A Utopian Environment

Stax Records employee Deanie Parker celebrates 60 years.

- John Wirt

This year is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the mighty Memphis soul music label Stax Records. Originally named Satellite Records, Stax and its subsidiary, Volt, released classics by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, the Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Albert King, Johnnie Taylor and many more.

As if the names of the label’s artists aren’t enough to illustrate Stax’s place in American music, the company’s sales further show its impact. Releasing more than 800 singles and nearly 300 albums, Stax sent 167 recordings into the Top 100 pop charts and 243 recordings into the Top 100 rhythm and blues charts.

From 1962 on, Deanie Parker was there for the Stax glory years. Parker was a junior in high school when Estelle Axton, sister of label founder Jim Stewart, hired her to work in the Stax-adjacent Satellite Record Shop. She later transitioned from record shop staff and aspiring singer to Stax marketing and publicity.

“It is unbelievable that the music we created has been around for 60 years,” Parker said from her Memphis home, a stone’s throw away from the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. “And the music is still as powerful as it was when it was first released. I am thrilled and honored to have been associated with such a magnificent and unique label.”