The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is a
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
located in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, at 926 East McLemore Avenue, the original location of
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.
Stax was ...
. Stax launched and supported the careers of artists such as
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...
,
Isaac Hayes, the
Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February ...
,
Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988).
Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...
,
Booker T. & the M.G.'s,
Rufus Thomas,
Carla Thomas
Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Thomas is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1 ...
,
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter.
A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...
,
Albert King
Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...
,
William Bell,
Eddie Floyd
Edward Lee Floyd (born June 25, 1937) is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s, including the No. 1 R&B hit song " Knock on Wood".
Biography
Floyd was born in ...
,
Jean Knight
Jean Knight (née Caliste; born January 26, 1943)Official records state that Jean Caliste, aged 16, married in June 1954, indicating a birth year of 1938. is an American R&B and soul singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Launching her profession ...
,
Mable John
Mable John (November 3, 1930 – August 25, 2022) was an American blues vocalist and was the first female signed by Berry Gordy to Motown's Tamla label.
Biography
John was born in Bastrop, Louisiana, on November 3, 1930, the eldest of at le ...
, and countless others including spoken word and comedy by
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...
,
Moms Mabley
Loretta Mary Aiken (March 19, 1894 – May 23, 1975), known by her stage name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was an American stand-up comedian and actress. Mabley began her career on the theater stage in the 1920s and became a veteran entertainer of the ...
, and
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...
.
The Stax Museum opened on May 2, 2003 and will be celebrating its 20th anniversary throughout 2023.
The Stax Museum is operated by the nonprofit Soulsville Foundation, which also operates the adjacent
Stax Music Academy
Stax Music Academy is an after school and summer music school in South Memphis, Tennessee. The program has included instruction from many prominent musicians. Alumni include Kris Thomas, a top ten contender on The Voice and Kirby Lauryen, a Roc Na ...
and
The Soulsville Charter School; the three distinct but related entities are all located on one campus in the heart of the neighborhood known as Soulsville U.S.A.
The Soulsville Foundation announced in August 2022 that its new President and CEO is now Pat Mitchell Worley, former Stax Music Academy Executive Director and longtime cohost of the internationally syndicated blues radio show, Beale Street Caravan. Jeff Kollath is the Stax Museum's executive director.
History
![Stax Records, Memphis, TN, US (09)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Stax_Records%2C_Memphis%2C_TN%2C_US_%2809%29.jpg)
After Stax Records was forced into involuntary
bankruptcy and closed in 1976, the Stax studio was sold by the
Union Planters Bank
Union Planters Bank was a United States financial institution and multi-state bank holding corporation headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee prior to being acquired by Regions Financial Corporation. With over $34 billion in assets, Union Planters B ...
for $10.00 to Southside
Church of God in Christ, located nearby on McLemore Avenue. The church had plans to use the building as a community center and
soup kitchen, which never materialized. As time went by, it was allowed to deteriorate and, despite many attempts to save the original structure, it was demolished in 1989. By 1998, the neighborhood had also fallen into a state of blight, and a group of concerned Memphis business people, anonymous philanthropists, and former Stax Records artists spearheaded a nonprofit revitalization effort for the area, which included a museum that would be a shrine to Stax Records and all American soul music, as well as a music school for urban youth.
Construction began on the Stax Museum and adjacent Stax Music Academy in April 2001. The Stax Music Academy, which had started programming at a nearby elementary school on June 1, 2000, opened in 2002 and the museum opened May 3, 2003. The Stax Museum is a replica of the Stax recording studio, the former Capitol Theatre, down to the sloping floor of studio A. It is a museum with permanent and changing interactive exhibits, videos, films, photographs, original instruments used to record Stax hits, stage costumes, vintage recording gear, and more than 3,000 other items of memorabilia including personal items that belonged to Stax Records stars. Some of the standout exhibits include an authentic circa-1906
Mississippi Delta church from Mississippi, reconstructed in the museum to help show the
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
roots of
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...
; the ''
Soul Train'' dance floor,
Isaac Hayes' restored 1972 gold-trimmed, peacock-blue
Cadillac El Dorado; and a near-exact recreation of the original Stax Records recording Studio A.
New additions include Stax Records founder
Jim Stewart's original violin he played in various bands around town before starting Stax Records,
Skip Pitts' guitar and the wah-wah pedal used while recording
Isaac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft," Floyd Newman
Floyd Newman (born August 17, 1931) is a saxophonist, session musician and bandleader. As a baritone sax player, he was long associated with Stax Records, and as a member of The Mar-Keys’ horn section and the Memphis Horns.
