100 great records from Memphis

99 - Otis Redding - "That's How Srong My Love Is"

^^^strong^^^

98. Oblivians "Big Black Hole"

97. Elvis Presley--From Elvis In Memphis

96. Grifters - "Soda Pop"/"She Blows Blasts of Static" 45

95. Jay Reatard - Blood Visions

94. The Cramps - Gravest Hits

93. ZZ Top - Tres Hombres

bendy beat me to the Reatard love

93. ZZ Top - Tres Hombres

Wow, really? Awesome album!

future thread: "100 Great Records You Had No Idea Were Recorded In Memphis"...

THe thread starter's name should be sonofstax.

92. "Disco Duck"

91. "Ahab the Arab"

eddhurt beat me to my joek post

90. Elvis: any Sun single

89. 3-6 Mafia, 8ball & MJG, Young Buck - "Stay Fly"
88. Jack Oblivian - "I'm Too Old For You"
87. Booker T. & the MG's - "Time is Tight"
86. Knaughty Knights - "Death Has Come Over Me"
85. The Oblivians - "Live the Life"
84. Project PAt - "Chickenheads"
83. PAvement - "FAther To a Sister of Thought"
82. Al Green - Call Me
81. GBV - "The Official Ironmen Rally Song"

80.) All right. I'll do it:
Pleased to Meet Me by the Replacements

79-77. big star

76 Grifters - Corolla Hoist/THUMBNAIL SKETCH (best b side ever)
By the Grifters anyhow at least

75 Blue Moon - Elvis

74. Charlie Feathers

73. Ross Johnson, "Nudist Camp" (on the new Make It Stop! compilation of his Memphis singles--easily one of the year's best releases so far.
72. "Rattled by the Rush," Pavement

whisperineddhurt & Ross Johnson otm.

71. James Carr, "The Dark End of the Street"

70. Isaac Hayes, "Walk On By"

69. Isaac Hayes "Hung Up on My Baby"

68. Howlin' Wolf, "Chocolate Drop"
67. Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, "Cry, Cry, Cry"
66. Billy Lee Riley and His Little Green Men, "Flying Saucers Rock and Roll"

I was GOIng to SAVe thiS FOR NUMber one because it's the greatest song ever recorded but screw it

65. Ann Peebles, "I Can't Stand the Rain"

64. Compulsive Gamblers, Gambling Days Are Over

63. Thirteen - Big Star
62. Hold on, I'm Coming - Sam & Dave

64. Compulsive Gamblers, Gambling Days Are Over
^^^ yep

61. Compulsive Gamblers - Crystal Gazing, Luck Amazing
60. Silver Jews - Starlite Walker
59. ZZ Top - "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide"
58. Jack O & The Tennessee Tearjerkers - Flipside Kid
57. Otis Redding - "Shake"
56. Fuck - Conduct

55. Wendy Rene - Bar-B-Q

54. The Gentrys, "Cinnamon Girl" (on Sun)

I was GOIng to SAVe thiS FOR NUMber one because it's the greatest song ever recorded but screw it

65. Ann Peebles, "I Can't Stand the Rain"
OTM
and add
53 I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down
52 One Way Street

51. Lost Sounds Rat Brains and Micro-chips
50. Lost sounds Black Wave

49. King Curtis - "Memphis Soul Stew"

I want to nominate Shelby Bryant but I don't quite dare so I'm just gonna go with
49. The Clears - s/t

xposted, 48, sorry.

47. All The Way From Memphis - Mott The Hoople

(Well, maybe not, but, kinda, in a way ;) )

Memphis is of course the most overrated city in the history of music.

of course

Memphis is of course the most overrated city in the history of music
wal, Geir, it's the only city that ever made a record that beat yer damned old Beetles at their own game--Radio City, so maybe that's why you'd say that. It's the only place I've ever been in the USA where the "psychological freedom" that Sam Phillips spoke of in his infomercial was palpable underneath the haze of Bible Belt All-American cheez-whiz blandout that the city carries with it, making it impossible for people like you to ever figure it out. don't worry Geir, there's probably some rednecks down there trying to put together a Split Enz cover band at this very moment.

46.Sonic Youth <i>Washing Machine</i>

Fuck me.

