This afternoon I visited the Stax Records Museum in south Memphis, another “holy site” of American music.
First, the disclaimer: In surely what must be one of the worst civic decisions in modern history, after the original Stax Recording Studio building fell into disrepair, the original building was bulldozed back in the 1990s. How could they? This was a holy house of music. This is where Booker T and the MGs, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Isaac Hayes, and so many more carved out a huge portion of American soul and rhythm and blues music. But alas, they tore it down.
What they have done to rectify this situation has been nothing less than staggering. The original studio building was rebuilt, brick by brick, to be exactly the way it was back in the 1960s and 1970s. The reconstruction is fantastic. The museum displays are really well done too (although there was a variety of “real” artifacts, like Steve Cropper’s Tweed Princeton amp that he used on “Green Onions,” and “fake” artifacts, like a fairly modern Squier Telecaster signed by Ike Turner). Beyond the museum, the surrounding block has been taken over by the Stax Academy and School of Music, which is really impressive. They’ve done a great job with this place, despite the city’s initial failure in tearing down the original building. And it appears to be paying off, too—there were tour buses dropping off large groups of tourists, one after the other.
I’m really sad that I never got to meet Steve Cropper and pick his brain. He’s in the film they show you at the beginning of the tour, and his quotes and photos are all over the museum. But hey, I did get to play with and become friends with Skip Pitts (the guitarist playing the wah-wah on the “Theme from Shaft”). Nice to see a display with his guitar dedicated to Skip in here!
See many more photos at Deke’s original Facebook post!
