Original subtitles

-[bell dings] -Ladies and gentlemen,

the captain has turned on the "No Smoking" sign.

At this time, please extinguish all smoking materials.

[gentle, peaceful instrumentals playing]

[Bell] All of the artists that were on that European tour

realized, "Wait a minute.

We're stars."

But you come home,

you're treated like less than.

Both of us, me and him, [indistinct]. And this is true.

[Bell] I remember we were leaving the studio,

me and Jim and Otis Redding.

As we stepped out of the door,

a police car pulled up...

[siren blaring]

...and they jumped out with their guns,

and they said, "Nigger, get back in that building.

We don't allow niggers on the streets

in Memphis with white people."

And I said "But officer, we work here."

And he said, "You wanna go downtown?"

[muffled, indistinct crowd noise]

[Jones] It was just too strong a system to tear down.

In Memphis, you needed to keep your mouth shut

and hope for the best.

Or fight.

-[lights click] -[electricity buzzing]

[buzzing intensifies]

[echoing click]

A policeman in a Black community is a licensed killer.

Is a licensed killer.

A Black man attacking a policeman is a rioter.

-Yeah. [laughs] -[laughter]

That's cause the Black man don't have the license to kill.

[mournful violin music playing]

[police siren wailing]

[solemn, lilting string melody playing]

-[indistinct shouting] -[shuffling footsteps]

[Hayes] People had been suppressed.

You know, you can suppress a person for so long

and they will... they will rise up.

We're coming down here, hoping to tell you,

you, you, you, and you with the camera,

we wakin' up.

[solemn, lilting string melody continues]

We are in the worst crisis we have known

since the Civil War,

and time is running short to try to find some answers to it.

[man] This is gonna happen all over America.

It's gonna be a hot world, not a hot summer.

It's a hot world.

But, brother, America better wake up to this.

If they don't, we're gonna burn down America.

[Porter] You had a whole society attemptin'

to take self-pride away from you.

Isaac and I came from a generation,

there was a spirit and attitude,

"Well, this shit has got to change.

And we are not gonna be receptive to someone abusing

or taking advantage of us."

[music fades]

[indistinct chatter]

[Hayes] I started noticing, all the Black businesses,

if they write "soul" on the business, they'll bypass it.

I said, "Wow.

The word 'soul'

keeps one from burning up their establishment.

Wow. 'Soul.'

That's just pride."

So I called David.

[Porter] Isaac and I talked about a concept for a song.

[peaceful violin melody playing]

I saw, in my head, a Black man.

Images of Woodstock, the county school,

in the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee.

And then came this feeling,

you can rise above whatever you're challenged with,

and it's gonna be okay

because you have soulfulness in your spirit.

Soulfulness in your heart.

And you're gonna be okay 'cause you are a soul man.

["Soul Man" by Sam & Dave plays]

♪ Comin' to ya on a dusty road ♪

♪ Good lovin', I got a truck load ♪

♪ And when you get it ♪

♪ Ha, you got somethin' ♪

♪ So don't worry ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm coming ♪

♪ I'm a soul man ♪

♪ Oh! ♪

♪ I'm a soul man... ♪

[Porter] If you listen to "Soul Man,"

the lyrics sounds like you're talking about falling in love,

but you're really talking about pride and dignity.

♪ Grab the rope and I'll pull you in ♪

♪ Give you hope ♪

♪ And be your only boyfriend ♪

-♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ -♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

["Soul Man" continues]

-♪ I'm talkin' about a ♪ -♪ Soul man ♪

-♪ I'm a ♪ -♪ Soul man ♪

-♪ And you ♪ -♪ A soul man ♪

-♪ Ah ♪ -♪ Soul man ♪

♪ And you... ♪

[radio DJ] I'm a soul man, Sam & Dave,

at 28 minutes 'til two o clock, 200 and...

[Bowman] Isaac Hayes and David Porter

had written this song that became a number one hit

on both the Black and white charts.

They succeed commercially

and still give voice to the community.

-♪ And you ♪ -♪ A soul man ♪

Stax proves you can have it both ways at once:

make hit records

but also speak about Black uplift.

-♪ Oh, Lord ♪ -♪ Soul man ♪

-♪ I'm a ♪ -♪ Soul man ♪

-♪ And you ♪ -♪ A soul man ♪

[song fades]

[jarring, echoing scream]

["Section 43" by Country Joe & the Fish plays]

[Bell] 1967 motivated the hell out of me.

