It’s one of the strange twists of history that the greatest, funkiest soul label in the world, one of the most powerful outlets for Black expression, was started by a white hillbilly fiddler named Jim Stewart.
"Soul music would not have been what it was if not for what Jim did and for who he was,” said David Porter, Stax’s Hall of Fame songwriter.Before long, Carla Thomas would break things wide open as a solo act with her hit “Gee Whiz” — which sold half a million copies — and Rufus Thomas’ “Walking the Dog,” would also chart, and Stax Records (as Satellite was officially renamed in 1961) was off and running. Soon, other chart hits would follow, including the Mar-Keys’ “Last Night” and Booker T. & the MG's' “Green Onions,” as well as the arrival of Georgia singer Otis Redding.
It's a bummer he died right before the (hopefully still happening?) HBO docuseries coming out soon about Stax.
(Side note - Bob Mehr is one of my favorite rock writers - he wrote the impossibly exhaustive and thoroughly depressing definitive Replacements bio - so I have no idea why he seems obsessed with inserting "Hall of Famer" wherever it's applicable as if anyone gives a shit about that?)
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