Book Review: 'Respect Yourself' by Robert Gordon

Socially and sonically, Stax records was a head of its time.

Nov. 15, 2013 4:16 p.m. ET

The key to understanding a lot of what takes place in this beautiful, maddening world is contained in a single sentence of Robert Gordon's marvelous history of Stax Records, the tiny Memphis studio that soared like Icarus, crashed to earth and changed the world of music in the course of its flight. Describing the company's initial liftoff, co-founder Jim Stewart said: "It happened quickly, but not in a manner that was conscious and direct."

Stax rose out of what cultural historian Greil Marcus calls "the...

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