A four-part HBO docuseries about the rise and fall of Stax Records, the Memphis-based underdog record label.
The rise and fall of Stax Records, the influential but underdog label based in Memphis, is the subject of the HBO documentary “STAX: Soulsville U.S.A.” It is a story of musical genius but also racism, personal tragedies and corporate greed. In other words, American history.
In 1967, the label’s roster of talent went on a European tour and someone mentions seeing Paul McCartney in the audience at one of their shows. To her credit, Wignot doesn’t interview McCartney and it’s the right choice; the Stax artists — and by extension this series — do not need famous admirers to validate their story or the music. The Memphis sound stands on its own. And every once in a while, Wignot lets these songs play all the way through. There’s a terrific moment where Booker T.
Racism is a constant undertow throughout the Stax story as well. It was an integrated company, but the label’s white musicians were detached from what their Black friends and colleagues were experiencing. Stewart’s anecdotes make it clear that he was uncomfortable with the harsh realities of racism, but that’s as far as his thought process goes.
This suggests all kinds of tension beneath Stax’s copacetic integrated surface. It’s meaty and complicated. Stewart says that “even though we were worlds apart socially,” what they had in common was that they were “rural people with rural roots.” Even so, neither he nor his white colleagues seem to grasp how disconnected they were — perhaps still are — from the effects of racism on a person’s psyche.
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