Stax Records

Stax Records: Making Soul and Breaking Boundaries | The Artists and Music Behind the Memphis Sound tells the story of the origins and early years of Stax Records through the archive of photographer Bill Carrier Jr, featuring 30 Stax superstars and the moments that made the label famous.

Founded by visionary Jim Stewart as a country music label in a Black neighborhood in segregated Memphis, and co-owned with his sister, Estelle Axton, Stax would become a beacon for the unifying force of music, transcending racial divides. The label’s legendary in-house bands, with their basslines, organs and horn sections, backed up a roster of headliners that included Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Isaac Hayes and Booker T. & The M.G.’s, producing a string of anthems that changed American music and soundtracked the era of civil rights and social revolution.

From the ground-breaking Stax/Volt Revue European Tour to the tragic deaths of Otis Redding and members of the Bar-Kays in 1967, this volume covers the highs and lows of the label’s historic rise, showcasing the people behind one of the most important eras in popular music and American cultural history.

Written by Billboard’s executive director of R&B/hip-hop, Gail Mitchell, with a foreword by award-winning songwriter and former Stax publicity director Deanie Parker.