The Stax Label

Founded in 1957 by brother and sister Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton as Satellite Records, Stax Records would become a powerhouse soul and R&B label in the sixties. Their ‘open door’ policy of welcoming artists to prove themselves in the studio produced an unparalleled cadre of talent. Although it looked as if the label went down with its biggest talent, Otis Redding, in 1967 when Atlantic Records had Stax forfeit all of its studio recordings through its power of majority stakeholder, under the guiding hand of Al Bell, the catalogue was rebuilt and a whole new generation of performers would surface in the 1970s. We’ll share the stories and the music from the Stax label this Friday on Deeper Roots on Sonoma County’s powerhouse low power station, KOWS.