy SNAP! After School Spring Concert, which sold out the 900-plus seat Michael D. Rose Theater at the University of Memphis. Three of the academy's ensembles performed, as well as The Soulsville Charter School Soulsville Symphony Orchestra. Special featured guests were our academy's Artist in Residence, internationally acclaimed saxophonist and composer Kirk Whalum, along with Otis Redding's sons, Otis III and Dexter Redding, who finished the concert by performing "(Sitting On The) Dock of the Bay" with the students' Stax Music Academy Rhythm Section.

During the concert, 3 Stax Music Academy students - Ricardo Canaday, Ashton Riker, and Terrell Sharkey - were presented with scholarships to the Berklee College of Music in Boston for their upcoming five-week Summer Music Performance Program, and twelve academy students took the stage to announce that they will be traveling to Australia this summer during the Stax Music Academy Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx.

On Sunday, the museum hosted "Conversations with the Reddings," a panel discussion/Q&A moderated by music writer Andria Lisle. While Otis Redding's wife, Mrs. Zelma Redding, had to cancel because of personal issues and his sons Otis Redding III and Dexter Redding didn't participate in the actual panel, the family was represented well by Otis and Zelma's daughter, Karla Redding-Andrews, as well as stax legend Wayne Jackson of the Mar-Keys and Memphis Horns, and Bar-Kays trumpeter Ben Cauley, the only surviving member aboard the plane that crashed on December 10, 1967, killing Otis Redding and all of the other Bar-Kays except James Alexander, who had taken a commercial flight. The discussion was full of information, anecdotes, insight into what Redding was like as both an entertainer and family man, and there were some very emotional moments as Cauley described the crash and trying to save his drowning friends.

For an objective account of the evening, check out http://www.mymidtownmemphis.blogspot.com/.

Thanks to all of you who attended any or all of these events. A good time was had by all and we couldn't do this without the support of not only the Memphis public, but also the national and international community that has such great love for Stax!

Stax Museum Graces Cover of New AT&T Real White Pages Delivered to 580,000 Area Homes and Businesses

2008-05-18T12:53:00.001-07:00

At a press conference this past Friday, May 16th, at the Stax Museum, representatives from the Soulsville Foundation and AT&T unveiled the new 2008-2009 AT&T Real White Pages phone directory with a photo of the museum on the front cover. This is part of a new partnership between the Soulsville Foundation and AT&T, which includes a sponsorship of the museum's changing gallery and other opportunities. AT&T vice president of external affairs Bill Ray said in his comments that he had been in an integrated band in high school and was drawn to the Soulsville Foundation because of the rich Stax legacy of racial harmony, as well as the work the foundation is doing with at-risk children through the Stax Music Academy and The Soulsville Charter School, citing specifically the upcoming SMA Summer Soul Tour Presented By FedEx, which will take 16 students on a concert tour/cultural enrichment trip through Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra, Australia on June 22, 2008.

We at the museum are very grateful to AT&T for this collaboration and hope that with 580,000 copies of the directory soon delivered in Memphis, Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville, Arlington, Rosemark, West Memphis, and DeSoto County, the museum will get even more exposure and visitors. So the next time you look for a phone number, know that we have it covered!

Cover photo by Terry Sweeney of Sweeney Photography South.

STAX MUSEUM OFFERS SPECIAL $5 ADMISSION TO CELEBRTATE NATIONAL TOURISM WEEK and THE MUSEUM'S FIFTH BIRTHDAY!!!

2008-05-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

Come help the Stax Museum of American Soul Music celebrate National Tourism Week and the Stax Museum's Fifth Birthday with our special admission price of just $5 for everyone Sunday, May 11 - Sunday, May 18!! This is for regular museum hours: Monday - Saturday 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. and Sundays 1-4 p.m.

The Stax Museum opened on May 2, 2003. We've come a long way since then and are happy to offer this special admission price to help celebrate!

If you haven't seen our special exhibit in Studio A - "OTIS REDDING: FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS - An Exhibit from the Private Collection of Zelma Redding" - this is the perfect time!

Also see our special exhibit in conjunction with Memphis In May's salute to Turkey, "“Turkish Music Through Musicians – A Photographic Essay,” a collection of large-format color photos by Turkish photograher Atilla Durak.

For more information, please visit http://www.staxmuseum.com/.

OTIS REDDING'S FAMILY COMING TO STAX MUSEUM FOR PUBLIC EVENTS!

2008-04-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

Left to right: Otis Redding III, Demetria Redding, Zelma Redding, Karla Redding-Andrews, & Dexter Redding.

STAX MUSEUM & STAX MUSIC ACADEMY PRESENT:

"A WEEKEND WITH THE REDDINGS!"

On Saturday and Sunday, May 17 & 18, 2008 the Soulsville Foundation will once again make history when Otis Redding's family will be our special guests and events participants on two very exciting evenings. The family includes Otis Redding's widow, Mrs. Zelma Redding, along with his three children, Otis III and Dexter Redding and Karla Redding-Andrews.

All will be special guests on Saturday, May 17th at the Stax Music Academy SNAP! After School Spring Concert at the University of Memphis' Michael D. Rose Theater. Otis III and Dexter will perform with the students. All ensembles will be featured during the concert - Stax Music Academy Rhythm Section, StreetCorner Harmonies, Premier Percussionists, and the Soulsville Swing Band, as well as The Soulsville Charter School's Soulsville Symphony Orchestra. Also starring as a speical guest is the academy's Artist in Residence, internationally acclaimed saxophonist Kirk Whalum.

The concert is at 7 p.m. and admission is just $5!

On Sunday, May 18th, the entire Redding family will be our guests for our "Conversations With The Reddings" panel discussion/Q&A, along with others who knew Otis Redding well, including Ben Cauley, the only Bar-Kay band member on board the plane to survive the tragic crash on December 10, 1967 near Madison, Wisconsin, which took the life of Redding at the age of 26. This event will take place in the Stax Museum's intimate Studio A. The discussion will not only focus on Otis Redding the phenomenal entertainer, but also Otis Redding the loving father and husband.

"Conversations With the Reddings" will take place from 5 - 7 p.m. $10 general admission and free to Stax Museum members.

This will be Zelma Redding's and Karla Redding-Andrews' first visit to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

THE STAX MUSEUM'S SPECIAL EXHIBIT IN STUDIO A, "OTIS REDDING: FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS - AN EXHIBIT FROM THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF ZELMA REDDING," HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL MAY 31ST.

For more information, please call 901-946-2535 or visit www.staxmuseum.com.

STAX MUSEUM EXHIBITS AVAILABLE FOR TRAVEL

2008-04-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

As the Stax Museum celebrates its 5th anniversary in 2008, we are pleased to announce that we now have several Stax Museum-curated exhibits available for lease and travel to other museums, galleries, colleges and univerisities, festivals, and other venues. All are photographic collections that cannot be found anywhere else in the world and all respresesent a unique aspect of American culture that has worldwide influence.

Please note that exhibits can be leased in total or partial collections, and that the photographs are already framed. For more information and pricing details on these exhibits, please contact the Stax Museum's curator Carol Drake 901-946-2535 or carol.drake@staxmuseum.com.

Exhibits Available for Travel:

"THE ART OF STAX: Essential Album Cover Photographs by Stax Photographer Joel Brodsky"

An amazing collection of iconic soul music photography, including original Stax and other soul lablels album cover photos and outtakes from those photo shoots, by one of America's most influential music photographers. This is the only exhibit of Mr. Brodsky's soul music photography. Includes such artists as Isaac Hayes, Eddie Floyd, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, Jean Knight, Gladys Knight & The Pips, the Staple Singers, and many others. For more details click here.

"WATTSTAX: I Am Somebody"

This collection of some 60 large-format photographs from the famed 1972 Wattstax Concert and the making of the 1973 "Wattstax: The Living Word" documentary capture the excitement, importance, and magnitude of the famed concert during which 112,000 people filled the Los Angeles Coliseum for an all day concert featuring Stax Records entire roster of artists at the time, along with original press releases and other memorabilia from the second-largest gathering of African-Americans in American history. For more details please click here.

"HOOKS BROTHERS PHOTOGRAPHY: 75 Years of African-American Life in Memphis"

A collection of some 80 black-and-white photographs depicting virtually every aspect of African-American life in Memphis during the 20th century, including weddings, funerals, graduations, portraits, social gatherings, and more. Located for many years on Memphis' historic Beale Street, the Hooks Brothers Photography Studio was operated by the family of former national NAACP President Benjamin Hooks, who worked at the studio as a young man. For more details please click here.

"STAX HERE AND NOW: Current Images of the Stars of Stax Records"

Stax music fans will love this collection of new photographs of Stax icons and some who worked behind the scenes, which depicts them as they are today. The photos are accompanied by detailed text panel information about their days at Stax as well as the path they are on in life now. The collection also contains a few surprises from other legendary Memphis soul music labels. For more details please click here.

"FROM THE SOUL: An Intimate Portrait of Soulsville, USA"

The exhibit consists of some 40 recently taken black-and-white photographs from the community surrounding the Stax Museum at the original site of Stax records, including such landmarks as the former homes of Aretha Franklin, Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs), Memphis Slim, Memphis Minnie, and others. The exhibit also includes portraits of longtime Soulsville, USA residents along with text panels that share their memories of growing up in the community - from what it was like to learn of Otis Redding’s and members of the Bar Kay’s deaths on the radio in 1967, to the energy in the air when Stax Records was in full swing. For more details please click here.

MUSIC & THE MOVEMENT: STAX MUSEUM AND NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

2008-03-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

As Memphis honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and commemorates the 40th anniversary of his tragic death here on April 4, 1968, we hope you will visit the National Civil Rights Museum, as well as the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, where the Civil Rights movement is also highlighted because of the integral role Stax Records played in the Movement.

Year round, the Stax Museum and National Civil Rights Museum offer a special MUSIC & THE MOVEMENT ticket package, with admission to both museums for the discounted price of $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and students with proper ID, and $14 for children age 4- 17.
Tickets may be purchased at both museums.

For more information about the National Civil Rights Museum and the many special events it is hosting, please visit http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/.

WAY TO GO, WKNO! STAX MUSIC ACADEMY DOCUMENTARY WINS NATIONAL TELLY AWARD!

2008-03-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

WKNO, Memphis’ television station for public programming, was recently honored with two 2008 National Telly Awards for two locally produced documentaries highlighting the Mid-South community. One of those was our own Stax Music Academy: From Soulsville to Italy.

Stax Music Academy, produced by Pierre Kimsey, follows fourteen of our young students from the Academy on tour in Italy in 2006 as they follow in the footsteps of legendary Stax musicians. This was our first ever Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx and it was the first time any of the students had traveled abroad and was a life-changing experience for them all. The documentary - which follows the students through Rome, Verona, Peisa, Venice, and Porretta Terme, where they opened the festivitites for the prestigious Porretta Soul Festiva - premiered on Channel 10 in August, 2007 and has aired on many public television stations across the country. WKNO and the Soulsville Foundation also hosted a private screening at the Stax Museum for the students and their families before the documentary aired.

