Respect Yourself

by Robert Gordon

  Money continued to stick to Johnny Baylor. He spent much of the 1970s in New York rather than in Memphis. Two of his associates, in interviews separated by months and without prompting in either case, each described a drawer full of hundred-dollar bills in Johnny’s bedroom.

  Dino Woodard received his BA in 1984, when he was well into his 40s, and the year after Baylor’s 1987 death, he was licensed to preach the Gospel, soon receiving his Master of Divinity. Presently “Reverend Boom” is a minister at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where he’s an assistant to the pastor and leads services. Of his late friend he says, “Johnny Baylor, he was a believer. He believed that what he did he had to do to make it in the world. And he made a way for himself.” Dino officiated at Baylor’s funeral. Luther Ingram died in 2007 from complications related to diabetes.

  The Staple Singers maintained an active career through the death of Pops Staples in 2000. In the latter 2000s, Mavis has released compelling albums with Jeff Tweedy and Ry Cooder. The Emotions joined Johnny Taylor at Columbia, and had several big disco hits including the number-one hit “Best of My Love.”

  Rufus Thomas billed himself as “the World’s Oldest Teenager” and “the Funkiest Man Alive.” When he’d arrived in Memphis, he couldn’t drink out of the same water fountain as white people, and before he died in 2001, the city gave him the only dedicated parking spot on historic Beale Street and named a street for him. In Porretta Terme, Italy, home of the annual Porretta Soul Festival, there’s a park named for him. Until he died in 2001, he continued to host a radio show on WDIA.

  In 2009, Booker T. Jones returned to solo recording, first making a hard-rock guitar album, Potato Hole, in collaboration with the Drive-By Truckers and Neil Young, and then the groove-heavy Road from Memphis, collaborating with the Roots. The one-time newspaper delivery kid was sought by the White House as a musical director in 2013. Recently, he’s signed to Concord’s Stax Records.

  Steve Cropper has made two albums with Felix Cavaliere, vocalist and songwriter from the Rascals (Nudge It Up a Notch and Midnight Flyer). In 2011, he released a tribute to Lowman Pauling and the Five Royales, the group that so influenced his playing. On Dedicated, his guitar licks have a foot in the past, a foot in the present, and both feet on the dance floor.

  Al Jackson’s murder has never been solved. One of the suspects, a man on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List, was killed in a 1976 police shoot-out in Seattle; another passed a polygraph test and was dropped by police.

  Andrew Love played the sax solo on Nicolette Larson’s “Lotta Love,” and Wayne brought Memphis to Peter Gabriel’s soulful “Sledgehammer.” (“I hung up the phone,” Wayne says, “and asked my daughter, ‘You ever heard of Peter Gabriels?’”) Wayne still keeps his trumpet handy, recently reprising Otis Redding’s “Happy Song” with Frazey Ford. He is an enthusiastic supporter of the Stax Music Academy, where he devotes time to teaching and inspiring young kids. “It had been loose and not that professional, what we had done,” says Wayne. “But those records stand up today. The door opened, the wind blew in, and we were smart enough not to fight it.”

  Saxophonist Floyd Newman, long a first-call Memphis horn player, retired from the Memphis schools’ band program and still takes to the stage blowing real soul through twisted brass; lately, he’s been featured in the Bo-Keys, a soul band that mixes several younger players with their heroes, including Skip Pitts, Howard Grimes, William Bell, Willie Hall, Ben Cauley, and Archie “Hubby” Turner (from Hi Records).

  When the bad winds began to blow, Deanie Parker completed her Master’s of Public Administration degree through night courses. “I have to say that the majority of Stax employees, who I think had a great deal to offer Memphis, were blackballed in the work community,” she says. When she was hired at the city’s first independent television station, it was because, she says, “the manager was not a Memphian. He didn’t judge me by the color of my skin. He judged me based on my character and my abilities.” After Stax, Larry Shaw established the South’s first African-American-owned, full-service advertising agency, the Shaw Group, and later a marketing and communications consulting firm. He passed away in 2003 after a career of positive imaging.