Memphis is of course the most overrated city in the history of music.

Black or African American persons, 61.4%
White persons, percent, 34.4%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, 3.0%
Asian persons, percent, 1.5%
Persons reporting some other race, 1.5%
Persons reporting two or more races, 1.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, 0.2%

I'm down with Memphis...overrated legacy or not, it just feels like a city that births great music (as opposed to Nashville, a city which records great music)...

US Maple - "Stuck" 45

44. Eddie Floyd, "Big Bird"

Memphis has too much rhythm, not enough melody for Geir.

That's one way of putting it

New Orleans too?

by the by, the Robert Gordon-compiled It Came From Memphis is a pretty great overview, from Elder Beck to Big Star to Jon Spencer and everything in between...

That's one way of putting it
Yes, I was being polite.

I miss the real Geir.

Love this list & wish I could recall exactly which Led Zep track(s) were recorded there. (They're on II or III).

My band just recorded a live session at Ardent Studios, and I seem to recall that the Led Zep stuff recorded there was for III.

43. Gin Blossoms, "Hey Jealousy"

42. Toots and the Maytals, "Knock on Wood"

the third Led Zep had tracks that Terry Manning recorded at Ardent. compare that record with Big Star sometime. so, let's give Terry Manning his props for

41. Guess Things Happen That Way, on his Home Sweet Home from '70, a song by
40. Jack Clement, who captured Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On" in one take at Sun, and who wrote "It'll Be Me" later covered by The Move who used to to
39. Dusty Springfield imitations but not as good as her own imitation of herself in the sublime "Just a Little Lovin'" recorded at American Studios where
38. Bobby Womack recorded "It's Gonna Rain" with the American studio crew who also played on many of the
37. Box Tops' records but Gary Talley plays guitar on "Soul Deep" if not
36. "Neon Rainbow," surely one of the most sublime '60s singles and speaking of obscure Memphians in that overrated city
35. Cordell Jackson wrote many obscure but great rockabilly songs but none greater than Allan Page's "Dateless Night" although
34. "She's the One That Got It" also by Page comes close and let's not forget
33. Cordell's own "Rock and Roll Christmas," one stupid fucking song from Memphis.

32. none of which have anything at all to do with Three 6 Mafia f/ UGK & Project Pat, "Sippin' on Some Syrup"

used to do Dusty Springfield imitations

did U2 record anything in Memphis, or did they just patronize Sun Studios during their Rattle And Hum days?

I'm going to be really freaked out if Edd Hurt turns out to be my uncle who lives off Summer Ave.

Gotta admit, U2 is pretty good at patronizing.

31. Neil Diamond, Shilo

30. I'm Gonna Murder My Baby - Pat Hare
29. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Jerry Lee Lewis
from wikipeida:According to the album liner notes, "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" "is doubly morbid because he did just that in 1962 and spent the last 16 years of his life in prison." He also murdered a policeman sent to investigate.

He also murdered a policeman sent to investigate.
This I did not know. Goddamn.

28. Wanna Meet The Scruffs?--The Scruffs

Weren't some tracks off Sticky Fingers recorded by moonlighting musicians in Memphis?

I'm going to be really freaked out if Edd Hurt turns out to be my uncle who lives off Summer Ave.
I think he is really Jim Dickinson's more reserved younger brother.

Weren't some tracks off Sticky Fingers recorded by moonlighting musicians in Memphis?

I thought that was Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Yeah, you're right.

wal, Geir, it's the only city that ever made a record that beat yer damned old Beetles at their own game--Radio City,

I like Big Star but they surely never beat The Beatles at their own game. Nobody has, and the band who has come closest were from Oz rather than the American South.

(You don't beat The Beatles at their own game by substracting a few chords and singing in a more soul influenced way - rather the opposite)

White Stripes: White Blood Cells
Afghan Whigs: Gentleman
Isaac Hayes: Black Moses
Linda Heck: Dig My Own Hole
Lucero: That Much Further West
Chris Bell: I Am the Cosmos
Reigning Sound: Timebomb High School
Little Junior's Blue Flames: Mystery Train
REM: Bittersweet Me

(Also, parts of Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space were recorded locally, but I'm not sure which ones)

I'll third that Ross Johnson shout-out above.

