History
1957 First Tennessee banker Jim Stewart begins recording country music in his wife's uncle's garage in North Memphis. Satellite Records is launched.
1958 Stewart moves his "recording studio" to Brunswick, Tennessee. Stewart's sister Estelle Axton, then employed by Union Planters, mortgages her home to pay for recording equipment for the company.
1959 Stewart and Axton move to the old Capitol Theater, currently abandoned on McLemore Ave.
1960 WDIA disc jockey Rufus Thomas hustles over to the studio with his daughter, Carla and together they cut Satellite's first hit, "Cause I Love You."
1961 Local high school R&B band the Mar-Keys cut an instrumental hit "Last Night" that sends Satellite Records soaring. Stewart takes the first two letters from his last name (ST) and adds the first two letters of his sister's last name (AX) to form the new label name - STAX RECORDS. For the next 14 years, the hits from the corner of McLemore and College cannot be stopped.
1962 The Mar-Keys evolve into Booker T. and the MGs - forming the house band for the next 8 years of Stax hits, beginning a b-side, "Green Onions." Georgia crooner Otis Redding comes to the studio and begins a career that shoots straight to the top of the R&B as well as the pop world. William Bell hits with "You Don't Miss Your Water.
1963 Rufus Thomas begins his dance-craze hit parade with "The Dog," "Walking the Dog," and "Can Your Monkey Do the Dog?"
1965 Sam & Dave come on the Stax scene. Immediately local musicians and Stax writers Isaac Hayes and David Porter take them under their wing and crank out an endless streak of hits including "I Take What I Want," "Soul Man," "You Don't Know Like I Know," "Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody," and "Hold On, I'm Coming."
1966 Eddie Floyd "Knocks on Wood," Carla Thomas hits on "B-A-B-Y," Albert King cuts the "Crosscut Saw," and Sam & Dave hit again with "You Got Me Hummin.'" Otis Redding performs in Europe for the first time on the popular television show Ready, Steady, Go!
1967 Stax takes its show on the road to Europe - shaking the whole continent with Booker T. & the MGs, Carla Thomas, the Mar-Keys, Sam & Dave, and then wiping the audience out with Otis Redding. Redding slays the hippies at the Monterrey Pop Festival in California. The Bar-Kays score with "Soul Finger." The year ends on a sour note as Otis Redding's plane goes down into Lake Monono, Wisconsin, killing Redding and most of the Bar-Kays who were touring with him.
1968 "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay," released posthumously, goes to number 1 on both the pop and R&B charts. Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis in April; riots ensue. Film company Gulf & Western buys Stax from Jim Stewart, Estelle Axton, & Al Bell in exchange for stock.
1969 In an effort to create a new catalog, Al Bell launches an aggressive release campaign - releasing 27 albums and 30 singles in one month. Stax hits hard with "Time is Tight" by Booker T. as well as "Who's Making Love" by Johnnie Taylor. Isaac Hayes unleashes Hot Buttered Soul, his first of a string of million selling long-form albums.
1970 Stewart and Bell re-purchase Stax from Gulf & Western --expanding the label into jazz, comedy, country, spoken word, African, and rock.
1971 Isaac Hayes becomes a mega-superstar with the release of the soundtrack to Shaft, which eventually wins Grammies and an Oscar.
1972 The Staple Singers come on board with "I'll Take You There" and "Respect Yourself." Luther Ingram scores with "(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don't Want to be Right." Bell negotiates a lucrative deal for CBS to distribute Stax. Stax takes almost its entire current roster of artists to Los Angeles and puts on the Wattstax concert to raise money for Watts charities, and films a documentary not only of the concert, but also of everyday life for African-Americans at the time.
1973 CBS begins ordering large quantities of records, paying large advances, then warehousing them. Unusual music business practices at Stax are investigated. IRS begins investigating Stax about another employee found carrying $100,000 in cash through an airport.
1974 Stax experiences extreme cash flow problems and cannot pay its bills or high overhead - including salaries for over 200 local employees. Stax becomes involved in a string of lawsuits and counter-suits involving Union Planters Bank, CBS, and Stax Records.
