Stax Museum of American Soul Music (recommendation)

Date: Sat, 10 May 2003 16:24:52 -0500
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.percussion
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Well, it opened last week, and I finally got a chance to go today. A
wonderful facility, where you can learn equally about the music, the
musicians, the artists, the music production, the music history, the culture
of Stax, and American culture in general during the '60s-'70s. Highly,
highly recommended to anyone coming to Memphis- if you have to choose, skip
Graceland and go to Stax.
Next door to the museum (which I should mention is built on the same spot as
the original studio, and preserves the atmosphere of the old "Studio A") is
the Stax Academy of Music, which is run in conjuntion with LeMoyne-Owens
college, and teaches music to Memphis teens. I dropped in on a rehearsal,
where they were running through "Sir Duke" and "Do I Do". While the horns
were a little shaky, for the first semester of the program's existance, and
given that no kid looked to be older than 15, they were excellent (and they
had a kid singing these songs who would blow any of these "American Idols"
off the stage- this kid was amazing). I'm going to go back and get the
musical director's info- give these kids another 6 months and they're going
to be a very good horn section.
And last, to be more on topic, in the reproduction studio they had *the*
instruments of all the MGs and the Memphis Horns, including Al Jackson, Jr's
18/14/12 Rogers kit with a 5.5x14 Supra, that he used on the Stax and Hi
sessions (everything from Green Onions to Otis Redding to Al Green). Talk
about an influential drum kit! The tom was mounted upside down, which I
mentioned to a curator, so hopefully they'll have that fixed soon. You know
me, one little flaw... <g>
Side note: the museum, while being incredibly nice and having a well-lit,
well-secured parking lot, is in a VERY bad neighborhood (has been since
1968) and is kinda hard to find. You'll drive down some scary streets on
the way to it, so I extend an offer to any RMMPers who come to Memphis- give
me a heads up, and I can either give you good directions or take you there
(cue The Staple Singers).
It's very nice to finally see Stax (and Hi) get the accolades and status
afforded Motown all these years. Since 1974, the site has been a vacant
lot, and since the late 80s has been filled with broken crack pipes- now
it's beautiful, just as God (and JimStewart) intended, and again taking
strides to make the community vibrant and to inspire hope. Listening to
those kids playing "Sir Duke" today, I know that it's already working.
If, by any chance, some of you aren't familiar with Stax, go to
http://www.bsnpubs.com/staxvolt.html and check out the discography links at
the bottom. Just be prepared to have your jaw hit the floor.
--
Lyle Caldwell