Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of Stax Records and its museum.
On this page
Label, studio and museum
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1957
Satellite Records
Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton found Satellite Records in Memphis.
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c. 1960
The Capitol Theatre
The label moves into a former cinema at 926 East McLemore Avenue.
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1961
A new name
Satellite becomes Stax, from the first letters of the founders’ surnames.
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1962
The house band
Booker T. & the M.G.’s form and begin backing Stax recordings.
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1967
Otis Redding
The label’s biggest early star dies in a plane crash in December.
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1972
Wattstax
The Wattstax concert draws a crowd of more than 100,000.
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1976
Closure
After bankruptcy proceedings, Stax is closed by court order in January.
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1989
Demolition
The original studio building on McLemore Avenue is torn down.
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2003
The museum opens
The Stax Museum of American Soul Music opens on the original site.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