Also, Black Sunday: Tronic Blanc

All of Green was done at Ardent, right? I'll leave it to others to decide if it's "great" or not.

Chris Bell's I am the Cosmos was recorded all over the place.
There's a story in the liner about him meeting McCartney in France while recording some tracks. But parts of it were recorded in Memphis, surely.
All the Ice Water and Rock City tracks were recorded in Memphis. Maybe even in Germantown.

Cosign on the 'Psychological freedom' thing - of all the places I've ever visited, its the one where I've most wanted to live; even all the Elvis stuff - and I was there accidentally for the 30th anniversary - is actually kinda laid back and cool and not half as crass as it could be anywhere else; saw James Burton playing in a bar for a $5 cover, when he prolly could have played anywhere else in the world that week for 10 times that....

And I like the way this thread is mentioning stuff I don't know rather than laying out the obvious - no one's mention Furry yet, though...

alrighty, now for the obvious:
Soul Man - Sam & Dave
Dock of the Bay - Otis
memphis jug band [best of, Yazoo]
Blue suede Soes - Carl Perkins

Chris Bell's I am the Cosmos was recorded all over the place.

Yeah, but this is what I don't get. I Am the Cosmos is from Memphis no matter where it may have been recorded. Just like Washing Machine is from ... somewhere else.

Yeah, but this is what I don't get. I Am the Cosmos is from Memphis no matter where it may have been recorded. Just like Washing Machine is from ... somewhere else.

Yeah.... was wrestling with this a bit when framing the question; but (for example) Elvis, Ike Turner, Howlin' Wolf, Carl P. Ann Peebles etc. aren't from Memphis anymore than Dusty is; Rocket 88 is a Memphis record, but is A Black Man's Soul? you see the problem? 'recorded in Memphis' seemed the fairest criterion so as to include all the great non- natives who've made great records there (although, clearly, Ann Peebles is more 'Memphis' than Primal Scream)

Dusty and Elvis really did make Memphis records, though. Recorded with Memphis-based backing musicians and producers. Records with a distinctive Memphis style. Like the Dead Boys made New York records, even if some of them were from Cleveland.

less parse, more list

"Memphis," Lonnie Mack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC2Pcw-WwOo

"Cosmos" really is Memphis, as are the Big Star records in general. As usual Geir or whoever it is that signs that name--a pest put down to annoy me--is wrong about stuff, like, I sat down to play "Back of a Car" this morning and it's got a lotta chords in it. There are many many people in this world who have barely listened to the Beatles but have gotten that whole thing thru the Big Star records. I mean I like the Beatles. And Memphis Anglophilia is interesting--the power-pop style that Big Star, Bell and Van Duren came up with is definitely a style of its own (tensed, chromatic, etc.). So, whatever; and Memphis is a city that's always been looked down upon, which makes me all the more eager to defend it. I never lived off Summer Ave., by the way.

Dusty: well, that's her best record by a mile. In fact, the bulk of her stuff, fine as it is, sounds bombastic compared to In Memphis. Why is that? The musicians.

whatever number we're up to: Van Duren, "Grow Yourself Up" (2 versions: from Are You Serious? and the (superior) Ardent demo with Jody Stephens. By the way, Geir: this one's a McCartney steal, with about the same number of chords Macca would've used, and pretty damned good.

xpost to myself in re: lonnie mack, wanted to show my favorite album title perhaps ever:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tAjmIfJBL._AA240_.jpg

and yeah Memphis contains multitudes, and yeah Fake Geir only exists to be ignored, and probably Real Geir too if there is one

"Memphis," Lonnie Mack
No pedant has come to point out that Lonnie is from Lovebug Starski's hometown, Cincinnati?

Just you, pedant!

Ok I think we're up to 13 (which should have been '13' obv.)

I'm going to put in the one I was thinking of holding for number 1

13 Panther Burns - Behind the Magnolia Curtain

oh and on further review "Memphis" WAS recorded at the end of a Charmaines session in Cincinnati, so mea culpa, bitches, and we're still on 13!

Memphis is a city that's always been looked down upon

Outside music, maybe. Elvis and Stax alone are enough to make it the most overrated city ever in music.