  Stax “was one hell of a great company,” says Stax’s mastering engineer Larry Nix, even though it closed owing him thousands of dollars. “When they say ‘Stax family,’ it wasn’t just words. When my son was born, they bought him a really nice baby bed, they inquired about his health. They were interested in us. I made lifetime friendships. It was so fun, you had to sometimes make yourself go home—afraid you’d miss something.” After the Mar-Keys, Larry’s brother Don Nix continued to do it the storybook way. He wrote a few hits, including “Going Down,” and produced a number of albums. Every big check that came in, he bought another huge item. Beautiful houses, three Rolls-Royces, trips to faraway places. Those opulent items are gone now, but the royalties keep him in bologna and on the edge of trouble, a safe distance between himself and nine-to-five work.

  Little Milton continued having hits with Malaco Records in Jackson, Mississippi. Bar-Kays producer Allen Jones helped develop a Stax act named Con Funk Shun, and one of its members, Felton Pilate, was MC Hammer’s music director while the star was at the top. When hip-hop stars Jay-Z and Kanye West collaborated, they built their new ideas around samples from Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness,” which sounded as fresh in 2011 as it had four decades earlier.

  Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Albert King, and Wilson Pickett all enjoyed successful gigging and recording careers. If their popularity never surpassed what they achieved at Stax, it seemed to almost never wane either. Each continued to work as long as he wanted, drawing crowds with older hits, entertaining them with newer material. “Stax gave me a career,” says Eddie. “It’s that music, you know? Once you’re part of that music, it’s till you die.” He laughs. “It’s just simple as that.”

  Estelle Axton. (Doris Axton Fredrick Collection)

  “Somebody asked me what I tell people who come in with a tape,” Estelle says, “people who just know they’re the greatest songwriter in the world. I never turn anybody off. If I know they don’t have any talent, I suspect they know they don’t either. I ask them, ‘Do you enjoy putting together these tapes? I know it costs you money.’ If they say yes, then I say, ‘Keep doing it, because the money you spend there, the psychiatrist won’t get it.’ It’s a release, people do it for their own pleasure. They’ll never be able to place a song, but for their own well-being they do something they like to do. A lot of things, you’re not going to reap any rewards for. If you enjoy doing it, keep on doing it. That’s what I tell them.”

  A Note on Stax Recording Equipment

  by René Wu

  The first four Satellite recordings (Burr Road) were done on a one-track Berlant tape recorder model 20-20 owned by Marshall Erwin Ellis.

  When Stax moved to McLemore, they had the following equipment:

  Ampex model 350 mono recorder

  Two four-channel Ampex mic mixers, model 3761

  Neumann mic type 67 for the vocals

  RCA mic type 44-BX for the horns

  Two RCA mics type DX77 for the drums

  For monitoring, Stax used the Altec Voice of the Theater loudspeaker, similar to models A5 and A7. The power amp to drive this speaker was a McIntosh model MC30.

  By July 1965, Tom Dowd brought in a Scully model 280 stereo recorder in a portable carrying case. Channel one was wired to one 3761 mixer, channel two to the other 3761 mixer.

  For a very short period in late 1966 (possibly into 1967), the two Ampex mixers were replaced by a recording “desk” made from two Sigma four-channel mixers. (These were the same as the Ampex mixers but with the Sigma logos; Sigma took over the distribution for the Ampex mixers.) The desk also included echo sends, machine remote control, and a slate/control monitor cluster. This desk was probably made by Phil Iehle.

  Welton Jetton, an engineer who would soon found Audiotronics in Memp
his, designed a mixing console especially for Stax (no type number). This board was installed in 1966 or early 1967. The control room was upgraded at the same time. A four-track Scully recorder was connected to this new board together with a new mono Ampex recorder model AG350. The Scully two-track that Tom Dowd brought in was replaced by a freestanding Scully two-t rack. The left console leg was equipped with a Universal Audio compressor/limiter model 175B as well as a Spectra Sonics power supply. For control room monitors, Welton Jetton installed four Altec speakers, model 844A or 9844A.

  Jetton next designed a smaller console for mixdown. It was installed in studio B.

  In the early 1970s, the Welton Jetton board was replaced by an Audiotronics mixing console model 501, aka “Son of 36 Grand.”

  A Note on the Interviews

  Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes come from interviews by the author. Many of these interviews occurred during the making of the Respect Yourself documentary; some interviews come from my prior writing pursuits, and many interviews were done while working on this book.

  Peter Guralnick graciously shared his Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton interviews with me. All quotes from Jim or Estelle, unless otherwise stated, come from Guralnick.

