Stax Museum of American Soul Music

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music gives travelers a reason to stop in Memphis. The city, mostly known for big-time attractions such as Graceland and the National Civil Rights Museum, also has its mark in the blues music world. The museum gives guests a peak inside the inner workings of soul music.

 

The museum, located at 926 McLemore Avenue, is located where the former Stax Records building once stood. The recording company once rested in the bustling and vibrant community known to most as “Soulville,” producing some of the most famous artists, including Aretha Franklin, Maurice White and Al Green.

 

Stax Records went bankrupt in 1975, one of the many results of Soulsville U.S.A.’s fall into an era of decline. However, a group of dedicated Memphians began a revitalization project in 1998. In 2003, the Stax Museum opened to the public, designed as an exact replica of the former recording studio.

 

Today the museum pays tribute to all of the artists who recorded there with a rare collection of more than 2,000 interactive exhibits, films, artifacts, items of memorabilia and galleries. Boasting the title of being the only soul music museum in the world, the museum spotlights America’s other major soul music pioneers, including the sounds of Motown, Hi and Atlantic Records. Contributions of soul pioneers such as Ike and Tina Turner, James Brown, Ray Charles and many others are documented in the museum.

 

Visitors can expect an authentic 100-year-old Mississippi Delta Church that explains the gospel roots of soul music, Otis Redding’s favorite brown suede jacket and Isaac Hayes' restored, peacock-blue 1972 Superfly Cadillac El Dorado complete with television, refrigerator, and gold trim. In addition to these and other permanent exhibits, the Stax Museum Gallery hosts seasonal 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.

 

Hours during April-October are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Hours during November-March are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday; closed Mondays. General tickets are $12 for adults, $9 for children with adult paid admission.

- by Leah M. Caudle , Memphis Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Leah M. Caudle

Leah Caudle is a professional storyteller with experience in covering local, community and feature stories. While at newspapers such as The Tennessean in Nashville and The Lexington Herald-Leader in Lexington, Ky., Caudle also has experience in shooting and editing videos and photos to accompany stories. The Western Kentucky University graduate received degrees in print journalism and Spanish in 2007 and also has expertise in the areas of public relations, copy editing and proofreading.