Just Talking 'bout… Stax. Soul Music Museum opens in Memphis
Memphis' gritty appearance belies its incomparable collection of musical and cultural jewels. A new gem has just been added with the recent grand opening of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

Memphis has a unique place in the history of American music, and therefore in the history of world culture. Geographically positioned at the intersection of country & western, gospel and the blues, it was the birthplace of rock and roll.

It also lies in the South, and despite a history of segregation and racism that it shares with many cities, something remarkable happened there during the civil rights era. At the same time that the City of Memphis had a policy of draining and refilling its public pools after the weekdays set aside for "Negroes" to swim, black and white musicians there were making beautiful music together, music that would change the world.

One major venue of this historic convening of cultures, this defiance of the color barrier, was Stax Records, and now the chapter of history has a showcase of its own in The Stax Museum of American Soul Music, which had its grand opening from April 29-May 1, 2003.

Stax alumni Isaac Hayes, Mavis Staples, Booker T. & the MGs, the Memphis Horns, and others returned to give the museum a special opening concert. Other artists participating in tribute to Stax legends like Otis Redding included Wilson Pickett, Bootsy Collins, Jimmie Vaughan, Warren Haynes, and Luther Vandross.

The museum is built on what had become a rubble-strewn, vacant 4-acre site on Memphis’ south side, where Stax’s studios stood until the company's dissolution in 1975 (and the building's razing in 1989). The project is a "deferred dream" of Deanie Parker, one of Stax's first employees.

Thanks to her efforts, visitors now can explore the roots of American soul music by examining the label's archives, plus thousands of artifacts and instruments from Stax artists. The $20million museum also contains a music academy, part of a strategy to revitalize the 2 square mile "Soulsville" neighborhood.

Visitors can hit the dance floor and boogie to '60s and '70s reruns of Soul Train TV show, visit a reconstruction of the original control room & recording studio, check out Isaac Hayes’ 1972 Cadillac, and go inside a reconstructed country church.

Also on display are the sheet music for and -- more importantly -- the wah-wah pedal used in "Theme from ‘Shaft’." Chucka-wah chuck-wah!

Visit the new Stax Museum of American Soul Music

Explore more of the cultural treasures in the Memphis area, which is a worthwhile pilgrimage for every lover of music, and any student of American culture:

• An overview of Memphis sites
• The Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum
• W.C. Handy Home
• Historic Beale Street
• Elvis Presley's home, Graceland

Nearby in the Delta region of Mississippi, don't overlook the Delta Blues Museum (Clarksdale, MS) and the Blues and Legends Hall of Fame (Robinsonville, MS).

Also in the Memphis region is Helena, Arkansas, home of the King Biscuit Blues Festival, the "region's premiere blues festival."

Find out more about the National Civil Rights Museum in downtown Memphis (which incorporates the Lorraine Motel, site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Memphis is also the home to the Blues Foundation, a major educational resource about blues music.