Stax Museum of American Soul Music

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.

Overview:

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!