by Don Mooney 6-24-2023
Memphis, TENN—As the sun slowly set on the Overton Shell the lawn filled with chairs and blankets of patrons of all ages, being teased by the Stax sound as they eagerly anticipated hearing familar sounds that created what the world has come to know as Soulville.
Memphis has given the world some of its most memorable melodies when it comes to blues, gospel, rock-and-roll, or R&B. The one thing Memphis music has always had is plenty of is soul. From 1957 to 1977 Stax Records was the musical birthplace for what has become known as Soulville USA.
Those memories were revisited and performed by the next generation of “Stax babies” who attend the after school Stax Music Academy Saturday evening at the Overton Park Shell. The students study in the same halls and studios as legends such as Rufus and Carla Thomas, Booker T. & the MGs (an interracial instrumental quartet that also served as the company’s rhythm section and house band), Sam and Dave, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, and Otis Redding Issac Hayes and Al Green just to name a few that created legendary sound.
As the evening cooled the magic of Stax music was recreated by students enrolled in the Stax Music Academy which began June 1, 2000 at Stafford Elementary School with 125 students. These Stax Babies have come a long way. Currently the Stax Music Academy has graduated more than 4,000 students.
The students commanded the stage and reeled through years of classics from the Stax catalog. Transporting many of the patrons back to an era when soul music ruled the airways. The students performed, with the legendary energy, as innovators like Sam & Dave, Otis Redding ensuring the Stax legacy will remain intact for years to come.
