The Memphis Music and Heritage Festival is held every year in downtown Memphis on the Main Street Mall on Labor Day Weekend. It is a celebration of Memphis music, culture, art and food, and thus amounts to Memphis’ version of the New Orleans JazzFest, with some elements of Ponderosa Stomp thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, each year the event seems to become more precarious, for, unlike JazzFest, the event is free to the public, and organized by the Center for Southern Folklore, a worthwhile organization which has also struggled in recent years. Since other festivals like the Beale Street Music Festival have little to do with Memphis music or culture, it is important for our community that we find a way to keep the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival viable for many years to come.
soul
The Memphis Music and Heritage Festival is held every year in downtown Memphis on the Main Street Mall on Labor Day Weekend. It is a celebration of Memphis music, culture, art and food, and thus amounts to Memphis’ version of the New Orleans JazzFest, with some elements of Ponderosa Stomp thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, each year the event seems to become more precarious, for, unlike JazzFest, the event is free to the public, and organized by the Center for Southern Folklore, a worthwhile organization which has also struggled in recent years. Since other festivals like the Beale Street Music Festival have little to do with Memphis music or culture, it is important for our community that we find a way to keep the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival viable for many years to come.
Sharde Thomas and the Boys perform at the Otha Turner Picnic
Sharde Thomas and the Boys perform at the Otha Turner Picnic at Gravel Springs, Mississippi, August 27, 2011
Ecko Records has been a bedrock label of Memphis blues and southern soul for years, but in the wake of the Pop Tunes/Cat’s Music collapse, Ecko decided to become a retail store too. Located on Elvis Presley (Bellevue) just south of Kerr, the Ecko Records shop sells blues, soul, rap and gospel, as well as used CDs, vinyl albums and 45 RPM singles. They’re open until 7 PM every day except Sunday (they close at 5 PM on Sundays), and are worth a visit.
Ecko Records has been a bedrock label of Memphis blues and southern soul for years, but in the wake of the Pop Tunes/Cat’s Music collapse, Ecko decided to become a retail store too. Located on Elvis Presley (Bellevue) just south of Kerr, the Ecko Records shop sells blues, soul, rap and gospel, as well as used CDs, vinyl albums and 45 RPM singles. They’re open until 7 PM every day except Sunday (they close at 5 PM on Sundays), and are worth a visit.
Touch of Soul Performing at Memphis Music Monday, Hard Rock Cafe, 2011
Touch of Soul performing at the Memphis Music Monday, Hard Rock Cafe, Beale Street, August 1, 2011.
Groove is everything
Groove is everything
Somewhere between 1970 and 1980, the lines between blues and soul became blurred. In the urban areas, soul had given way to funk, and the emerging hip-hop and R & B genres, but in rural areas, particularly in the south, blues and soul remained. Production styles changed, the music became more electrified and sequenced, but the emphasis on singers, and on tales of juke joint parties and back-door affairs remained constant. This formula, known today as “Southern Soul” is a remarkable subculture, at once as insular as swamp pop or beach music. Its stars might be unknown outside the subculture, but they perform to packed houses night after night in places like Wetumpka, Holly Springs or Monroe, Louisiana, and O. B. Buchana is one of those rising stars.
His album “It’s My Time”, released in 2009 by Memphis-based Ecko Records, follows the usual formula, with feel-good party songs like “Groove Thang” and “Let’s Dance”, and songs about break-ups or cheating, such as “Looks Like It’s Over” and “We Know It’s Wrong.” Suggestive or even sexually explicit songs, often with the use of double entendre, are a big part of the genre, and Buchana offers those too, with “Did You Put Your Foot In It?” (a duet with Mr. Sam) and “Slow Lick It.” But the naughtiness and partying is suddenly forgotten with the title track “It’s My Time”, a moving soulful ballad that expresses both Buchana’s aspirations as an artist and his appreciation for his fans. The album is closed out by a duet with labelmate Ms. Jody called “One Way Love.” While “It’s My Time” offers little deviation from the accepted southern soul formula, it is a well-conceived and well-performed album, and a perfect introduction to this little-known genre of music.
An Outdoor Performance at Handy Park, Memphis, July 2, 2011
Beale Street and Handy Park, Memphis, July 2, 2011