The Telly Awards honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. Since 1978, their mission has been to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting, and supporting creativity. The 29th Annual Telly Awards received over 14,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Fewer than 10% of those entries received honors.

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY CONCERT NEXT WEEK WITH KIRK WHALUM FOR JUST $5!!

2008-03-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

SoulSchool Spring Break Concert!

Wednesday, March 19th - 7 p.m.

Buckman Performing Arts Center

Featuring Stax Music Academy Students joined by Internationally Renowned Kirk Whalum & Music Directors/Performers from Berklee College of Music

Admission: $5

The Soulsville Foundation is happy to announce that its Stax Music Academy’s SoulSchool Spring Break Concert will be held Wednesday, March 19th, at Buckman Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. and will feature Stax Music Academy students joined by visiting Music Directors from Berklee College of Music and Internationally Renowned Kirk Whalum.

About SoulSchool Spring Break:

When the Stax Music Academy began programming at Stafford Elementary School in the summer of 2000, before there was a Stax Music Academy building or the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the people behind the Soulsville project knew they were onto something. Some 225 children spent six weeks at Stafford in the Stax Music Academy SNAP! Summer Music Camp and had their first Grand Finale concert at the University of Memphis on July 14, 2000.

Since that time, of course, the Stax Music Academy and Stax Museum of American Soul Music, along with The Soulsville Charter School – all under the umbrella of the Soulsville Foundation – have opened and have reached thousands of lives of the community’s primarily at-risk young people.

So popular has the academy been among its students, that in 2006, the school had to create a program for them during what was their spring break from their regular schools. When most students were thrilled to have a week out of the classroom, the Stax Music Academy students wanted to do something special during that week instead.

That year, the academy created a program named SoulSchool Spring Break, and opened it up to students from throughout Memphis and Shelby County with a paid tuition fee, but still offered scholarships to those in financial need. The academy conducted an intense three-day workshop for a group of students, and brought in music producer, writer, and performer Philippe Saisse, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, who had worked with everyone from Tina Turner to Billy Joel, Luther Vandross, Rod Stewart and dozens of other music icons. The students learned all original music in the three-day workshop and performed a concert with Saisse at the Buckman Performing Arts Center. They has Saisse back year for a repeat performance, this time with then-new Stax Artist in Residence Kirk Whalum, the internationally known saxophone player, composer, and performer who is also a one of Memphis’ favorite hometown sons.
Now, in its third year, next week’s Stax Music Academy SoulSchool Spring Break will bring more Berklee alums, as part of a new and active partnership the Stax Music Academy has forged with the prestigious music school in Massachusetts, where, by the way, two Stax Music Academy alums began attending last fall.

Two of the Berklee Music Directors who will conduct the workshop are Nichelle Mungo and Winston Maccow. Mungo is a voice instructor who has worked with Natalie Cole, Andrae Crouch, Patti LaBelle, and host of other famous singers. She is a three time winner of Showtime at the Apollo and is an accomplished singer, choral director, performer, and certified music instructor. Maccow is an assistant ensemble professor who has appeared with Nancy Wilson, Urban Renewal, Flying Elephants, and many others, and is s guest speaker and clinician at two conservatories in Denmark.

As part of the Stax Music Academy’s mission of mentoring students through music education and unique performance opportunities, both Mungo and Maccow will teach the students about more than just music.

According to Maccow, “What I try to get out my class is leaders. Everyone’s supposed to lead,
Everyone. I put people on the spot just to see how they’re paying attention to things. I’ll say, 'Okay, next week, I want you to lead.' Or I don’t even say that. I just say, 'You’re going to lead today.' In my class, you’re always on your toes. It’s the only way to develop leadership. You’ve got to be on yourtoes in the real world.”

For more information, please visit http://www.staxmuseum.com/ or call 901-946-2535.

MABLE JOHN: THE ENERGIZER HONEY!

2008-02-28T07:39:00.000-08:00

Dr. Mable John may be famous for being the first solo female artist signed to Motown, for being a revered Stax Records artist, for being the leader singer of Ray Charles' Raelettes singers, and for her million-selling Stax hit "Your Good Thing (Is About to End), but it doesn't look like Mable's good thing is about to end any time soon!

In addition to publishing two novels with Random House in the past couple of years, giving a more than stellar performance at the Stax Records 50th Anniversary Concert in Memphis in June last year, and continuing to feed, clothe, and minister to thousands of homeless people in Los Angeles, she is now on the silver screen in John Sayles' new film Honeydripper, which opens in Memphis tomorrow, Friday, February 29, in an exclusive engagement at Malco's Ridgeway Theater. The film has already garnered two awards: The NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film and the San Sebastian International Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay.

Here is IMDB's synopsis of the film:

1950. Rural Alabama. Cotton harvest. It's a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner, piano player Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis. Deep in debt to the liquor man, the chicken man, and the landlord, Tyrone is desperate to lure the young cotton pickers and local Army base recruits into his juke joint, away from Touissants, the rival joint across the way.After laying off his regular talent, blues singer Bertha Mae, Tyrone announces to his sidekick Maceo that he has hired the famous electric guitar player, Guitar Sam, for a special one night only gig: pack em in and save the club. On the day of the show, the train arrives and Guitar Sam is no where to be found. Tyrone is forced to take drastic action. He makes a deal with Sheriff Pugh to release Sonny, the kid who hopped off a freight car here in Harmony, and turned up in the club claiming he could play the guitar as well as any Guitar Sam.Tyrone cleans Sonny up and launches a last ditch scheme to pass off the young guitar picker as Guitar Sam just long enough to cut the lights and run off with cash box. When Sonny takes the stage and launches into his first scalding electric licks, Tyrone will learn if its lights out for the Honeydripper or if his luck has changed: he might just be another man saved by rock n' roll.Honeydripper features an all-star cast including Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Mary Steenburgen,Yaya DaCosta and Sean Patrick Thomas; as well as such notable musicians as Keb Mo and Dr. Mable John. It also introduces a major new talent, Gary Clark Jr. who makes his electrifying film debut as Sonny.

MY MIDTOWN MEMPHIS ON THE SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION

2008-02-28T07:14:00.000-08:00

If you're a Memphis Midtowner or just someone who likes to read good blogs about the Bluff City, you might be familiar with Ryan Jones' My Midtown Memphis blog. Ryan recently posted a great piece about his visit to the Stax Museum campus, deftly pointing out that it is just four minutes (!) from the Cooper-Young entertainment district, and that much more goes on here than just the museum.

Read his comments at http://www.mymidtownmemphis.blogspot.com/ and enjoy!

SOUL-PATROL.COM - NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING 'BOUT

2008-02-26T13:17:00.000-08:00

If you're a true soul music fan, which I assume you are if you're reading this blog, you need to get with it and get on board the soul train at http://www.soul-patrol.com/. This site is the brainchild and labor of love of Bob Davis, soul music expert based in New Jersey and an outstanding supporter of the Soulsville Foundation/Stax Museum. You'll see more about that if you keep scrolling down.

Bob is THE MAN when it comes to soul music - classic, neo, nu, funk, you name it. He constantly reviews albums and concerts, conducts interviews with hundreds of soul music folks and posts them on line, and works tirelessly on his soul-patrol.com newsletter, which is read by thousands of people around the world. He has an online radio show, online LP compilations, and is one of the most respected people in the world of soul music. If the man ever sleeps, your guess is as good as mine as to when that would be!

So go to his site, sign up for the newsletter, and enjoy!

As for his thoughts on the Soulsville Foundation and Stax Museum, here are some words from his newsletter today:

As you may or may not know, the Soulsville Foundation is the name of the non-profit organization that operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School. They have a mission of celebrating soul music's rich legacy and mentoring the at-risk youth in our community. http://www.soulsvillefoundation.org/

As music fans we often complain about this that or the other. We complain about EVIL record labels, EVIL radio networks, EVIL technology companies and all other EVIL doers that we think are out to destroy our culture in exchange for EVIL corporate profits. Well here is something that you can personally become involved with that isn't EVIL. It's certainly Black music based. It's directly connected to our musical legacy. It aims to correct EVIL in our society( and you don't even have to leave the comfort of your own home in order to do so.....) http://www.soulsvillefoundation.org/

And even if you are a completely self centered person and don't care about correcting EVIL. Think about it this way...(it will make YOU a better person....)http://www.soulsvillefoundation.org/

Thanks in advance...--Bob Davis

IT'S OFFICIAL: SHAFT NOW ON DRAFT!

2008-02-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

Well, the word is getting out that Boscos Squared has done a great thing for the Stax Music Academy. Well, not exactly for the kids, but for a fund-raiser that will take place on Friday, March 7th at the Stax Museum. The party is called Staxtacular and in honor of this great event, Boscos has created a special beer - SHAFT ON DRAFT! You can get it now through early March, or you can certainly get it at the Staxtacular party, the Soulsville Foundation's largest fund-raiser of the year for the Stax Music Academy.

Tickets are still on sale for $150 each and you can purchase them on line at www.staxtacular.com, where you can also learn much more about the event, including auction item. If you've never seen J. Blackfoot of the Soul Children and his Street Gang Band with Queen Ann Hines, you are in for the show of your life.

Thanks much to Ryan Jones of My Midtown Memphis and Paul Ryburn of Paul Ryburn's Journal for helping spread the word!

By the way, that photo of Isaac Hayes is from the 2006 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition photo shoot at the Stax Museum. Some people just have to work so hard!!!

A MAR-KEY PERFORMS WITH THE STAX MUSIC ACADEMY RHYTHM SECTION!

2008-02-14T06:26:00.000-08:00

Back in the late summer of 2007, four members of the early Stax group the Mar-Keys came to the Stax Museum to be photographed for our exhibit (which is still up!), "STAX HERE AND NOW: Current Images of the Stars of Stax Records. The crew included Ronnie Stoots, Terry Williams (who now co-owns Fino's From the Hill with his wife!), Memphis Horns legend Wayne Jackson, and Jerry Lee "Smoochy" Smith.

It was the Mar-Keys' million-selling hit "Last Night," recorded on Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton's Satellite Records, that brought to their attention the fact that there was already a Satellite Records in California, which caused them to change the name of the company to a portmanteau of their last names, combing ST from Stewart and AX from Axton to form STAX.

Before the photo shoot, however, the Mar-Key members paid a visit to the Stax Music Academy, where they got a great dose of what goes on there by way of an impromtu jam session of "Last Night" with the Stax Music Academy Rhythm Section in what would prove to be a historic meeting of the Stax legends and the students carrying the label's legacy into the future.