You know, along with NY, London, Chicago, Detroit, Manchester, Nashville, Seattle, Liverpool, etc., etc., etc. until we all fucking die.

More Sun:
Charlie Rich: Lonely Weekends
Bill Justis and His Orchestra: Raunchy
Roy Orbison: Devil Doll

More Stax:
Linda Lyndell: What a Man
Rufus Thomas: Walking the Dog
Johnnie Taylor: Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone
Staple Singers: If You're Ready
Bar-Kays - Soul Finger

More:
WC Handy:Memphis Blues
Oblivians: ...Play 9 Songs with Mr. Quintron

The Staple Singers - "Respect Yourself".

Memphis is a city that's always been looked down upon

Outside music, maybe. Elvis and Stax alone are enough to make it the most overrated city ever in music.

-- Geir Hongro, Thursday, 14 February 2008 21:47 (Yesterday) Link

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

srsly wtf geir? most overrated city ever

= vienna, new york, london, berlin, liverpool, blah, blah, blah, piss, off.

From Sun to Stax to Ardent to Shangri-La, Memphis deserves whatever high rating it gets.

Home of the Blues, Birthplace of Rock N' Roll.

word.

http://www.heavyharmonies.com/bandpics/toratora.jpg

damn did it disappear?! lemme try that again

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c163/wvferrell/toratora.jpg

heh, I really enjoyed that album cover of their's when I was a teenager.

damn so small

http://www.sleazeroxx.com/bands/toratora/toratora1.jpg

Liverpool and Manchester are miles and miles better. And in the US, LA and San Francisco are home of most of the best music.

Unimpeachable:
http://earthwaverecords.com/Pictures/AlbumImg/A/A0085442.jpg

And in the US, LA and San Francisco are home of most of the best music.

Geir loving The Eagles, X, Santana, and Metallica.

His house is not a motel.

Geir loving The Eagles, X, Santana, and Metallica.

The Eagles and Santana are OK. Same about Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Love, Sly & The Family Stone, Toto and the entire Sunshine Pop universe.

Liverpool and Manchester are miles and miles better. And in the US, LA and San Francisco are home of most of the best music.

-- Geir Hongro, Friday, 15 February 2008 09:26 (12 hours ago)

idiot. unless you can give examples of what was consistently produced in and of liverpool/mcr that is better than memphis.

well go on then...

And in the US, LA and San Francisco are home of most of the best music.

what does this mean geir? do they produce better music indigenously? or are those cities home to big record labels?

look, i'm a few beers down here, but seriously what's your fucking point? it's surely not as simple as the beatles were born in and around liverpool therefore liverpool has produced good music is it? please please me say it aint' so.

http://dvweb.mpf.arcstarmusic.com/mdb_image2/SL/tSVRL_269294_l.jpg

it's surely not as simple as the beatles were born in and around liverpool therefore liverpool has produced good music is it?

In 1963-64, there were lots and lots and lots of fantastic Liverpool bands. But the city has also has its share of great music afterwards: Elvis Costello, Lightning Seeds, OMD, Badfinger, The La's, The Coral, A Flock Of Seagulls, China Crisis.

In 1963-64, there were lots and lots and lots of fantastic Liverpool bands

Maybe, but Beatles aside, (who didn't record in Liverpool) not a huge amount of fantastic records; Liverpool had bands, but Memphis had a whole industry - writers, studios, producers and brilliant musicians

Most of them only used the same boring three chords over and over.

I got two words for you, over and over.

D5 OTM. So fucking ignorant.

I despise the blues, and Mempis is way too much based on the blues.

Oh really I did not know that you felt that way, maybe if you mentioned it a bit more we would all know how you felt. Maybe you should also try trolling a few more threads like this so we could finally understand. Oh also maybe keep talking about how music is only good when there are lots of chords, I find that theory infinitely fascinating no matter how many times you say it, which is probably up in the tens of thousands now. Furthermore I would like you to continue to ignore the fact that none of the bands that you love would exist without the blues, even your precious Beatles and yes, even Genesis. Oh and one more thing I love how you never seem to understand how your basic musical prejudices end up breaking along racial lines, that is so sweet and not at all creepy. The end.

