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Honoring the Legacy of Ardent’s John Fry and John Hampton at the Levitt Shell
alternative Artists Bands Concert Reviews Concerts entertainment events indie Indie rock music musicians musicology Parks Record Labels records rock videos
Honoring the Legacy of Ardent’s John Fry and John Hampton at the Levitt Shell
alternative Artists Bands Concert Reviews Concerts entertainment events indie Indie rock music musicians musicology Parks Record Labels records rock videos

Honoring the Legacy of Ardent’s John Fry and John Hampton at the Levitt Shell

001 John Fry Beale Street Note Presentation002 Jody Stephens003 Jody Stephens004 Music Fans005 Music Fans006 Music Fans007 Levitt Shell008 Tora Tora009 Tora Tora010 Tora Tora011 Tora Tora012 Tora Tora013 Tora Tora014 Tora Tora015 Tora Tora016 Levitt Shell017 Levitt Shell018 Tora Tora019 Tora Tora020 Levitt Shell021 Music Fans022 Music Fans023 Tora Tora024 Gin Blossoms025 Gin Blossoms026 Gin Blossoms027 Gin Blossoms028 Gin Blossoms029 Gin Blossoms030 Gin Blossoms031 Gin Blossoms032 Gin Blossoms033 Gin Blossoms034 Gin Blossoms035 Gin Blossoms036 Gin Blossoms037 Gin Blossoms038 Gin Blossoms039 Gin Blossoms040 Gin Blossoms041 Gin Blossoms042 Gin Blossoms043 Gin Blossoms044 Gin Blossoms045 Gin Blossoms046 Gin Blossoms047 Gin Blossoms048 Gin Blossoms049 Big Star050 Big Star051 Big Star052 Big Star053 Big Star054 Big Star055 Big Star056 Big Star057 Big Star058 Big Star059 Big Star060 Big Star061 Big Star062 Big Star063 Big Star064 Big Star065 Big Star066 Big Star067 Big Star068 Big Star069 Big Star070 Big Star071 Big Star072 Big Star073 Big Star074 Big Star075 Big Star076 Big Star

Although the Levitt Shell season doesn’t start until May, there is usually an earlier special music event or two during the warm weather in April, and this year, the occasion was a tribute to the late John Fry and John Hampton of Ardent Studios, two Memphis music figures who dies within a week of each other. As Ardent has been the most important studio in Memphis since the late 1960’s, their impact on the city and the local music industry was considerable, and so three popular Memphis bands associated with Ardent came out to perform.
First up was the hard rock band Tora Tora, which I had never been much of a fan of, but I found to my surprise that some of their songs had a recognizable Memphis influence. Behind them came the Gin Blossoms, who were produced by John Hampton and had recorded at Ardent. What I didn’t know, however, was that the band was originally from Arizona and chose to record at Ardent because of their admiration for Big Star.
The final band of the evening was the current incarnation of Big Star, featuring founding member Jody Stephens on drums, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies, and Steve Selvidge on guitar. They played a number of familiar and not so familiar Big Star songs, as well as a reading of Chris Bell’s “I Am The Cosmos”. A few of the songs featured vocals from the singers of the Gin Blossoms and Tora Tora. The evening ended with the performers standing together and taking a bow in front of the several hundred people who attended. John Fry was also posthumously awarded a note on Beale Street.













Keep up with Tora Tora:
https://www.facebook.com/ToraToraBand

Keep up with the Gin Blossoms:
http://www.ginblossoms.net
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gin-Blossoms/10194655949

https://myspace.com/ginblossoms
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/gin-blossoms/id94763

Keep up with Big Star:
https://www.facebook.com/BigStar
http://www.bigstarstory.com
http://bigstarthird.com

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/big-star/id2351764

Keep up with Ardent Studios & Records:
http://www.ardentstudios.com
https://www.facebook.com/ardentstudios

http://ardentrecords.com/
http://www.ardentmusic.com
http://ardentpresents.com
https://instagram.com/ardentstudios/

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