Touch of Soul performing at the Memphis Music Monday, Hard Rock Cafe, Beale Street, August 1, 2011.
entertainment
Walking Home from the Orange Mound Block Party after the Fights, 2011
People walking home after the fights and shooting, Orange Mound Block Party, July 30, 2011. I will never understand why people would come to a recreational event in a mood to pick a fight with someone, or why anyone could think that it was ever justifiable to shoot a gun into a crowd of people. But the end result is that the city will prevent events like this from taking place, so all of us will be the losers because 6 or 7 people would rather fight and shoot than have a good time.
Police Clear the Park after Shooting at the Orange Mound Block Party, 2011
In the aftermath of the fights and shooting, the police cleared the park, and people began slowing walking back home, Orange Mound Block Party, July 30, 2011
Fighting Mars the Orange Mound Block Party, 2011
Late in the afternoon at the Orange Mound Block Party, a string of fights developed. One young man that had been onstage with several of the acts was beaten unconscious and had to be carried back behind the stage, and then two girls got to fighting. Shortly after that, everyone broke into a full run at the sound of gunfire. We later learned that someone had fired a shotgun into the crowd, and a young woman was hit. The police quickly flooded the park, but I could hear gunfire continuing, now coming from the northwest corner of Park and Pendleton. The ambulances came, and police began clearing out the park.
Memphis Rap Group OMB Takes The Stage At The Orange Mound Block Party
OMB takes the stage at the Orange Mound Block Party, July 30, 2011.
Getting Wild at the Orange Mound Block Party 2011
Getting wild at the Orange Mound Block Party, July 30, 2011.
Mac Mob Mafia and More at the Orange Mound Block Party 2011
At the Orange Mound Block Party, July 30, 2011.
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.