ABSTRACT
The story of Stax Records is about as improbable and unforeseeable as any tale could possibly be. Started by a White country fi ddler named Jim Stewart who, by his own admission, originally knew next to nothing and cared even less about Black music, in the 1960s Stax Records developed a readily identifi able sound that defi ned the very possibilities of southern soul music. While undeniably involved on a day-by-day basis in the crafting and marketing of African American culture, virtually from the beginning Stax Records was racially integrated in the studio, in the front offi ce, and, by the midway point of its history, at the level of ownership. All this took place in Memphis, Tennessee, a city that as late as 1971 elected to close its public swimming pools rather than allow Black and White kids to swim side by side in the scorching summer heat. By any logic that one can call forth, musicologically and sociologically, Stax Records simply shouldn’t have been possible.