I was on the kill to take Stax to the next level.

The event that provided that opportunity

was the Monterey Pop Festival in northern California.

[Bowman] Otis Redding was invited to Monterey.

He would be playing for the counterculture,

a mostly white rock audience

that he's totally unfamiliar with,

and that he's pretty sure are pretty unfamiliar with him.

["Section 43" continues]

[crowd cheering]

When we got to Monterey, we were shocked.

It was the biggest crowd we'd ever seen.

And there was about 55,000 people...

["Section 43" continues]

...and they were hippies,

and they were smoking dope out in public.

And the cops were wandering around through the crowd.

Nobody seemed to care.

[laughs]

["Section 43" continues]

[Cropper] We walked around and saw just odd stuff.

All these art people,

flower children,

which is another breed of human being, I think.

[Jones] We were just so outta place.

We were the only people within miles that had suits.

[song intensifies]

[song fades]

[cheering, applause]

[Tommy Smothers] It's been a real groovy day

and a great evening, and here,

let's bring on with a big hand, Mr. Otis Redding.

Otis Redding hit the stage.

All those hippies got quiet.

[scattered applause, chatter]

They ain't seen anything like us.

-[chatter] -[mellow organ music plays]

This is the love crowd, right?

We all love each other, don't we?

-Am I right? -[uproarious cheering]

Let me hear you say, "Yeah" then!

-[crowd cheers] Yeah! -All right.

[mellow melody continues]

♪ I've been loving you ♪

♪ Too long ♪

♪ To stop now ♪

[music builds]

♪ You were tired ♪

♪ And you want to be free ♪

♪ My love is growing stronger ♪

♪ As you become a habit to me ♪

♪ I've been loving you ♪

♪ Oh, too long ♪

♪ And I don't wanna stop now, no ♪

-[three horn notes & drum beats] -Oh! Oh!

Can you do that one more time, Al, just like that?

-[three horn notes & drum beats] -Oh! Oh!

Do it just one more time! One more.

-[three horn notes & drum beats] -Oh! Oh!

Do it just one more time!

-[three horn notes & drum beats] -Oh! Oh!

♪ With you, my life ♪

[crowd cheering]

♪ Has been so wonderful ♪

♪ And I don't wanna stop now ♪

♪ No ♪

♪ No, no ♪

[Jones] He exposed deep vulnerability.

♪ Just a little bit too long ♪

[Cropper] He just rolled over 'em like the tide.

♪ No ♪

♪ No, no ♪

♪ Don't make me stop now ♪

♪ Lord have mercy ♪

♪ No, baby ♪

♪ I'm down on my knees ♪

♪ Please don't make me stop now, yeah ♪

♪ I love you ♪

♪ I love you ♪

♪ I love you with all my heart ♪

♪ And I can't stop now ♪

♪ Please, please, please, yeah ♪

♪ Don't make me stop now, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Not right now ♪

♪ With heart and soul, I love you ♪

♪ I love you, good God Almighty, I love you ♪

♪ I love you, baby ♪

♪ I love you, honey ♪

♪ Good God Almighty ♪

♪ Good God Almighty, I love... ♪

[finale musical flourish]

-[song ends] -[raucous cheering]

[Redding] Thank you.

[Jones] We felt love from the crowd,

and it was an exchange.

It was open, and it was real.

That night, he crossed over to alternative,

or whatever you wanna call that crowd.

[indistinct chatter]

It felt like America was different.

These flower children, to react like they did,

opened the door for Stax Records.

[Dick Clark sighs] He's got a heart full of soul.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Otis Redding!

["Respect" playing]

♪ What you want ♪

♪ Honey, you've got it ♪

♪ And what you need ♪

♪ Baby, you've got it ♪

♪ All I'm asking ♪

♪ Is for a little respect when I come home ♪

♪ Hey, now ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

[Bowman] By 1967,

southern soul music explodes,

and Stax was the blueprint for that sound.

♪ Honey, while I'm gone ♪

♪ But all I'm asking ♪

♪ Is for a little respect when I come home ♪

♪ Oh yeah, now, hey, hey, hey ♪

[Bowman] With Stax getting this level of national success,

recording studios across the South

begin to replicate the Stax sound.

