Month: May 2002

Categories
Opinion

Chain Saws 1, Trees 0

The last undeveloped waterfront in downtown Memphis suddenly looks like a logging camp after the woods have been clear-cut.

The 21.5-acre site on Mud Island between the Auction Street Bridge and the entrance to Mud Island River Park is directly across from The Pyramid. Until last month, it had survived as a forest through 15 years of development on the island. Then, in about a week, developer Kevin Hyneman, who has owned the property for about two years, cut down almost all of the trees. Now they are littered across the landscape just in time for the opening of the park and the Memphis In May International Festival.

It isn’t clear what will eventually happen to the property. In addition to Hyneman, Harbor Town developer Henry Turley and the Riverfront Development Corporation (RDC) have a keen interest in it, and there has been talk of some kind of joint venture. There are actually two sets of plans on file at the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development.

One has been dormant since June 2001 when Hyneman indefinitely postponed a scheduled appearance before the Land Use Control Board. That plan, called Grand Island Planned Development, would split the property into three parts, including a frontage strip of 25 residential lots, 10 acres of “passive recreation” between the road frontage and the Wolf River Harbor, and another parcel for offices, condominiums, and a 10-story hotel which would be twice the height of anything else on the island.

Hyneman’s partners in Grand Island are Johnny Earwood and Davis Engineering Company. Hyneman is primarily a builder of low-cost and mid-priced homes in the suburbs, although he has done one subdivision on Mud Island.

“We propose to provide an attractive streetscape in character with, if not superior to, the existing Island Drive streetscape north of the property,” wrote Dan Frazier of Davis Engineering in a letter. Hyneman could not be reached for comment before press time.

Grand Island plans drew opposition last year from the RDC and the Center City Commission. The Office of Planning and Development said it would need more information before the plans could be considered for approval.

“The creation of a suburban-style development on this property is not appropriate,” wrote RDC president Benny Lendermon in response to Frazier’s letter. “The proposed use is extremely shortsighted.”

The other plan for the property was approved by the Land Use Control Board in 1999. It changed the zoning from highway commercial to multiple-dwelling residential. It was submitted by the previous owner, Echelon Residential, based in Dallas. Echelon developed the apartments next to AutoZone Park between Union and Madison before selling its Mud Island land to Hyneman. The Echelon at Mud Island plans included some 450 residential units.

Further complicating matters, Echelon submitted its plans at about the same time the RDC was being established as a public-private partnership. The RDC has commissioned a master plan for the riverfront, but it remains to be seen how much of it will be implemented. The Mud Island site shapes up as its first key test.

Hyneman began clearing the property two weeks ago. Virtually all of it was stripped bare except for a few large trees still standing at the edge of the Wolf River Harbor. Lendermon said there were five or six trees along the road frontage that could have stood, but the others probably would have been cut for any large development. The part next to the Wolf River Harbor drops off to well below flood stage and will require at least 20 feet of fill, engineering reports say. A small triangle of land at the north end of the property next to the Auction Street Bridge still has trees on it. It is owned by a group that includesTurley.

Categories
News The Fly-By

City Reporter

Watching From Outside the Ring

Its duties are a bit vague, but the state’s boxing and racing board will oversee the Tyson/Lewis match.

By Rebekah Gleaves

In the shadow of the state capitol, just spitting distance from Nashville’s immaculate Bicentennial Mall, is a shiny new state office building, a glowing structure with green-tinted glass windows and meticulous landscaping. Davy Crockett Tower is the name of the building, and it’s the home of the Tennessee Board of Boxing and Racing. One of those obscure state offices that no one normally gives even a moment’s thought to, the boxing and racing board now finds itself a subject of discussion for Tennesseans — particularly those of us west of the Tennessee River. Only, it’s not really a “board.”

“It’s not a commission, and it’s not a full board,” says Marilyn Elam, communications director for the state Department of Commerce and Insurance, which oversees the Board of Boxing and Racing or whatever it is. “It’s an administrative program, one of about 30 boards, as opposed to a full board.”

Gotcha. It’s a board that’s not a board and definitely not a commission. Elam says it’s similar to the programs for geology and employee leasing, which are also not “boards.”

Moving right along, before Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson decided to trade blows in The Pyramid, the main purpose for the Boxing and Racing, um, office was regulating Toughman Competitions — a goulash of fighting styles where roughneck amateurs kick, punch, and wrestle each other for three-minute rounds. In fact, Toughman Competitions were previously so integral to the office’s function that the commission’s administrator, Tommy Patrick, would go to every single one in the state, according to Michelle Rodriguez, public information officer for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.

After much prodding, Elam acknowledged that this was pretty much the extent of Patrick’s job description.

“Tommy doesn’t run the program. He attends the Toughman fights,” says Elam. “The majority of the fights in the state pale in comparison to the June 8th fight. He just goes to make sure everything runs smoothly.”

Patrick’s job description doesn’t seem to include returning phone calls.

Elam says that several officials with the Department of Commerce and Insurance make the actual decisions regarding licensing and the day-to-day functions of the office. And in all fairness, there hasn’t been much to do in the past. So little, in fact, that Elam says the Boxing and Racing “Board” consists of two people, Patrick and his secretary, Mechelle Powell.

On the fifth floor of the building, the Department of Commerce and Insurance is just another anonymous maze of offices and cubicles. Freshly scrubbed, smiling employees whisk files from one in-box to the next, all eager to note that little attention was paid to their office before Nashville-based fight promoter Brian Young set his sights on landing what some are calling the most anticipated boxing bout in history. Rodriguez says that interest in the commission has skyrocketed since the June 8th fight was announced. She says she fields dozens of media calls a day now, a considerable amount more than in days prior to the fight announcement.

But she and the others seem to be taking it all in stride.

“We’re not treating this fight any different from the other fights,” says Rodriguez. “We haven’t had to hire any additional staff, and we don’t plan to.”

Rodriguez says that, even now, the so-called board’s purpose is largely regulatory.

“Anyone who fights in the state has to be licensed. Boxers, promoters, judges, seconds, referees — anyone involved in the fight or in assisting the fighter has to be licensed. Altogether, we have about 500 people licensed in the state.”

Getting the license is relatively easy. Those wanting licensure simply submit an application with information like place of birth, criminal record, licenses held in other states, experience, and qualifications.

“We verify all of the information before approving the application,” says Rodriguez. “Withholding any information is a reason for the application to be denied.”

And that’s pretty much it. After an individual is approved, he or she is free to go about the business of boxing. The state doesn’t get involved again until just before the fight when they check to make sure physical examinations are administered and hands are taped. A rather official-looking green booklet titled “Tennessee Professional Boxing, Sparring and Toughman Law and Rules” also sets forth a few guidelines on things like weight classifications, licensing, and ring size — but for the most part, the rules are straightforward. Fighters are going to fight, and the boxing and racing “board” tries to stay out of the way — particularly Patrick.

“In general, Tommy will attend the Toughman matches across the state,” says Elam. “At the smaller events, the fighters will not be licensed until the night of the fight. On those few-thousand-dollar prize fights, it’s not very labor-intensive.”

Leaving Davy Crockett Tower, the security guard, a sweet elderly woman, collects the temporary pass and says that she’s not used to seeing so much traffic moving through the building’s doors. She’s precisely the sort of Southerner who checks your ID and then tells you that a big man named Hymie with your same last name lived next door to her 60 years ago. “Are you any kin?” she asks.

Needless to say, this is not a building accustomed to all of this hubbub. This is not a place where history typically is made. The fast lane — in this case, James Robertson Parkway — may pass near, but it does not pass in front of Davy Crockett Tower.

Shared Savings

Did the school bus policy with Laidlaw actually cost MCS money?

By Mary Cashiola

Shared savings sounds like a good deal, a win-win situation. But for Memphis City Schools (MCS), it may not be.

On May 6th, the MCS board of education is expected to vote on a new transportation contract with Laidlaw Transit, Inc. At the last board meeting, Superintendent Johnnie B. Watson publicly stated that he felt the existing contract with Laidlaw, which expires June 30, 2002, was not good for the district.

While investigating the statement, the Flyer found that under the existing contract, dated July 1, 1997, there seemed to be some discrepancies with the “shared-savings” section. Under that clause, if Laidlaw eliminates a bus from the previous year’s “district-supplied routing plan,” any savings will be shared “on a per-route cost,” with 60 percent going to the district and 40 percent to Laidlaw. And according to the contract, savings would be calculated on a base number of buses established no later than October 31, 1997.