See this video and enjoy seeing Smoochy Smith bang out the song on the keyboard just as he did back in 1961!!!

AND, while the Mar-Keys in the room are not shown in this video, please see the Stax Music Academy Rhythm Section performing the Averate White Band's "Pick Up The Pieces" for them!

STAX MUSEUM'S WATTSTAX EXHIBIT NOW ON DISPLAY AT RHODES COLLEGE; READ AL BELL'S SPEECH

2008-02-13T07:09:00.001-08:00

On August 20, 1972, something happened in Los Angeles that remains unmatched in American history. More than 112,000 people – almost all African-Americans – gathered in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a seven-hour concert hosted by Stax Records. The Memphis-based label took its entire roster of artists at the time for the event, which was designed to a peaceful, astounding, and vivid celebration of self-expression and empowerment for the Watts community. It was also a for the benefit of the Watts Summer Festival, established some years earlier to raise money for community improvement projects in the wake of the 1965 Watts rebellion, during which much of the Los Angeles community was destroyed. At the time, it was the second largest gathering of African-Americans in history, second only to Dr. Martin Luther King’s march on Washington in 1963. The name of the concert was Wattstax, and for many it became known as the “Black Woodstock.”

Among the artists on hand were the Staple Singers, the Bar-Kays, Albert King, Rufus and Carla Thomas, The Rance Allen Group, The Soul Children, The Dramatics, The Emotions, Johnnie Taylor, Little Milton, Luther Ingram, Kim Weston, Isaac Hayes, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and others. Admission to the festival was just $1.00, assuring that anyone who wanted to attend could be there. Proceeds benefited the many community programs supported by the Watts Summer Festival, Martin Luther King Hospital, the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation, and the Watts Labor Community Action Committee. The artists performed free of charge and Schlitz beer sponsored the event to offset some of the production costs. Stax Records paid all other incurred costs.

Now, Rhodes College is bringing the memory of Wattstax to life with a special exhibit on loan from the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, “WATTSTAX: I Am Somebody,” which features more than 50 large-format color and black-and-white photos of the concert, the crowd, and the making of the documentary that was released the following year, Wattstax: The Living Word. Free and open to the public, the exhibit will be on display in the Paul Barret, Jr. Library February 2 – 28, 2008 in Barrett 051. Times are: Thursdays, 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; and Sundays 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.

The exhibit – which returned to Memphis in January from a four-month showing at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, where it received rave reviews and was extended because of its popularity – was first shown at the Stax Museum in fall 2004 to coincide with the release of a newly restored Wattstax: The Living Word on home DVD from Warner Home Video.

At a February 5th opening reception at Rhodes, former Stax Records owner and Wattstax creator Al Bell gave the following speech:

February 5, 2008
“Believing and Achieving the American Dream”
Presented by Al Bell

To: Dr. Anita Davis, Dr. William E. Troutt, Dr. Russell Wigginton, Dr. Luther Ivory, Faculty members, Students, Business and community leaders, those of my business colleagues and business associates present here this evening, my family members that are present and my friends.

Please let me humbly say “Thank You” to Dr. Anita Davis for inviting me here today to speak to and fellowship with the Rhodes family. I am both humbled and honored.

I am so appreciative and thank Dr. Davis for choosing to display The WATTSTAX photographic exhibit during Rhodes College’s Black History Month Celebration. The Exhibit highlights some of the most poignant moments captured during the filming of the cultural-music film classic.

The photos reveal the enthusiasm of the participating audience; the seriousness of the event; the emotion of the performing Stax artists and lastly -- and perhaps most importantly -- the mood of a colorful collection of oppressed people peaceably expressing their determination to keep hope alive.

In my judgment, the fact that Rhodes College is choosing to highlight the WATTSTAX exhibit during it’s Black History Month Celebration serves to add additional value, credibility, legitimacy and contemporary importance to what WATTSTAX represents currently as a cultural and social "work of art" that was created 30+ years ago. Thank You!

I also want to wish Rhodes College a Happy Anniversary on your 160th year of giving service to humanity since 1848. Happy Anniversary!!!

As I began preparing for our discussion today here at Rhodes College, my mind went back to 1968 and why and how WATTSTAX came into being. What we were trying to offer that audience in that stadium overflowing with men…women… and children in Los Angeles was HOPE in the American Dream….helping them to believe that whatever they dreamed of achieving would and could be fulfilled!

What is the American Dream?

In the United States’ Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers: "…held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Might this sentiment be considered the foundation of the American Dream?

Some say, that the American Dream has become the pursuit of material prosperity - that people work more hours to get bigger cars, fancier homes, the fruits of prosperity for their families - but have less time to enjoy their prosperity. Others say that the American Dream is beyond the grasp of the working poor who must work two jobs to insure their family’s survival. Yet others look toward a new American Dream with less focus on financial gain and more emphasis on living a simple, fulfilling life.

Thomas Wolfe said, "…to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining, golden opportunity (the American Dream is) ….the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him." Is this your American Dream?

The term,The American Dream, was first used in James Truslow Adams’ book “The Epic of America”, he writes: "The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." (p.214-215)

Dreams of hope, equality, prosperity, recognition, and acceptance have long been the dreams of our forefathers….

In 1848, what is now named Rhodes College was founded by men and grown by men of “good will” born out of the John Calvin and Martin Luther ideals. Rhodes’ founding fathers and builders believed in something they could not see with their eyes.

Rhodes founders believed in the “fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.” Rhodes founding fathers basic ideals are that all persons are the children of one God, that all persons are related to each other, and that the best way to worship God is to be of service to people.

Born before this 1848 period Scott Joplin an African American Composer and Pianist created and became the father of Ragtime Music. He sought both legitimacy and recognition for ragtime as an art form but Joplin was doubly cursed by his dream. As a black, he lived at a time when the legal system not only left so many people of color without civil liberty, but also denigrated every aspect of our culture.
In 1938 Irving Berlin wrote the words and music to a song that says:

"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea, Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free, Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.” God Bless America, Land that I love. Stand beside her, and guide her Thru the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam God bless America, My home sweet home.

Those words of Irving Berlin have become the mantra for many Americans. It speaks of each of us striving in our individual ways to live in a land of peace and equality.

Twenty years before WATTSTAX, Jackie Robinson had broken the Major League Baseball color barrier (1948) when he became the first black baseball player in the U.S. major leagues during the 20th century. As an infielder and outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League he hit a league-leading .342, drove in 124 runs, and was voted the Most Valuable Player in the National League.
In 1948 President Harry S. Truman confounded all predictions that “he could not do it” and won re-election as President of the United States of America. In 1948 he used executive orders to begin desegregation of the U.S. armed forces.
In 1948 Mahatma Gahndi made his transformation from this three dimenesional world.

Mahatma Gahndi was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of a simple, but profound philosophy that is largely concerned with truth and 'resistance to evil through active, non-violent resistance'—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. It was Mahatma Gahndi’s philosophy and spiritual beliefs that had the greatest influence on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..

In 1948 I was alive. In my life and times I lived facing the painful and almost unbearable sting of segration, Jim Crow, racism and all other forms of social injustice while seeking equal rights and to be liberated.

In 1948 Big Band and Jazz Music grew popular in America and began to influence music generally.

Twenty years later after we had marched and fought for equal rights, In 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the “Drum Major” for freedom, justice, equality and peace, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, was assassinated.

In 1968 President Lyndon Baines Johnson who was vice President under President John Fitzgerald Kennedy became President after President Kennedy was assassinated. President Johnson pushed through congress the civil rights legislation that President Kennedy wanted to pass, as a result of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Equal Rights Movement. President Johnson refused to run for re-election and it created unbelievable disruption in the Democrat party. I remember him saying “This old country boy is going home.”

Robert Kennedy who was the Attorney General under his brother President John Fitzgerald Kennedy decided to run for President so that he could fulfill his brothers’ dream. In 1968 he was assassinated in Los Angeles, CA.

In 1968 the “spirit” that gave rise to the creation of WATTSTAX, the attitude of Respect Yourself and I Am Somebody “was being born.”

“Believing and Fulfilling the American Dream!”

Over 30 years ago “in pursuit of the American Dream”, two men who worked with me at STAX, Larry Shaw and Forrest Hamilton, and I had the vision of taking the roster of STAX’S African American recording artist to Los Angeles, CA, - put on a concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum, - record it, - film it, - produce a documentary film titled WATTSTAX: The Living Word, - and contribute a substantial portion of the net

proceeds to an annual Los Angeles, CA African American cultural event - the Watts Summer Festival, and to varied other African American social, humanitarian and Civil Rights organizations.

We dared, or had the audacity to do this for numerous reasons. I choose, on this occasion, to highlight only ‘one reason’ because from a social, cultural and historical point of view, in my judgment, it is the most significant and the most important reason.

We believed that WATTSTAX would demonstrate the positive attributes of black pride and the unique substance found in the lives, living and lifestyle of the African American working class and middle class (this “socioeconomic group”) while revealing some insight into their internal thoughts during a time when we were still struggling to be recognized, respected, accepted as human beings and to be granted “equal rights” as enjoyed by every other ethnic group, that was a part of the larger segment of American society.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took the position that his passive resistance “equal rights” movement would provide the forum for the rest of the world to realize firstly, that we even existed in America as a people and secondly, that the reaction to his passive resistance “equal rights” movement, by the larger segment of society, as shown via television, would allow for the rest of the world to see how America was treating us, as a people.

The documentary WATTSTAX allows for you to see and hear through words and music, how some African Americans in this “socioeconomic group” were dealing with and still reacting to that mistreatment just 4 years after Dr. King’s death.

We believed that WATTSTAX would provide somewhat of a “mirror” for us to see ourselves, and an opportunity for other Americans to peer through a small “window of our existence” and gain a better insight into the kind of caring, and sensitive, family oriented people that we really are!!!

There were 112,000 people at the WATTSTAX Concert in the Los Angeles Coliseum on a very, very, hot day and night. They were there for over 10 hours. They came from every segment of our African American society - from Ozzie Davis and Ruby Dee, the Soul Train folks and entire families to the “Bloods” and the “Crips” (so called gangs). There was not one single disturbance. No policemen were there. We had our own security, headed and managed by Melvin Van Peebles and no one had a gun. There was not one single disturbance. It was a day of Celebration. The WATTSTAX concert was an African American family affair. WATTSTAX was a Celebration!!!

This was a time when African Americans dreamed of, and desired, to merely be granted, “equal rights” thereby becoming “equal partners and equal participants” in the American Dream.

A time when we, although being disrespected and mistreated by many, possessed deep down within us a burning desire to be treated equally so that we could proudly stand among the masses with “hands up” rather than being continually suppressed, oppressed, reduced to sub-human standards and forced into the disrespectful position of “hands out.”

