Memphis soul, also known as Memphis Sound, is stylish, funky, uptown soul music that is not as hard-edged as Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax[1]and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, bass, and a driving beat on the drums. Many of the songs in this style were performed by vocalists backed by the house bands for Stax and Hi Records. The Memphis soul sound was different from the Motown Sound fromDetroit Michigan. After the rise of disco in the late 1970s, Memphis soul declined somewhat in popularity. Stax Museum of American Soul Music is dedicated to preserving the Memphis sound.
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Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton converted an old movie theater into a recording studio at the corner of McLemore Avenue and College Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Shortly after, former WDIA disc jockeyRufus Thomas and his daughter Carla recorded the label's first hit, "Cause I Love You." Soon after, the Mar-Keys, a local R&B group that included Estelle's son, recorded "Last Night."For the next 14 years, Stax Records launched the careers and recorded hits for the likes of Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, Booker T. and the MGs, Sam & Dave and Isaac Hayes. Of the approximately 800 singles and 300 LPs recorded at Stax, there were 166 Top 100 songs in the pop charts, and 265 Top 100 hits in the R&B charts, nine of them Grammy winners.Under the leadership of Al Bell, the label became one of the first to evolve into a multimedia company, producing spoken-word recordings as well as the acclaimed WattStax documentary. Known to many as the "Black Woodstock," WattStax also featured Richard Pryor. The documentary featured performances by Isaac Hayes, Rufus and Carla Thomas, The Bar-Kays and the Staple Singers, as well as interviews on the 1965 Watts Revolt.Stax was one of the most successfully integrated companies in the country—from...