The story of Stax Records unfolds like a Greek tragedy. A white brother
and sister build a monument to racial harmony in blighted south Memphis
during the civil rights movement. Their success soon pits the siblings
against each other, and the brother abandons his sister for a visionary
African-American partner. Under integrated leadership, Stax explodes as
a national player until, Icarus-like, the heights they achieve result in
their tragic demise. They fall, losing everything, and the sanctuary
they created is torn to the ground. A generation later, Stax is rebuilt
brick by brick and is once again transforming disenfranchised youth into
stellar young musicians.
Set in the world of 1960s and '70s soul music, Respect Yourself is a
character-driven story of racial integration, and then of black power
and economic independence. It's about music and musicians--Isaac Hayes,
Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, and Booker T. and the M.G.'s, Stax's
interracial house band. It's about a small independent company's
struggle to survive in an increasingly conglomerate-oriented world. And
always at the center of the story is Memphis, Tennessee, an explosive
city struggling through volatile years. Told by one of our leading music
chroniclers, Respect Yourself is the book to own about one of our most
treasured cultural institutions and the city that created it.