John Britt, the school system’s security, transportation, and risk-management director, says that the base number of buses for the shared-savings clause was set at 434. But in October 1997, the district was only running 410 buses.

“That’s one of the things the audit is investigating,” says Britt. “We don’t want to jump to any conclusions without looking to the internal audit.”

In February, amid rumblings of problems with the district’s transportation services from Laidlaw, Watson asked internal auditor Waldon Gooch to conduct an investigation. Spanning the transportation division’s activities from April 3, 2000, to February 15, 2002, the investigation was to focus on a chronology of events relating to Laidlaw and the district’s current agreement or a request for proposal.

“We don’t know where that number 434 came from,” says Britt. “I wasn’t here. Neither was Mr. Watson. The fact is that in October of 1997, we were running 410 buses. For whatever reason, the number 434 is what has been used. There’s nobody here to know when and how that number came about.”

The school system first paid moneys to Laidlaw for the shared-savings clause in January 1998. Laidlaw reduced the number of bus routes to 429, meaning the district paid for five eliminated routes.

Currently, the district is still paying moneys to Laidlaw under the shared-savings clause. When asked if the transportation company possibly owed MCS money, Britt could not answer.

“Any time you have a contract, it’s always subject to interpretation,” says Britt.

Routes are established by Laidlaw based on a computer routing program. Britt’s division does two transportation audits a year, one 30 days after school starts and one in January. During the audit, the MCS staff looks at rider figures as well as average daily attendance figures and does some calculations.

In fact, Britt says that he or members of his staff might even go out and physically count the number of children on the bus to see if the route is needed. However, it’s not an exact science. The ridership can change daily and a lot of variables are involved. Even the season — such as in the fall when football practice takes place after school — may affect the number of children riding the buses.

Britt says the number of routes needed is something of a judgment call.

At the last board meeting, commissioners requested that a preliminary report of the investigation’s findings be presented before they vote on the proposed contract. Gooch says that he is not finished with his investigation and does not anticipate having preliminary findings to report.

In the proposed contract, the shared-savings clause has been eliminated. Instead, the contract reads, “[I]f MCS reduces the number of buses below the good faith estimate, MCS will pay Laidlaw … a one-time prorated charge of $9,000 per bus, per school year.”

A summary of the contract was brought to the board April 15th; the base number of routes set at that time was 397. Britt says that number has since been upped to 415 because it’s closer to the number of buses the district is currently running.

Watson says he cannot get into the details but reiterates that the existing contract is not a good contract.

“Hopefully, the one I recommend to the board is an improved contract,” says Watson. “I think it’s a much better contract than the one I inherited.”

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Editorial

“Grizzly Nation”

We claim no credit for inventing this phrase. Actually, Sacramento Bee sportswriter Mark Kriedler used it in an ESPN.com column earlier this week that can only be described as, well, patently incredulous. We won’t hold it against him.

Kriedler, of course, was knocked off his horse — as were most other NBA insiders — by Jerry West when the NBA logo/legend decided to take over stewardship of our own Memphis Grizzlies.”Locusts?” asked Kriedler rhetorically. “Pestilence? An end to war? Cats and dogs living together? Look, if Jerry West can take over the Memphis Grizzlies, anything feels possible.”

We couldn’t agree more. Mr. Kriedler has spent limited time, if any, in Memphis.But had he spent more, he would have known that his “anything feels possible” mantra is one long embraced by a whole generation of Memphis progressives. Where would we be without them? Jack Belz and the rebirth of The Peabody way back in the early 1980s? Henry Turley and the creation of Harbor Town and South Bluffs? Mayor Willie Herenton, upon whose 11-year watch much of this downtown revitalization and renewal have occurred?

The Grizzly Nation, of course, is not a political one. That’s why, in the sports sphere, we must never forget the folks who made all that progress possible. Just think: Where would Memphis be today — and where would Jerry West be playing golf — had not Dean and Kristi Jernigan raised the bar, in 1997, for all sports in this city?By bringing the Triple-A Cardinals baseball franchise to Memphis, by building the best minor-league stadium in America, and by embracing the “anything is possible” mantra, the Jernigans have been to Memphis sports what Belz, Turley, and Herenton have been to downtown redevelopment in general.

Today, Memphis is anything but minor-league. Just try to drive around downtown on the weekend, even if the Redbirds are on the road.It’s “Memphis, Big Time,” as the Grizzlies’ marketing folks like to say. Going “Big Time” is what today is all about.

A New Day At Galloway

And speaking of sports … We’d be remiss if we didn’t make note of the city’s reopening — and remarkable reinvention — of Galloway Golf Course. Sporting a new moniker –The Links At Galloway — and a whole new look, the course architects managed to retain the character that made the venerable track a city favorite for decades while updating the layout to modern standards.

Two hundred golfers gave the course a tryout Monday, and it was difficult to find anyone who didn’t give the new look rave reviews. A variety of tee boxes makes the course playable for all handicap levels, and the new lakes and waterfalls give it a real country club look.

There was a great deal of skepticism — and criticism — when the project was first announced, but the end results seem to have proven the naysayers wrong. The Links At Galloway is a hit so far. To those in city government who pulled it off, all we can say is “nice shot.”

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Easy As One, Two, Three

If you are looking for that perfect place for a late-night cup of coffee and dessert or a little wine, a casual supper, and sultry, live jazz, then Zanzibar in the South Main Arts District fits the bill.

Zanzibar’s atmosphere is electric with its multicolored walls, funky painted bar, and art gallery. The restaurant seats about 50 comfortably. Street parking is ample, and the trolley stops right in front.

The dinner menu is sorted into three categories: “one” for appetizers, “two” for salads and soups, and “three” for entrées. And there is always a daily special.

In category “one,” we sampled all the appetizers offered. The salsa Diablo was a dark, pebbly mashed avocado blended with garlic and chopped tomato and served with crisp corn tortilla chips. The nutty Hass avocados ensure a coarse, thick texture that clings to the chips and a flavor that will leave you wanting more. The Pacific prawn ceviche, served with avocados and capers, includes prawns cooked by the acidity of lime juice. Our favorite “one,” without a doubt, was the glazed beef, chicken, and pork skewers covered in a sweet chile/garlic glaze. Vinegared cucumbers sweetened with a little sugar made for the perfect complement. (Just a note: The menu stated that the skewers would be served with rice noodles, but the sticky rice worked just as well and the noodles were not missed.)

Of category “two” we sampled the romaine and radicchio with baby greens, which came dressed with Maytag blue cheese, thinly sliced Granny Smith apples, and white balsamic vinegar. The Zanzibar Caesar was basically a simple half-head of romaine lettuce with Zanzibar’s own thick, garlicky Caesar dressing and large shrimp. Very satisfying. But the Caesar paled in comparison to the peanut soup. Served in a brightly colored coffee mug, the thick, amber soup had chunks of potato, chicken, carrot, red pepper, and Northern beans floating in a rich, aromatic peanutty chowder. It smelled wonderful, it tasted better, and the flavor seemed to get richer as I got closer to the bottom of the cup.

Category “three” was where the choices became tough. Zanzibar offers a tempting variety of entrees, from roast Peking duck to vegetarian Red Rose potato and tofu curry. We chose the grilled chicken fettuccini. The chunks of grilled chicken atop traditional noodles, prepared al dente and tossed in a creamy rich white (you can opt for red) sauce with the perfect hint of garlic, were worthy of a fine Italian restaurant. The New Zealand rack of lamb was prepared in a “French” manner, meaning the meat had been cut away from the end of the rib so that part of the bone was exposed. The pieces of tender lamb had been delicately bathed in a honey, rosemary, and balsamic-vinegar glaze and carefully placed over delectable mashed potatoes mixed with garlic and basil. The herbs, vinegar, and honey demonstrated the kitchen’s knowledge of the importance of blending flavors.

The roasted-pork empanadas, unfortunately, were not empanadas at all. I expected a traditional Spanish treat of pastry crust filled with savory meat. Zanzibar’s version of an empanada is more closely related to a tostada, a crisp tortilla with shredded pork and served with refried pinto beans garnished with guacamole, salsa, and Mexican cabbage slaw. And by the time they were served, the empanadas had gotten cold and were bland and chewy.

