Getting wild at the Orange Mound Block Party, July 30, 2011.
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Mac Mob Mafia and More at the Orange Mound Block Party 2011
At the Orange Mound Block Party, July 30, 2011.
3316 Line Avenue: Sound City and Shreveport’s Forgotten Legacy of Soul
This former theater at 3316 Line Avenue in Shreveport was once the Sound City Recording Studio in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s While not as famous as Cossimo Matassa’s, or Sun, or Stax, or Malaco, a lot of great southern soul was cut at Sound City, by artists like Eddie Giles, Reuben Bell, Ted Taylor, Geater Davis, Little Johnny Taylor, Shay Holliday, Tommie Young and the African Music Machine. Bobby Patterson ran his Soul Power label there for awhile, and Stewart Madison ran Alarm Records from the building before moving to Jackson, Mississippi and Malaco. The years were not kind to Sound City, however. Renamed Southern Star, the studio became a more country-oriented operation in the mid 1970’s before closing down during the financial crisis that wracked Shreveport in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The legacy of soul and funk music in Shreveport was largely forgotten.
Moonwalking With The Klondike Dance, Drum and Bugle Corps Back in 1970
Anyone who has ever been to a majorette jamboree knows that majorettes and drummers are a big part of Memphis culture. So I was really interested when I came across this July 4, 1970 article from the Commercial Appeal about the Klondike Dance, Drum and Bugle Corps, which for one thing proves that the roots of drumming and drilling in Memphis go back at least that far (legendary drummer Willie Hall claims back to 1969). Also of interest is the reference to the dancers doing the “moon walk”, so that dance is clearly older than Michael Jackson, and might have come from Memphis!
An Outdoor Performance at Handy Park, Memphis, July 2, 2011
Beale Street and Handy Park, Memphis, July 2, 2011
The Lower End, Front Street, Mason TN, Summer 1991
Mason, Tennessee, Front Street, The Lower End, Summer 1991.
This was the summer that I was spending a lot of time in and around Mason and Gainesville, Tennessee. I had gotten some black and white film, and was having fun with my camera, and I was always fascinated by the “cafes” in Mason, as juke joints were called in those days. Of course, I had no idea back then that most of these buildings would be torn down and destroyed, so the pictures are maybe a little more important now than I had imagined.
Garry Burnside Live at the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic 2011
The Garry Burnside Band on stage at the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, June 25, 2011
Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band at the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic 2011
Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. Sharde also plays the piano, and incorporates other styles of music into the band’s repertoire. North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, June 25, 2011
Preserving the Endangered Fife and Drum Music Tradition in Mississippi
Few musical experiences can compare to the raw power of African-American fife and drum music. Unfortunately, this musical style once found throughout the south is now found only amongst the members of one extended family in Panola County, Mississippi. Sharde Thomas upholds the legacy of her grandfather Otha Turner and his Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. They will be holding their annual picnic on the last weekend of August at Gravel Springs outside of Como, Mississippi.
Yung Joc Stops By Music Media in Decatur @IAMYUNGJOC
The rapper Young Joc decided to pay a visit to Music Media in Decatur just as I did! June 22, 2011