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Stax displays photo diary of legendary rock band

By Pamela Perkins
perkins@commercialappeal.com

'Rolling Stones 40 X 20' represents soul’s legacy

A set of lips big enough to wrap around an arena concert stage will grace 926 E. McLemore starting today.

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music opens "Rolling Stones 40 X 20," a collection of 45 black-and-white and color photographs spanning 40 years of one of the world’s most legendary rock and roll bands.

An opening reception will be from 7 to 10 tonight with food, soda, wine and beer. It also will feature live music from The Chris Scott Band. Admission is $9 and free to museum members.

The exhibit, which will run through Aug. 26, is so named because it originally included 40 photographs by 20 photographers. But the Govinda Gallery in Washington, which organized the exhibit two years ago to coincide with the band’s 40th anniversary tour, loaned the museum five extra photographs to display.

Among the extras is a wide shot of the band on a stage, framed by a mammoth red image of lead singer Mick Jagger’s famously thick lips.

The photos capture the band on and off stage, posed and candid from their debut in the 1960s -- wearing clothes as flamboyant as Isaac Hayes’ "peacock blue" Cadillac in the museum’s permanent exhibit -- through the early 1990s, long after they became rock icons.

With past Stax exhibits featuring images of the Beatles and blues music legends, the Stones photographs keep with the museum’s effort to not only pay homage to soul music but showcase the genre’s roots and legacy.

The Stones became part of that legacy, particularly after covering "Walking The Dog" on the band’s self-titled debut album in 1964. The late Rufus Thomas wrote and released the song the year before on the Stax label. (Both songs are featured in the museum’s permanent interactive exhibit of Stax originals and covers.)

"The great thing about the Stones being at the Stax is that they owe it all to American roots music, and they know that," said Chris Murray, Govinda’s owner. "The British Invasion never would have happened without the legacy that Stax represents."

-- Pamela Perkins: 529-6514

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Photo Exhibit

What: Opening reception of the "Rolling Stones 40 X 20" exhibit, a collection of 45 black-and-white and color photographs that document more than 40 years of the rock and roll band. The reception will feature food, soda, wine and beer and live music from The Chris Scott Band.

When: 7 to 10 p.m today. The exhibit will run through Aug. 26.

Where: Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore

Admission: $9, free to museum members.

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