Our favorite selection, however, was the Jamaican rib-eye strips — extremely tender strips of seasoned steak grilled to perfection with caramelized red onions, accompanied by garlic/basil mashed potatoes, and finished with freshly prepared asparagus, zucchini, and squash.

And so it went: “One.” “Two.” “Three.” I had had it. Then I spotted “Four” — Zanzibar’s glass cabinet filled with every cheesecake one could think of and a few other sweets too powerful to pass up. My favorite was the caramel praline cheesecake, a decadent, creamy, rich cheesecake drizzled with caramel and sprinkled with candied pecans. Oh, the calories! One of my companions ordered the key lime cheesecake. Unfortunately, it had a gummy consistency and lacked a tastable luster. The caramel turtle cheesecake was a success. The creamy vanilla cheesecake layered with caramel, chocolate, and pecans was a party for the palate.

Zanzibar is located at 412 South Main Street, 543-9646. Hours: Tuesday-Wednesday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday-Friday 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday brunch 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Live jazz Thursday-Friday. Appetizers and salads range from $5.95 to $8.95, entrées $6 to $22. Zanzibar offers an extensive coffee selection and dessert menu. Wine and beer are also available.

Categories
Music Music Features

Sound Off

Adios Gringos

This core group of musicians have been playing together for 14 years — Private War, then ‘Taint Skins, now Adios Gringos. NO ONE sounds like these guys. Highly creative satanic jazz metal. — Chris Walker

American Deathray Music

Nick Diablo’s polymorphic, gender-bending, monster-movie R&B vision is unprecedented in the annals of Memphis music and a must-see live show for every dilettante of the subpopular culture. — Dan Ball

Automusik

Okay, is it music? Well, at the very least, they are not to be missed live. But I think some of their humor is too sophisticated for the average Memphian. I think they’re hilarious. Maybe if they learn to play some instruments they could be Devo for the new millennium. — Lisa Lumb

Automusik would have fit nicely into the N.Y.C. electro-clash movement that just enjoyed its 15 minutes of hip press, but they do not fit into the Memphis underground music scene. Showgoers don’t know what to think of this Kraftwerk/Flying Lizards/audience-baiting amalgamation wrapped up in a purposely (sexually) confused Eurotrash package, and that’s good. What’s the fun if you know what to think? — Andrew Earles

A delightful romp through the skewed imagination of regular Memphis folks by day, boob-cone-wearing droids by night. — Wayne Leeloy

Brad Bailey

He hasn’t played out much yet, so his name is not a familiar one. Very talented and very unappreciated. He’s releasing an album sometime soon on Black Dog Records. — Brad Postlethwaite

Beanpole

In the footsteps of Saliva, Breaking Point, Primer 55, and Dust for Life, this should be the next metal band to break out of Memphis, and they may be the best. They’ve got guitar crunch aplenty and a lead singer whose melodies can soar with the best of them. Together 10 years, the thing that has really distinguished them of late is a relatively new rhythm section (made up of jazzheads, of all people) that gives them the tightest and most grooving foundation around. — Mark Jordan

Robert Belfour

The youngest and most active Fat Possum artist and currently the most sought-after bluesman in Memphis. A living legend with a positive outlook on the future. — Dennis Brooks

Barbara Blue

She’s got spunk. She’s got class. She’s got business sense. And, above all, she’s got that voice. — Deni Carr

Shelby Bryant

Bryant creates music that makes you wish you were his neighbor and you could hear him practice. Last year’s Cloud-Wow Music is still a beautifully eccentric pop record, but he should play shows more often than once a year. — Nicole Ward

Tommy Burroughs

The best acoustic guitar player I have seen in years. Can play anything and fit in with any kind of music. Very underrated. — Brent Harding

Crippled Nation

A young band with incredible potential. I’ll be watching them. — Jeniffer Church

Delta Grass

Tuba, cello, two keyboards, percussion, Australian didgeridoos, and what? No guitars? Guaranteed to impress anyone.

— Benny Carter

Eighty Katie

Amazing Brit-pop — from Bartlett, of all places. Listening to these guys made me dig out all of my old Jam and Kinks LPs. — Lisa Lumb

Epoch of Unlight

Memphis’ only black-metal band. The nicest guys to ever don corpse paint. The name leads to many hilarious misprints, Epoch of Sunlight and Epic of Unliked being my personal favorites. — Chris Walker

David Evans

The preeminent country bluesman in Memphis, Dr. Evans is a scholar, guitarist, vocalist, writer, composer, and ethnomusicologist. His High Water label is a library of noted blues people from the area, and his performances with the Last Chance Jug Band offer blues and folk-music fans a history lesson. — Dennis Brooks

Jeffrey Evans

Monsieur Jeffrey Evans’ I’ve Lived a Rich Life was the most overlooked local release of last year — by everyone, including me.The only excuse I have is that it is such a concise and richly personal history of local music, culture, and politics that it felt as if it had been in my collection for years. There were better-sounding local records last year, but this outdoor performance, recorded at Shangri-La Records, has more wit and heart than any of them.The sound is surprisingly clear and warm. It is a scruffy pastiche of rockabilly covers, Evans originals, and PG-rated anecdotes that will be relevant for years to come. It should be issued to all Memphis schools as a primer on local music.

— David L. Dunlap Jr.

FreeWorld

Still the funkiest freewheeling fusion mix in town. Never a dull gig. — Lisa Lumb

The Gamble Brothers Band

Killer musicians with a groove that anybody can dig. What more could you want? — Benny Carter

Andy Grooms

Great pianist, songwriter, poet, storyteller. Seems very humble too. I get the feeling Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits would appreciate Andy if they heard him. — Brad Postlethwaite

The Hollywood Allstars

More or less a group of musicians who switch up and jam on blues songs at Wild Bill’s every weekend. They are a million times better than any of the blues bands I’ve heard on Beale Street lately. If you’re looking to just shake your ass and let loose, this group of blues virtuosos is your ticket to a great time. — Brad Postlethwaite

Ingram Hill

They may be a little tame for the moshpit crowd, and they’re probably off-the-radar of most Midtown indie-rock fans, but Ingram Hill have quietly become one of the most popular bands on the frat-party/Highland Strip scene. They’re now turning into quite the regional draw on the southeastern college circuit as well, much like Dave Matthews and Hootie & the Blowfish did before them. Look for these guys to land a record deal very soon. — Steve Walker

Rob Jungklas

After a way-too-long hiatus, this haunting poet/songwriter is again stirring, and I am really excited about that. In all honesty, I can say that I am a better person spiritually, physically, and emotionally when I can hear Rob play his music on a regular basis. — Pam McGaha

Wayne Leeloy

The revolving lineup of Leeloy’s Memphis Troubadours [gets my vote]. Moving to Gibson’s Lounge really opened this up, and all the musicians who take part help the scene as a whole. — Todd Dudley

Eric Lewis

A great musician contributing to many different bands. Definitely one of the top guitar players in town. A must-see.

— Christopher Reyes

Loggia

These guys are really talented. Their music is very different from any other Memphis bands I have heard. It’s unfortunate (for Memphis) that they plan to move to New York at the end of the summer. Anyone who appreciates damn good songs should check out their live show while they still have the chance.

— Brad Postlethwaite

Lucero

They might be the breakout band of the year (from Memphis) with the upcoming release of their second album and their relentless touring schedule. One of the best live bands in town, if not the best. — Todd Dudley

The hardest-working and most consistently rocking band in town. Their elbow-tipping live set is like Mexican food, i.e., when it’s good, it’s fantastic; when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good and well worth the risk of stomach upset.

— Dan Ball

Memphix

Reaching into the past but looking into the future.Cold dig it.

— Jay Witherspoon

Blind Mississippi Morris

A Beale Street stalwart, Morris has proven to be the finest harmonica player to emerge from the Memphis area since James Cotton. — Dennis Brooks

Calvin Newborn

The last living member of Memphis’ famous Newborn family jazz dynasty, Calvin has never really gotten the credit he deserves, yet he writes and performs to this day, working with what he calls “omnifarious music” (music of all kinds, sorts, and types). And the story goes on

— Andria Lisle

Robert Nighthawk III

A great singer and keyboard player who can blow that “Little Walter Thang” with the best. — Brent Harding

O’Landa Draper’s Associates

Gospel music is a strong force in Memphis music that is easy to overlook but should not be forgotten. The Associates continue to raise the bar in gospel music and get national recognition.