;)

yeah, see it all gets down to what-is-the-blues questions and answers that Europeans can have trouble with, is my take on it. really and truly, I love melodic rock and pop and always have. it is surprising to me that some folks, let's call one of them Geir or the person who plays him here, can't get with what, say, Chris Bell actually did, apart from all that beautiful-loser shit that Memphis is really good at. It's so obviously an homage to the British Invasion (and also to the West Coast American scene of the '60s, Byrds, Springfield, Grape) that only differs from the Beatles' music in its rhythmic drive and its squeezing out process that took the drolleries and chromaticisms of, say, "Doctor Robert" or "Drive My Car" and played changes on them. "I Don't Know" by Chris Bell does it so well; it's composed of sections that seethe with forward-motion-that-isn't-really-motion and some Revolver-era overlay of "power pop." That whole way of doing things you hear in obscure but worthy Memphis records of the late '70s by Van Duren and Tommy Hoehn and the Scruffs, and of course, Bell's solo shit and Chilton's intermittent stabs at pop, like the dreamy (chromatically insane) intro to "She Might Look My Way." So I don't get Geir's objections to this; what I'm talking about here is just as sophiscated as the Beatles' shit; musically, "Back of a Car" and "Daisy Glaze" are pretty thought-out, solid ideas, and as solid as "Rain" or "And Your Bird Can Sing" on any level you wish to choose, but it's not mere formalism either. I also fail to understand how someone who posts here all the time can't see that this music fits into that tradition nicely.
If you don't get the blues, you have no swing, twist or otherwise nasty little mental or physical wriggle in you, no life as far as I'm concerned, and, at the very least, you simply don't get American culture or the 20th century very well, musically speaking. Rock on.

O.V. Wright = "You're Gonna Make Me Cry"

same song that Ann Peebles did on Hi, "You're Gonna Make Me Cry"?

Same song

I have nothing against Chris Bell, but saying that he did anything at all better than The Beatles is just madness. No American has ever done anything better than The Beatles.

"The Beatles"
"The Beatles"

Fuck, Geir, "The Beatles" is not a thing, it's not a single work of art even. It's about 250 separate songs by four (five counting G. Martin) different people. Some of them aren't very good. Do you think that the worst Beatles song is better than the best Chris Bell song? Ugh, your blind spots are bigger than the Grand Canyon.

Nasty Nardo - "Let's Get a Room"

^^^better than "the long and winding road"

Do you think that the worst Beatles song is better than the best Chris Bell song?

No, surely "The Ballad Of El Goodo" and "September Gurls" (OK, the latter isn't Bell) are miles and miles better than "Revolution #9" or even "Come Together" and "Helter Skelter". It may even be better than "Yellow Submarine" or "Don't Pass Me By". I'll give you that. :)

"The Long And Winding Road" is a fantastic song though. One of their best.

I thought I had unwrapped a gold ticket to the Wonka Works when I heard the Godfather say Bobby Hebb was from Memphis, but apparently he was from Nashville.

Sid Selvidge The Cold Of The Morning
Sid Selvidge Portrait
Moloch Moloch
James Luther Dickinson Dixie Fried
Van Duren Are You Serious?
Cargoe Cargoe
Tommy Hoehn Spacebreak
The Hot Dogs Say What You Mean

http://redkelly.blogspot.com/2013/03/roosevelt-jamison-1936-2013.html

RIP Roosevelt Jamison, songwriter of O.V. Wright's "That's How Strong My Love Is"

Jamison led an impressive life. Here's another obit (thanks J. Redd for posting these over on ILE obit thread)

http://www.peterguralnick.com/post/47106712366/roosevelt-jamison-1936-2013

I need a Goldwax collection

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Ovations.html

RIP Nathan Pedro Lewis

RIP songwriter George Jackson too, who did more than write for Bob Seger and the Osmonds and ZZ Hill

http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/George-Jackson.html

He was rejected by the fast-growing Stax Records, but in 1965, while in Memphis, Jackson linked up with the Ovations on the newly formed Goldwax Records label, penning their biggest hit, ‘It’s Wonderful To Be In Love’. Goldwax soon recognized Jackson’s writing ability and he provided material for other artists on the label, including ‘Old Friend’ and ‘He’s Too Old’ for Spencer Wiggins, and ‘Coming Back To Me Baby’ for James Carr. He also joined fellow singer-songwriter Dan Greer to cut the Goldwax single ‘Good Times’/‘You Didn’t Know It But You Had Me’ as George And Greer. By 1968, Jackson had left Goldwax for the nearby Hi Records label, where he initially recorded one single, ‘I’m Gonna Wait’/‘So Good to me"