WATTSTAX graphically demonstrates how a people, living in the land of plenty, possessing so little, found refuge in the “spirit of celebration.”

WATTSTAX: The Living Word -------- “A CELEBRATION!!!”

When you get an opportunity to view the film we ask you to color in your mind every participant as being white, or European American, give the guitars a smooth steel sound, give the speech a twangy sound and the vocals a slight yodel sound and then perhaps, paradoxically, you will recognize that WATTSTAX is really a reflection of what was going on in the lives, living and lifestyles of the largest “socioeconomic group” of people in America, - white and black.

It is very important to realize and note that two white people, Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, founded STAX. They did not emphasize a difference in the races, thus STAX was an integrated environment, at a time when segregation permeated American society.

It is very important to realize and note that WATTSTAX: The Living Word was financed by white and black money (and not by Hollywood) for at that time STAX Records and STAX Films were owned fifty percent by Jim Stewart (a white man) and fifty percent by Al Bell (a black man).

It is very important to realize and note that WATTSTAX: The Living Word’s Executive Producers were Al Bell (black) and David Wolper (white) of Wolper Film Productons. The number one documentary film production company in Hollywood.

It is very important to realize and note that WATTSTAX: The Living Word’s Producers were Larry Shaw (black) with STAX and Mel Stuart (white) with Wolper Film Productions..

It is very important to realize and note that WATTSTAX: The Living Word’s Director was Mel Stuart a white man whose directing, editing and finished product was guided and co-directed by a black man Larry Shaw.

As a result, the perspective of this movie was one of “truth!” Bold – sincere – undiluted!!! A unique voice captured also by black film crews, many of them shooting their first time in a big budget film. The result of this “truth” - WATTSTAX: The Living Word is a Cannes celebrated, Golden Globe nominated, and thirty years later a Sundance awarded movie.

The insight gleaned from WATTSTAX: The Living Word inspired David Wolper to later film and produce Alex Haley’s Roots.

The inspiration continued, as recent reports revealed that the noted comedian David Chappelle looked to WATTSTAX: The Living Word as a “blue print” for his contemporary hip hop WATTSTAX “event and experience” in New York City.

STAX Records and WATTSTAX personified how white and black people working side by side could make music for black people, and a documentary about how the music reflected what was going on in black lives, living and life styles, without compromising in any manner the authenticity of the presentation.

Was this a miracle, or is this merely an example of what we whites and blacks can achieve in America by working together, respecting each other, and accepting each other as we really are???

It is my prayer that WATTSTAX: The Living Word will trigger thought processes that in some small way will aid us collectively in understanding how to eliminate any gulfs or perceived dichotomy that exist between us as human beings.

It is my prayer that we, people, can collectively site that part of the Declaration of Independence that states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

It is my prayer that we, people, can stand together, embrace our collective freedom and speak together in unison the “Pledge of Allegiance” with passionate emphasis on “one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and Justice for all.”

“Believing and Fulfilling the American Dream!”

God Bless Americans!!!

We have come a mighty long way in America – but we still have a little further to go!!! Change!!!

Believing and Fulfilling the American Dream!

So here we are TODAY 2008 in “A Brand New World!!!”

I come to you today as an American Citizen of African Ancestry.

From 1680 to June of 2007 (400 years after America’s beginning) historical records clearly reflect – the many incidents, laws, and changing of laws, including an amendment to the Constitution – that people of African Ancestry have earned the right to be an American Citizen. I am proud to be an American citizen.

So here we are TODAY 2008 in “A Brand New World!!!”

Today, we have a woman of European Ancestry Hillary Clinton and a man of African ancestry Barack Obama, leading the Democratic race for the next President of the United States of America.

Today, we see basketball and football team uniforms and not the players color.

Today, men and a woman of African ancestry head over 56 countries in the world.

Today, the largest democracy in the world is India and it is headed by a woman. The current President of India is Pratibha Patil, the first woman to serve in the office. She was sworn in on July 25, 2007.

The world is moving on this “gender issue” and we had better start changing.

Today, women now head up governments in South America, Africa, Asia and Europe.

Today, the world’s largest and tallest building is in Dubai. It is no longer the Sears’ Tower in Chicago.

Today, we (America) are no longer the “Financial Sun” in the Universe. We are just a planet.

Today the largest private airplane is not flown by the President of the United States it is owned and flown by His Royal Highness Prince Al Waleed. Prince Al Waleed is CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company in Dubai.

We have come a mighty long way in America – but we still have a little further to go!!!

Let not your hearts be troubled though CHANGE is in the air and the winds of change are blowing!!!

We have come a mighty long way in America – but we still have a little further to go!!! Change!!!

Believing and Achieving the American Dream.

In closing, I wish to share with you one of my favorite poems written by Edgar A. Guest and titled “It Couldn’t Be Done”. Hopefully, as it has always done for me, it will serve to inspire and motivate you to say “Yes We Can.” Then we must start working together to bring about a CHANGE!

Somebody said it couldn’t be done,
but he with a chuckle replied
that “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
on his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
that couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
at least no one ever has done it”;
but he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
and the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With the lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
without any doubting or quiddit,
he started to sing as he tackled the thing
that couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
there are thousands to prophesy failure;
there are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
the dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
just take off your coat and go to it;
just start to sing as you tackle the thing
that “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

On this day I thank God for continuing to bless America!

READ COMMERCIAL APPEAL ARTS WRITER CHRISTOPHER BLANK'S ARTICLE ON IRIS ORCHESTRA AND STAX MUSIC ACADEMY

2008-01-27T10:36:00.001-08:00

IRIS rehearses with Stax Music Academy students

By Christopher Blank

Saturday, January 26, 2008

The first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony are easily the most iconic in classical music.

Da-Da-Da-Dummmm.

"Fate knocking on the door," is how the composer described them.

Back in 2000, when conductor Michael Stern first knocked on the door of the Germantown Performing Arts Centre, he used the Symphony No. 5 as a calling card.

That musical phrase launched the IRIS Orchestra into existence with romantic fervor.

Eight years since, Stern's hand-picked chamber orchestra has recorded several critically acclaimed albums, commissioned new works of music and created a national reputation.

But in part because many of the musicians live outside the Memphis area, as does the conductor, the orchestra had not established roots in the community. Indeed, IRIS critics still call it a pickup band, even though some players have been with the group for years.

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra, by contrast, with its resident musicians and larger budget, has numerous outreach programs scattered throughout the city.

This year IRIS found a worthy cause. On Thursday night, 45 musicians went knocking on the door of the Stax Music Academy, an after-school music program for inner-city children.

One guess how the greeting went.

Da-Da-Da-Dummmm.

"Right now, we're just trying new things to see how we can be a better participant in the community," said David DePeters, the orchestra's operations manager. "We've had players come to Stax before, but this is the first time for the full orchestra."

Many of the musicians had just gotten off their planes when a

chartered bus brought them to Soulsville on McLemore in South Memphis.

First they heard students from the Stax Charter School perform old label classics -- "Dock of the Bay," "Mr. Big Stuff" and "Theme from Shaft" -- on the school's orchestral instruments they'd earned the right to play by learning skills that collected merit points.

After a break, the choir room was rearranged into an orchestra setting. Students from the Stax Music Academy filled in the empty chairs around the musicians, peering over shoulders at sheet music as Stern struck up the first rehearsal of the Fifth Symphony, which will be heard tonight at GPAC.

"The connection here is in the spirit of what we do," Stern said. "IRIS is a group of people who come from all across the country for the love of making music. These kids come from across the city with one goal in mind, to make music. We've got a lot in common. It's a good partnership."

Packed into a tight semi-circle, the orchestra launched into the music. Stern fussed over the opening notes. A maestro has to. They constitute the most important phrase in the whole score.

Da-Da-Da-Dummmm.

"Why was that not together? Because we're not breathing together. Let's do it again." Stern raised his baton.

Da-Da-Da-Dummmm.

Miracle McGhee, 16, sat beside the clarinet player, entranced. For five years, she has studied the instrument and learned to improvise in a jazz band and to transpose notes.

The clarinet gave the shy teenager the confidence to stand up in a crowded room and be heard.

This was different. This was more intense than jazz. As her eyes kept up with the notes on the page, she realized that classical music sounds harder than it looks.

She also heard a different set of dynamics. Within every note of the symphony, whether part of the whole or a solo passage, there were so many subtleties of tone and rhythm.

"These guys must be so dedicated to what they do," she said. "You can tell they eat, sleep and breathe their instruments."

Yet dedication is why she comes to the academy. At home, her application to the Berklee College of Music is ready to go. Classical music is the next step in her training.

IRIS musicians are happy to discuss career with students.

Many of the pros play with orchestras. Others, such as cellist Eric Stephenson, perform a variety of music. At home in New York City, Stephenson works in a trio that includes a funky "beatbox flute" player.

"Kids see that an orchestra takes teamwork," he said. "Hopefully they see that we're all individuals with our own styles and backgrounds, but we still get a sense of worth playing in an orchestra."

Trumpeter Darin Kelly, of Philadelphia, spent a few minutes with Delvin Tubbs, 17, a senior from Booker T. Washington High School, discussing the trumpet's range.

"The key is to listen, listen, listen," Kelly said. "Listen to as many things as you can. Figure out what the player is doing and how they do it."

Although the Stax Music Academy doesn't focus on classical music, the school's chancellor, Cary Booker, says that mingling with other players provides a valuable experience.

"It's hard to say if this is making them better musicians," he said. "But the core of our mission is developing well-rounded people. They have an opportunity to interact with great musicians and talk about their favorite interest. It doesn't matter that it's classical music. They just love music, period."

In the dining room, after Beethoven had been played to exhaustion and its troublesome spots dissected and reworked, Stern chatted with a group of students over pizza.

"I'm amazed at the questions they're asking me," he said. "I mean, they are noticing things about conducting that I usually hear from college students."

The musicians loaded onto the bus back to Germantown, and parents arrived for their kids. Stashed away in backpacks and instrument cases was a gift from IRIS -- a recording of the ensemble's first performance, at GPAC on Sept. 19, 2000.

Should the kids ever need to know how to make a musical entrance, they can just refer to the CD.

Da-Da-Da-Dummmm.

-- Christopher Blank: 529-2305

© 2008 Scripps Newspaper Group — Online

READ BOB COMMERCIAL APPEAL MUSIC WRITER BOB MEHR'S INSIGHTFUL ARTICLE ON OUR EXHIBIT "OTIS REDDING: FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS" AND SEE HIS VIDEO.

2008-01-15T06:17:00.001-08:00

Stax Museum showcases powerful, emotional exhibit on soul legend Redding

By Bob Mehr

"Otis Redding -- From Macon to Memphis: An Exhibit from the Private Collection of Zelma Redding," opened quietly last month at The Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
Its launch was timed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Redding's death, the result of a plane crash that claimed the life of the Georgia-born singer and Stax hitmaker, and nearly all the members of his backing band, The Bar-Kays, en route to a concert in Wisconsin in December 1967.