— Jeniffer Church

Piston Honda

Smart rock without the attitude. They take the band seriously but not themselves; this is a band to move out of the way of. — Pat Mitchell

Project Pat

It makes me warm inside knowing that a song like “Chickenhead” came out of Memphis. — Andrew Earles

The zenith of the Hypnotize Minds sound.Hell, at least Mista Don’t Play: Everythangs Workin had two radio hits.It is tragic that Project Pat, aka Patrick Houston, has just been convicted for a parole violation at the beginning of a promising solo career.

— David L. Dunlap Jr.

Kim Richardson

Memphis’ greatest chance at a female Garth Brooks — Kim is poised to make some waves in Memphis and a few hours to the east as well. — Wayne Leeloy

Reba Russell

A mainstay of contemporary Memphis music, and her current album, City of the Blues, keeps her on the leading edge.

— Jerry Schilling

Eddie Smith

Flat-out the best country twanger in Memphis, an accomplished songwriter destined for greatness. — Dennis Brooks

Jim Spake

As a sideman and session player, Jim Spake turns up in more places — Sunday brunch at The Peabody, downtown with Di Anne Price, weekend gigs with the Bo-Keys, at Willie Mitchell’s Royal Studio — than most musicians dream about. The tenor and baritone saxman has accompanied everyone from Ike Turner and the Thomas family to Alex Chilton and Tav Falco’s Panther Burns. Spake keeps it pretty low-key, though — standing just out of the spotlight, he lets his music speak for itself. — Andria Lisle

Scott Sudbury

His songs are solid pop and he could have made a fortune long ago in towns like Austin or Nashvegas as a songwriter, but he’s ours.

— Pat Mitchell

Keith Sykes

This is not going to be a popular or hip choice, but Keith Sykes’ Don’t Count Us Out [is my record of the year], a beautifully written, expertly played and produced disc. Like a Cal Ripken grounder or a Hal Blaine drum lick, it’s nice to see (or hear) the unflashy, solid masters at work. — Mark Jordan

The Tearjerkers

Jack “Oblivian” Yarber leaves the garage-rock light on, and there is no better mechanic. Any Memphis music collector who doesn’t own a copy of Bad Mood Rising is missing the real point. — Dan Ball

Three Pipe Problem

An extremely humble band heavy on composition and indulgence. The first time I saw this band, I stopped what I was doing and was drawn to the stage. — Pat Mitchell

Vending Machine

Goofy-smart rock-and-roll from wailing wonder Robby Grant, Vending Machine is a subterranean classic: cool and fun in one. With such genius tunes as “Chocolate Guitarz” and “Grunt Once,” it’s damn depressing that he doesn’t dispense more live shows, especially considering the killer band that backs him up.

— Jeremy Spencer

Mose Vinson

A vastly underrated local treasure, Mose Vinson has been a Memphis piano institution for more than half a century. Most of us won’t fully appreciate Mose Vinson until he’s gone. — Andria Lisle

Brad Webb

The most prolific engineer and producer to scrap together a living in Memphis in the last 20 years.

— Daren Dortin

Charlie Wood

While his solo, nightly Beale Street gig goes unnoticed by most, nobody can argue Charlie’s exceptionally high level of musicianship. His playing, songwriting, and vocal abilities have few, if any, rivals.

— Posey Hedges

Jed Zimmerman

He’s got the songs, the voice, and the look. Now if we can just convince him to give up the day job.

— Posey Hedges

Categories
Sports Sports Feature

Jerry West Meets Memphis

Damn, it really is Jerry West. In The Peabody. In Memphis. What next? Mark McGwire to the Redbirds for a comeback? Gordie Howe to coach the RiverKings?

In his introductory press conference, West talked about visions and dreams and community and role models and family and, of course, basketball. But it was the whole package, the “darns” and “Mr. Heisley” and the sight of West’s son in a Shane Battier Grizzlies jersey that won the crowd and made it clear Memphis has a new hero.

“That’s the one thing that I would tell everyone that I work with,” West said in his modest, talkative way. “Let’s have some darn goals around here that are a little bit more lofty. Because loftier goals make you reach farther.”

West is coming to Memphis as the front-office mastermind who lured Phil Jackson out of retirement to coach the Lakers, saw Kobe Bryant’s potential when he was a junior in high school, and brought Shaq to L.A. But to a generation disillusioned with the current NBA, West will always be the player, Number 44, the guy in short pants and high socks with the flattop haircut and flat jump shot you tried to imitate. In the 1960s, there were 10 million male basketball players in the U.S.A., and every one of them would have given the keys to his car, his Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars, his Lettermen albums, and a can of Desenex to be Mr. Clutch.

West averaged 27 points a game during his career, and if he ever dunked I never saw it in over 100 televised games. He drove past the big men and layed it off the glass. Or he flicked that jump shot from way out. If you weren’t a Lakers fan, he was the last person you wanted to see with the ball at the end of the game. More than a few times, he won or tied big games with shots from well beyond half court at the buzzer.

He retired in 1974, and the game promptly changed. The next year began the infusion of high-schoolers and foreigners like Darryl Dawkins of Planet Lovetron into the NBA. West was as good in the front office as he was on the court, directing the Lakers to six titles and nine appearances in the finals. He helped put together the Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dynasty and much of the current Laker championship team. In 1998, West was named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players of all time. He was the only one besides the late Pete Maravich who did not attend the ceremony.

The West-to-Memphis announcement was big news across the Mid-South, where the Grizzlies hope to expand their local base into a regional one.

“I think that this, more than the arena or anything else, is real ratification of Memphis as big-time,” said Michael Rubenstein, executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and a sports broadcaster in Jackson for several years.

For all of West’s accomplishments, it is surprising that as a player he won only one NBA championship — that came in 1972 with Wilt Chamberlain and Gail Goodrich. The Lakers won 33 straight that year and were possibly the best team ever, but the dominant team of West’s era was the Boston Celtics. One key member of the Celtics was former Mississippi State All-American Bailey Howell.

Howell, who lives in Starkville, Mississippi, played against West for 11 years as a member of the Celtics and the Detroit Pistons.

“He was the total package,” said Howell. “Of course, he was a guard and I was a forward, so we didn’t guard each other, although occasionally you might get switched on him. In the big games, playoff games especially, he was at his best. Most great players make the game easier for their teammates, and, of course, he did that.”

On a trivia note, let the record show that Bailey Howell and Jerry West both scored their 10,000th NBA career point on the same night in the same game. West went on to score 15,192 more. If the NBA had put in the three-point shot back then, it would have been more like 20,000. Or, then again, he might still be playing.

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Music Music Features

TOP 10 Profiles

1. The North

Mississippi Allstars

A year ago, the North Mississippi Allstars were facing down the sophomore slump. Their rapturously received debut, “Shake Hands With Shorty”, had made them national names and a self-conscious music scene’s great hope.

The band’s nimble, exploratory take on the hill-country blues tradition brought a regional music home to jam-band kids across the land, but you can only cover R.L. Burnside and Fred McDowell for so long before people begin wondering what else you’ve got in your arsenal.

But the Allstars answered whatever doubts may have existed in the opening moments of their sophomore album, 51 Phantom, when singer-guitarist Luther Dickinson lets loose some trademark slide-guitar runs and then growls out lyrics that prove the band has mastered the verbal tradition of the blues as well as the musical one: “Late in the evening, ’bout this time of night/51 Phantom gets to feelin’ right/Memphis to New Orleans, the 51 I ride/White lightning flashin’ cross the Mississippi sky.” And then he punctuates the line with a little ghostly howl to seal the deal.

Though locals — and this is a band that Memphis cares deeply about — seem split on whether they prefer the slightly new-look Allstars to the world-boogie missionaries that everyone had grown so accustomed to, there’s little doubt that 51 Phantom, with its crisper, more rock-oriented sound and reliance on original material, has confirmed the band’s staying power, even if it’s unclear whether it’s expanded their audience. The record has met with a strong response from national media outlets and the video for “Sugartown” has been airing on MTV2 and HBO’s Zone.

The band’s past year began with a massive performance at the 2001 Beale Street Music Fest, and their incessant touring schedule hasn’t let up much since. But, in addition to the band’s busy touring in support of 51 Phantom, much of the past year has been spent adding some of that world-boogie spirit to other projects. First, Luther and Cody Dickinson lent their talents to Smiling Assassin, a solo album from Widespread Panic keyboardist John Hermann, and subsequently toured with Hermann. Then the whole band joined jazz keyboardist John Medeski (of Medeski, Martin, & Wood) and steel-guitar virtuoso Robert Randolph on the instrumental gospel project, The Word, bringing yet another regional and subcultural style to a mass audience that may have otherwise never discovered it. Most recently, both Luther and Cody can be found on Keep It Coming, a new album from 20 Miles, aka Jon Spencer Blues Explosion guitarist Judah Bauer.

