There are 18 article(s) tagged Stax Records:

• February 2020

  • The Memphis 10: Protecting our water, celebrating our music, arguing about our basketball

    The city's greatest asset faces threats, Memphis has some 'High Fidelity' moments, and the mecca of chicken and donuts has an East Memphis location.

    By Chris Herrington February 28, 2020

• January 2020

  • Council honors former Bar-Kay Larry Dodson with street name

    The retired lead singer of the local funk band was told his wife would be honored at Tuesday's City Council meeting. Instead, he was given an honorary street in Whitehaven, ahead of his 69th birthday.

    By Jared Boyd January 22, 2020

• December 2019

  • Boyd: 40 Memphis songs I loved in 2019

    Some new songs and some old help a Memphis music devotee figure out what defines this town's expression.

    By Jared Boyd December 31, 2019

  • Isaac Hayes to receive Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

    Pioneer of orchestral soul Isaac Hayes will be honored at the Grammys 2020 Special Merit ceremony with a Lifetime Achievement Award, along with John Prine, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Chicago and Public Enemy.

    By Jared Boyd December 19, 2019

  • Stax Music Academy students to appear on ‘Ellen’ special

    The Stax school's 20th anniversary celebration will include talent shows, a public Black History Month production, a three-day livestream Memphis music marathon and a huge birthday bash that coincides with International Music Day.

    By Jared Boyd December 05, 2019

• November 2019

  • ‘Ring My Bell’: How a Memphis teacher brought the Bluff City disco gold

    Songwriter Frederick Knight originally conceived “Ring My Bell” as a song for teens about talking on the phone, but it became a hit for older audiences in the disco-era when it came out on Anita Ward's debut album.

    By Jared Boyd November 14, 2019

  • Nelson: From Stax to the White House, Booker T. Jones embodies Memphis soul

    When his song “Green Onions” was racing up the charts, Booker T. Jones was a freshman at Indiana University Music School, coming home every weekend so the MG's could seize the moment by recording an album. 

    By Michael Nelson November 12, 2019

  • Memphis Music Hall of Fame a night of reflection, gratitude

    Eight acts were inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. Those musicians in attendance expressed their gratitude for the honor and the city that nurtured their talents.

    By Jared Boyd November 09, 2019

• October 2019

  • 15 connections between Wu-Tang Clan and the Memphis soul sound

    The nine-member rap crew Wu-Tang Clan, a headliner at Mempho Festival, has a history of relying on Memphis soul for inspiration. 

    By Jared Boyd October 22, 2019

  • Amy Jackson connects Memphis musicians to their royalties

    Jackson, who was married to the late Memphis trumpeter Wayne Jackson, is dedicated to hunting down money many local musicians didn't know they had earned.

    By Jared Boyd October 18, 2019

• September 2019

  • ‘Woman to Woman': Shirley Brown’s first hit, and Stax’s last

    In the mid-1970s it was the final hit record of a Memphis soul empire. In 2019, it's an adored meme. But for Shirley Brown, "Woman to Woman" was the song that changed her life.

    By Jared Boyd September 25, 2019

  • Boyd: 15 Memphis albums worth digging for in the record store

    Some choice selections from Memphis' lesser known songbooks in recognition of 901 Day. Let it be a legend to help you map out your own Memphis musical treasure hunt. 

    By Jared Boyd September 03, 2019

• 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

• May 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

• April 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

• November 2018

  • 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

• October 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

• September 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