Memphis soul
Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis has always been a cauldron for uniquely American sounds, from the blues of Beale Street to the rockabilly of Sun Studios. When soul and R&B topped the charts beginning in the late 1950s, the city nurtured another regional sound that came to be known as Memphis soul, with Stax Records leading the way. Fifty years later, the Stax Music Academy (SMA) carries on the legacy of this definitive regional record label.