— Chris Herrington

Next local show: Friday, May 3rd, at the New Daisy Theatre.

Voter comments:

What a surprise. Jim Dickinson’s kid can play. Luther has had a big part in bringing the younger crowd back to the blues. A little bit Muddy and a little bit Garcia. Wow! — Brent Harding

Although I prefer it when they channel old, salty bluesmen instead of Duane Allman, these guys are still the saltiest young dogs on the scene. — Lisa Lumb

Well, it ain’t my thing, but they’re top-notch people. They’re also helping out other hometown homies like Lucero. I hope they get rich.

— Chris Walker

2. Richard Johnston

For the crowds of tourists who stroll down Beale Street on Friday and Saturday nights and find themselves captivated by this guy in front of the New Daisy Theatre playing drums with his feet, guitar or diddly bow with his hands, and hollering out blues standards with his mighty lungs, Richard Johnston could be just another street musician — which, on these nights, is what he so proudly is. But how many of them know they’re watching one of the true rising stars in Memphis music?

The past year has been one long coming-out party for Johnston, the former member of the Soul Blues Boys (the house band at the late Junior Kimbrough’s Mississippi juke joint) and struggling Beale Street performer. A year ago, Johnston was fresh off winning the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge — becoming the first artist in the talent search’s 17 years to win the main competition as well as the Albert King Award for the most promising guitarist — and was preparing to showcase his unique one-man-band approach to the blues world at the Handy Awards.

Johnston’s breakout year climaxed in January with the incandescent release party for his lovely self-produced debut, Foot Hill Stomp, a show at which Johnston played ringleader for an all-night, revue-style celebration of the area blues scene that has nurtured him, bringing friends and influences such as Brad Webb and Blind Mississippi Morris, the Burnside Exploration, the Soul Blues Boys, and, most memorably, Othar Turner. Johnston has also drawn hill-country matriarch Jessie Mae Hemphill back into the public eye through her crucial contributions to Foot Hill Stomp and recent joint appearances.

The Handy exposure made Johnston a popular draw on the blues festival circuit — he’ll be touring Norway and Finland in July and August, playing a couple of dates in Norway with fellow Memphian Robert Belfour — but when he’s not on the road, Memphians have the pleasure of seeing him and sometimes his new band, the Foot Hill Stompers, at his standing Wednesday night shows at the Flying Saucer downtown and his frequent weekend performances on Beale.

— Chris Herrington

Next local performance: Sunday, May 5th, at 2:15 p.m. in the NBA Yahoo Blues Tent at the Beale Street Music Fest.

Voter comments:

If there was ever an artist to say that he did it his way, R.J. is the man. Not only is he an uncompromised, raw talent, but his story is amazing. He has suffered for his craft and broken new ground along the way. In the past, he left everything to live in the presence of the living greats like Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside and to learn what it meant to live the blues, not just play them. He knew that he had to get inside the mind of the hill-country men to really understand what they were playing and how to make it work. And he did. The lesson here is almost biblical: “Take up your Lowe Bow and follow me, you will be a fisher of men and song … . ” Look out for the lightning.

— Wayne Leeloy

What Johnston’s doing is not original — combining aspects of Junior Kimbrough, Joe Hill Louis, and Lonnie Pitchford, among others — but few have ever done it as well as Johnston. He’s simply a badass guitarist (or diddly bow-ist), he sings with more passion than just about anyone else in town, and the Johnny Depp look-alike has got charisma to spare.

— Mark Jordan

Since Beale Street reopened in the early ’80s, no one [on the street] has commanded the attention that Johnston [has]. His unique hill-country style is popular with all ages. Johnston’s approach to the record industry is trendsetting, with a Handy Award and Grammy awaiting. — Dennis Brooks

Setting the blues establishment on fire. Not good at all but significant for this reason.

— Eric Friedl

3.(tie) CORY BRANAN

Cory Branan’s The Hell You Say isn’t just the best Memphis record of the past year. It’s the best record about Memphis, although it’s hard to believe he wrote about a bar where “Everyone except the band looks like a rock star/And everyone except for you can go to hell” before he started playing the swank confines of the Gibson Lounge.

With all due apologies to Lucero and the Subteens, who have fruitfully mined similar territory, “Pale Moon On Paper Town” is the greatest song anyone’s gonna write about wasting another night in a Midtown bar (where “You hear the girls/You know just where you are”). On that song, Branan looks up from “a table full of empties” and muses that “it’s never a good sign when the whole state line is outlined in chalk,” while on “One of Theirs,” he similarly captures local bar culture in vivid strokes, catching a glimpse of “local girls with imported beers … sinking in their chairs.” But the clincher is the epic “Green Street Lullaby (Dark Sad Song),” an utterly serious anti-love song to the city that comes with a deadly humorous edge. It begins with a sketch of a local singer playing a regular gig, one who “Starts a song about the highway/But it ain’t going anywhere.” It’s a song about the struggle against entropy in a city of stifling comfort and the sense that, whatever music heritage the city has, you have to head elsewhere to get anything done. It’s a song about trying to make it as a musician in a town where “Mosquitoes hum like window units/But you gotta move if you want a breeze.”

And it’s that song that seems key to Cory Branan’s year. Last spring, Branan was fresh off winning the Premier Newcomer Award at the local music industry’s annual Premier Player Awards and on the verge of releasing his astonishing debut album. On the surface it doesn’t seem like much has happened since. But Branan has been busy. After talk of some Nashville-based labels getting involved, The Hell You Say will finally be released nationally later this year by local label MADJACK. Branan recently spent a month in Los Angeles working with a new publicist in anticipation of the release, returned to Memphis last month to perform and present at the Premier Player Awards (and to record some new tracks for the album), and will soon be headed to New York for a club residency. So it’s taken a while, but it looks like The Hell You Say will finally get a shot at the larger audience it deserves. — Chris Herrington

Next local show: A solo gig on

Thursday, May 2nd, at the Hi-Tone Café and on Sunday, May 5th, at 5 p.m.

on the Gossett Volkswagen Stage at the

Beale Street Music Fest.

Voter comments:

Some might say Cory is so “last year,” but I say there’s more to him, musically, than we’ve seen yet … more than he even knows about. My recommendation? Take it on the road, way out there, and see what happens. — Posey Hedges

Cory’s ability to weave a poignant story or simply laugh at himself lends his songwriting a refreshing quality. And with his recent sabbatical in L.A., one can only think that his repertoire will continue to grow. — Deni Carr

[Branan is here for] the vitality of his songwriting expertise, which I feel is essential to the local music scene, because this ultimately serves to fuel the musical and lyrical educations of all the other artists around him and raises the bar for everything that comes after him.

— Richard Cushing

With his debut album about to be released nationally, Cory Branan could just sit back and enjoy the accolades, but we all know that he ain’t that type of guy. Keep an eye — and both ears — on this one, and you’ll be able to say, “I knew him when … ” — Andria Lisle

3.(tie) THE REIGNING SOUND

The Premier Player Awards are a source of constant frustration to those of us who actually listen to virtually every local release. The fact that the Reigning Sound was not nominated for best band is a shame, and the fact that Greg Cartwright has yet to receive a nod as best songwriter is a borderline crime. Not that he would even care. Perhaps Cartwright’s work with the Compulsive Gamblers was too raw to meet certain standards, and there can be little doubt that while the Oblivians were big enough to merit a spread in Variety, lyrics like “I’m not a sicko, there’s a plate in my head” were punk enough to insulate them (and thereby him) from a typically Bealecentric clique of voters. But by the time Cartwright started recording with the Tip Tops in the mid-’90s, his softer side had begun to show. The punk facade dropped away and what remained was nothing short of astounding. Here is an artist able to merge garage rock, pure country, gospel, folk, blues, and soul and imbue this hybrid with the finest qualities of mid-century pop. Here is also a songwriter confident enough to step out from the camouflage of noise rock to embrace complexity and polish without fear of being labeled a sellout.