Unusually, there was no formal opening celebration for "From Macon to Memphis," and little attention was given to it amid the distractions of the holiday season. But the relative lack of fanfare surrounding it belies its status as a major historical exhibit -- one that's as powerful, emotional and evocative as the music of the man it celebrates.

"From Macon to Memphis" -- which will be on display at Stax's Studio A through April 30 -- is being hosted at Stax, in conjunction with the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and The Big "O" Youth Educational Dream Foundation, an arts and education organization founded by the Redding family last year.

The exhibit is somewhat misnamed, as it also includes a handful of pieces from the archive of music collector Bob Grady and several items from the Stax Museum itself. Still, the bulk of the items do come from Zelma Redding's trove of personal artifacts, many of which have never seen the light of day until now. Though it's not an incredibly large collection -- less than 100 pieces in all -- its impact is profound in several ways.

So much of what music fans hold dear about Redding has passed into the realm of myth: the
story of his unlikely discovery at Stax, arriving initially as the chauffeur of singer Johnny Jenkins; the sweat-soaked performances on the epochal Stax-Volt European tour; his embrace by the "love crowd" at the Monterey Pop Festival; and the bittersweet valediction of "(Sitting on) the Dock of the Bay." "From Macon to Memphis" certainly touches on all those triumphs, but it also adds a new depth and dimension to our understanding of Redding as a husband, father and friend.

Remarkably, it achieves this tricky task with an understated grace and a true economy of effort. The story is told in spare black-and-white photographs, documents, and brief personal correspondence -- the pieces exploring both the big tableau themes about Redding's art as well as the most trivial details of his life.

And without being overwrought, or playing up the mordant aspects of his death, "From Macon to Memphis" allows us to truly understand how Redding's tragic passing both defines and haunts our collective memory of him.

The first section of the exhibit is a brilliant burst: a mix of live and backstage photos, autographed records and show posters -- including one from a 1966 "homecoming" concert in Georgia. Taken together, they replicate the compressed feel of Redding's rise to fame, a thrilling five-year run that had him positioned, not just as the king of soul music, but an artist on the cusp of some kind of transcendent success at the end of his life.

Another aspect of the collection concerns the little-seen private Redding. The flip side of the dynamic entertainer was a reflective family man who preferred the solitude of the country to the buzz of the stage. Much of that is represented in the photos here, including shots of Redding enjoying the spoils of his success, a 300-acre farm he purchased outside of Macon. There's a real warmth in the images that find him playing the role of dedicated farmhand or frolicking poolside with his young sons, Otis III and Dexter.

Not all the photos are so happy, of course. There is an undeniably eerie quality to a pair of shots of Redding taken on his land sometime in early 1967, which find him hovering around an old Revolutionary War grave. In one, he leans up against a tombstone, smoking stoically; in another, he stands arms folded, gazing mysteriously at some unseen and, it seems, spectral presence. It's hard to view these photos and not feel a kind of chill -- perhaps that's part of the reason Redding's widow has kept the images private until now.

Though it would've been easy to skip over them, the final days of Redding's life are not given short shrift. A separate section is devoted to a series of items documenting his last trip to Memphis -- the starting point of a weekend tour that would prove fateful. They seem at first like unimportant pieces -- a car rental agreement, a hotel bill, aviation receipts -- but as you follow the paper trail, you almost feel a sense of dread. It's an emotion that's fueled, in part, because the artifacts are in such pristine condition; they look as if the ink has just dried. (Redding's widow kept the items in sealed plastic sheets for four decades).

The final portion of the exhibit, dealing with the aftermath of Redding's death, offers the saddest and most heart-rending moments. It includes a copy of Redding's death certificate, Zelma's handwritten logbook of condolence calls, and scores of telegrams from fellow soul music stars expressing their sympathy: The Temptations, Booker T. & the MGs, Patti LaBelle, The Staple Singers. Their words are moving, but often, it's the smallest, strangest details that stand out -- seeing a famous name like Nina Simone misspelled by an anonymous and unknowing Western Union clerk, for instance.

"From Macon to Memphis" concludes on a poignant note, focusing on the family Redding left behind. A shot of Zelma and her children gazing out on the family farm in 1970 is a sad echo of the image of Redding tending to his place a few years before.

The last piece in the collection, a family Christmas card, also from 1970, pictures the three Redding children alone. It's a rich color image taken against the wooded backdrop of the ranch. But there's something missing. There's a gaping empty space on the right side of the image, a place where their father might have stood.

Tremendous credit should be given to Stax curator Carol Drake for the subtle, but deliberate, way in which the exhibit flows from start to finish. But the strongest praise should be reserved for Zelma Redding herself, who understandably had a hard time parting with these pieces. To someone on the outside, the artifacts are just that. But for her they are talismans, or maybe just tangible pieces of the husband she lost and the legend whose legacy she's cared for unfailingly.
Her willingness to share these most private and personal possessions allows us to feel it all, too -- the happy memories of his life, the sharp pain of his death -- and to share a little bit more of a man we've all been loving too long to stop.

Exhibition review
"Otis Redding -- From Macon to Memphis: An Exhibit from the Private Collection of Zelma Redding" is on view at Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore Ave., through April 30.

Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults; $9 seniors 62 +, active military and students with valid ID; $7 children 9-12. Free to children 8 and younger and to museum members.

Call (901) 946-2535. Online: staxmuseum.com.

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DOOR OF HOPE OPENS MEMORIES AT STAX MUSEUM

2008-01-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

Memphis author Ellen Prewitt called me one day in December with an idea. She volunteers here with an organization named Door of Hope, which is a daytime agency committed to forming friendships with and offering assistance to people living on the streets. Weekly, she shares her knowledge of and passion for writing by hosting writing workshops with Door of Hope guests.

When famed Memphis photographer Earnest Withers passed away last fall, Ellen had the guests write about him and his photographs. In the process, she learned that many of the guests had great memories of Stax Records and that many of them had lived in the neighborhood around Stax when it was in its heyday in the 1960s and '70s. So she wanted to bring them to see the Stax Museum. None of them had seen it yet.

She and staff member Roderick Baldwin brought several guests on a sunny day in December and we spent several hours touring the museum while the guests shared their memories of Stax Records. It was an incredible day for all of us. Not one to let a great opportunity slip by, Ellen shortly thereafter conducted her weekly writing workshop with those guests and had them write about their memories of Stax Records and their experience touring the museum.

Thanks so much to Ellen for doing this, and for all of her support and that of her husband Tom for the Stax Museum and Stax Music Academy. And here are the stories, in the writers' own words. We look forward to the guests visiting the museum again soon.

“My STAX Experience”
By Leroy “Jake” Scott

It was my first time back to STAX since it was re-opened again from the early days of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

We used to go to the back door and peep in on Isaac Hayes, David Porter, Bar-Kays, Otis Redding, the Dramatics, Temprees, Mad Lads, Rufus Thomas, Sam and Dave and many more great artists.

For some reason, my favorite artist was Isaac Hayes. He was such a dynamic individual. Bald head, long gold chains and a real deep voice with great lyrics.

I especially like the little movie they show at the start of the tour. It puts you in the mood of the original STAX movie house that was there before it turned into a recording studio.

I was knocked off my feet when I saw Isaac Hayes custom El Dorado trimmed in gold with the white mink carpet and the bar in the back, and the TV in the front. I remember when he used to drive it down the street, it was such a beautiful sight to see.

STAX
By Jockluss Thomas Payne

Taking a trip to STAX Museum filled me with a lot of nostalgia. During the heyday of STAX, I was about fifteen years old and I lived very close to STAX Records, about two blocks down the street. I was able to hang around the studio, run errands for the singers and musicians, and actually sit in on recording sessions.

What is most memorable about STAX Records is how it developed the talents of many aspiring performers who otherwise might not have become famous. STAX produced a distinctive, soulful, delta, gritty, form of rhythm and blues that became world famous and brought to Memphis a place on the world map as the home of soul. Plus the fact it was a bi-racial effort in a time of racial strife. STAX will always be remembered in that respect. It also must be remembered as a big business organization that propelled many of its performers to financial heights never before achieved in the blues delta circuits.

It would take a book to re-live all my experiences at STAX Records. But I will say that it gave a great deal of cultural, musical, and racial pride in that STAX was able to bring whites and blacks together and produce a world famous sound known as the “Memphis Sound,” my adopted home town.

“THE STAX EXPERIENCE”
By Roderick Baldwin

For a long time, I have always wanted to see and learn about the STAX history. Hearing about STAX through others made me very interested. I have heard a lot of the music, from Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays, Staple Singers, Memphis Horns, Sam and Dave. The music I was listening to was telling a story about life and its experience. The music touched my soul, it had sound all by itself. The emotion it brought out was a good feeling. The music told personal feelings and experience that I can experience. No color or stigmas was here; the joy that music can bring. How the STAX experience brought people together in music.

Going to STAX myself brought back the times of clothes, hair styles; a different style of music. Brought back child memory of peace and good will. All that different culture coming together, to share their life and love of music, and the messages it gives us.

The STAX experience is something we can build on to help people understand that through music we can change and bring people together.

Remembering Isaac Hayes from his sister and brother going to Manassas High – being across the street from Isaac Hayes’ grandmother. Seeing the Cadillac he drove when I was in my teens. In my life I have had the opportunity to meet Rufus Thomas and his children and Isaac Hayes – James Alexander and Larry Dodson of the Bar-Kays, some of the Mitchells - the pioneers of the STAX experience.

It was and still is an honor to have met and listen to their experience of the times we left behind – but through the STAX museum we can re-live the good times. And help touch and pass the hope and dreams of the pioneers of change and togetherness. Thank God for the STAX experience and the people who are still keeping it alive.

STAX
By Radio

I just want to say I enjoyed the ride there, and I enjoyed the people, the music, the sound. I will like to go again real soon. I just want to thank the people that invited us.

STAX
By William Lawrence Hogan, Jr.

On Fast Quick. I’m Your Boxer.

Janet Jackson needs to come to Memphis Tenn to born or help give us Letoya her sister report. Clock Period.

READ WHAT THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION REPORTS ON THE STAX MUSEUM'S SPECIAL OTIS REDDING EXHIBIT

2008-01-09T06:59:00.000-08:00

The heart of a soulman
Otis Redding's recording studio on display at Stax Museum
By DREW JUBERA
The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 01/09/08

When Deanie Parker stepped into the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in south Memphis to view the Otis Redding exhibit for the first time, it was as if she'd seen a ghost.
The exhibit, "Otis Redding: From Macon to Memphis," is set inside the museum's replica of Stax Records' Studio A — reconstructed on the studio's original McLemore Avenue footprint, sloping floor and all — where Redding recorded such R&B classics as "Try a Little Tenderness" and "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay." The latter was recorded just days before he died, in 1967, in a plane crash.

