“We were flying by the seat of our pants,” Stax legend William Bell recently recalled of the early days of the venerable label that tracked the rise of the civil rights movement. “A lot of us came in from the gospel arena, right out of church, just neighborhood kids. We learned how to craft a song as young kids, 14, 15 years old, but really, we just wanted to hear our voices on the radio.”
According to legend, Stax Records replaced cotton as the single biggest product coming out of Memphis, Tennessee, during its late-1960s heyday. And if you know the Stax story, it’s not hard to believe.
But if you only know the hits, and not the rags-to-riches tale of the label that made stars of Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave, the Staple Singers, and so many more, then you couldn’t do better than STAX: Soulsville U.S.A., a four-part documentary that premieres on Max on May 20 and tracks its remarkable, and often heartbreaking, history.