All right, you make the first and the second beat.

To clarify, you make the first second, and third beat.

♪ What you want ♪

♪ Baby, I got it ♪

♪ What you need ♪

♪ You know I got it ♪

♪ All I'm asking ♪

♪ Is for a little respect when you get home ♪

♪ Baby, when you get home ♪

-♪ Just a little bit ♪ -♪ Mister ♪

♪ Just a little bit... ♪

[Bowman] When you hear Aretha Franklin,

Wilson Pickett,

Etta James,

you're hearing the sound of Stax.

[song fades]

[audience cheering]

Well, "Respect" has been a big record for Otis Redding.

He, uh, wrote the song a while ago.

You had a big hit with it.

-Right. -Aretha Franklin did it.

She went and sold a million. [laughs]

And those royalty checks are pouring in. [laughs]

[Redding] It's been a good, uh, year.

[funky rock instrumentals playing]

[Zelma Redding] Otis was getting bigger,

and so we had enough money to buy a 300-acre ranch.

I mean, he loved this place.

Raising hogs and cows and...

If he wasn't working,

he would just sit back here and write songs.

Music was always in his brain

because my husband wanted to be a huge star.

[Redding] Well, the next few years,

the only thing I can say is if I'll be living,

I hope to be still doing the same thing,

singing, you know, and...

trying to make that living, that dollar.

[tense tapping notes playing]

[Bowman] Otis was an extremely ambitious individual,

and so he was constantly touring to promote his records.

And he had had various road bands.

Hired his trumpeter from South Carolina.

Then his sax player out of Macon.

But it wasn't the same as having Booker T. & the M.G.'s,

the best band in the world, behind him.

Otis said he wanted Booker T. & the M.G.'s

to go on the road with him,

but Booker T. & the M.G.'s

played behind practically all of the artists

that recorded at Stax.

[Cropper] We said, "Otis, we can't tour."

And he said, "Well, what am I gonna do?"

["Soul Finger" by The Bar-Kays plays]

[man 1] In high school, I was in a band called the Bar-Kays.

All of the Bar-Kays were seniors.

I was a junior, 'cause I was the... the baby of the group.

We would hang out at Stax.

[Jones] They were like the little M.G.'s.

Carl was always sitting down under Al's drums.

James Alexander became Duck's protege.

Jimmie King watched Steve Cropper all the time.

Ben Cauley, the horn player. Phalon Jones, saxophone.

Ronnie on keyboard.

We recorded a song called "Soul Finger," a hit record.

♪ Soul finger ♪

♪ Soul finger ♪

♪ Soul finger ♪

[man 2] The Bar-Kays would come to high schools.

There would be girls like, "Oh!"

I would be like, "God!

Did you see that?"

It just blew me away.

["Soul Finger" continues]

[Alexander grunts with song] Oh! Ah!

Oh! Ah!

I'll just outright say it, we thought we were the shit.

["Soul Finger" continues]

One night, we were playing at this club on Beale Street

called The Hippodrome.

Otis Redding comes down, he watches the band perform.

Then he asked did we know any of his songs.

I said, "Yeah, I think we could get through it."

And so he came up on stage and sit in with us.

♪ You got to... huh! ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

["I Can't Turn You Loose" by Otis Redding plays]

♪ Yeah, man ♪

[shouts indistinctly]

♪ I can't turn you loose now ♪

♪ If I do, I'm gonna lose my life ♪

♪ Oh, I can't never turn you loose, now ♪

♪ If I do, I'm gonna lose my life ♪

♪ Well, I can't turn you loose to nobody, now ♪

♪ 'Cause I love you, baby, yes I do, now ♪

♪ Oh, baby, hip-shakin' mama, I told you, honey ♪

♪ I'm in love with only you ♪

♪ You got to... to do it, baby, why don't you? ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm gonna give you everything that you want ♪

[Bell] Otis looked up at the sky. [laughs]

It blew Otis Redding's mind.

He said "Hey, man,

I want these boys to go on the road with me."

[Alexander] The day that we finished high school,

we left to go on the road with Otis Redding.

♪ ...with the prettiest thing ♪

I probably had been

no more than 50 miles' radius outside of Memphis.

♪ I can't turn you loose to nobody ♪

All of a sudden, we on our way

to the Apollo Theater in New York.