"I walked into the studio and looked up and it was almost as if Otis' spirit was right there," said Parker, who arrived at Stax in 1963 and stayed — as singer, composer, secretary, publicist — until the family-run record label went belly up in 1975.

"Once again, he's back in his space," added Parker, now a museum complex board member. "In Studio A, where he used to prance back and forth as he was recording and teaching the musicians the arrangements to the songs."

The Stax exhibit is a state-line-jumping continuation of a similar Redding exhibit that opened this fall and is still running in Macon, at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Both exhibits commemorate the 40th anniversary of the artist's death at age 26. Both are dominated by memorabilia provided by Redding's widow.

"When you walk into either exhibit, you'll know what Otis Redding was about and the legacy he left," said Zelma Redding, 65, and still living near Macon. "But everyone tells a different story. When you go to Stax, the story is more about their history. They've worked so hard to tell the story of that room. And it's a great part of the story."

The Stax exhibit centerpiece is a collection of rare photographs of Redding on the 300-acre ranch he purchased in the rolling hills of Middle Georgia, about 25 miles outside Macon. Taken two weeks before his death, they show an offstage Redding patting cows, baling hay, playing with his kids.

It also includes telegrams Zelma received after his death from fans, musicians (the Temptations, Nina Simone) and politicians, including one from Jimmy Carter sent later, when a bridge in
Macon was officially named for Redding.

Other artifacts: receipts from the hotel Redding stayed in with his pilot and crew just before his death, and a poster from what became known as "the concert that never was" — the Madison, Wis., show (with opening act Grim Reaper, later morphing into Cheap Trick) that Redding was headed to when his twin-engine Beechcraft dropped into icy Lake Monona, just outside Madison.

But more profound than any relic is the context of where the exhibit is housed. Stax Records was R&B's rawer, sweatier parallel universe to the smooth, hard-waxed sounds of Motown. With a name that combined brother-and-sister founders Jim Stewart (the "St") and Estelle Axton (the "ax"), Stax was run inside a converted movie house like an integrated soul family in the heart of the South. The lettering for years on the old movie marquee: Soulsville USA.
The label produced more than 400 hits on the pop and R&B charts before it filed for bankruptcy in 1975. Artists included Booker T. & the MGs, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Sam and Dave, the Staple Singers and Isaac Hayes.

But boss hog was Redding. Stax became what Zelma Redding calls "his second home," a place where "they produced and made all those hits but, first and foremost, it was the family of Stax Records. It was love first and hits second."

He arrived there from Macon in 1962 as the driver for Johnny Jenkins & the Pinetoppers, who came to record a single. With a half-hour of studio time left, Redding, who occasionally performed with the band and who'd begged all day for a chance to sing, was allowed to record a ballad he wrote called "These Arms of Mine." It wasn't long before he became the label's biggest star.

And it all came out of Studio A. The original Stax building was razed in 1989, but a replica was built on the same site four years ago as part of a Soulsville USA complex. The studio was re-created right down to the sloping movie house floor and random Billboard magazines littered around the furniture. "From Macon to Memphis" is the first exhibit hosted inside the space.

"His presence was a lot like Elvis Presley and Billy Graham — one of those guys who when he walks into a room, the room changes," recalled Wayne Jackson, a member of the Memphis Horns who backed Redding on many hits. "He was the same in the studio as he was on stage — he marched up and down that room, just like he marched up and down the stage, and he'd sing the horn parts to us and get in our face until we were frothing at the mouth. He could instill that kind of excitement.

"He knew in his heart he didn't have long to discharge all this genius," added Jackson, now 66 and living in Nashville. "And when I say genius, I mean touched by God. He walked into that studio knowing the song and everything in it — the rhythm section, the drums, the horn lines.
"He drove a wedge in the world of music, and all of us fell into it," Jackson said. "When he was killed, we dispersed. It was all over for Stax."

What little is left is now at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music until April 30.

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
"Otis Redding: From Macon to Memphis" is at Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore Ave., Memphis, through April 30. $10. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 1-4 p.m. Sundays. , 901-946-2535.

IF YOU GO
Getting there
• Driving: Memphis is a seven-hour drive from Atlanta.
• Flying: Expect to pay about $250 round trip from Atlanta to Memphis.

Pau Gasol and STAXTACULAR '08!

2008-01-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

You've heard the buzz. You've waited for months. At last, we are proud to announce:

STAXTACULAR returns on Friday, March 7, 2008!

The city's wildest "soul-shakin' throwdown," hosted this year by Brian and Danielle Cardinal, Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay and Mike Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies, is back, bigger and better than ever--and now YOU have the opportunity to buy tickets before they go onsale to the public!

Call 901-261-6385 now to purchase your tickets before they are available to the public. Tickets are $150 each, and as always, all the proceeds will benefit the life-changing music education programs of the Stax Music Academy.

Click here to learn more about the Stax Music Academy and click here for more information about STAXTACULAR '08!

WILLIE MITCHELL & THE 2008 GRAMMYS!!

2007-12-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, December 18, The Recording Academy announced that one its Grammy Trustee Award recipients during the 50th Grammy Awards in February 2008 will none other than Memphis’ own Hi Records legend Willie Mitchell. This same award was given to Stax Records’ Estelle “Lady A” Axton last year and Booker T. & the MGs received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. All great things for Memphis.

I think this honor for Willie Mitchell is outstanding and well deserved and long overdue. Aside from his tremendous musical accomplishments, Willie might just be the coolest person on the planet. He still works at his famed Royal Studios located on what was Lauderdale Street and is now Willie Mitchell Boulevard! And he is a more-than-gracious host to most anyone who drops by to visit. He recently told me, “Every time I hear a piece of really good music, it adds ten years to my life. It’s the reason I’m still alive.”

A popular trumpet player and band leader in his early career, Mitchell is probably best known for discovering and developing the talents of soul giants Al Green and Ann Peebles. He co-produced and engineered all of Green's albums from 1970 through 1976, including such seminal soul classics as "Tired Of Being Alone," "Here I Am (Come And Take Me)," and "Let's Stay Together." And, of course, he and Ann Peebles gave us “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” and other great hits. But he has also worked with many other great artists, including his own Hi Rhythm Section (pictured with him above from the Stax Museum exhibit "Stax Here and Now") Syl Johnson, Donald Bryant, Otis Clay, O.V. Wright, and, more recently, John Mayer.

So CONGRATULATIONS, WILLIE! We love you!

READ THIS REVIEW OF "DREAMS TO REMEMBER: THE LEGACY OF OTIS REDDING"

2007-12-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

FROM CARBON 14 MAGAZINE:

By Falling James!

More than anything else, this new DVD emphasizes what a warm, funny, dynamic and larger-than-life figure Otis Redding was onstage, in ways that even his concert albums haven’t made clear. It’s one thing to hear that explosive voice, and it’s quite another to hear it while also witnessing the electrifying way he dominates a stage, shaking from within like a volcano.

Dreams to Remember mixes positively incendiary live footage, TV appearances and goofily charming promo films with interviews with former band mates Steve Cropper and Wayne Jackson, Redding’s wife Zelma, Stax Records head Jim Stewart and others. Redding’s sheer force of personality even lights up the corny early lip-synched TV spots, and the promo films for “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” and the down-on-the-farm lovers’ quarrel with Carla Thomas on “Tramp” are better than most videos, thanks to his easy-going clowning and inherent, unforced acting ability.

Of course, the truly live performances are the most thrilling parts; I kept getting literal chills up and down the elevators of my spine throughout the Monterey Festival highlights, as well as the Stax/Volt Revue in London in 1967, where he reclaims “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and “Satisfaction” from the Rolling Stones with total confidence. Even as he’s giving praise to Mick Jagger, he can’t help coming off as a full-grown, fully mature and aware MAN in comparison to the geeky Stones.

His versions of “Try a Little Tenderness” and “Respect,” with tight, sophisticated backing by the Bar-Kays, would be astonishing and precious in any universe, even if they weren’t recorded mere hours before the tragic plane crash in Wisconsin.

By the end of the documentary, I was bawling uncontrollably, probably for the first time in many years over something that I wasn’t directly involved with or feeling selfish about on some level. It’s not that the story here was told sentimentally or was fishing for cheap and obvious emotions, it’s that you feel such a deep loss merely by having the DVD end, much less recalling the cold-blooded rudeness of death permanently taking away such a musical giant, such a monumental, godlike voice belonging to such an unpretentiously likable soul.

And I do mean soul.

BONUSES: There are more interviews with Jackson and Cropper, a photo gallery and a 22-page booklet with detailed liner notes and bio.

"Dreams to Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding" is available at the Stax Museum gift shop or on the Stax Museum's online shop at http://www.staxmuseum.com/shop/detail.asp?prod_id=336&cat_id=8

OTIS IS IN THE BUILDING

2007-12-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

On Monday, December 10th, we opened our special new Otis Redding exhibit at the Stax Museum, "OTIS REDDING: FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS - An Exhibit from the Private Collection of Zelma Redding."

A long time in the making, the exhibit now has more than 100 photographs and artifacts very generously loaned to us by Otis' widow, Zelma Redding. The exhibit is in the recreation of the famed Stax Records Studio A and it's the first time that area of the museum has housed a changing exhibit. Although it is a recreation (the original Stax building was demolished in 1989), when you are standing it the room surrounded by all of the fascinating photos of Otis and the other artifacts, you are standing on the exact same ground where Otis recorded almost all of his music. It is, indeed, hallowed ground.

This exhibit means a great deal to me. I'm not one for celebrity worship, but there is something about Otis Redding that is so special and so beautiful, it's hard to explain. Of course, I never met Otis Redding and know about him only through his family and the musicians and other Stax employees who knew him, but - like many artistic geniuses who die young - there is a mystique about him that is fascinating. Here was this very young man from Georgia, who wanted so badly to be a singer, but had to work as a well digger and hospital orderly (he got fired from that job for singing too much on the job!) who never wavered from his dream. Think about it. He was 19 or 20 when he first came to Stax Records, and by age 26 he had accomplished so much and appeared to have absolutely loved the journey he was on. His recordings were incredible, but video footage of his live performances are like none of any other live performer I have ever seen. He was magnificent, confident, vulnerable, and honest all at the same time.

One of the best things about this new exhibit to me is that it shows Otis Redding off stage as well, mainly at his Big O Ranch outside Macon, Georgia, a place he loved. You see him riding his horses, petting his cattle, sitting on the diving board of his pool, walking with his kids, and stretched out on the ground leaning against a Revolutionary War-era gravestone just relaxing with a cigarette. In some of the photos he looks elated. In some he looks very pensive. All in all, it shows that he was human like the rest of us and somehow that is comforting.

