A Short History of Stax Records
Posted on | June 7, 2010 | 1 Comment
Working in a record store, we get a lot of promotional stuff; posters, pins, stickers, whoopie cushions…whatever the labels think will get people talking about their artists. We also get T-Shirts. They are generally XL (record store nerds are generally big dudes, I guess), but over the years, I’ve collected a nice little handful of music-related Ts. My favorite of these, by far, is my Stax shirt.
The Stax shirt tends to be a conversation starter. People who lived through the Stax glory years are happy to talk about the great music that Stax was pumping out; hit after hit by artists including Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Booker T & the MGs and lots more, and people who aren’t familiar with the company oftentimes recognize the logo and ask me about it.
The other day I was in line to buy a smoothie, and the kid behind the counter asked me what Stax was. Being the preservationist that I am, I told him what I knew about the legendary record company, but when I got home, I dug a little deeper, and I came across this video. It does a great job of introducing some of the key players, but better yet, it paints a picture of the social and musical climate of the mid 1900s in America, and reminds us that music has the power to transform lives.
It is of utmost importance that we keep stories like this alive; stories in which a handful of people make a positive change in their community, and that change ripples out into the world. And when that change is riding a wave of music? Well, watch out, because your heart and mind are about to be blown right open.
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July 18th, 2010 @ 1:23 PM
I’m so glad you put this up-I’ve always wanted to know more about Stax