  Barney Hoskyns readily shared his Estelle Axton interview with me.

  The Smithsonian Institution conducted a series of interviews in Memphis in the 1990s. My interviews with Robert Tally, Carla Thomas, Marvell Thomas, Floyd Newman, Lewie Steinberg, and Ben Cauley come from there, as do some of my quotes from Rufus Thomas, Jim Stewart, David Porter, James Alexander, and Steve Cropper. The Smithsonian interviews helped create the Rock ’n’ Soul Museum in Memphis (www.memphisrocknsoul.org), which is now also the home of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame (www.memphismusichalloffame.com). Visit them in Memphis, along with the Stax Museum (www.staxmuseum.com), Sun Studios (www.sunstudio.com), and the vast Mississippi Delta (www.visitthedelta.com).

  There are several more books to look forward to. Jim Stewart told me more than once that he’s working on his own book, and Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, David Porter, and Mickey Gregory have indicated they’re considering book endeavors. Gents, bring ’em on! This Stax story is complicated and nuanced, and every telling will make it shine a different way.

  Selected Bibliography

  INTERVIEWS

  In addition to author interviews:

  Alexander, James. Interview by David Less and John Meehan for the Smithsonian Institution. Memphis, TN, March 2000.

  Axton, Estelle. Interview by Rob Bowman. Videotape. Memphis, TN, 1993. Grain De Sable, France.

  Axton, Estelle. Interview by Peter Guralnick. Audiotape. Memphis, TN, October 1980. Boston, MA.

  Axton, Estelle. Interview by Barney Hoskyns. Audiotape. Memphis, TN, 1986. London, England.

  Axton, Estelle. The Memphis Sound: A Tribute to Our City’s Music. WMC-TV, Memphis, TN, 1994.

  Booker T. & the MG’s. Interview by unidentified female. CD copy. Unknown location and year. On file at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

  Cauley, Ben. Interview by Pete Daniel and David Less for the Smithsonian Institution. Memphis, TN, December 4, 1999.

  Cropper, Steve. Interview by David Less. Memphis, TN, December 10, 1999.

  Dunn, Donald “Duck.” Telephone interview by Michael Shelley on WFMU-FM, Jersey City, NJ, July 11, 2009. http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/32187

  Newman, Floyd. Interview by Pete Daniel and David Less for the Smithsonian Institution. Memphis, TN, November 9, 1999.

  Porter, David. Interview by Pete Daniel and Charlie McGovern for the Smithsonian Institution. August 7, 1992.

  Steinberg, Lewie. Interview by David Less for the Smithsonian Institution. Memphis, TN, December 5, 1999.

  Stewart, Jim. Interview by Pete Daniel, Peter Guralnick, David Less, and Charlie McGovern for the Smithsonian Institution. Memphis, TN, May 19, 1992.

  Stewart, Jim. Interview by Peter Guralnick. Audiotape. Memphis, TN, October 1980; March 1983; 1983.

  Tally, Robert. Interview by Pete Daniel, David Less, and Charles McGovern for the Smithsonian Institution. Memphis, TN, May 22, 1992.

  Thomas, Carla. Interview by David Less and Pete Daniel for the Smithsonian Institution. Memphis, TN, November 10, 1999.

  Thomas, Marvell. Interview by David Less for the Smithsonian Institution. Memphis, TN, November 11, 1999.

  Thomas, Rufus. Interview by Pete Daniel, David Less, and Charles McGovern for the Smithsonian Institution. Memphis, TN, August 5, 1992.

  BOOKS

  Beifuss, Joan. At the River I Stand. Memphis: St. Luke’s Press, 1990.

  Booth, Stanley. Rythm Oil. London: Jonathan Cape, 1991.

  Bowman, Rob. Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.

  Brown, Geoff. Otis Redding: Try a Little Tenderness. Edinburgh, Scotland: Canongate, 2003.

  Cantor, Louis. Dewey and Elvis: The Life and times of a Rock ’N’ Roll Deejay. Urbana and Chicago: Illinois University Press, 2005.

  Cantor, Louis. Wheelin’ on Beale: How WDIA-Memphis Became the Nation’s First All-Black Radio Station and Created the Sound That Changed America. Pharos Books, 1992.

