STAX UNCOVERED!
Courtesy of Stax Museum Of American Soul Music, Alamy ( 6), Getty ( 2), Special Collections Department, University of Memphis Libraries
THE AREA OF SOUTH MEMPHIS AROUND THE JUNCTION OF College and McLemore didn’t have a name when Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton moved into the old Capitol Theater in 1960. Soon enough, though, it would become renowned as Soulsville USA, the home of Stax Records and a crucible for the evolving R&B sound that would dominate the 1960s and ’70s. Great songs and hit singles poured out of Stax, crafted by a troupe of soul artisans including William Bell, Carla Thomas, Mack Rice, Homer Banks, Bettye Crutcher, Henderson Thigpen and Steve Cropper.
The sheer weight of brilliant Stax music is not exactly breaking news, of course. Nevertheless, an epic trawl through the label’s archives has uncovered a previously unheard stash of songs, corralled this month on a seven-disc box set called
Written In Their Soul.
There, you’ll find the original demos of some of Stax’s most famous tracks, and some of their most neglected, plus gems that surfaced on other labels and a startling tranche of songs that never made it into the public domain.
Written In Their Soul
features 146 tracks, and we’re honoured to present 15 selections from that motherlode on
Stax Uncovered.
If you’re ready, come go with us…