|
An
essential stop while visiting Memphis, is the Stax Museum of American
Soul Music, at McLemore and College in what's known as Soulsville,
USA. The museum pays homage to Memphis soul music and the old Stax
Records label.
Highlights of the Stax Museum:
 |
2,000 exhibits, videos,
stage costumes, photographs, instruments used to record the Stax
sound |
|
|
A 100 year old
reconstructed gospel church as an exhibit |
|
|
Hall of Records, where
approximately 800 45 single records and 300 LPs are on display |
|
|
Recreation of Stax's
legendary Studio A. |
|
|
Seasonally-changing
exhibits, with internationally acclaimed photography exhibitions
|
|
|
Located in Soulsville
USA at the site of the original Stax Records.
|
The Stax Museum can be overwhelming, so
take your time. A 100-year-old church, moved from the Mississippi
Delta, begins the tour to show the roots of soul, and a similar attention
to context and detail is common throughout the Museum.
From the award-winning introductory documentary film to an authentic
100-year-old Mississippi Delta church that explains the gospel roots of
soul music, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music winds and twists
through a labyrinth of exhibits.
These exhibits promote and preserve the legacy of American Soul Music and
its contributions internationally, highlighting musical giants such as
Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, the Bar-Kays, Booker T. &
the MIGs, Johnnie Taylor, Little Milton, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Ike &
Tina Turner and hundreds of others.
Among the more than 2,000 exhibits, videos, stage costumes,
photographs, instruments used to record the Stax sound, you'll find items
such as:
|
|
Halon
Jones' saxophone that was retrieved from a lake intact after the
fatal crash of Otis Redding and the Bar-Kay's
|
|
|
Otis
Reading's favorite brown suede jacket |
|
|
Albert King's famous purple Flying V guitar
|
|
|
Tina Turner's gold sequined stage dress and Ike Turner's
silver lame suit and Fender guitar |
|
|
The organ used by Booker T. Jones to record Green Onions |
|
|
Isaac Hayes' restored,
peacock-blue 1972 Super fly Cadillac El Dorado complete
with television, refrigerator, and gold trim.
|
You'll be amazed in the Hall of Records, where
approximately 800 45 single records and 300 LPs are on display. And you'll
stand on the exact spot where all of the great Stax music was made in the
recreation of Stax's legendary Studio A.
In addition to these and other permanent exhibits, the Stax Museum Gallery
hosts seasonally-changing exhibits, with internationally acclaimed
photography exhibitions celebrating such icons as The Beatles, Bob Dylan,
the Rolling Stones, the world's greatest hip hop artists, and virtually
every famous Blues musician in history.
Definitely an essential stop while visiting Memphis!
|