He wrote songs for Otis Clay too (I guess when Clay was on Hi Records)

http://www.memphisflyer.com/SingAllKinds/archives/2013/05/02/memphis-musician-sid-selvidge-dies-after-a-struggle-with-cancer

Sid's "Little bit of Rain" is a nice quiet #

I'm still learning this stuff (plus its been awhile since I read Robert Gordon's great book about Memphis musicians). Met a guy from Memphis recently who is writing a grad school thesis paper on Furry Lewis. I wonder if he talked to Sid before Sid passed on.

Did that guy turn your money green, curmudgeon?

Ha

http://prestonlauterbach.com/2012/08/20/on-isaac-hayes-70th-remembering-curries-club-tropicana-and-isaac-hayes-debut/

The John Paul Keith album Memphis Circa 3 Am may not be one of Memphis' greatest releases but its a pretty nice slab of easy-going rockabilly meets Marshall Crenshaw powerpop rock in 2013

http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2013/10/08/12-oclock-track-everythings-different-now-a-clean-cut-slab-of-vintage-power-pop-from-john-paul-keith

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/dec/10/party-line-memphis-music-movie-take-me-to-the/

The musical pairings in the movie include Bell with Snoop Dogg, Stax veterans Snell and the late Skip Pitts and members of the Stax Music Academy; the late Bobby “Blue” Bland with Yo Gotti; Rush with Frayser Boy; Charlie Musselwhite with The City Champs; Otis Clay with Lil’ P-Nut; Booker T. Jones with Al Kapone; Mavis Staples with the North Mississippi All-Stars; and Terrence Howard with the Hi Rhythm Section. “We videotaped each session and pretty much the making of the song,” Boo said. Five of the nine sessions were recorded at Boo’s Royal Studios.

http://vimeo.com/79138363

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/20/ann-peebles-girl-with-the-big-voice

Didn't realize Ann had a stroke a few years ago.

Nice interview by an ilxor

https://soundcloud.com/dummymag/legowelts-memphis-rap-mix

https://soundcloud.com/legowelt-official/memphis-rapmix-2-the-legends

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20140306/COL0207/303060010/Scott-Barretta-Enhanced-version-1976-album-captures-Selvidge-s-skill

http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/furry-and-sid/Content?oid=3625226

http://www.vqronline.org/nonfiction-criticism/2014/04/sister-cities-louis-armstrongs-new-orleans-and-stax-records-memphis

http://prestonlauterbach.com/2015/03/16/the-real-beale/

http://www.commercialappeal.com/go-memphis/book-reviews/preston-lauterbachs-beale-street-dynasty-reveals-colorful-forgotten-history-of-memphis_38561510

Lauterbach, who wrote a great book on the Chitlin' Circuit, has a new book on the early days of Beale Street, from the civil war to the 1940s or so. The links highlight the Beale Street Symposium this weekend at Rhodes College there, which includes a walking tour led by Lauterbach and 12:30 p.m.Lunchtime lecture with Charles Hughes, author of “Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South.”

I saw Hughes talk once and he's aslo worth hearing if you're in Memphis this weekned.

I despise the blues, and Mempis is way too much based on the blues.

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, February 16, 2008 3:05 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Good lord the exchanges from 7 years ago. Robert Gordon has some Stax records outtakes on his website that are more interesting to me than "The Long And Winding Road."

http://therobertgordon.com/ghost-of-stax-past/

classic geir thread

x-post-Wow, Gordon found those tapes in the debris at Stax

I know, I think that's fascinating. I wandered around the vacant lot in the late 80s and brought home what I think is a piece of floor tile.

I love the riff in "Early Mar Keys 1" so much I think I'm going to try to learn it for my band.

Thank you for that link, Dan -- those outtakes are great! And the lore of something being rescued from literal rubble is too much to resist.

