Stax

(Est. 1959, includes Volt Records) Stax Records is synonymous with Southern soul music. Originally known as Satellite, the Memphis company was founded in 1959 by Jim Stewart and his sister, Estelle Axton, and took its new name in 1961 from the first two letters of their last names. Among the many artists who scored hits on Stax and its Volt subsidiary during the Sixties were Rufus and Carla Thomas, Booker T. & the MGs (an interracial instrumental quartet that also served as the company's rhythm section), Sam and Dave, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, and Otis Redding. Redding's death in 1967 signaled the end of the first Stax era (to which Atlantic retains distribution rights). Subsequently the company spawned a new crop of hit-makers, among them Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, and the Dramatics. In June 1977, a year-and-a-half after Stax went bankrupt, the company's masters were purchased by Fantasy, Inc., which revived the Stax and Volt logos for new recordings, in addition to reissuing older material.

STAX FEATURED ARTISTS

N'dambi

A sultry storyteller, N'dambi is able to evoke the spiritual essence of a musical era past; her rich voice resounds the energies of soul sisters like Nina Simone, Tina Turner and Chaka Khan. MORE

Teena Marie

Congo Square, Teena Marie's Stax Records debut due, marks the Grammy nominated singer's 30th year as one the most admired and influential R&B artists of her generation. MORE

Angie Stone

For three decades, vocalist Angie Stone has been surprising audiences, critics, peers and the music industry itself. Born and raised in the Southern gospel tradition - while at the same time absorbing the gritty and impassioned anthems generated by soul icons of the 1960s - Stone has since mapped … MORE

Eddie Floyd

Eddie Floyd began making records in 1956, in Detroit as a member of the Falcons, but it was at Stax Records in Memphis that the singer-songwriter found his greatest success ten years later. He and guitarist Steve Cropper wrote the song “Knock on Wood” for Otis Redding to record, but … MORE