Break Up, Break Down, Cartwright’s first disc with the Reigning Sound, is a “hot damn” record filled with beautiful anthems to shattered nerves and castles made of lies, with Alex Green (early Big Ass Truck) contributing on the keys and bassist Jeremy Scott and drummer Greg Roberson laying down luscious R&B-inspired grooves. When Cartwright opens up his gut, converting lyrics like “You never call, though the pain is often grievous/You just lay there paralyzed” into the soaring melodic epiphany of “Since when do you apologize?/It was there all along in your eyes,” it’s easy to see why they call themselves the Reigning Sound. They sure as hell don’t need anybody’s seal of approval.

Word has it that the next disc — Time Bomb High School on In The Red — is even better and due out soon. Not soon enough.

— Chris Davis

Next local show:

Heading out for the West Coast

in May, with the Hives, but they’ll be back at the Hi-Tone Café

on Saturday, June 8th, with

Mr. Airplane Man.

Voter comments:

I like my roots rock to point to the Byrds, the Gun Club, ’60s L.A. folk, and real country. The Reigning Sound do this like a walk to the drugstore. — Andrew Earles

A highlight of my year was hearing the Reigning Sound cover the Guillotines’ “I Don’t Believe” and Tommy Burk and the Counts’ “Stormy Weather” at Robert Gordon’s It Came From Memphis reissue party. It’s great to have a good old-fashioned garage band in town and even better to hear them paying homage to the garage greats before them. — Pam McGaha

Listening to Greg Cartwright and his R&B edge-cutters pumping out blistering original material and breathing new life into standards like “Stormy Weather” makes all too clear what Beale Street is so sorrowfully lacking. — Dan Ball

5. SALIVA

Flamboyant lead singer Josey Scott and his band of hard-rock heroes had the kind of year a Memphis rock band hasn’t seen in decades, if ever. The band’s major-label debut, Every Six Seconds, had the requisite post-industrial darkness and hip-hop-bred interest in beats and rhymes to fit in with the current metal boom, but it also had the glammy, feel-good swagger of the ’80s metal the band came up on. And with the full power of the corporate entertainment complex behind them, the band became massive, selling gold and landing a Grammy nomination for the lead single “Your Disease.”

Along the way, the sound of Saliva has become a ubiquitous fixture on television commercials and Hollywood soundtracks (Resident Evil, Not Another Teen Movie, The Fast and the Furious, WWF Forced Entry, and Spider-Man, for starters). And Saliva have toured nationally with some of hard rock’s other buzz bands, including Nickelback and Sum 41. The band, winner of the Recording Academy’s Premier Player Award last month for the city’s best band, has begun working on material for its follow-up album, tentatively titled Back Into Your System, and should begin recording in Vancouver later this year.

A year ago, Saliva played a coming-home party at the Beale Street Music Fest. This year, they’re back but on the festival’s main stage, playing just before Kid Rock. Should be a party. — Chris Herrington

Next local show:

Friday, May 3rd, at 9:10 p.m. on the AutoZone Stage at the

Beale Street Music Fest.

Voter comments:

Not so good but significant nationally. Memphis is not Midtown. — Eric Friedl

[They belong because] I feel it is absolutely essential for any music market (and especially for Memphis!) to export the best of what it has to offer to the worldwide public through incessant touring, national and international releases, Grammy nominations, and TV and radio exposure. — Richard Cushing

They were nominated for a Grammy and still hang out in the Memphis music scene. Gotta love that. — Deni Carr

6. ALVIN YOUNGBLOOD HART

It’s a bit of a mystery how Alvin Youngblood Hart failed to crack the Top 10 of this poll last year, since he was riding the wave of his wonderful, Jim Dickinson-produced Start With the Soul album. But whatever the reason — more frequent local gigs, the use of Memphis musicians (the Pawtuckets’ Mark Stuart and the Star-Crossed Truckers’ John Argroves) in his backup band, the city coming to its senses — Hart seemed to be embraced by his adopted city more in the past year than he had before.

Part of a brave new school of blues performers (see also Corey Harris), Hart is just as likely to drop into his sets a torrid classic-rock cover (Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones being particular faves) or a bit of cosmic country (Doug Sahm’s “Lawd, I’m Just a Country Boy In This Great Big Freaky City” always a highlight) as he is to rely on vintage country blues. And Hart demonstrated this streak of stylistic adventurousness at The Orpheum last month when, performing as part of the Premier Player Awards tribute to Sun Records, he delivered a souped-up version of the Johnny Cash classic “Folsom Prison Blues.”

It’s been a while since Start With the Soul, but fans aching for some new music from Hart shouldn’t have to wait long. Hart recently hooked up with Dickinson again to record Down In the Alley, a country blues record set to be released later this summer by the new Memphis International Records, a label co-founded by Memphis-based entertainment consultant David Less.

— Chris Herrington

Next local show:

Nothing scheduled now, but keep eyes peeled.

Voter comments:

From W.C. Handy to Al Green to Jeff Buckley, some of the more interesting chapters in Memphis music history have been written by artists who aren’t native to the Bluff City but who wound up following or finding their muse here anyway. In a town that has often encouraged and inspired its musicians to blend their influences and blur the lines between musical styles, is there a better musical alchemist in Memphis right now than Alvin Youngblood Hart?

— Steve Walker

Hart had a good thing going as a neo-traditional bluesman when he decided to record an album of Hendrix-drenched rock. Then, when he was asked to play a song by a Sun Records artist at this year’s Premier Player Awards, he didn’t pick Howlin’ Wolf but Johnny Cash, turning in a James Gang version of “Folsom Prison Blues.” In a town that segregates itself often without thinking, it’s great to have someone around again who so willfully crosses borders. — Mark Jordan

Just finished a CD on Hart with Jim Dickinson. Alvin played some old dobros and banjos he has around the house. Furry Lewis would have been as amazed at Alvin’s music as we were.

— Posey Hedges

7. THE BLOODTHIRSTY LOVERS

Why would Dave Shouse, whose bands the Grifters and Those Bastard Souls earned a national reputation much larger than record sales begin to suggest, put together yet another group? After all, during the indie heyday, every other music ’zine in the country made it clear — the Grifters are one of the best rock-and-roll bands on the planet. Shouse’s side-project-turned-main-trick, Those Bastard Souls, sporting as much glam and polish as the Grifters had grit and power, likewise burst on the scene to glowing reviews.

“I follow a compulsive muse and she had new tricks up her sleeve,” Shouse says, explaining that his new material didn’t fit with the five tracks already in the can for Those Bastard Souls’ next outing. Also, core Bastard Souls players are scattered from New York to Australia, which makes jamming a logistical nightmare. Also, the loops and sequences crucial to the new sound would, according to Shouse, “deny [fellow Grifters] Tripp [Lampkins] and Stan [Gallimore] the ability to work their own special brand of rhythm-section magic.” So it was time to go back to the drawing board.

The Bloodthirsty Lovers’ sound — pop-rocktronica, bordering on prog — may be far removed from previous efforts, but Shouse’s plaintive lyrics continue to mine pop culture, finding gritty commentary in some unlikely places. When he sang with the Grifters about being kidnapped by spacemen, it was always closer in spirit to Hank Williams’ “You’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive” than The X-Files. Now when he sings about “Plastic Man” with the Lovers, images of a hero stretched to the limits prevail over Jack Cole’s zany comic book. Add to Shouse’s peculiar genius the classical sensibilities of the Satyrs’ melancholic Jason Paxton and the virtuosity of peripatetic rhythm ace Paul Taylor and you have the Bloodthirsty Lovers in all their glory.

Booking agent Robin Taylor, who handles such groups as Modest Mouse and Beachwood Sparks, scored the Lovers The Village Voice party gig at the most recent South By Southwest music festival in Austin, and they recently did four dates with Dayton’s finest drunks, Guided By Voices. The group’s eponymous release can be found at your finer record stores.

— Chris Davis

Next local show:

A tempting Music Fest

alternative on Friday, May 3rd, at Young Avenue Deli,

with Picked-To-Click

chart-toppers Snowglobe.

Voter comments:

Former Grifter/Bastard Soul Dave Shouse has been listening to a lot of Radiohead and U2 lately and using them to make his own great, distinct music. But when he teams with Shelby Bryant, Jason Paxton, and Paul Taylor in the all-star live version of this project, it is simply transcendent. — Mark Jordan

Just signed with one of the best booking agents in the business. Will be very popular, very fast.

