Jim Stewart, co-founder of legendary American soul label Stax Records, has died. He was 92.
"Today we lost an important piece of American music history," Michele Smith, vice president of estate & legacy brand management at Craft Recordings and Stax Records, said in a statement yesterday (December 5). She added that Stewart's legacy "will live on through the Stax Records label that he founded, and the artists, musicians, and fans worldwide that love Stax music. I'm not sure if he ever realized the immense impact that he had on soul music across the globe, and he will be sorely missed. Our condolences go out to his friends and family, especially his children and grandchildren."
Stewart is survived by his wife, Evelyn Stewart, and sisters Estelle Axton and Mary Lucille McAlpin, as well as three children (Lori Stewart, Shannon Stewart and Jeff Stewart) and two grandchildren (Alyssa Luibel and Jennifer Stewart).
Born on July 29, 1930, in Middleton, TN, the late label exec founded Satellite Records in 1957. He had been a banker and moonlit as a country fiddle player, and decided that, if he couldn't be a professional musician, being a music producer was the next best thing. Stewart's sister Axton invested in the label, which then became Stax — a combination of the first two letters of their surnames — and moved from Brunswick, TN, to McLemore Avenue in Memphis.
From there, a new generation of early-'60s-to-late-'70s R&B hitmakers would emerge: Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGs, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Sam and Dave and the Mar-Keys; the list goes on. Thomas's 1961 hit "Gee Whiz" was an early taste of success for Stax, selling half a million copies and adding to their commercial appeal. The label's alliance with Thomas, local DJ/singer Rufus Thomas and more early in its history led Stax to focus on music by Black artists, eventually becoming a major influence of the Southern "Soul Explosion." They assembled one of the greatest house bands in history at the studio, which was a haven for Black artists in the segregated South.
"The spirit that came from Jim and his sister Estelle Axton allowed all of us, Black and white, to come off the streets, where you had segregation and the negative attitude, and come into the doors of Stax, where you had freedom, you had harmony, you had people working together," Bell told author Robert Gordon. "It grew into what became really an oasis for all of us."
Stewart ended his partnership with Axton in 1968, and went on to relaunch Stax with Al Bell and entertainment conglomerate Gulf & Western. In 2002, Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "As producer, engineer, businessman and mentor, Jim Stewart was at the center of it all," the institution said of Stax's storied history.
"Today we lost an important piece of American music history," Michele Smith, vice president of estate & legacy brand management at Craft Recordings and Stax Records, said in a statement yesterday (December 5). She added that Stewart's legacy "will live on through the Stax Records label that he founded, and the artists, musicians, and fans worldwide that love Stax music. I'm not sure if he ever realized the immense impact that he had on soul music across the globe, and he will be sorely missed. Our condolences go out to his friends and family, especially his children and grandchildren."
Stewart is survived by his wife, Evelyn Stewart, and sisters Estelle Axton and Mary Lucille McAlpin, as well as three children (Lori Stewart, Shannon Stewart and Jeff Stewart) and two grandchildren (Alyssa Luibel and Jennifer Stewart).
Born on July 29, 1930, in Middleton, TN, the late label exec founded Satellite Records in 1957. He had been a banker and moonlit as a country fiddle player, and decided that, if he couldn't be a professional musician, being a music producer was the next best thing. Stewart's sister Axton invested in the label, which then became Stax — a combination of the first two letters of their surnames — and moved from Brunswick, TN, to McLemore Avenue in Memphis.
From there, a new generation of early-'60s-to-late-'70s R&B hitmakers would emerge: Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGs, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Sam and Dave and the Mar-Keys; the list goes on. Thomas's 1961 hit "Gee Whiz" was an early taste of success for Stax, selling half a million copies and adding to their commercial appeal. The label's alliance with Thomas, local DJ/singer Rufus Thomas and more early in its history led Stax to focus on music by Black artists, eventually becoming a major influence of the Southern "Soul Explosion." They assembled one of the greatest house bands in history at the studio, which was a haven for Black artists in the segregated South.
"The spirit that came from Jim and his sister Estelle Axton allowed all of us, Black and white, to come off the streets, where you had segregation and the negative attitude, and come into the doors of Stax, where you had freedom, you had harmony, you had people working together," Bell told author Robert Gordon. "It grew into what became really an oasis for all of us."
Stewart ended his partnership with Axton in 1968, and went on to relaunch Stax with Al Bell and entertainment conglomerate Gulf & Western. In 2002, Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "As producer, engineer, businessman and mentor, Jim Stewart was at the center of it all," the institution said of Stax's storied history.