♪ Oh, baby, hip-shakin' mama, I told you ♪

♪ I'm in love with only you ♪

♪ Got to do it, baby, why don't you? ♪

♪ I'm gonna give you everything that you want ♪

♪ Got to, got to ♪

♪ Got to keep holdin' on ♪

♪ Never gonna turn you loose ♪

♪ Got to keep a grip on you... ♪

[Alexander] That tour went from the end of June

to the end of August,

and each show was sold completely out.

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

[song ends in loud, sustained note]

[cheering, applause]

[sea birds calling]

[waves crashing]

After the tour, Otis went to Sausalito.

He just needed some down time.

But these thoughts just got in his mind.

[harbor bell dings]

["Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles plays]

[Bowman] Otis was a massive Beatles fan,

and when Sergeant Pepper came out that summer,

he listened to that album over and over and over and over.

And it was expanding his musical palette.

[Zelma] He said it was just time to change his writing,

enhance it to something different

than what he was doing.

[engine buzzing]

[mellow bass guitar line playing]

[Jones] Otis came back to Stax a possessed man.

He said, "We're gonna be in the studio

and you're not gonna be someplace else.

We're doing this."

And man, it was a marathon.

[recording technician] Take one.

[Jackson] He was like a big ol' football coach.

He had all this energy aimed at you.

He would use his feet. He would dance.

He would get in front of you and look at you like that.

[recording technician] Take two.

Stay in on the mic now, Steve.

[Cropper] We'd call ourselves the Midnight Recorders.

We'd go out and eat, come back, and work in the studio.

[recording technician] One, two, three, four.

There were a couple of times we didn't even go home.

[recording technician] One, two...

One, two, three, four.

[early intro of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay"]

[Cropper] At some point, he played this new song...

[Redding whistling "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" melody]

[laughter in studio]

[man in studio] You're not gonna make it as a whistler!

Hey, man!

[Jones] We recorded so much music.

And then Otis poked his head through the wall and said,

"I'll see you Monday." I said, "Great."

And he left to go back on tour with The Bar-Kays.

[bright horn intro to "Try a Little Tenderness"]

[Alexander] We played Nashville on a Friday night

and then flew directly to Cleveland, Ohio

and did the TV show called Upbeat.

♪ Oh, she may be weary ♪

♪ Them young girls, they do get wearied ♪

♪ Wearing that same old miniskirt dress ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ But when she gets weary... ♪

[Alexander] The next day we left for Wisconsin.

[eerie, echoing] ♪ ...a little tenderness ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah... ♪

But there was weather issues, flights being delayed.

Otis owned his own plane,

so he decided to fly to Madison, Wisconsin anyway.

There only was enough capacity for ten people on the plane.

[airplane engine buzzing]

The pilot told us, "I'm gonna fly Otis

and the rest of the guys into Madison,

and then I'm gonna come back and pick you up."

[airplane engine buzzing]

[indistinct crowd chatter]

We kept waiting,

but after about three or four hours,

he still wasn't there.

So I called the control tower, and they said, "No word yet."

So we just kept waiting.

[somber string instrumentals playing]

But they never came back.

[water swashing softly]

[reporter] Otis Redding, 26-year-old blues singer,

is missing and presumed dead in Madison, Wisconsin.

Redding was one of seven people aboard a private plane

which crashed in a Madison lake last night.

[somber music continues]

[Alexander] They found one survivor.

My friend, Ben Cauley.

They took us to see Ben.

His eyes weren't blinking.

Said, "Ben, can you hear us?" He wasn't able to...

He wasn't able to say anything back to us.

He was in a state of shock.

Then they tell us that we have to go to the, uh, city morgue,

to identify the bodies.

Now, I'm 17 years old.

I've never experienced anything like this.

I never experienced nothing close to anything like this

in my whole entire life.

-[somber music continues] -[thunder rumbling]

[Parker] They were finding musical instruments and luggage,

and they would bring in these items

still dripping with water.

As the bodies were discovered,

there was one funeral on one day,

another funeral, and another funeral.

Mm-hm...

It was family.

Phalon, his mom fed me hamburgers at the Harlem House

when I was young.

Phalon was gone, and...

Ronnie and... and Jimmie King.

And Carl was the baby.

Carl Cunningham.