— Chris Walker

The latest project from David Shouse moves him deeper into his prog-/glam-rock musings while simultaneously maintaining his unique, contemporary, and decidedly un-Memphis concerns.

— Dan Ball

8.(tie) THREE 6 MAFIA

The past year has been up and down for this Memphis rap dynasty. First lady Gangsta Boo, soon after the release of what promised to be a very successful sophomore album, changed her name to Lady Boo and disowned the band’s hardcore persona in favor of gospel-inspired music. Then the debut album from gangsta-moll-in-training La Chat failed to drum up much excitement. Finally, the group’s biggest current star, solo rapper Project Pat (Patrick Houston, the brother of Three 6 leader Jordan “Jazzy J” Houston) was convicted in March of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

But, on the positive side of the ledger, the group continued to produce hits, most prominently with Project Pat’s Mista Don’t Play and with the summertime single “2-Way Freak.” The group also branched out into new territory with the straight-to-video feature film Choices, a gritty morality play cum gangster flick that went platinum.

The next year will be a crucial one for the city’s most prominent music enterprise. With a new Three 6 Mafia album on the horizon and possibly a follow-up to Mista Don’t Play (the release of Project Pat’s new album has been delayed several times), we’ll soon find out how relevant the Three 6 crew are on an ever-changing hip-hop landscape. — Chris Herrington

Next local show:

Sunday, May 5th, at 5:40 p.m. on the AutoZone Stage at the

Beale Street Music Fest.

Voter comments:

With Project Pat in jail and Gangsta Boo doing the Lord’s work, one might think Memphis’ primary rap dynasty was on the skids. But La Chat easily filled Boo’s position, and, if the release of last year’s Choices is any indication, Three 6’s work is more compelling and creative than ever. “2-Way Freak” is a masterpiece.

— Andria Lisle

They’re still an incredible force to be reckoned with in Memphis, but you almost have to wonder if they’ve got any new tricks up their sleeves, anything to help them stay relevant in a rap world where most hardcore gangsta rappers are watching their record sales dwindle away. A group at the crossroads. — Steve Walker

8.(tie) THE SUBTEENS

“The [Young Avenue] Deli doesn’t seem to mind,” says the Subteens’ charismatic yet vaguely Frankensteinesque frontman, Mark Akin, of his retina-damaging proclivity for stripping down to nothing but a stoopid smile. “But I imagine if we quit selling beers for them, they’d mind a whole lot more.”

Bassist Jay Hines has said of his bandmate’s famous exhibitionism: “We’re probably the only rhythm section that can play an entire three-song encore with our eyes closed.”

But skin and sin aside, the Subteens continue to earn their ever-growing crowds with a stand-and-deliver ethos that translates into the sweatiest rock-and-roll show the Bluff City has to offer. The band’s combination of shimmering pop and punk allows them to cover the Ramones and Billy Joel in the same set — and with a straight face. In the boredom-drenched world of a Subteens original, girlfriends exist only to provide a reason for young men to go wrong, and it’s hard to tell whether the stumbling alcoholics they essay should be the object of pity or envy. Theirs is the same accidentally existential landscape that Big Star defined in their teenage anthem “In the Street,” a never-ending parking lot filled with equal parts possibility and disappointment. Every big score, like every big heartbreak, is a big excuse to rock, and with Bubba Bonds maniacally banging away at the drums, rock is the word.

Since recording their 9-song CD Burn Your Cardigan in 1999, the Subteens have gone from power trio to powerful quartet by adding Terrence Bishop on guitar. “We actually thought a triangle player would be just the thing,” says Hines of the change in lineup, “but we couldn’t find anyone.”

Triangle or no, the beefed-up group is currently working on their next release, a full-length CD with the dubious working title Cory Branan’s Broken Heart. Since signing with local bookers Snax Memphis and a new management company out of Atlanta, the boys spend most weekends on the road, so catch them when you can.

— Chris Davis

Next local show:

Friday, May 17th, at the Young

Avenue Deli, with like-minded

Arkansans Go Fast.

Voter comments:

Their eye-popping live shows and ear-catching songs have created a buzz for these guys for a long time. And their ballsy approach with covers (AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie” and Billy Joel’s “You May Be Right,” for example) helps keep the Subteens worry-free when it comes to packing a club. But, with no follow-up to 1999’s Burn Your Cardigan, fans have to wonder about their prolificacy. — Nicole Ward

Hey, the Ramones are gone (R.I.P., Joey), and it’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. — Lisa Lumb

These guys embody all that is rock-and-roll, and while it might not always be pretty, it’s always gritty and it’s always real, live, sweaty, heady, raucous, raw, ruthless, raunchy, bare-assed mayhem. Enter at your own risk! — Pam McGaha

10. THE LOST SOUNDS

“This town is filled with reasons to kill/But everybody wants to play the blues,” the Lost Sounds’ Alicja Trout croons near the outset of the band’s most recent, and best, album, the epic Black-Wave, and nothing else so poetically captures the band’s place in relation to Memphis music’s polite society. More so than anyone else on this list, the Lost Sounds are on the outside looking in, but they probably wouldn’t have it any other way.

Yet the pop climate could be turning in the band’s direction. The relative commercial success of bands such as the Strokes, the White Stripes, and (more relevant to the Lost Sounds’ sonic concerns) Clinic and And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead hints at a growing dissent from the guitar-rock status quo. If there’s a rock revolution, this is one band you’d want leading the troops into battle. Led by the guitar/synthesizer/vocal mega-duo of Trout and Jay Reatard, the Lost Sounds may offer the loudest and most blisteringly confrontational live show in town, but they’re also a far more serious and accomplished lot than those taking a passing glance might think.

Black-Wave, easily one of the strongest local records of the past year, is a home-recorded tour de force that deepens considerably with repeated listens, with emotional and melodic undercurrents as forceful as its full-on noize-rock exterior.

The ultimate termite artists, this extremely prolific band just keeps digging deeper into their own music with a torrent of releases planned for a variety of indie labels, including the song “Total Destruction” on the new Fields and Streams compilation from Olympia punk label Kill Rock Stars, an outtakes-and-demos LP on the Italian label Hater Records, the live album Rats’ Brains and Microchips, Radio Waves and Bloody Lips on a new label out of New York, and, later this fall, the official follow-up to Black-Wave on Seattle’s Empty Records. Do your best to keep up, because this bunch won’t be slowing down for you.

— Chris Herrington

Next local show:

Friday, May 24th, at the Hi-Tone Café, with New York’s Oneida.

Voter comments:

The dynamic duo of Jay Reatard and Alicja Trout could kick the White Stripes’ asses any day. These Memphis no-wavers may look — and sound — dead-serious, but they have a darkly entertaining side as well. (Check out the cover of last year’s Black-Wave LP.) Not music for the masses, but they never fail to get a reaction from anyone within hearing range. — Andria Lisle

From synth-driven, scuzz-punk singles to double-record gatefold self-indulgence in less than two years. Who knew that dystopian prog-rock was where Jay Reatard and Alicja Trout were headed all along? — David L. Dunlap Jr.

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News

Lost On the Links

Before we tee off at Saint Andrews, we must digress for a golf story. In its first century of existence, golf was banned by King James II of Scotland in 1457, because he felt it was distracting young men from their archery practice. This ban was held for 45 years — one can imagine the tension: golfing versus defending the realm — until 1502, when James IV, that wayward grandson, gave it up and started playing golf himself. So, if you play golf, you may lay the blame on James IV of Scotland.

With history ringing all around me, I walked to the first tee at Saint Andrews in something of a daze. I came over a slight rise and was awakened by a 30 mph wind right in my face. Now, I thought, I feel like I’m on a golf course.

I am accustomed to a range of problems on the golf course, but standing on that windswept plain of grass and heather, without a single tree, there were no indications which way the first hole went. Off on the horizon, halfway home to Memphis, looking right into the wind, I could see a solitary flag. Certainly that wasn’t my target. But it was the only one I could see. So, with too much pride to ask the starter for directions, I pulled out a driver, swung with the might of the ages, and when my first shot at Saint Andrews was complete, I could still read the label on the ball. Nine additional shots later, I had finished my first hole and remembered that I didn’t really like playing golf.