If you have any Otis Redding memories you would like to share, or just comments on the King of Soul, please post them here. And come see the exhihit. I think you'll feel like Otis is in the building.

Tim

STAX MUSEUM TO HONOR THE LIFE OF OTIS WITH SPECIAL EXHIBIT DECEMBER 10, 2007 - APRIL 30, 2008

2007-12-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

“OTIS REDDING – FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS: An Exhibit from the Private Collection of Zelma Redding”

December 10, 2007 – April 30, 2008

DECEMBER 4, 2007, MEMPHIS, TN – His rise in the music industry was nothing short of meteoric. He arrived at Stax Records in 1962 as the driver and equipment handler for Johnny Jenkins & the Pinetoppers, a band with whom he had occasionally performed in and around his native Macon, Georgia. At the end of the evening, after having asked all day for a chance to sing, Stax Records founder Jim Stewart and Booker T. & the MGs guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper gave him that chance. There in the famed Studio A, when Otis Redding began singing "These Arms of Mine," the world changed forever. For the next five years, Redding would record hit after hit, take Europe by storm, and enthrall thousands of love children at the Monterey Pop Festival alongside the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane. But the world changed again that same year, when, on December 10, 1967, Redding, the pilot, and all but two members of his touring band the Bar-Kays were killed when his plane crashed in Lake Monona, just a few minutes from the airport in Madison, Wisconsin, at the age of 26. Only Bar-Kay trumpet player Ben Cauley survived the crash; fellow Bar-Kay member James Alexander was on a different, commercial flight.

Today, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, located at the site of Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, where Redding recorded the songs that captured the hearts of millions, announced that it will be home to a very special exhibit to pay homage to the singer, loving husband, and father. "OTIS REDDING: FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS - An Exhibit from the Private Collection of Zelma Redding" opens on Monday, December 10, 2007 in commemoration of Redding's passing, and will be on display through April 30, 2008. With items on loan from Otis Redding's widow and daughter, Zelma and Karla Redding-Andrews, the exhibit features a collection of never-before-shown family photographs taken on the Reddings' 300-acre ranch outside Macon, and shows more than Otis Redding the singer and entertainer. Redding is seen petting his cattle, holding his son Otis Redding III, pitching hay from his barn, and engaged in other activities that portray him at home. The exhibit also includes personal mementos from Mrs. Redding such as telegrams of condolence from Booker T. & the MGs, then-Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, Nina Simone, the Staple Singers, the Stax Records “family,” and others.

"Otis Redding had an impact on the world in a very short period of time that most musical artists never achieve in a long lifetime," said Marc Willis, CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, the nonprofit parent company that operates the Stax Museum, Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School. "It is a privilege for the Stax Museum to host this special exhibit and celebrate Otis Redding's life and career, and we are grateful to Zelma Redding and Karla Redding-Andrews for sharing these very personal items with us and helping organize this exhibit. In many ways, Otis Redding is one of the reasons the Stax Museum exists today."

"Stax Records was like a second home for Otis," stated Zelma Redding. "He recorded some of his biggest hits there and worked with some of the world's best musicians. We are pleased to be able to share some of our personal family moments in this exhibit."

In addition to the artifacts on loan from Zelma Redding and Karla Redding-Andrews, “OTIS REDDING: FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS” contains several items on loan from private collector Bob Grady and never-before-shown artifacts from the Stax Museum archives. “OTIS REDDING: FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS” is hosted with the assistance of ArtsMemphis, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and the Big “O” Youth Educational Dream Foundation, which the Redding family founded in 2007 in an effort to continue Redding’s dream of encouraging and assisting youth by enhancing their lives through education and the arts.

I Have a "Weak Spot" for Ruby Johnson

2007-11-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

So many people came through the doors of Stax Records that it's hard to keep up with them all. In fact, every time I walk through the "Hall of Records" inside the museum (which is almost every day!), I see something I hadn't seen before. Another artist who had one LP or some singles but never had that breakthrough hit for whatever reason.

One of those artists is Ruby Johnson, who signed to Stax/Volt in 1965. I actually found out about her when the punk Detroit Cobras covered one of her singles, "Weak Spot," written by the incredible duo of Isaac Hayes and David Porter. I discovered that in our Satellite Record & Gift Shop, we carried the one Ruby Johnson complilation CD, "I'll Run Your Hurt Away," which includes "Weak Spot." I haven't stopped listening to it since.

I recently asked David Porter about Johnson (who passed away in 1999 after a quiet life outside the music business for the most part). I'm paraphrasing David here, but he told me that she had something very special, that all of the sadness and other emotions in her life came through in her voice and in her styling of a song. Indeed.

I haven't been able to find any live video of Johnson, but came across this piece from You Tube, on which "Weak Spot" is the background song for a photo montage of stills of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hope you enjoy is as much as I do. If the sound skips on your computer, just got to You Tube and type "Ruby Johnson Stax" into the search bar.

Thanks,
Tim

Read Bob Mehr's article on the Hi Rhythm Section and Don't Miss Monday Night's Show!

2007-11-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder that the Hi Rhythm Section with Syl Johnson and other special guests are playing together at the Stax Museum Monday, night, November 26th, 7-10 p.m. Read this terrific article below by music writer Bob Mehr that appeared as the Playbook cover story in Friday's Commercial Appeal.

Back in the Hi life
Rhythm section together again at museum for a soulful jam session on Monday, Novemeber 26th!

By Bob Mehr
Friday, November 23, 2007

The Hi Rhythm Section: Theirs was the sound of seduction and sorrow, of romance and reverie. Their playing defined the pleading charms of "Let's Stay Together" and the sweet surrender of "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)." They gave the world the steamy showers of "I Can't Stand the Rain" and the gospel ache of "A Nickel and A Nail."

In an era (the mid-'60s to the mid-'70s) and a region (the South) that produced some of the greatest house bands of all time -- the American Studios group, the Muscle Shoals Swampers -- the Hi Rhythm Section stood out as a singular-sounding unit. Its languid, dreamy grooves became a signature that helped propel the careers of Otis Clay, Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson, and most notably Al Green.

Led by producer/arranger Willie Mitchell, the group included the three Hodges Brothers -- guitarist Mabon "Teenie," bassist Leroy and organist Charles -- keyboardist Archie Turner, and drummer Howard Grimes. Their work on classic Hi Records albums like Green's I'm Still In Love With You and Peebles' Straight From The Heart helped carry the torch for Memphis soul music into the '70s, even as their South Memphis neighbors at Stax fell by the wayside.

On Monday, the full Hi Rhythm section reunites for the first time in over a decade, to play a special show at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, part of its "Last Mondays In Studio A" concert series. The show will feature the Hi group doing its own set as well backing up classic collaborator Syl Johnson for a performance.

In the hands of Mitchell and his men, the melding of jazz chords and R&B beats marked a shift in the sound and feel of soul music as it entered the "Me Decade." "Between Stax and Hi, the music moved from the dance floor to the boudoir, and everything changed," says Memphis music historian Robert Gordon, who produced the 1997 Al Green box set, Anthology. "The lights got turned down and it got a little softer and a little warmer."

Part of the power of the Hi band derived from the close-knit nature of their players, who'd come up under the tutelage of patriarchal "Pops" Mitchell and were family in one way or another. "The fact that the same blood -- literally the same blood -- is pumping through most of their hearts, makes the beat sync up in a family way," says Gordon. "There's a level of closeness in what they do and who they are as people and their history together, that means they can take the music to a tighter place than other groups can get to."

The story of the Hi Rhythm Section goes back more than half a century. The Hodges brothers came from a family of 12 children, raised in what were then the farm lands of post-World War II Germantown. Their father, Leroy Sr., led his own blues outfit, the Germantown Blue Dots. Most of the Hodges boys apprenticed in their father's group -- including Teenie, who began playing guitar with the band at the age of 12.

While Teenie continued working with his dad, Leroy formed his own R&B band, the Impalas, with a group of young musicians who included Tommy Lee Williams and Archie Turner, the stepson of noted Memphis trumpeter and band leader Willie Mitchell.

In the early '60s, Teenie, then just an eager-to-please teenager, turned up at Mitchell's home where the Impalas were rehearsing. "I really wanted Willie to hear me play," says Teenie. "He said 'no, you can't play worth a damn! Your problem is you use a thumb pick, you need to start playing with a flat pick.' So that's how I started playing with a flat pick. I was 16 when he told me that."

That was the first of many musical lessons Mitchell would offer Hodges. Within a few months, he had unofficially adopted Teenie, who came to live with and learn from the band leader for the next seven years. "I'd go with him to his gigs at the Manhattan Club (in West Memphis)," recalls Teenie. "Sometimes I'd just sit there and watch. Sometimes I'd play a set. Then, eventually he hired me to play on the weekends. Then I went out of town to a show in Ohio. And I played with him everywhere after that."

Within a year after Teenie became a full-fledged member of Mitchell's band in 1965, his brothers Charles -- who had been playing with O.V. Wright -- and Leroy would also join. A few years later they added drummer Howard Grimes, one of the pioneering young players who'd helped shape Stax's earliest recordings, thus birthing the core of what would become Hi Rhythm. .

In between their live dates, the band would develop their sound recording sides for Mitchell as well as a selection of his fellow Hi Records artists including Ace Cannon, Charlie Rich and Jumpin' Gene Simmons.

In the late '60s, Mitchell and the band cut back on their touring schedule to focus more on the work at Mitchell's Royal Studio.
While he had been a popular and accomplished dance-band leader and artist, Mitchell's innovations in the studio and the changes he brought to the language of soul through his recordings would be his greatest lasting achievement. It was through his group of young charges -- the Hodges brothers, Grimes and Turner, back from a military stint in Vietnam -- that he helped fashion this new musical landscape.

"See, I used to be a jazz player," says Mitchell. "And so I was using jazz chords against R&B music -- and it worked...."

"Willie set the tone, and his background as a horn player was influential in that there was a kind of brass patina that's over the whole thing," says Robert Gordon. That brassy element was further fueled by the horn contributions of Mitchell's sax-playing brother James, and the Memphis Horns trumpeter Wayne Jackson and saxophonist Andrew Love, whose work added the final ingredient to those classic Hi recordings.

Although the Hi Rhythm section had success with a stable of R&B and soul stars, from Don Bryant to O.V. Wright, no artist better captured or more intuitively understood the mood of the music than the man who would enter their world in 1969: a young Arkansas-born singer by the name of Al Green.

"I had cut Otis Clay, Syl Johnson, and everybody. But with Al, I was looking for a specific sound," says Mitchell, who discovered Green during a gig in Midland, Texas. "And he was the only one that could hear jazz changes and really sing in that style. Once we got that together, I just kept making arrangements like that and that was just hit after hit."

