Memphis Soul

Memphis soul
Stylistic origins	Rhythm and blues, Southern soul, Gospel music
Cultural origins	1960s; Memphis, Tennessee (United States)
Typical instruments	Organ, drums, bass, horns, vocals
Derivative forms	Disco
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Stax Records

Memphis soul, also known as the Memphis sound, was the most prominent strain of Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, bass, and a driving beat on the drums.

Many of the songs in this style were performed by vocalists backed by the house bands of Stax, Hi and Gold Wax Records. The Memphis soul sound was different from the Motown sound from Detroit. After the rise of disco in the late 1970s, Memphis soul declined somewhat in popularity. The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is dedicated to preserving the Memphis sound.

Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton converted an old movie theater into a recording studio at the corner of McLemore Avenue and College Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Shortly after, former WDIA disc jockey Rufus Thomas and his daughter Carla recorded the label's first hit, "Cause I Love You." Soon after, the Mar-Keys, a local R&B group that included Estelle's son, Packy Axton, recorded "Last Night."

For the next 14 years, Stax Records launched the careers and recorded hits for the likes of Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, Luther Ingram, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, Booker T. and the MGs, Sam & Dave and Isaac Hayes. Of the approximately 800 singles and 300 LPs recorded at Stax, there were 166 Top 100 songs in the pop charts and 265 Top 100 hits in the R&B charts, nine of them Grammy winners.

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