There were two shots of note that day — of positive note, that is. One was getting out of a bunker which should have come equipped with a ladder or a rescue team. Standing in it and facing the flag, I could see naught but a wall of green 10 feet high. I was sufficiently steamed at being there — for I had been wronged by the wind — so I took out a wedge and my frustrations, and, lo and behold, the ball ricocheted off that wall of green straight into the air and disappeared. I crawled on hands and knees out of the bunker, traversed the peak between myself and the green, and was astonished to see my ball sitting just three feet from the hole. Under more pressure than a non-golfer can know, for it was a par putt, I centered myself and sank it then pumped my fists wildly out there alone on the windswept plain.

The next hole — and my last, for the rental clubs were due — was the 10th, and for once the wind was at my back. If you’ve ever wondered why the first nine holes are called “out” and the last nine “in,” it’s because at Saint Andrews, back in 1400 when they hacked a path through the bushes for the first time, they went away from the starting point for a while then turned and played their way back. And if you’ve ever wondered why they play 18 holes instead of, say, 19, it’s because that’s how many they first built at Saint Andrews. I now made “the turn” and assaulted the 10th hole. Fourteen-hundred, by the way, was also my approximate score at that point.

With help from Ma Nature, I arrived greenside on the par 4 in just two shots. The green was the size of Tom Lee Park. (Some of Saint Andrews’ greens have two different holes on them and can produce putts up to 100 yards long.) So when I putted for the three, striking the ball after a nearly full backswing, I was really thinking of the five I might get later. But the ball headed for the flag like a colt for its mother, like water for a drain, like a Scot for a pub. In spite of all its previous wanderings, it stayed true to course, even as my wonder and enthusiasm built. The damned thing looked like it had finally realized its purpose. I stood transfixed as it closed in, then with a loud, rattling clank, it struck the flagstick and disappeared.

In the history of golf at Saint Andrews, which is to say in the history of golf, no celebration has matched the show I put on that moment. I shouted, danced, leapt, fell, and wallowed. I would be truly embarrassed by it, except that no one saw me, it being a miserable March day when nobody else was out there. I finally collected myself and, so that I could later brag to the fellas back at Galloway, counted the steps between me and the ball-filled hole. Thirty-seven. That’s about an 85-footer, I’ll have you know, and a birdie at that.

I then made a rare good decision. Despite the fact that I could probably have squeezed in one more hole, I made like a Scot and headed for the pub.

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

Tired Of Labels

If I weren’t a Jew, I might be called an anti-Semite. I have occasionally been critical of Israel. I have occasionally taken the Palestinians’ side. I have always maintained that the occupation of the West Bank is wrong, and while I am, to my marrow, a supporter of Israel, I insist that the Palestinian cause — although sullied by terrorism — is a worthy one.

In Israel itself, these positions would hardly be considered remarkable. People with similar views serve in Parliament. They write columns for the newspapers. And while they are sometimes vehemently criticized — such is the rambunctious nature of Israel’s democratic din — they are not called either anti-Semites or self-hating Jews.

I cannot say the same about America. Here, criticism of Israel, particularly anti-Zionism, is equated with anti-Semitism.

Few people have written more often about Arab anti-Semitism than me. I have come at this subject time and time again, so often that I have feared becoming a bore. Arab anti-Semitism not only exists, it is often either state-sponsored or state-condoned, and it is only getting worse.

But that hardly means that anti-Zionism — hating, opposing, fighting Israel — is the same as anti-Semitism, hating Jews anywhere on account of supposedly inherent characteristics. If I were a Palestinian living in a refugee camp, I might very well hate Israel for my plight — never mind its actual cause — and I even might not like Jews in general.

After all, Israel proclaims itself the Jewish state. It officially celebrates Jewish holidays, including the Sabbath on Saturday. It allows the orthodox rabbinate to control secular matters, such as marriage, and, of course, it offers citizenship to any person who can reasonably claim to be Jewish. This so-called right of return permits such a person to “return” to a place where he or she has never been. Palestinians must find this simply astonishing.

To equate anti-Zionists or critics of Israel in general with anti-Semites is to liken them to the Nazis or the rampaging mobs of the pogroms. It says that their hatred is unreasonable, unfathomable, based on some crackpot racial theory or some misguided religious zealotry. It dismisses all criticism, no matter how legitimate, as rooted in prejudice and therefore without any validity.

When Israel recently jailed and then deported four pro-Palestinian Swedes, two of whom are physicians, under the misguided policy of seeing all Palestinian sympathizers as enemies of the state, that is an action that ought to be condemned — and the Swedes who have done so ought not be considered anti-Semites. A column by Gideon Levy made the point that Israel cannot reject and rebut all criticism by reciting the mantra “The whole world is against us.”

The same holds for American Jews. To turn a deaf ear to the demands of Palestinians, to dehumanize them all as bigots, only exacerbates the hatred on both sides. The Palestinians do have a case. Their methods are sometimes — maybe often — execrable, but that does not change the fact that they are a people without a state. As long as that persists, so too will their struggle.

The only way out of the current mess is for each side to listen to what the other is saying. To protest living conditions on the West Bank is not anti-Semitism. To condemn the increasing encroachment of Jewish settlements is not anti-Semitism. To protest the cuffing that the Israelis sometimes give the international press is not anti-Semitism either.

To suggest, finally, that Ariel Sharon is a rejectionist who provocatively egged on the Palestinians is not anti-Semitism. It is a criticism no more steeped in bigotry than the assertion that Yasir Arafat is a liar who cannot be trusted. That does not make me anti-Arab — just a realist who is sick and tired of lazy labels.

Richard Cohen is a member of the Washington Post Writers Group. His columns frequently appear in the Flyer.

Categories
News News Feature

CITY BEAT

CHAIN SAWS 1, TREES 0

The last undeveloped waterfront in downtown Memphis suddenly looks like a logging camp after the woods have been clear-cut.

The 21.5-acre site on Mud Island between the Auction Street Bridge and the entrance to Mud Island River Park is directly across from The Pyramid. Until last month, it had survived as a forest through 15 years of development on the island. Then, in about a week, developer Kevin Hyneman who has owned the property for about two years, cut down almost all of the trees. Now they are littered across the landscape just in time for the opening of the park and the Memphis In May International Festival.

It isn’t clear what will eventually happen to the property. In addition to Hyneman, Harbor Town developer Henry Turley and the Riverfront Development Corporation have a keen interest in it and there has been talk of some kind of joint venture. There are actually two sets of plans on file at the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development.

One has been dormant since June of 2001 when Hyneman indefinitely postponed a scheduled appearance before the Land Use Control Board. That plan, called Grand Island Planned Development, would split the property into three parts including a frontage strip of 25 residential lots, ten acres of “passive recreation” between the road frontage and the Wolf River Harbor, and another parcel for offices, condominiums, and a ten-story hotel which would be twice the height of anything else on the island.

Hyneman’s partners in Grand Island are Johnny Earwood and Davis Engineering Company. Hyneman is primarily a builder of low-cost and mid-priced homes in the suburbs, although he has done one subdivision on Mud Island as well.

“We propose to provide an attractive streetscape in character with, if not superior to, the existing Island Drive streetscape north of the property,” wrote Dan Frazier of Davis Engineering. Hyneman could not be reached for comment.

Grand Island plans drew opposition last year from the Riverfront Development Corporation and the Center City Commission. The Office of Planning and Development said it would need more information before the plans could be considered for approval.

“The creation of a suburban-style development on this property is not appropriate,” wrote RDC President Benny Lendermon in response to Frazier’s letter. “The proposed use is extremely shortsighted.”

The other plan for the property was approved by the Land Use Control Board in 1999. It changed the zoning from highway commercial to multiple-dwelling residential. It was submitted by the previous owner, Echelon Residential, based in Dallas. Echelon developed the apartments next to AutoZone Park between Union and Madison before selling its Mud Island land to Hyneman. The Echelon at Mud Island plans included some 450 residential units.

Further complicating matters, Echelon submitted its plans at about the same time the RDC was being established as a public-private partnership. The RDC has commissioned a master plan for the riverfront, but it remains to be seen how much of it will be implemented. The Mud Island site shapes up as its first key test.

Hyneman began clearing the property two weeks ago. Virtually all of it was stripped bare except for a few large trees still standing at the edge of the Wolf River Harbor.

Lendermon said there were five or six trees along the road frontage that could have stood, but the others probably would have been cut for any large development. The part next to the Wolf River Harbor drops off to well below flood stage and will require at least 20 feet of fill, engineering reports say. A small triangle of land at the north end of the property next to the Auction Street Bridge still has trees on it. It is owned by a group that includes Turley.