[music fades]

[exhales]

[sniffling]

["I've Got Dreams to Remember" by Otis Redding playing]

Otis was buried at home, here on the ranch.

[Cropper] That was my first trip to Macon, Georgia.

I felt like Otis was family.

I looked at him as sort of an older brother.

But it was like, "Why haven't I been down here before?

I should have been closer. I should have...

should have been over to the farm."

You know, I never went.

♪ I've got dreams ♪

♪ Dreams ♪

♪ To remember ♪

♪ I've got dreams ♪

♪ Dreams to remember ♪

-♪ Listen, honey ♪ -♪ I've got dreams ♪

-♪ Rough dreams ♪ -♪ Dreams to remember ♪

♪ Oh, to remember ♪

♪ I still want you to stay ♪

♪ I still love you anyway ♪

♪ I don't want you to ever leave ♪

♪ Girl, you just satisfy me, oo-wee ♪

[Parker] We chose to go to the studio.

We felt a need to be around each other,

with each other.

The death had taken so much out.

So much out.

We began to realize that Otis was quite a bit more

than just a singer in our roster.

He was really an emotional leader too.

[song fades]

Must have been a couple days gone by,

I get a call from Atlantic Records.

They said, "We need to put the record out with Otis."

Jim Stewart came to me, "What do you have ready, Steve?"

I said, "Nothing.

Now, I can't go in and mix something on Otis now."

He said, "You have to."

["(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" playing]

Mixed "Dock of the Bay" all night long.

Hardest thing I ever had to do in my life.

The next day, I handed it to a flight attendant.

She hands it to a representative from Atlantic.

We had records out almost immediately.

♪ Sittin' in the mornin' sun ♪

♪ I'll be sittin' when the evening come ♪

♪ Watching the ships roll in ♪

♪ And then I watch 'em roll away again ♪

♪ Yeah, I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay ♪

♪ Watching the tide roll away ♪

♪ Oh, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay ♪

♪ Wastin' time ♪

[Bowman] "Dock of the Bay"

was the first song of Otis Redding's

that made it to the number one spot on the pop charts.

♪ Headed for the 'Frisco Bay... ♪

[Stewart] It was his first million seller,

and he was unable to see that.

♪ ...And look like nothin's gonna come my way ♪

♪ So I'm just gon' sit on the dock of the bay ♪

♪ Watching the tide roll away... ♪

[Jones] There was a deep loneliness inside him,

and that was one of the sources of these original songs.

♪ ...Look like nothing's gonna change ♪

♪ Everything still remains the same... ♪

[Cropper] After I mixed that record...

I just couldn't listen to it.

Not mentally, not physically.

[Redding whistling song melody]

I never got over Otis.

[whistle halts, echoes as it fades]

[Redding, echoing] Let's do another one.

The death of Otis Redding in December of 1967

had an unbelievable impact.

Then, we started having big problems in Memphis, Tennessee.

[tense string notes plucked softly]

[man 3] Some garbage men

were working this white neighborhood.

Back then, all of the sanitation workers were Black.

All of the drivers were white, with no exception.

It started to rain.

[dramatic string music playing]

There were two men

that were sitting in the back of the truck.

And while these two men were sitting in the back of the truck

waiting on the rain to stop,

they were crushed in the back of the truck

by the compactor.

People inside their houses could hear them screaming.

[pattering softly]

[Jones] As a young child,

there wasn't a Saturday that my father didn't walk me out

to say hello to the garbage workers

as they came down the alley to pick up the cans.

And so, when they started to get physically hurt,

it became a big cause for concern

in the African American community.

["Tupelo" by Albert King, Pops Staples, and Steve Cropper]

[protestor] Sweep all the way down from London,

all the way back. You understand?

All right, lock arms,

four of you on each side of the street

and let's sweep it all the way down.

♪ Did you read about the flood? ♪

♪ It happened a long time ago ♪

♪ Way in a little country town ♪

♪ It rained and it rained ♪

♪ Listen, the people worried ♪

♪ And they began to cry ♪

♪ Lord, have mercy ♪

[man 4] As long as you continue to break the law

and endanger the public health and welfare,

there will be no further talk at any level of government.

The minute the men go back to work,

discussions will resume.

[man 5] Loeb said that he wanted garbage

to pile up as high as the apartments.

Let's help him pile it up!

