Pat Mitchell Worley, the new president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, sounded a tad nervous on September 14th, standing in Studio A of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and telling a select audience gathered there, “As you walk through our lobby and gift shop today, take your final look. Because in just a few months, all of that will be torn down.” A few of us gasped, momentarily reliving the trauma of seeing the original Stax building demolished in 1989, but then Worley added: “And we will have a brand-new look.”
While the museum structure, built in 2003 with the original blueprints for the Stax Records building, will be unchanged, the interior will get a major overhaul as new exhibits highlighting heretofore mothballed artifacts are installed. As a teaser, Worley pointed out two such artifacts being unveiled that night, including Rufus Thomas’ outfit from the 1972 Wattstax concert. “You cannot miss that hot pink — hot pink! — that only Rufus Thomas could get away with wearing,” said Worley. “You’ll also see some overalls worn by Otis Redding in the ‘Tramp’ video he did with Carla Thomas.”
Yet overhauling the museum’s exhibits is just a small part of what’s cooking at the Stax Museum. The museum will launch a cornucopia of programs and series to celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. And by next year, they mean all of next year, and some of this year to boot. Indeed, some special events start next week.
On October 6th, the museum will turn the spotlight on a gem in the Stax catalog by the little-known group 24-Carat Black. As museum executive director Jeff Kollath explains, “The album Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth is probably the most influential recording that Stax released after Isaac Hayes’ Black Moses (and Big Star’s #1 Record). Of course, it fell through the cracks and never got the credit it deserved until it got sampled to the nines in the ’90s. We are hosting a discussion between original members Princess Hearn and Jerome Derrickson; Niambi Steele, who joined the road show after a random gig in Indianapolis; and Zach Schoenfeld, who wrote the 33 1/3 series book about the album.”
At sunset on the next day, October 7th, another milestone will be celebrated: the recent 50th anniversary of the Wattstax festival. In keeping with the museum’s aim of being what Worley calls “the past, present, and future of Memphis music,” the 1973 film of the concert will be screened where the Black arts movement is blossoming today, the Orange Mound Tower at 2205 Lamar Avenue, representing a fresh collaboration between the museum and Memphis Record Pressing, Indie Memphis, TONE, and community radio station WYXR.
Then Kollath drew attention to perhaps the most significant milestone of all, this year’s 60th anniversary of the recording and release of “Green Onions.” As Kollath noted, “The song literally changed the face of music. And to help play it, we have three of our incredible Stax Music Academy alumni. Your eyes do not deceive you, they are in fact related: On the drum kit, Mr. Sam Franklin IV; on the bass, Mr. Christopher Franklin; and on the guitar, Mr. Jamaal Franklin.” After they assembled onstage, the composer of “Green Onions” himself, Booker T. Jones, strolled up to the organ, and the quartet proceeded to knock “Hip Hug-Her,” “Green Onions,” “Soul Limbo,” and “Time Is Tight” (complete with its triumphant coda) out of the park.
Having Jones himself perform these classics with a tight combo of young Memphians, all of whom nailed their parts admirably — in the very (rebuilt) room where it was originally done, no less — caused emotions to run high, not the least in Jones himself. Playing in Studio A again, he said, brought back a flood of memories from when “Green Onions” was cut. “When the moment came for me to play the solo,” he recalled, “I remember trying to think of talking through the keys, like a sentence or something coming out of me. And I think it was the culmination of so much of the training I had at Booker T. Washington High School. Every person that I came close to taught me how to do something for free.”
Visit staxmuseum.com for details on the Stax Museum’s upcoming anniversary celebrations.
