<P> Beginning in 1965, when the label formalised its distribution agreement with Atlantic, Stax / Volt artists made the charts much more frequently . </P> <P> In 1965, Jim Stewart signed a formal national distribution deal with Atlantic Records, although fatefully he signed the contract without reading it--a decision that would later cost the label dearly . Carla Thomas also formally rejoined the Stax label in 1965 . Perhaps more importantly for the label's fortunes, the songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter began to establish themselves as Stax's new team of hit writer / producers . Hayes would also permanently join the Stax house band, often subbing for Booker T. Jones, who was studying music full - time at Indiana University during the mid-1960s . </P> <P> In addition to hits by stalwarts Redding, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and Carla Thomas, 1965 saw the chart debuts of Stax artists the Astors and Sam & Dave plus Volt artists the Mad Lads . Sam & Dave were technically on the Atlantic roster but were "leased" to Stax by Atlantic, with Stax overseeing their recordings and issuing them on the Stax label . Virtually all of Sam & Dave's Stax material was written and produced by Hayes and Porter . </P> <P> Atlantic's Jerry Wexler also brought Don Covay and Wilson Pickett to record at Stax, though these songs were released directly by Atlantic . Covay's hits "See Saw" and "Sookie Sookie" and Pickett's 1965 and 1966 hits "In the Midnight Hour," "Don't Fight It", "634 - 5789" and "Ninety - Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" were Stax songs in all but name, as they were all co-written by Steve Cropper, recorded at Stax, and backed by the Stax house band . Although Wexler was greatly enamoured of Stax's "organic" recording methods, some of the artists they brought in created conflict . A June 1965 session with Don Covay created bad feelings, which came to a head in early 1966, when Wilson Pickett returned to record new material . Although the session produced two hit songs--"634 - 5789" and "Ninety - Nine and a Half (Won't Do)"--Pickett's "corrosive" character caused havoc in the studio; the session musicians eventually walked out, and the breaking point came when Pickett followed them outside and offered them $100 each (US $777 in 2017 dollars) to complete the session . As a result, the furious house band bluntly told Jim Stewart not to bring "that asshole" to the studio again . Also tired of another label capitalizing on the Stax sound, Stewart phoned Wexler soon after the Pickett session and told him that he wanted to do no more Stax productions of non-Stax artists . One Atlantic artist who was thus not able to record at Stax was the newly signed Aretha Franklin . She instead was sent to Rick Hall's FAME studios in Alabama, which had a sound similar to that of Stax . Pickett's subsequent hits were also recorded elsewhere, including at Fame and American Group Productions, Chips Moman's Memphis studio . </P>

Which larger record company leased records from stax records