Atlantic Records - Stax

Stax

Atlantic was doing so well in early 1959 that some scheduled releases were held back and the company enjoyed two successive months of gross sales of over $1 million that summer, thanks to hits by The Coasters, The Drifters, LaVern Baker, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin and Clyde McPhatter However, only months later the company was reeling from the successive loss of its two biggest artists, Bobby Darin and Ray Charles, who together accounted for one third of sales. Darin, who moved to the Los Angeles area, signed with Capitol Records. Charles signed a deal with ABC-Paramount Records in November 1959 that reportedly included increased royalties, a production deal, profit-sharing and eventual ownership of his master tapes. Wexler later commented; "It was very grim. I thought we were going to die" and Ertegun in 1990 disputed whether Charles had received the promised benefits. It led to a permanent rift between Charles and his former colleagues, although Ertegun remained good friends with Darin who returned to Atlantic in 1966. Charles returned to Atlantic in 1977.

Through 1961-62 Leiber and Stoller's successes maintained the label's fortunes, and these were further enhanced by a licensing deal with a small Memphis-based independent label Stax Records, which would soon prove to be of enormous value. In 1960, Atlantic's Memphis distributor Buster Williams contacted Wexler and told him he was pressing large quantities of "Cause I Love You", a duet between Memphis-based singers Carla Thomas and her father Rufus Thomas, which was released on a small local label called Satellite (which was soon renamed Stax Records, from the names of the owners, Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, in 1961). Wexler contacted the co-owner of Satellite, Jim Stewart, who agreed to lease the record to Atlantic for $1000 plus a small royalty (the first money the label had ever made). The deal included a $5000 payment against a five-year option on all other records. When Carla Thomas' first solo single, "Gee Whiz (Look at his Eyes)" began to attract national attention in 1961 New York producer Hy Weiss, went to Memphis to try to acquire the rights, but after examining the contract he told Wexler it gave Atlantic options on all Satellite recordings for the next five years. Wexler subsequently claimed he had been unaware of this: "The lawyers did it and I didn't read every contract." Wexler and Stewart and discussed the deal and according to Wexler's account, "... there was no acrimony. Everything was fine and we picked up the record. Then we really rolled with Stax."

The Atlantic deal marked the start of a hugely successful eight-year association between the two labels, giving Stax access to Atlantic's promotions and distribution, and it meant easy money for Atlantic, as Wexler later conceded:

"...it was certainly biased on our favor. We didn't pay for the masters ... Jim paid for the masters and then he would send us a finished tape and we would put it out. Our costs began at the production level - the pressing, and distribution, and promotion, and advertising."

Atlantic began pressing and distributing Stax records and Wexler soon sent Tom Dowd to upgrade Stax's recording equipment and facilities. Wexler was impressed by the easy-going, cooperative atmosphere at the Stax studios and by the distinctive sound of the label's racially-integrated group of 'house' musicians (which he described as "an unthinkably great band") and he was soon bringing Atlantic artists to Memphis to record. Shortly afterwards Stewart and Wexler hired Al Bell, then working as a DJ at a Washington DC radio station, to take over national promotion of Stax releases, the first African-American partner in the label.

In 1962 the Stax deal began to reap major rewards for both labels. An after-hours jam by members of the Stax house band resulted in the classic instrumental "Green Onions". In conversation with BBC Radio 2 DJ Johnnie Walker on 7 September 2008, guitarist Steve Cropper revealed that the record became an instant success when DJ Reuben Washington played it four times in succession on Memphis radio station WLOK, before either the tune or the band had an agreed-upon name. The single was issued nationally in August 1962, by which time the band had been dubbed Booker T & the MGs; "Green Onions" became the biggest instrumental hit of the year, reaching #1 on the R&B chart and #3 on the pop chart, where it stayed for 16 weeks, and it sold over one million copies, earning a gold record award.

1962 also saw the Stax debut of Otis Redding, who had been Johnny Jenkins' driver and was allowed to record several songs at the end of one of Jenkins' sessions, among them his own "These Arms of Mine", which was released on Stax's Volt subsidiary and became a minor hit in the south. Over the next five years Redding would become one of Stax's most important artists. During 1965 Redding broke through into the national charts; "Mr. Pitiful" reached #10 on the soul chart and just missed out on the pop Top 40, followed by "I've Been Loving You Too Long", which made #2 on the soul chart and peaked at #21. "Respect" also performed strongly, reaching #4 on the soul chart and #35 on the pop chart.

Over the next five years Stax and its subsidiary Volt provided Atlantic with a tremendous run of success, and many Atlantic artists were taken to Memphis to record. Among the many hits recorded by (or at) Stax between 1963 and 1967 were Rufus Thomas' "Walking The Dog", Otis Redding's "Respect", his classic version of "Try A Little Tenderness" and "Tramp", his hit duet with Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd's "Knock On Wood" and The Bar-Kays' "Soul Finger". Sam & Dave were signed to Atlantic but recorded at Stax at Jerry Wexler's suggestion; with the Stax band and the writing team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, the duo scored eight consecutive R&B Top 20 hits including "You Don't Know Like I Know", "Hold On, I'm Coming", "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby", "Soul Man" and "I Thank You; Wilson Pickett scored hits with "In The Midnight Hour", "634-5789", "Land of 1000 Dances", "Mustang Sally", "Funky Broadway" and "I'm In Love".

Some of Pickett's earlier hits were recorded at Stax, but in early 1966 Jim Stewart banned all non-Stax productions from the studio, so Atlantic began using other southern studios, notably Rick Hall's FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and the American Group Productions studio in Memphis, run by former Stax producer Chips Moman.