The marriage of rap and country is not as contrived as one might first imagine. For one thing, if hip-hop was born in New York, that doesn’t change the fact that many of its originators were the children of African-Americans who had recently migrated from the South. Furthermore, there is a fairly long tradition of “talking records” in country, a tradition that might have been influenced by “talking blues” from Black rural communities. So what Colt Ford is doing with his sophomore album Chicken and Biscuits is not a divorce from the grand tradition of country music, but a contribution to it. Songs like “Cricket on a Line”, “Nothing in Particular” and “We Like to Hunt” celebrate the classic pastimes of the traditional South, but from a younger perspective. The title track portrays the ideal woman, comparing her to the goodness of a plate of chicken and biscuits. “Ride On, Ride Out” is a collaboration with DMC of Run-DMC, and “Hip-Hop in a Honky Tonk” deals with some of the ambiguities of country’s attitude toward rap. “Convoy” is a remake of the classic 70’s trucker anthem, which was itself a sort of rap. Ultimately, while Chicken and Biscuits may not be every country fan’s cup of tea, it is great fun, and masterfully conceived.
music
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.
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.
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!