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Stax Records founder Jim Stewart dies

By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 6 December 2022

Co-founder of influential soul label Stax Records, Jim Stewart, has died, aged 92.

“Today we lost an important piece of American music history”, said Michele Smith, VP Estate & Legacy Brand Management at Stax Records and Craft Recordings on announcing the news.

“Mr 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 realised 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”.

Born in 1930, Stewart originally set out on a career as a musician, but later decided that he was more suited to production, after recording music for a friend. In 1957, he co-founded Satellite Records with his sister Estelle Axton – originally as a country label, before moving more into R&B, soul and funk. Their first hit was ‘Cause I Love You’ by Rufus Thomas.

In 1960, they changed the name of the label to Stax Records – combining the first two letters of each of their surnames – to avoid confusion with another record company called Satellite.

In the early years of the label, Stewart worked on all aspects of the business, taking on the roles of producer, engineer, A&R, label boss, PR and more. All while working a full time job at a bank too. The graft paid off, and within a few years the label had grown into an influential force in the music industry, meaning Stewart was able to quit that job at the bank.

Unusually for the time – particularly in Memphis, where the company was based – Stax shunned racial segregation in America and hired artists and staff regardless of the colour of their skin.

Its roster included some of the first mixed race groups in the US, including house band Booker T And The MGs. In 1968, Stewart also made then Director Of Promotions Al Bell a co-owner of the company, his efforts to build the business later making it the second largest African-American owned company in the US.

The label hit hard times in 1968 with the death of key artist Otis Redding and also the end of a distribution deal with Atlantic Records, after it was acquired by Warner Bros. That change also saw the larger music company take ownership of the Stax catalogue – Stewart having failed to read a key clause in the Atlantic contract when he signed it.

The company was then acquired by Paramount Pictures, although Stewart and Bell stayed on to continue to run it. A dispute over Bell’s vision to rebuild the label resulted in Axtone selling her shares in the business and leaving to launch new label Fretone Records.

Although they had some big successes in the following years – including Isaac Hayes’ debut solo album ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ and the ‘Shaft’ soundtrack – Stewart and Bell felt stifled under Paramount and bought the company back, with financial help from Deutsche Grammophon, in 1970.

Despite efforts to grow the company, its future remained unstable, and Stewart sold his stake to Bell in 1972. Bell continued to push the company forward, but a disastrous distribution deal with CBS Records led to it falling into bankruptcy in 1976. Today, Stax is operated by Concord Music.

After leaving the label he founded, Stewart maintained a fairly low profile, although did continue to occasionally produce records for artists he had previously worked with at Stax. And in 2002 his contribution to the industry was formally recognised by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.