During its breakout phase in the mid-1960s, Stax Records seemed to be soaring. The small company from Memphis managed to score huge, international hits with the new stars it introduced, like Booker T & the MGs (Green Onions), Otis Redding (I’ve Been Loving You Too Long), and Sam & Dave (Hold On, I’m Coming). Just one year later, however, the label teetered on the edge of collapse. “Stax had to come back from the dead,” said Jamila Wignot, who has directed a new, four-hour documentary on the legendary company titled Stax: Soulsville USA. “In that way, it became more than a record label. It became a beacon of hope.”
Unfortunately, the label needed that hope as much, if not more, than the millions of fans who came to its music for inspiration. In its classic years, between 1962 and 1975, Stax was nearly killed off several times by forces larger than itself, before the final blow came from a foe no one saw coming. The label’s story, which brims with as many triumphs as tragedies, not only says a lot about the ruthlessness of the music business but about the treatment of many Black-run companies in corporate America. “Some of those who had power and influence in the world were repulsed by Stax as a money-making and creative venture for Black people,” said Deanie Parker, who served as an executive for the label in its prime. “They were singing from the sheet music of hate and envy – and that had a terrible effect.”