I know! I just finished the book "Respect Yourself," and Gordon mentions the rescued tapes in the appendix. (Note to Hollywood: The Stax Records story is BEGGING to be made into a movie - but don't screw it up a la Cadillac Records.) I told my friend who owns a record store I'd pretty much rather listen to Mar Keys outtakes right now than anything released in 2015.

lol Cadillac Records was SO bad

beyonce as etta oh yeah there's a match

I sometimes want to rewatch it to see if it could possibly be as bad as I thought the first time, but nah... life is too short.

Am curious about Memphis the musical, but this advertising blurb for it kinda scares me

From the underground dance clubs of 1950s Memphis, Tennessee, comes a hot new Broadway musical that bursts off the stage with explosive dancing, irresistible songs and a thrilling tale of fame and forbidden love. Inspired by actual events, MEMPHIS is about a radio DJ who wants to change the world and a club singer who is ready for her big break. Come along on their incredible journey to the ends of the airwaves -- filled with laughter, soaring emotion and roof-raising rock 'n' roll. Winner of four 2010 Tony Awards® including Best Musical,

5 years after its NYC run, a touring version is coming to my hood, for theatre typical pricing--$50 an up

Never heard of that, would totally see. (But yes, the blurb is yucky.)

A Memphis legend is gone -- the mighty Chips Moman:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/entertainment/music/music-titan-chips-moman-is-dead-at-79-35315a2e-5feb-5bbe-e053-0100007f82f0-382850711.html?d

RIP Chips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzcdNwIkmYA

What? RIP :(

Bummer. RIP

Would post "Luckenbach Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" but the only Youtube video I can find of it is super cheesy.

RIP Chip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aikUcvbTQE

RIP. Wow, From co-writing with Dan Penn "Dark End of the Street" to his American Studios involvement with , per that obit, the hits of Dusty Springfield ("Son of a Preacher Man"), Neil Diamond ("Sweet Caroline), Merrilee Rush ("Angel of the Morning") , B.J. Thomas ("Hooked on a Feeling"), Joe Tex ("I Gotcha"), Bobby Womack ("Fly Me To The Moon") and, perhaps most famously, Elvis Presley ("Suspicious Minds").,,,

don't think i ever knew his name but damn that's some resume

yep

***** EAST COAST DATES ANNOUNCED *****
Hey Los Angeles, been good to know ya.
Carrying the MEMPHIS RENT PARTY eastward!
Rare videos, reading, Q&A, signing.
5/14 – Baltimore, Creative Alliance
5/15 – Philadelphia, Penn Book Center – with Jonny Meister
5/16 – DC Solid State Books
5/17 – Brooklyn, Kings County Distillery – with a set by Jonathan Kane’s February
Thanks in LA to the Grammy Museum—really fun night, and to Skylight Books, great place!
Further.

That’s Memphis author Robert Gordon for his new book

I am looking forward to this. Hoping to see rare video, like at the reading I saw him do years ago, with Alex Chilton and the Cramps on a Memphis tv local station, obscure blues folks , etc

Bookstore popup wasn't full set up for tech, so writer Robert Gordon just showed a few clips on his laptop-- Furry Lewis footage and also some Mudboy & the Neutrons film. Great stuff. Plus he talked about buying booze at 14 and bringing it to Lewis when he went to see him play at his home; an uh interesting lunch with James Carr; hanging with Tav Falco; Bobby Bland being unhappy with Gordon's pick of a roadhouse diner rather than Peabody's Hotel for an interview

https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/reggie-young-renowned-guitarist-for-elvis-waylon-has-died/

RIP Reggie Young , Memphis and later Nashville guitarist

He played on OV Wright and James Carr songs

http://reggieyoung.org/discography-project?fbclid=IwAR0oubOLN_RoVZydcHirsxk0OLxjjydwSvwHbtl5C8yw-GqPfeWyTl9Lu34

Thanks. I knew he played on a lot of stuff, including those two artists but as often is the case with The Memphis Boys etc., am always finding new layers, like when I found out all about Noel Gilbert here: Stroke It Noel

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/2020/10/27/stan-kesler-obit-memphis-music-elvis-jerry-lee-lewis-sam-the-sham/3746810001/

RIP guitarist, songwriter, producer, engineer Stan Kesler who wrote “I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone," & "I Forgot to Remember to Forget” for Elvis, engineered soul classic “Dark End of the Street,” played w/ Jerry Lee Lewis on “Great Balls of Fire,” and produced Sam the Sham’s “Wooly Bully “.

