Stax Records
Smoochy Smith was hired by Sam Philips at Sun Studios in Memphis to play piano on a few sessions in the late 1950s. Smoochy was being requested for record dates from both local performers as well as others who heard his style on countless tunes. He soon recorded on several other labels such as...
Cliff Acred began playing music in junior high school and later majored in music in college. He played in the 3rd Army Band out of Atlanta while in the service and once out returned home to Memphis. Cliff was hired to play bass in the house bands for Sun Records and later for Stax Records. At...
Dr. Mable John served many people in a variety of ways during her long life. She was a singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, author, educator, leader, minister, mentor, music advocate and a friend. Her career as a backup singer and soloist broke ground at Stax Records and later with Ray Charles....
John Fry was the founder of Ardent Records and a noted recording engineer with a special talent for sound mixing and studio sound control. The results of his efforts are enough to fill several walls with gold and platinum records from the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Led Zeppelin. John was also...
John Hampton was a Grammy winning engineer at the Ardent Studios in Memphis, where he worked side by side with the studio's founder, John Fry. The studio recorded a long list of artists from Stax in the early days when Mr. Fry opened the business. Over the years the studio was home to many...