...All I needed was to find some talented artists. My dreams came true [with] a knock on my front door one night at midnight, and when I answered there stood [songwriter] Roosevelt Jamison with James Carr and OV Wright. They told me that Jim Stewart of Stax Records had sent them. They had with them a small tape recorder, and wanted me to hear what they had. Though (the tape) was somewhat crude, I could not believe my ears when I heard all that talent coming from this small recorder. I signed them to Goldwax...and began to search for songs...
Unbelievable to think that one of the most beloved imprints in the history of soul - not to mention some of the genre's most-favoured talents - got started thanks to the 'generosity' of an extremely-prominent Memphis label head and the musical passion of a local songwriter-producer, whose career-to-date had been spent working mostly within the boundaries of hillbilly music. But that's exactly how Goldwax Records was born in 1964 - as the label's co-founder and chief arranger Quinton M Claunch is happy to confirm above!
Some might say that Claunch's fellow fiddle-playing, hillbilly music-loving, McLemore Avenue-based contemporary dropped a 'guitar-groups-are-on-the-way-out-Mr-Epstein'-sized clanger by referring two of the greatest voices of our time to a soon-to-be-competitor. And to be fair to Jim Stewart, with a roster that already included both Otis Redding and William Bell, Stax probably didn't need OV Wright or James Carr just then. But Claunch and Goldwax most certainly did need 'em, and The Rest is indeed History as far as soul music is concerned.
The 60+ singles and handful of albums subsequently released on Goldwax between 1964 and 1971 represent the musical apex of Southern soul.
For full details see releases/products below.
