Picture of Bobby W., Reggie, and Allen Reynolds at the Nashville Musician’s Hall of Fame Grand Opening. This was taken several months ago but it’s still great to see them up and running again! Check out the life-sized photo taken in the sixties during Elvis’s sessions at American.
http://www.musicianshalloffame.com/2013-grand-opening/
Here are a few links about Robert Gordon’s book Respect Yourself – The Rise and Fall of Stax Records.
Links to two excellent interviews:
http://www.tavissmileyradio.com/robert-gordon-the-rise-and-fall-of-stax-records/
http://www.npr.org/2013/11/16/245398700/the-soulful-swinging-sounds-of-stax-a-look-back
Article about Stax written by Robert Gordon:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/shows/stax/essay1.html
Brief excerpt from the above article:
The success of Stax had everything to do with its new location, an old movie theater on an unassuming corner, McLemore Avenue and College Street, in South Memphis. The neighborhood was transitioning from white to black and most of the label's early stars simply walked in the front door and were given auditions by the open-minded and open-eared founders. The new location had been discovered by guitarist Chips Moman, who was then Jim Stewart's right-hand man. In less than a decade, he would be running one of the most successful labels of all time, American, where hits were recorded on everyone from Elvis to Neil Diamond, Dusty Springfield to Herbie Mann. It's likely Moman was drawn to the area because Hi Records, then having instrumental hits with the Bill Black Combo (and later home to Al Green), was located about a mile away, also in a converted movie theater.
Mike Freeman, member of the Shelby County Historical Commission, reports that the commission recently voted to approve an American Sound Studio marker at Chelsea and Thomas. According to Mike, the dedication ceremony date should take place in the Spring of 2014.
By the way, Mike has a new blog with lots of great posts about Memphis music. Have a look!
Memphis historian Mike Freeman has a great Flickr site – lots of photos related to southern history and with plenty of music-related collections. Pictures of American Studio site can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesmemphistours/sets/72157632549381148/
An oldie-but-goodie featuring Spooner being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:
http://www.cmtedge.com/2013/11/05/mandy-barnett-brings-back-blue-blue-day/
From the site:
Celebrated for portraying the title role in Always … Patsy Cline at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Barnett befriended Gibson when she was an aspiring singer in her 20s. Now she’s now honoring the Country Music Hall of Fame member by surrounding herself with studio all-stars like guitarist Harold Bradley, pianist Hargus “Pig” Robbins, harmonica player Charlie McCoy, steel guitarist Lloyd Green and drummer Gene Chrisman.
