Sharif Kayali

Professor Carlos Bolton

English 2202
25 September 2014
smkayali@memphis.edu
Stax Museum A Record of a Cultural Catalyst
The historical record of the African American Vernacular Expression, or AAVE,
represents an extremely dynamic scope of the black experience of slavery (Gates). More
specifically, traditional forms of music such as gospel, soul, and blues are rooted heavily from
this experience. In an age of vehement racial tension, the world in large experienced a cultural
force that ignited the voice of change for African Americans. Sealing its spot as one of the most
prolific cultural catalysts of the world, Stax Museum embodies the progression of political and
social change for the African American community through its unifying language, music.
While the global scale is extremely important, Stax Recording Studio, like many pivotal
things in history, started on a small-scale, community level. When a community supports an
institution as well as the community surrounding McLemore Avenue did, the foundation of the
success of Stax was established. Reciprocally, Stax gave back to its community. Memphis,
largely, was underdeveloped and impoverished, and the emergence of Stax provided a source of
educational, cultural and economic nourishment for each next generation that had not existed
before (Mitchell). In fact, the musical education in schools began to truly shine as soul musicians
traced their successes in music back to their high school music teachers. Manassas High School
in North Memphis exemplifies one of the most prominent examples of jazz musicians pointing to
their high school musical experience in thanks. In addition to this, Stax provided a means by
which local musicians could fulfill their dream of professionally recording and expanding their

fan base. Stax put Memphis in the spotlight and provided a beacon of hope for the community,
further stimulating the growth of its African American community (Stax Museum).
On the broader, large-scale level, Stax popularized and contributed massively to the
increasing richness in the music coming from African American Vernacular Expression. More
specifically, these types of genres were extremely important and valued by the African American
community as the music, such as blues, largely originated from the cotton fields (Stax Museum).
However, to the African American community, this music was more than just sound waves
passing through the ear. More specifically, this music was a support mechanism (Powell). It was
their auditory aspirin that begat new styles of music from which the music that Stax endorsed
had originated. Slavery may have ended, but segregation and racism persisted. In a time in which
these malicious institutions were the norm, Stax was culturally and socially the perfect answer
from the south to Detroits Motown Records and to the woes of racism, respectively (Ali).
In addition to the specific relationship that Staxs contributions had on the African
American culture, it is also extremely crucial that Stax was a unifying entity in a time of
complete segregation. At the time, white and black musicians did not get to perform with one
another as segregation was too powerful. However, white audiences did attend black musicians
performances. For example, the Plantation Inn across the Mississippi River in West Memphis,
Arkansas allowed for this relatively unconventional racially-lax entertainment (Stax Museum).
Ultimately, the Stax Museum being in Memphis only continued to pave this unconventional path
away from segregation. Music began uniting blacks and whites from performances to interracial
bands. In fact, Rob Bowman said color disappeared when you walked through that door. In the
end, Stax was a bona fide stepping stone in the Civil Rights Movement in that it provided a mode
by which people could begin interracially interacting and appreciating African American culture.

While these contributions are essential to the history of Stax, the most technical side of
Staxs success can be attributed to its eclectic musical base spanning from a multitude of angles
dealing with the African American Vernacular Expression. More specifically, while Stax had
many artists that could trace the meaning of their lyrics back to the slave era, the artists
expressed these lyrics in different ways. In fact, Stax artists began topping the musically rankings
in charts like pop and rhythm and blues. From artists such as Isaac Hayes to the duo Sam &
Dave, Stax successfully represented a very true fact (Stax Museum). The style that Stax
popularized has much to do with the country and church genre as it influenced the spiritual
nature of soul music (Maynard). This wide-spanning range of influences contributing to the Stax
flavor of music essentially allowed for a greater number of people to appreciate the records
contributions. For instance, the most climatic time of the Stax Museum is arguable the time in
which Otis Redding was doing a European tour (Stax Museum). In essence, this tour represented
the international acceptance of what Stax stood for and implemented. Stax had gone from the
community recording center to an internationally recognized record company revolutionizing the
African American Vernacular Expression.
With its political, economic and social impact on Memphis and the entire world, Stax
served as an extremely effective catalyst for the expansion of African American Vernacular
Expression. Its message of equality through the disappearance of color when stepping through
its doors coupled with the eclectic musical integration of African American culture is
unparalleled as the ultimate escape from the inequality of the city. Through the unifying
language of music, Stax Museum is and will always be a symbol of prolific positive change for
the African American community and world at large.

Works Cited
Ali, Lorraine. Resurrecting An Old Soul. Newsweek. Vol. 150, Issue: 18. Newsweek, 2007.
Web. 25 September 25.
Gates, Henry Louis, and Nellie Y. Mckay. The Vernacular Tradition. The Norton Anthology of
African American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 1997. 5-6. Print.
Maynard, Micheline. Tributes to Motown and Southern Soul. New York Times. New York
Times, 2009. Web. 25 September 2014.
Mitchell, Gail. The Soul of Stax Records. Billboard. Vol. 115, Issue: 20. Prometheus Global
Media, 2003. 74. Web. 25 September 2014.
Powell, Arthur. The Music of African Americans and its Impact on the American Culture in the
1960s and the 1970s. https://www.chatham.edu /pti/curriculum/units/2007/Powell.pdf.
Web. 25 September 2014.
Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Memphis, TN: Stax Museum of American Soul Music,
2003.