"The thing was that Al could slow down enough to play with those guys," says Gordon. "He was able to play his voice like a jazz instrument, which fit in really well with Willie's concepts. In addition to being a vocalist, his throat becomes an instrument in the band."

Green's pipes were so distinctive that even familiar fare, such as the Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand" or the Box Tops "The Letter" were made new in his hands. "He's one of the best, if not the best, to ever style a song," says Teenie. "He can do a song that's sold a million copies, but once he does it you never even know it's the same song."

By the time the Hi Rhythm Section had reached its mid-'70s peak, their work with Green and others had helped define nearly 20 gold and platinum albums and countless chart hits. In 1976, the group recorded its own little remembered but fiercely funky LP, On The Loose, which found

Teenie, Charles and Archie Turner handling vocal duties. But the following year, Hi Records was sold to Southern label mogul Alvin Bennett (who also purchased the remains of the bankrupt Stax) and in the transition to new ownership -- as well as the loss of Al Green to the church -- the studio band broke-up. "After that, I kinda stopped playing for a couple years," says Teenie. "Then in '79 we started back playing again."

The Hodges continued to play throughout the '80s and '90s, working with bluesman Albert Collins, touring Japan with Otis Clay, and periodically reforming the Hi Rhythm Section with Grimes and Turner for the odd tour or session gig. Charles Hodges would eventually head off to a life of church work, becoming an ordained minister and devoting himself to gospel music. More recently, Leroy and Teenie spent much of the 2005-2006 in the studio and on the road with indie-pop chanteuse Cat Power, as part of her Memphis Rhythm Band.

Monday's Stax show marks the first time all three Hodges brothers have played together in nearly years, mostly due to Charles' ministerial obligations. But, it appears that he's ready to make secular music again, and Teenie adds that the group is planning to secure a booking agent and make more regular appearances as a unit. The upcoming show will also see several old friends, including Impalas co-founder Tommy Lee Williams join them onstage, bringing Teenie and the Hodges brothers full circle from their roots 50 years ago.

"It's very strange, but I just feel blessed to have been doing it this long," says Teenie. "I didn't have nothing to do with it, really, God did it. But, yes, I do feel blessed I was able to make this music and make a lot of people happy."

--Bob Mehr: 529-2517
Music preview
The Hi Rhythm Section with Syl Johnson
Monday 7-9 p.m. at Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore Ave., for the Last Mondays in Studio A series.
General admission, $20; Stax Museum members $5. Call 946-2535.

© 2007 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

Last Day to Enter AllMemphisMusic.com's Stax Prize Contest!

2007-11-16T07:40:00.000-08:00

Stax Music Fans!

Friday November 16th is the last day to register for the STAX Museum Soul package that includes:

A Fifty Years of Soul Cap, a STAX 50 year Double CD, the "Respect Yourself" DVD, a STAX snap logo magnet, a red STAX coffee mug, a McLemore Ave STAX key chain, and 4 unrestricted passes to the legendary STAX Museum.

It’s easy to enter. Send us an e-mail at AllMemphisMusic@aol.com before Friday night November 16th , 12:00 midnight MEMPHIS time CST. In the subject line type STAX Contest. In the body of the message give us your name and city you listen from. One entry per person, per day! Everybody has a chance to win. A random drawing will be held and winner announced.

For more information and non-stop Memphis music, visit http://www.allmemphismusic.com/.

DVDs No Soul Fan Can Live Without!

2007-11-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

NOW AVAILBABLE AT THE STAX MUSEUM GIFT SHOP OR ONLINE AT http://www.staxmuseum.com/

DREAMS TO REMEMBER: THE LEGACY OF OTIS REDDING

$14.98

Absolutely essential for any Otis Redding fan, this DVD features 16 complete performances filmed throughout America and Europe showcasing why Otis is considered one of the greatest soul singers of all time.

Interspersed between the songs are 40 minutes of new 2007 interviews with Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's), Jim Stewart (founder of Stax Records), Wayne Jackson (Memphis Horns), and Otis' wife Zelma and daughter Karla. This DVD features a mix of live performances, long-lost television appearances, and rare promotional films, all in remastered sound and video. Includes staggering versions of "I Can't Turn You Loose", "Respect", "I've Been Loving You Too Long", "Try A Little Tenderness" (filmed the day before Otis' tragic death), and more.

Produced by Reelin' In The Years Productions, the team behind such acclaimed DVD series as American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1969, Jazz Icons, and Motown's Definitive Performances, this 90 minute disc is the first full-length program to commemorate the legacy of Otis Redding and paints a stirring portrait of an artist whose music remains as powerful and influential as it was 40 years ago.

TRACK LISTING
Pain In My Heart
Mr. Pitiful
Just One More Day
I Can't Turn You Loose
I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)
My Girl
Satisfaction
Don't Mess With Cupid
Any Ole Way
My Lover's Prayer
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)
Tramp
Shake
Glory Of Love
Try A Little Tenderness
(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay (new 2007 video)
Respect
Credits/I've Got Dreams To Remember

DVD BONUS FEATURES
Bonus interviews with Steve Cropper and Wayne Jackson
Image Gallery featuring previously unseen photos from the Redding family, as well as a rare BBC radio interview with Otis himself.
Jukebox feature, which allows you to arrange the musical performances in your own personalized tracklist without interviews.

DVD SPECS:
RUNNING TIME: Approx. 91 minutes
REGION: All Regions
ASPECT RATIO: 4:3
AUDIO FORMATS: 5.1 DTS Surround Sound, 2.0 Dolby Stereo Sound
SUBTITLES: English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese

Hi Rhythm Section & Syl Johnson to Perform at Stax Museum Monday, November 26th!

2007-11-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

THE STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of Stax Records all year. And now we pay homage to Memphis' other great label, Hi Records, with a special Last Mondays in Studio A concert by the Hi Rhythm Section and Syl Johnson! Yes, the Hodges Brothers, Howard Grimes, and Archie Mitchell are reuniting for a rare Memphis performance in a tribute to legendary Hi Records owner/producer Willie "Pops" Mitchell. Together, Mitchell and these musicians have written, recorded on, and produced some of the great music in American History, including that of Syl Johnson himself, along with Al Green, Ann Peebles, O.V. Right, Don Bryant, and dozens of others. More recently, the Hi Rhythm Section recorded and toured with Cat Power.

(Pictured above Syl Johnson. Lower photo, standing around Willie Mitchell, left to right: Leroy Hodges, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, Archie Turner Mitchell, Rev. Charles Hodges, Howard Grimes. Photo by Gerald Cyrus. Featured in the current exhibit at the Stax Museum, "STAX HERE AND NOW: Current Images of the Stars of Stax Records.")

THIS SHOW, held in our intimate recreation of the famous Stax Records' Studio A, should round out the year of Last Monday concerts with a big, bad, soulful, joyful, uproarious bang! Be there!

What: Last Mondays in Studio A!

Who: The Hi Rhythm Section with Syl Johnson

Where: Stax Museum of American Soul Music

When: Monday, November 26, 2007 - 7-9 p.m.

Compliementary hors d'oeuvres & Soft Drinks - Cash Bar

$20 General Admission - $5 Stax Museum Members

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY WINTER CONCERT WITH KIRK WHALUM & GLENN JONES, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2007!

2007-10-31T09:30:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, December 8th, the students of the Stax Music Academy will perform their annual SNAP! After School Winter Concert with special guests Stax Music Academy Artist in Residence Kirk Whalum and recording star/producer Glenn Jones! The concert - featuring all ensembles of the Stax Music Academy as well as The Soulsville Charter School's Soulsville Symphony Orchestra - will take place at the Mike Rose Theatre at the University of Memphis at 7 p.m. and admssion is just $5! Check back here for more information soon and for the date tickets go on sale!

Video by Rendezvous Records. Directedb by Graham Streeter.

Eddie Floyd and the Bo-Keys - Live in Studio A!

2007-10-30T13:10:00.001-07:00

Stax legend EDDIE FLOYD and the BO-KEYS rocked Studio A at the Stax Museum last night! Check out these photos. What was your favorite memory of the night?

The Bo-Keys. Ben Cauley is on trumpet and Charles "Skip" Pitts is on the wah-wah guitar!

Marvell Thomas on keys.

Eddie and fellow Stax legend Floyd Newman share an embrace after the show.

Commercial Appeal Reports on Memphis Symphony Orchestra's work with Soulsville

2007-10-25T06:58:00.001-07:00

Symphony mentoring aids Soulsville students

By David Williams (Contact)Thursday, October 25, 2007

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra's Frank Shaffer plays the timpani. "It's a fancy name for kettle drums," he said with a laugh. The lack of pretension suits the symphony these days.

Not content merely to serenade its core audience with the classics, the MSO is looking for ways to become a more involved citizen of Memphis. That has led to a 10-week mentoring program that brings four to six symphony musicians to the Soulsville Charter School for 90 minutes each Tuesday morning.

And so on this Tuesday morning, there was Shaffer, symphony musician, and Evyette Clark, 13-year-old student and marimba player, connecting over sharp notes and a Stevie Wonder tune called "Overjoyed."

As he talked, she played -- and drew praise.
"That's right?" she said, seeming surprised at how well she'd done.
"You got it, girl," said Shaffer, who also teaches percussion at the University of Memphis. "You're a star."

Soulsville, designated for students who previously attended "high priority" schools on the state's target list, has an enrollment of 180 in grades six through eight. Like the symphony, the school sought a partnership with depth.

"We wanted to do more than just get tickets for some kids to go see the symphony," said school chancellor Cary Booker. "We really wanted to have them develop relationships with members of the symphony, to know some of the members by name and to really get an understanding of what the work is about. "We're trying to help kids develop relationships that are strong and positive and help lay the foundation for their future success," Booker said.

By success, he's not talking about mastering a piece of music. He's talking about going to college. As for music, that's merely a tool.

"They're learning a set of skills that are transferable," Booker said. "The kind of focus and practice and dedication that you need to make this instrument make a noise is transferable to the kind of focus and attention you need in order to get good at language arts, to get good at mathematics, to get good at science."

The symphony can teach the students not just about performing -- musically, academically and in other ways -- as individuals, he said, but as part of a group.

"It's not simply, 'I'm going to make my instrument make a noise,'" Booker said. "But, 'I'm going to make it make a noise that fits with all the other noises -- to create a piece.' "

Clark talks about the program in that larger sense. Sure, she's improving her marimba skills, but ...

"It gives me more opportunity to know the world," she said. "It's been a very good program."
Shaffer, in his role as teacher, seems to be getting an education, too.

"There are all sorts of teaching challenges that I haven't dealt with before," he said. "A lot of times, there are issues where the students are working so hard in other subjects, sometimes they have trouble wanting to do academically related things in music.
"So finding a way to kind of turn them on has been a very good experience for me to figure out."