No More Blues

Worst-kept secret'; singer expected to bring label back
By David Williams

June 7, 2006
Memphis Music Foundation president Rey Flemings told City Council members Tuesday that a "large record label recruitment" would be announced in September -- apparently a re-launch of Stax Records.

Flemings wouldn't elaborate later, but council member Rickey Peete said the legendary label was being restarted with the involvement of homegrown pop star Justin Timberlake.

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"They are definitely going to re-launch Stax," Peete said. "But it's my understanding they've got some other record labels that are looking at relocating here, not just Stax. Stax is a major flagship."

Council members have been briefed on music-industry initiatives by the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission, for which they provide funding, and its private nonprofit partner, the foundation.

In an apparent reference to Timberlake, operations & management budget committee chairman Jack Sammons said, during Tuesday's meeting: "It's one of the worst-kept secrets in town that one of our big stars who was born and raised in the Memphis area is moving back and going to make a significant investment.

"It just seems like we're on the threshold of something great here."

There have been national and international reports dating to last fall that Timberlake was reviving Stax. He has been a vocal supporter of Memphis music, and a friend to the commission and foundation. Last year, he hosted a foundation-sponsored private artist showcase, and sang the Otis Redding Stax classic "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay."

Stax put Memphis on the world map in the 1960s and early '70s as Soulsville USA, with the likes of Sam and Dave's "Soul Man" and Booker T. and the MGs' "Green Onions."

Before financial woes forced its closing more than three decades ago, Stax also helped make Memphis a major world recording center.

In the decades since, Memphis has been more of a world musical capital of memories -- including the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, at the company's old site on McLemore in South Memphis.

The label's revival, by one of the contemporary scene's biggest stars, could be a major step toward re-establishing Memphis's music industry and its place on the national scene -- stated goals of the commission and foundation.

-- David Williams: 529-2310