SMM #10: June 11th, 2021
Some new releases for June, and several hundred words on the music history of Memphis, TN.
New Releases
RILEY DOWNING - Start It Over… solo outing from the lead singer of the Louisiana band, The Deslondes… Downing’s deep rich voice is similar to Southern legends Johnny Cash and Tony Joe White, and works well with these laid-back, rootsy country tunes… The Deslondes’ albums are worth checking out too and their song, “Fought the Blues and Won” was featured in a previous Great Songs 6-Pack (SMM #5)...
MDOU MOCTAR - Afrique Victime… and now for something completely different! Saharan musician Moctar, originally from Niger, is a dazzling electric guitarist who adds a heavy rock influence to his “desert blues,” an African musical style that has been popularized in the 2000s by performers such as Bombino, Tinariwen and Songhoy Blues… the title track is the album’s centerpiece, a 7+ minute tour-de-force, featuring a wild climactic solo from Moctar… like all the bands in this genre, the lyrics are sung mostly in their native languages, but the music overall can still be quite compelling…
BILLY F GIBBONS - Hardware… this is the third solo album from the longtime leader of ZZ Top and the most reminiscent of his band’s signature style after forays into Cuban/Latin rhythms and blues… which is fine since Gibbons is a master at cranking out enjoyable rock n’ roll songs about girls, cars, and partying with lots of of his fuzzy, bluesy guitar playing… not a classic but a fun listen!
MAGIC CASTLES - Sun Reign… Minnesota-based band that has been putting out spacey, psychedelic pop-rock albums for over a decade now… their latest hits a fairly mellow, relaxed groove for most of the album although they kick it up a notch on a few tunes like “Relax Your Mind” and “Lost Dimension,” which sounds like a spacey Velvet Underground tune… the opener “Sunburst” is reminiscent of the Allah-Las, who were featured in the SMM #9 6-Pack...
Memphis: A Brief History of the Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll
I was inspired to do this feature after reading a great book called It Came From Memphis by esteemed music journalist, Robert Gordon… originally published in 1995 and updated & revised in 2020, reading it has convinced me Memphis has the richest musical history of any American city… New Orleans is in the running but Memphis probably has it beat, being the home of legendary Sun Records, where rock n’ roll was born, and its Southern soul music counterpart, Stax Records…
Sun Records was founded by Sam Phillips in 1952 as the label for his Memphis Recording Service… he started off recording mostly blues artists such as Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King and James Cotton, and in 1951 recorded what is generally considered the first rock and roll record, “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats (written by band member Ike Turner when he was 19)... he went on to record Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins just to name a few....
Stax Records was founded in 1957 as Satellite Records by Jim Stewart and his sister, Estelle Axton, and they changed its name in 1961 to Stax (the first two letters of their last names). The label launched the careers of legends Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGs, and Sam & Dave, and later became the home of Isaac Hayes and The Staples Singers.
I would be here forever writing about all the great artists associated with the Memphis scene, but I did want to highlight the Dickinson family, since they provide a throughline from the early days of the scene to current times...
Jim Dickinson (or James Luther Dickinson as he called himself on his albums) is a Memphis music legend who served as a kind of “godfather” of the Memphis music scene from the ‘50s to his death in 2009… he was a primary source for the Gordon book mentioned earlier and played on numerous records with an endless list of artists, including, playing piano on the Rolling Stones’ classic, “Wild Horses”... beginning in the early 70s, he was also the leader of an on and off again ramshackle group of Memphis musical wildmen known as Mudboy & the Neutrons… they released a few albums but only one is still available, Negro Streets At Dawn… this is chaotic and unhinged (in a good way!) live rock n’ roll at its best, epitomized by my playlist track, “Power to The People” featuring Dickinson’s howling madman vocals…
Dickinson also released several solo albums starting with Dixie Fried in 1973 and ending with two posthumous releases of great live shows he did with his sons, Luther & Cody of the North Mississippi All-Stars… NMAS is one of my favorite groups of the 2000s and the band I have seen live more than any other (14 times and counting!)... they mix traditional “hill country” juke-joint blues with rock n’ roll led by Luther’s stellar guitar playing, and the brothers have carried on their father’s tradition of collaborating with many other artists over the years (see wiki pages linked above)...
I put together a 30-song playlist that captures many of the highlights of Memphis’ musical history… it is in rough chronological order and includes both legendary artists and totally obscure performers like blues guitarist Pat Hare and garage rocker, Tav Falco, and Randy and The Radiants… ENJOY!! — SL