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BIRTH OF STAX
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The tenor of everything changed -- from the realm of the possible to the dominion of the doable -- when Rufus Thomas entered the studio. He was already a successful performer and disc jockey; Jim knew him because he'd supplied Rufus with Satellite's early releases. Rufus had also given Sun Records its first hit, "Bear Cat." He and his daughter Carla recorded the duet "Cause I Love You" for Satellite. Featuring a mix of neighborhood musicians, including Booker T. Jones debuting on baritone sax and members of the Mar-Keys, the single, released in 1959, became a local hit.
The collaboration between the neighborhood and the Mar-Keys continued with the 1961 instrumental "Last Night," one of the most fun songs ever recorded, though it also introduced the first seeds of dissension. The musicians on the recording were, again, a combination of Packy's friends and the local talent. However, when the song became a hit, only the white Mar-Keys basked in the glory. They were sent on the road, playing the Peacock and other large theaters catering to black audiences in the South, the chitlin' circuit, and appeared on Dick Clark's AMERICAN BANDSTAND. The black musicians who recorded the hit, including Floyd Newman, Gilbert Caple, and Curtis Green, received only session pay and the occasional historical footnote.
The process begun by "Cause I Love You" was finished by "Last Night." Stax had become a viable record company with national distribution through Atlantic Records. Word was out in Memphis that the people in the old theater at College and McLemore would give you a fair shake; soon the overflow of people coming in at all times mandated a Saturday morning open audition. The success of "Last Night" resulted in a dispute between Moman and Stewart, precipitating Moman's departure from the company. With the position of right-hand man to Jim Stewart now open and the glory of the road quickly yielding to weariness, Steve Cropper decided to quit the Mar-Keys and work in the studio. There, he began to jam with Booker T. Jones, the kid who'd played saxophone with Rufus and Carla and bought records from him at the store. Booker T. & the MG's -- rounded out by Al Jackson Jr. on drums and Lewie Steinberg on bass, later replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn -- became the Stax house band. They not only created their own quintessential hits of the 1960s -- among them "Green Onions" and "Time Is Tight" -- but also backed nearly every Stax artist and played on nearly every Stax hit over the next decade: Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Albert King, Wilson Pickett, and many others. The enduring popularity of those songs confirms what those inside the Stax oasis knew before the outside world was ready to accept it: the races can live in harmony.
Top banner photos: Rev. Jesse Jackson and Isaac Hayes at Wattstax (photo courtesy of the Saul Zaentz Company), Stax Records marquee, and Stax founder Jim Stewart.
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Al Bell, former owner of Stax Records. |
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Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers. |
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Pre-order the DVD. |
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