Jamila Wignot interview: ‘STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.’ director

Jamila Wignot understood going in to her assignment as director of the four-part HBO documentary series “STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.” that she had her work cut out to hit a certain sweet spot. She was tasked to satisfy both people who have no clue about the legendary and influential Memphis-based record label and soul music producer that launched the careers of Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Carla Thomas, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, Sam and Dave and many other acts through the 1960s and ’70s – and those who were completely steeped in its colorful (pun intended) history. “It was very challenging,” she admits, “because music fanatics can be exceptionally particular about what they want their favorite label or music doc to cover. But I think the goal is to always try to satisfy he folks who are already kind of deeply in the know and hopefully provide them with new insights while also creating something that’s accessible enough that somebody who doesn’t know anything can be along for the ride and enjoy the journey.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

“Soulsville, U.S.A.” blends interviews with many of the surviving artists and architects of Stax Records with abundant archival footage from the label’s heyday. (It was shuttered in 1975 after crashing financially.) The reason why Wignot signed on to co-produce and direct the documentary is that she’d been a fan in the 1990s of the remastered collections of the vintage Stax material. “Initially my interest was really selfishly that I was going to get to spend a considerable amount of time steeping myself back in the music in a really series, heavily-researched way, and then maybe I was going to get to meet some of those surviving artists – which I did. Then as I dug deeper into the research, I discovered that the story is so much a kind of parable of the American story, American history, social movements. So that was really wonderful to know we had this really big canvas to tell a full story of a label and that label story as a microcosm of a larger national story.”

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Whereas the name Motown instantly produces mental images of that label’s roster of incandescent talent – namely Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight and the Pips – there is no similar linked-artist collection with Stax. “It’s likely you didn’t know the label, but you definitely knew the songs which grew in popularity and familiarity long after the label had shuttered,” Wignot believes. “You also knew of the artists.” Those songs notably included “Green Onions” by Booker T. and the M.G.’s, “Soul Man” by Sam and Dave, “(Sittin on) The Dock of the Bay” by Redding, “I Got to Be Myself” by the Staple Singers, “Who’s Making Love” by Johnnie Taylor and “Theme from Shaft” from Hayes. “The people involved at Stax weren’t out there trying to make sure the label was better known than the artists,” she adds.

As much as the music, “STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.” tells the story of how focusing on Black artists and being based in the pre-Civil Rights era Memphis forced Stax to buck so much discrimination. It was able to exist and for a short time thrive “because the label was (physically) in a Black community,” Wignot emphasizes, “and there was a kind of permission that could happen because it’s happening out of sight of the larger white power structure.”

Too, Stax during its time was largely underappreciated by the music industry and music press and therefore had to fight a far greater fight to stay alive as a lesser-known entity than were Atlantic Records and certainly Motown. Via this documentary, however, that’s destined no longer to be the case. Indeed, Wignot points out that it’s become “a badge of coolness” to be steeped in Stax history and understanding. “The DNA of that sound is really in a lot of hip-hop music that we listen to today,” she notes.

“STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.” streams all four parts on Max.