  Carmichael, Stokely, and Charles V. Hamilton. Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America. New York: Vintage Books, 1967.

  Carmichael, Stokely, with Ekwueme Michael Thelwell. Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture). New York: Scribner, 2003.

  Danen, Frederic. Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business. New York: Vintage, 1991.

  Davis, Clive, with Anthony DeCurtis. The Soundtrack of My Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012.

  Davis, Clive, with James Willwerth. Clive: Inside the Record Business. New York: William Morris & Company, Inc., 1975.

  Djedje, Jacqueline Cogdell and Eddie S. Meadows, California Soul: Music of African Americans in the West. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.

  Freeman, Scott. Otis!: The Otis Redding Story. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001.

  Garland, Phyl. The Sound of Soul. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1969.

  George, Nelson. The Death of Rhythm and Blues. New York: Plume, 1988.

  Gillett, Charlie. Making Tracks: Atlantic Records and the Growth of a Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1974.

  Gordon, Robert. It Came from Memphis. Boston: Faber and Faber, 1995.

  Graham, Bill and Robert Greenfield. Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out. New York: Doubleday, 1990.

  Guralnick, Peter. Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.

  Hilliard, David. This Side of Glory: The Autobiography of David Hilliard and the Story of the Black Panther Party. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 2001.

  Honey, Michael K. Black Workers Remember: An Oral History of Segregation, Unionism, and the Freedom Struggle. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

  Honey, Michael K. Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King’s Last Campaign. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007.

  Hoskyns, Barney. Say It One Time for the Broken-Hearted: The Country Side of Southern Soul. Waukegan, IL: Fontana Press, 1987.

  Jackson, Wayne. In My Wildest Dreams, Take 1. Memphis: Jackson and Jackson Publishing, 2005.

  Jones, Roben. Memphis Boys: The Story of American Studios. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2010.

  Nix, Don. Road Stories and Recipes. New York: Schirmer, 1997.

  Pohlman, Marcus D., and Michael Kirby. Racial Politics at the Crossroads. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996.

  The Rolling Stone Interviews, Vol. 1. compiled by the editors of Rolling Stone. New York: Warner, 1971.

  Smith, Jerry Lee “Smoochy.” The Real Me: The Story of a Musician and Entertainer of the Fifties. Bartlett, TN: Blink Publishing Company, 2007.

  Wexler, Jerry and David Ritz. Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American
Music. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.

  NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, LINER NOTES, COURT DOCUMENTS, DVDS

  “A Study of the Soul Music Environment Prepared for Columbia Records Group.” The thirty-page industry assessment, commonly known as the Harvard Report, had been submitted on May 11, 1972.

  Abbey, John. “Isaac Hayes: The Most Important Soul Man of Today.” Blues & Soul, June 1970.

  “Adults Join Pickets on Main Street.” Tri-State Defender, May 21, 1960.

  “Al Bell Ordered to Pay $26,232 in Default.” Press Scimitar, February 18, 1976.

  “Al Bell.” Stax press release. Released by the Edward Windsor Wright Group.

  “Attendance at Schools Increases.” Press Scimitar, November 17, 1969.

  Bayne, William. “AFSCME Seeks Return of Funds.” Commercial Appeal, January 11, 1970.

  Bell, Al. “31 page memo” to all Stax Employees.

  Bell, Al. Speech to Columbia employees.

  Bell, Al. “These Days Would Come.” Memo to all Stax Employees, June 8, 1975.

  Black, Kay Pittman. “Al Bell Denies Wrongdoing in Bank Loans.” Press Scimitar, July 28, 1976.

  Black, Kay Pittman. “Al Bell Pleads Innocent to Bank Fraud Charges.” Press Scimitar, September 24, 1975.

  Black, Kay Pittman. “Opponents of Busing Meet with Brock.” Press Scimitar, May 28, 1971.

  Black, Kay Pittman. “Stax Owner Acquitted.” Press Scimitar, August 3, 1976.

  Black, Kay Pittman. “Unrest at Schools Leads 2 to Resign.” Press Scimitar, November 11, 1969.

  Black, Kay Pittman, and Roy B. Hamilton. “Union Ends St. Joseph Strike.” Press Scimitar, December 26, 1969.

  Black, Kay Pittman. “Probe by IRS of Stax Reported by Attorney.” Press Scimitar, June 19, 1973.