[applause]

[Bell] We just wanted respect and equal rights,

but we didn't have it.

And that's what the sanitation worker strike

was all about:

respect, fair employment, and equal rights.

And it affected me and everybody else in Memphis, Tennessee,

whether we were down there with the sanitation workers or not.

["Tupelo" continues]

♪ Mm-mmm, wasn't that a mighty time? ♪

[Porter] I supported every bit of the movement.

I supported not only financially,

but with my actions as well.

[Cropper] When I'm watching the six o'clock news,

and I'm seeing close buddies of mine carrying a sign,

it's not that I was against it or anything,

it was just a shock seeing it.

Because there was no color at Stax.

[Jones] There was too much ugly influence

from the leadership in Memphis on that issue.

It was just not something

that you could be on the... on the other side of.

[song fades]

[Martin Luther King Jr] I cannot guarantee anybody that Memphis,

or any other city in this country,

will not have a riot this summer,

if for no other reason than that our government

has not done anything,

and most white people have not done anything,

about removing the conditions

that brought riots into being last summer.

[indistinct shouting]

[tense string instrumentals playing]

[shouting continues]

[shouting continues]

[reporter] Chaos has just broken out downtown.

[echoing boom]

That sound you just heard

was the sound of the tear gas

fired by a police officer.

Tear gas burns.

You know, wherever there's moisture on your skin,

it burns.

[shouting continues]

[indistinct], son of a bitch!

[indistinct] Get us outta here!

Move it! Move!

[Hayes] Police sicced dogs on us.

They shot mace on us.

[Hall] I was, like, 17.

I didn't know anything about that kind of violence

or that kind of hatred.

I saw things that I never thought I'd see

people do to each other.

[Hayes] Good friend of mine named Joe...

Joe was beat so bad. He was bloody.

[tense instrumentals continue]

They beat him so bad he... he has brain damage now.

This movement has got to insist

that no matter what white citizens,

or some white citizens might say,

we know what police brutality and harassment means,

and we are through with it,

and we want to see it end once and for all.

[cheering, shouting]

[music fades]

[Walter Cronkite] Dr. Martin Luther King

returned to Memphis, determined to lead

a peaceful mass march

in support of striking sanitation workers,

most of whom are Negroes.

[man 6] On April the third,

Al said, "Doc's coming into the airport."

He said, "Would you mind?

Several people at Stax are gonna

go to the airport and carry bags and do whatever is needed."

And I said, "Well, sure. Why not?"

On the way out the door, I thought,

and I just grabbed a Nikon camera.

And I get down one of the concourses,

and here comes Jesse Jackson, Ralph Abernathy, and Dr. King.

Seeing him in person, there was an aura.

I start taking some pictures.

[camera shutter snapping]

And then I drove them to the Lorraine Motel.

That's where a lot of Stax people would hang out.

[peaceful, lilting violin music playing]

[Jones] For Stax, it was our second home.

If I wanted to find Steve Cropper,

Isaac,

Al Jackson,

well, I went to the Lorraine.

In Memphis, it was the only place outside of Stax

that whites and Blacks could socialize.

It was an oasis for us.

[music fades]

[thunder crackling, rumbling]

[pattering loudly]

[Abernathy] The Moses of 1968,

Martin Luther King.

[Manning] April third night, he had a speech.

So I went there, and got in a side door,

and was up right near the podium.

[thunder booming]

And there's thunder and lightning outside.

A big storm came, raining like crazy.

[King] Well, I don't know what will happen now.

We've got some difficult days ahead.

But it really doesn't matter with me now

because I've been to the mountaintop.

[cheering]

[Manning] He was just so vibrant and brilliant.

And I have seen the promised land.

[crowd shouting]

I may not get there with you,

but I want you to know tonight

that we as a people will get to the promised land!

-[cheering] -[thunder rumbling]

So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything.

I'm not fearing any man!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!

-[cheering] -[thunder booming]

[crowd noise fades]

[train horn blows in distance]

[birds chirping]

[traffic humming]

[Hall] My mother, she was attending this cafe,

and they were getting ready to close.

My uncle and I went to pick her up.

We parked in front of the building on Calhoun.

When we got out of the car, I heard this "pow,"

and I said, "Wow, that's truck backfire, huh?"

My uncle, who had been in the Navy,

he said, "No, that's a gunshot."