1975 A record pressing company sues Stax and Stax cannot not meet payroll. Stax owes millions to Union Planters and loses most of its artists. Al Bell is indicted by a federal grand jury for bank fraud and is acquitted on all charges. Isaac Hayes sues Stax. Al Jackson is murdered. Union Planters forecloses on the publishing arm of Stax. Three small creditors - encouraged by Union Planters--force Stax into involuntary bankruptcy December 19, 1975.
1977 Stax's master tapes are sold at bankruptcy auction for a fraction of their value -- $1.3 million. Fantasy Records in California buys the Stax catalog from Nassi & Assoc.
1981 Union Planters Bank deeds the Stax Records building to Southside Church of God in Christ for $10.00
1989 Despite many citywide efforts to save the building, Southside Church of God in Christ demolishes the original Stax Records studios with plans to build a community center, which never comes to fruition.
1997 The nonprofit Ewarton (taken from the other letters in Jim Stewart's and Estelle Axton's last names) board of directors is formed to explore the possibility of purchasing the empty lot at the original site of Stax Records ( which bears only a historical marker stating this was the site of Stax Records) and adjacent land in order to build the Stax Museum of American Soul, Stax Music Academy, and a performing arts center.
February 2000 The board, now named Soulsville, holds a press conference at LeMoyne-Owen College to announce that the project will take place. The press refers to the conference as a "Stax tent revival."
April 2000 Soulsville holds a massive "Ground Shakin' Ground Breakin'" at the site and breaks ground for the project.
June 2000 Soulsville begins its first Stax Music Academy SNAP Summer Music Camp at nearby Stafford Elementary. Participants include Rufus and Carla Thomas.
2002 The multimillion-dollar state-of-the-art Stax Music Academy opens. Its mission is to use music education as a tool to enrich the lives of potentially at-risk children primarily in the Soulsville USA community.
April / May 2003 Soulsville holds a three-day grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting for the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Festivities include the "Soul Comes Home" concert at the Orpheum Theater, with performances by Booker T. & the MGs, Isaac Hayes, Mavis Staples, Al Green, Ann Peebles, Rance Allen, Eddie Floyd, Jean Knight, William Bell, Little Milton, The Bark-Kays with Chuck D, Michael McDonald, Carla Thomas, Solomon Burke, Mack Rice, and others. Other events include a concert at the Gibson Lounge with performances by former Stax artists Linda Lyndell, Mable John, and others, and a screening of the film Wattstax.
April 2005 Soulsville announces the formation of the Soulsville Foundation, the organization's new fund-raising arm. Former Stax Records publicity director Deanie Parker changes roles as CEO of Soulsville and becomes president of the foundation, whose board members include, among others, Steve Cropper, Isaac Hayes, David Porter, Mavis Staples, and Sheryl Crow. Stax Music Academy director Marc Willis assumes role of Soulsville CEO.
June 2005 Isaac Hayes, Steve Cropper, David Porter inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
July 2005 Soulsville opens The Soulsville Charter School within the Stax Music Academy building. It is a Title I Tennessee public school and begins with one class of 60 6th-graders, with a class to added each year until the school becomes a 6th-12th grade school.
June 2006 Stax Music Academy students embark on their first-ever Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx and open the festivities at the prestigious Porretta Soul Festival in Porretta, Terme, Italy. Trip includes visits and cultural exchanges in Rome, Florence, and other cities as well.
September 2006 Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau holds press conference at the Stax Museum to announce its 2007 national and international marketing campaign celebrating "50 Years of Soul in Memphis."
September 2006 Internationally renowned musician Kirk Whalum joins Soulsville as the Stax Music Academy’s first official Artist in Residence for one year with an option to continue for two years.
December 2006 Concord Music Group announces the re-launch of the Stax Records label and plans to record new music on it for the first time in 30 years. Concord signs Isaac Hayes and Angie Stone to the label and announces plans for deluxe reissued CDs, DVDs, and a documentary during 2007 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Stax Records.
January 2007 Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau holds global press conference at B.B. King’s Club in New York City to announce "50 Years of Soul" campaign.
July 2007 Stax Music Academy goes on another Summer Soul Tour, this time a domestic trip including performance at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on July 4th and at the Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
July 2008 Stax Music Academy embarks on two-week tour of Australia.
April 2009 GRAMMY Award-winner and former Stax Music Academy Artist in Residence Kirk Whalum takes helm as President and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation. Mark Wender joins as Chief Operating Officer.