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𝗪𝗮𝘁𝘁𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘅 Documentary/1973. Wattstax was a benefit concert organized by Stax Records to commemorate the anniversary of the 1965 riots in the Watts community of South Los Angeles. The event took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, August 20, 1972.

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Robert Gordon: Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion (2013)

"Memphis is the town where nothing ever happens, but the impossible always does."

I'm pretty sure that when you put down this book, you'll agree with me that Memphis is THE most important music city in American history.

It's the birthplace of rock 'n' roll, of course, but it's also where the blues left the Delta for the city, and where innumerable other music genres (country, gospel, soul, R&B, and later hip-hop) were culturally mingled and cross-pollinated like nowhere else throughout the 20th Century.

Stax Records, like Sam Phillips’ Sun, changed the face of music by bringing Blacks and Whites together like never before, and doing so in spite of segregation's iron grip; Stax turned Memphis into the Civil Rights movement's greatest musical experiment.

Sorry, New York, L.A., and Detroit, but it's true!

If you've watched either one of two incredible Stax documentaries, 2007's Respect Yourself or 2024's Soulsville U.S.A., and, like me, simply couldn't get enough, then might I suggest Robert Gordon's Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion to further your education?

Here, Stax is revealed as a microcosm of the broader battles, injustices, and contradictions of America's Civil Rights struggles: a safe haven where racial barriers temporarily dissolved, even while the city of Memphis itself burned just outside of the studio walls.

Of course, such groundbreaking integration through music could only happen largely by accident, as white siblings Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton ('St' + 'Ax' -- get it?) found like-minded black business partners in Al Bell, David Porter, and other executives to build a music industry powerhouse.

Oh yeah, and an incomparable roster of multi-racial talent: Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, and their integrated M.G.'s, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, The Bar-Keys, Eddie Floyd, plus, through their joint venture with Atlantic Records, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, and more.

I won't spoil the joy of reading about their incredible achievements and gut-wrenching tragedies, but, thanks to their collective creative and professional efforts, by the early 1970s, Stax had become one of the largest Black-owned businesses in America.

It's sadly no coincidence that the moment Jim and Estelle severed their ties to Stax was precisely when a veritable cabal of racially-motivated white power brokers -- both in Memphis and on the Coasts, both from inside and outside the music industry -- suddenly converged and conspired to steal the label's priceless assets and put it out of business.

Again, the parallels between Stax's rise and fall and America's historical tradition of institutionalized racism are simply too obvious to ignore, so this fantastic book provides yet another lesson in Civics and a reminder that the fight for real and lasting change unfortunately continues.

Alright, that about wraps it up for Black History Month 2026, but tune in next week for a blog that should serve as a bridge to Women's History Month.

p.s. -- The legendary Steve Cropper sadly passed away at the age of 84 while I was reading Respect Yourself, may he rest in peace.

p.p.s. -- For serious music lovers and historians, the scene in Soulsville U.S.A. where Booker T. explains the musical origins of "Green Onions" is comparable to God and Adam's outstretched fingers in Michelangelo's The Creation of Man.

p.p.p.s. -- For a label with such an iconic brand, Stax sure loved assigning its artists to subsidiary imprints like Volt, Enterprise, and Gospel Truth, among others, as you can tell by the records photographed here.

Featured Records:

Booker T. & the M.G.s.: "Green Onions" / "Behave Yourself" (1962)

Isaac Hayes: Hot Buttered Soul (1969)

Otis Redding: Otis Blue/ Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965)

The Rance Allen Group: A Soulful Experience (1975)

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Lecture 11: “Green Onions” (1962) (Live on Shindig, 1966) - Booker T. & the M.G.s: One of the first racially integrated soul groups, Booker T. and the M.G.s. (fronted by keyboardist Booker T. Jones) served as the house band at Stax Records (Memphis, Tennessee) during the 1960s. During that time, they played with dozens of artists (including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Rufus Thomas) on hundreds of recordings and helped to shape the Southern soul sound. The band found success on their own with songs like “Green Onions” (1962) from the album of the same name. "Green Onions" was the only instrumental to rank on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2004).

#Booker T. and the M.G.s #Soul music #Green Onions #1962 #Memphis #Tennessee #Otis Redding #Wilson Pickett #Rufus Thomas #house bands #Youtube

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