Quite a life and never got that much attention

https://nicklosseatonmedia.com/iconic-memphis-drummer-howard-grimes-pens-autobiography-timekeeper-my-life-in-rhythm-with-acclaimed-author-preston-lauterbach-out-july-1-on-devault-graves-books/

Memphis drummer Howard Grimes has written his autobiography Timekeeper: My Life In Rhythm with acclaimed writer Preston Lauterbach, which will be released on Devault Graves Books on July 1 as part of the imprint’s Great Music Book Series. Known as Bulldog, Grimes tells his unvarnished story, portraying mid-century Memphis music clubs, juke joints, and cafes in North Memphis and around Beale Street, with WDIA always on the airwaves. In a conversational mode, he unveils tales of recording with Rufus Thomas, William Bell, and Carla Thomas at STAX and on all of Al Green’s genre-defining work at Hi Records. He recounts his immortal percussion contributions to Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand The Rain.”

Wow

The Birth of Soul Music,” a documentary by Memphis filmmaker George W. Tillman Jr Premiered in Memphis last night I read, followed by a Bobby Rush concert

The film highlights Memphis' The Club Paradise and talented entertainers that have performed there — Ray Charles, Johnny Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Bobby Rush, BB King, Albert King, Little Milton, Elvis Presley, Ike and Tina Turner, and the list goes on and on

A great Memphis record by a local group:

The Goodees - Jilted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNUIo4Exgyw

Sadly seeing on Facebook now that Memphis drummer Howard Grimes has passed away. He played on Stax and Hi records and efforts by Al Green and Ann Peebles. He released a book about his life last year (mentioned upthread April 3 2021)

Grimes said that Stax co-founder Jim Stewart welcomed Grimes into the fold and asked him to record on Carla Thomas’ first solo singles, including the smash, “Gee Whiz.” Grimes writes that they cut that song at nearby Royal Studios, with Willie Mitchell and Moman as co-producers, after an equipment malfunction at Stax.

Grimes also would play on William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” released in 1961 and the first hit on the newly christened Stax Records. Otis Redding cut the song in 1965 right there at Stax...he band also would back visiting acts such as B.J. Thomas and Dusty Springfield. That’s how tour man Jerry Williams spotted Grimes and asked him to tour with Paul Revere and the Raiders.

“I was the only Black (person) in the band at the time,” Grimes said.

But that was the late 1960s. After Grimes endured threats in Dallas and Montgomery, Alabama, he began to consider his safety.

Teenie Hodges had mentioned to Grimes that they needed a drummer at Willie Mitchell’s studio...

Then worked with OV Wright and then Al Green, Ann Peebles and more

https://staxmuseum.com/howard-grimes-and-memphis-greatest-grooves-july-21-book-signing-by-the-legendary-timekeeper-where-it-all-began/

What an amazing history Grimes had. Sadly based on that link he had a down period ( after his 70s success) where he was living in his car for a bit. Glad his last years were up, playing with Bo-keys, backing Don Bryant & others, the book.

Hadn’t realized Grimes drummed on so many awesome OV Wright records

picked up the goodees' "condition red" 45 recently not realizing they were memphis gals. it's so good! great addition to the bad-boy-boyfriend-in-horrible-wreck subgenre.

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/07/28/sidney-kirk-obit-isaac-hayes-sideman-jazz-pianist-memphis-history/10176527002/

RIP Sidney Kirk , Memphis sideman for Isaac Hayes, Denise Lasalle and others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAEHXTiQEmQ

RIP Spencer Wiggins who recorded for Goldwax and lived in Memphis till 1973 when he moved to Miami, Fl

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/15/spencer-wiggins-dies-obit-memphis-soul-music-history/69907734007/

I need to dig into Wiggins catalog. Wiggins and a number of folks who need up on Stax all went to same high school

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/05/23/floyd-newman-obit-stax-records-memphis-music/70249053007/

Floyd Newman Stax horn player who also played with BB King dead at 92

Or 91 per correction