[siren wailing]

[Parker] I'm driving along.

The wind is high.

It's like we're having these whirlwinds,

these, in the street, and the paper's swirling.

And I'm listening to the radio.

"Dr. King has been shot at the Lorraine Motel."

Dr. King was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel

on the second floor when a single shot

came from across the street.

He was in Memphis in support of striking garbage men there.

[Jones] It was our place.

[grim, unsettling music playing]

Home away from home.

We were just devastated.

Yesterday, in our staff meeting that we held, uh...

uh, he was challenging the staff to remain non-violent.

Not because we were afraid, as they so often say,

but because we're living in a sick world.

And the pathology and the sickness

and the neurosis of... of Memphis,

and of this racist society in which we live,

is that that really pulled the trigger.

Um...

God knows this is the most tragic thing

that has ever happened in... in my life.

To some extent, Dr. King has been a buffer the last two years

between the Black community and the white community.

The white people do not know it,

but the white people's best friend is dead.

Uh, the Black people's leader, our Moses,

the once in a 400- or 500-year leader

has been taken from us by hatred and bitterness.

[solemn music playing]

[Jones] At Stax,

no one talked about Dr. King's assassination.

I started to, deep down, feel that something was amiss.

They didn't understand my daily life

as a Black person in Memphis.

I don't think they knew our world.

They never talked about it.

If they... if they felt that way, the way they do now,

why didn't they say something then?

[Jones] The close relationship that we had in the studio

didn't happen outside of the studio,

so I didn't feel comfortable bringing up those subjects

with the band.

Something is wrong at home.

We're saying this can be done.

Whites and Blacks can work together

in pure total harmony with music,

and it can have the essence

that you can take and not worry about it,

and love these songs, and have a good time,

and live your life, and have no misgivings whatsoever.

And that was not the truth.

[Bell] The season and the time that we were living in...

it was hard, and it was real.

I handled it inside as best as I could.

I tried to retain, you know, looking like a regular fella.

And... [laughs] Whew!

[laughs] I tried.

I don't know how I came off, but I tried.

Uh, so this is April 1968.

In mid-May 1968,

Atlantic Records decided to merge

with Warner and Elektra,

and they would no longer be distributing Stax Records.

And, to our shock, we learned that

as a result of the agreement

between Jim Stewart and Jerry Wexler,

all of our music that had been released in the marketplace

were the property of Atlantic Records.

[solemn music continues]

[Bowman] Jim Stewart signed a very bad contract.

The original Stax agreement with Atlantic

was a handshake deal.

But in 1965, Jerry Wexler said,

"We're looking to sell Atlantic, and you're not protected.

We should draw up a formal contract."

Jim didn't read it.

And this gave Atlantic the rights in perpetuity,

forever,

to about 97% of Stax's catalog.

And they lost Sam & Dave because Stax did not own their contract.

For Jim Stewart, your word was your bond.

For Jerry Wexler, it was dog-eat-dog.

Get stuff in contracts, own everything you can.

Bigger fish swallowing smaller fish.

New York company screwing a Memphis company.

[Parker] In order to be a record company,

you have to have a catalog...

and they wiped us out.

[Bell] Sam and Dave gone.

Otis Redding gone.

No catalogs.

Stax is dead.

[music fades]

Stax is dead.

["Send Peace and Harmony Home" by Shirley Walton playing]

♪ Last time I saw peace and harmony ♪

♪ They were headed down your way ♪

♪ Won't you please turn them around ♪

♪ And send them straight on back to me ♪

♪ Winding, winding road ♪

♪ Send peace and harmony home ♪

♪ Is it a world situation ♪

♪ Or tell me, road, is it me? ♪

♪ You know you, you hold the answer ♪

♪ Tell me, road, where can they be? ♪

♪ Winding, winding road ♪

♪ Send peace and harmony home ♪

♪ Winding, winding road ♪

♪ They've been gone too long ♪

♪ Tell me, what did we do wrong? ♪

♪ Seems like all the love is gone ♪

♪ Please help man to see the light ♪

♪ Send them back, make things all right ♪

♪ Winding, winding road ♪

♪ Send peace and happiness home ♪

♪ Winding, winding road ♪

♪ Oh yes, they've been gone too long ♪

["Send Peace and Harmony Home" continues]

♪ Winding, winding road... ♪

[song fades]