Check out this great new Blog!

Mark Nicholson has put up a great blog featuring recordings that were released on the AGP label. Really nice job Mark!

http://americangroupproduction.blogspot.co.uk/

Mark describes the site as follows:

Via the wall of his Facebook group dedicated to the legendary American Sound Studio in Memphis, Erick Crews recently voiced his hopes to see an online database that would serve to catalogue the impressive series of singles as originally released on the AGP label between 1968 and 1970.

Online discographies exist, as do several videos on YouTube. As such a wealth of material is now available on the internet, I decided to to try and put together a comprehensive record of what is out there. Huge thanks go out to the good folks who have created YouTube videos featuring this material - some of which are linked to this blog - and additional thanks are directed towards Roben Jones and Erick Crews who kindly provided me with several elusive audio files and label scans. Without their invaluable contributions this blog would not exist!

At this moment in time a few pieces of the puzzle still remain to be missing, namely some label scans and track information relating to the (withdrawn?) Dee & Don single. I intend to update this blog and include any missing pieces if and when they present themselves to me. If anyone reading this has the material required to fill the gaps, please contact me via Erick Crews' Facebook group devoted to this revered studio's body of work. In the meantime, enjoy the wonderful music contained within this very special collection of seven inch singles...

Herbie O’Mell to receive brass note June 10

http://www.bealestreet.com/wordpress/herbie-omell-to-receive-brass-note-june-10/06/2012

From the site:

Entertainment luminary Herb O’Mell will be honored with a Beale Street Brass Note on the historic street’s Walk of Fame on Sunday, June 10, 2012. The event will be from 3:00pm  outside Club 152 on Beale Street.

His note is the 118th to be awarded and he joins honorees that include composers, producers, singers, instrumentalists and music supporters in genres ranging from blues and gospel to jazz and rock.

O’Mell is being honored for his long and varied career in entertainment in Memphis and the Mid-South. His involvement and contributions have been historic and he continues to be active in promoting Memphis music and
entertainment culture.

Here are just a few of his accomplishments:

    He was a founding member of the Memphis NARAS Chapter and he put together the city’s first integrated band.
    He has served on the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission for 25 years, six of them as chairman.

    He’s been personal manager to Jerry Lee Lewis, Ronnie Milsap and Jim Dickinson. He was business manager of Dan Penn and for Chips Moman and his 3-Alarm Studio. He is also producer of the TV show  “Memphis Sounds with George Klein”.

    O’Mell has also been a music promoter and publisher, nightclub operator, casino insider, travel agent, movie location scout, and Little League coach.