Jim Stewart

Born 70 miles east of Memphis, Tennessee, Jim Stewart began his music career as a country fiddler in the Texas swing tradition and ended up the founder and president of one of the greatest soul and R&B labels ever, Stax Records. At 18, Stewart moved to Memphis from his home in Middleton, Tennessee to pursue a career in music. While playing an occasional gig, the young fiddler supported himself by working at Sears during the day. After a two-year stint in the Army, Stewart moved back to Memphis, landed a job in a bank, and became interested in recording. After several slammed doors, Stewart finally found an opening in 1957, releasing a country song he wrote called "Blue Roses" on his own Satellite label. The record bombed. Several more attempts were unsuccessful as well and, by 1959, Stewart had brought in his older sister Estelle as a business partner, hired engineer Chips Moman, and relocated his fledgling operation to an abandoned theater on East McLemore Avenue in Memphis' ghetto. Not long after, the label scored hits with a pair of Carla Thomas releases, "Cause I Love You" and "Gee Whiz," that attracted the attention of Atlantic Records. The labels signed a distribution deal and began a period of unheralded success for both imprints. For the next ten years, Stewart built Stax and its Volt subsidiary into a creative and financial powerhouse. Assembling a gifted ensemble that at one time or another included Isaac Hayes, David Porter, Chips Moman, Steve Cropper, and Al Bell, among others, the label's stars included Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MG's, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, William Bell, the Mar-Keys, and Albert King, virtually the cream of the R&B world. Though Stewart is historically regarded more as a managerial contributor than a creative one when it comes to the success of Stax, he acted as engineer and producer on many of the early hits and, in that sense, is partly responsible for shaping the famous bass-heavy "Stax Sound." After he sold the label in the early '70s, he continued to produce occasionally, but preferred to stay out of the spotlight; when he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, he sent his daughter to accept the award rather than attend himself. Jim Stewart died on December 5, 2022 at the age of 92. ~ Steve Kurutz