Stax Records - The Daily Memphian

July 2019

Memphis@200: Race an intrinsic aspect of Memphis' complex story

Race is a complicated, foreboding and necessary theme to consider in Memphis's 200-year history. It's also more than the city's past. Race is part of the city's eternal present.

By Bill Dries, Jared Boyd and Elle Perry July 15, 2019

John Gary Williams, frontman of Stax's The Mad Lads, dies at 73

Memphis native John Gary Williams, who recorded for Stax as a part of The Mad Lads and as a solo artist, was found dead in his home. The 73-year-old's soul music legacy stands at the intersection of the Black Power movement and the Vietnam War.

By Jared Boyd May 29, 2019

Jesse Jackson and Stax: The reverend's largely forgotten link to Memphis

Rev. Jesse Jackson and Memphis-based Stax Records formed an alliance following Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death here that allowed Jackson to use the record label as a platform to spread the spoken word.

By Jared Boyd April 14, 2019

Southern Avenue finds quick success, locally and internationally

Named for Southern Avenue, which runs from the easternmost part of the Memphis city limits all the way to South Memphis, Southern Avenue is also the name of an up-and-coming Memphis band that embodies the city’s soul, blues and gospel traditions.

By Christin Yates November 09, 2018

What could happen to Aretha Franklin’s birthplace based on Memphis precedents

A small house with boarded-up windows and a metal fence around the yard sits on Lucy Avenue off of Wellington Street.

By Elle Perry October 19, 2018

Stax Museum, Crosstown Arts partner for 'Give a Damn! Music + Activism at Stax Records'

The main artifact for a new exhibition at Crosstown Arts is Isaac Hayes' 14-foot-long, custom-made, red velvet office desk complete with white Formica top. Previously, the desk had been in storage for more than a year, after the Stax Museum of American Soul Music recovered it from the owner of East Nashville vintage boutique, The Hip Zipper.

By Elle Perry September 27, 2018