Born in Memphis, in ...
's saxophone that turned 100 years old in 2017, and the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
statue Hayes won for Best Musical Score for "Theme From Shaft" in 1972.
![Custom Cadillac El Dorado built for Isaac Hayes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Custom_Cadillac_El_Dorado_built_for_Isaac_Hayes.jpg)
Because the Stax Museum is one of only a handful of museums in the world dedicated to soul music (the
Motown Museum
"Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was pu ...
in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
is another), it not only celebrates the legacy of Stax Records and its artists such as
Isaac Hayes,
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...
,
Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988).
Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...
,
the Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21 ...
,
Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco.
In 2022, Taylor ...
,
Albert King
Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...
,
Booker T. & the MGs,
Rufus
Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin '' rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include:
Given name
Politicians
* Rufus Ada George (born 1940), Nigerian politician
* Rufus ...
and
Carla Thomas
Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Thomas is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1 ...
and others, but also features other soul music labels such as
Motown,
Hi Records
Hi Records is an American soul music and rockabilly label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for Sun Records), and three silent partne ...
,
Atlantic Records, and
Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, the population of Muscle Shoals was 13,146. The estimated popu ...
. Visitors are treated to vintage video footage of non-Stax artists such as
Aretha Franklin,
Al Green,
Stevie Wonder,
Marvin Gaye,
Ann Peebles
Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband ...
,
The Jackson Five
The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...
,
Patti LaBelle,
Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...
,
Sam Cooke,
James Brown,
Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing voca ...
, and others.
In addition to being a world-class tourist destination that helps fuel the Memphis tourism economy, the Stax Museum is a community-focused organization that offers free programming throughout the year to residents of the Soulsville U.S.A. neighborhood and the general public. Events include concerts, listening parties, book and author events, film screenings, exhibit opening receptions, panel discussions, lectures, and free-admission Family Days designed for children. One such event was on August 2, 2022, to celebrate the Stax Museum's February 2022 inclusion into the United States Civil Rights Trail.
In addition to many other accolades, TIME magazine named the Stax Museum "The Most Authentic American Experience in Tennessee" and the museum was the recipient of the 2015 Tennessee Governor's Arts Award, the highest honor in the arts in the state. It has also been routinely named by USA Today as one of the best music attractions in North America.
The adjacent
Stax Music Academy
Stax Music Academy is an after school and summer music school in South Memphis, Tennessee. The program has included instruction from many prominent musicians. Alumni include Kris Thomas, a top ten contender on The Voice and Kirby Lauryen, a Roc Na ...
is a Stax Museum-supported facility where middle and high school students are taught and mentored through music education, unique performance opportunities. creative youth development programming, travel, college preparedness training, and other opportunities. Since 2008, all seniors enrolled in the Stax Music Academy have been accepted to college and since 2021 all seniors have received music scholarships to college. In 2019,
Justin Timberlake and the Levi's Music Project visited the academy for several days and installed a permanent songwriting lab, which has led to the students creating more original music and studying music business.
The Soulsville Foundation also operates The
Soulsville Charter School
The Soulsville Charter School (TSCS) is a charter school in South Memphis, Tennessee. It is located at 1115 College Street. The entire 2014 graduating class was accepted at 4-year colleges. Soulsville Charter School serves about 600 students in gra ...
, an academically rigorous, musically rich college prep school where students study math, language arts, science, social studies, and other academic subjects of a classical education, along with strings orchestra, band, and choir. Their Soulsville Symphony Orchestra has played for the likes of
Stevie Wonder,
John Legend
John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...
, and
Isaac Hayes.
Since it began having graduating classes in 2012, every senior enrolled in the school has been accepted to college or another post-secondary educational path.
The Stax Museum of American Soul Music will celebrate its 20th anniversary throughout the year 2023.
See also
*
List of museums in Tennessee
This list of museums in Tennessee encompasses museums defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or ...
*
List of music museums
This worldwide list of music museums encompasses past and present museums that focus on musicians, musical instruments or other musical subjects.
Argentina
* – Mina Clavero
* Academia Nacional del Tango de la República Argentina – Buenos ...
*
Memphis soul
*
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.
Stax was ...
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Music museums in Tennessee
Museums in Memphis, Tennessee