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Music Music Features

Soul Man and American Idol

“Moore, 70, was already a veteran of gospel and R&B groups when he met Dave Prater at a club in Miami, Florida, in 1961. Musically, the two fit together like bacon and corn bread, and when Jerry Wexler signed them to the Atlantic Records family in 1965, assigning them to Atlantic partner Stax Records, they finally had a label that knew how to use them.

“The duo was teamed with writer/producers Isaac Hayes and David Porter, and with the crack musical support of Booker T. and the MG’s and the Memphis Horns, cranked out a series of soul classics: ‘You Don’t Know Like I Know,’ ‘When Something Is Wrong With My Baby,’ ‘Hold On, I’m Comin’, ‘Soul Man,’ ‘I Thank You.’

“Their nickname was ‘Double Dynamite.’ But socially, the two got to the point where they could barely stand each other, a condition that affected their shows. …”

Read the rest of this profile of Soul Man Sam Moore here, including news about his new album with American Idol’s Randy Jackson. Dawg!

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News

Romeo Dallaire Talk

Romeo Dallaire, a U.N. commander in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, will speak tonight as part of Facing History and Ourselves Community Conversations.

To get more information on the talk, go here.

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Sports Sports Feature

Bonzi’s Blues

Over his two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, Bonzi Wells averaged 11.3 points and 3.3 rebounds . . . and apparently got along with no one. Chris Mannix at SI.com ponders just why Wells remains an unsigned free agent (he spent last season in Sacramento) as the NBA season approaches. Send some good karma poor Bonzi’s way as you read.

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News

Car for Sale

A generous 2003 Ferrari Enzo owner has donated the $1 million auto to be auctioned off during St. Jude‘s lavish Runway for Life gala Friday night in Beverly Hills.

The car goes up to 217 mph, and only 399 of the 2003 model were manufactured and sold. Another car was made and given to Pope John Paul II.

Bidding opens at a measly $875,000.

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Politics Politics Feature

Tate Gets Democrats’ Senate Nod

Architect Reginald Tate on Thursday night was named Democratic nominee for the District 33 state Senate seat vacated for “health reasons” two weeks ago by Tennessee Waltz indictee Kathryn Bowers. Tate, buoyed by a solid bloc of votes from members of the Shelby County Democratic Party’s “Chism faction” (after political broker/Shelby County Commissioner Sidney Chism), defeated four other applicants for the position. His nearest competitor was veteran county employee Ed Stanton Jr., father of recent congressional hopeful Ed Stanton III. Tate will be heavily favored over Republican Michael Floyd in November.

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News

WREG Channel 3 to be Sold

The New York Times Company announced Tuesday that it would sell its nine television stations, including WREG Channel 3 in Memphis. The stations are all profitable, the company said, but it wants to focus on its print newspapers and digital properties.

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Politics Politics Feature

The Shake on Jake

It ain’t over yet in the District 9 congressional race. State Senator Steve Cohen, the Democratic nominee, is still favored (especially after last week’s double-mayor endorsement coup), but the independent candidacy of Jake Ford has acquired some stout Ford-family backing.
And Republican Mark White’s still there, too. For more, go to “Political Beat”.

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Sports Sports Feature

Naked Man Alert! Part II

Found on Performing Males, a site dedicated to stories of men nude in public: The Detroit Free Press reports that Joe Cullen, former assistant coach at Ole Miss and current assistant coach for the Detroit Lions, was arrested for driving while naked. A week later, he was arrested for DUI.

Cullen, an Ed Orgeron hire, was fired from Ole Miss last year for an incident involving drinking.

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News

Oh, Jesus

This just in: The Tennessee Governmental Prayer Alliance is being launched on Wednesday in all 95 counties of Tennessee. According to its press release the TGPA “works to build a canopy of prayer over our governmental leaders in our state and nation.”

The TGPA is an offshoot of the National Governmental Prayer Alliance, which led a prayer to get George W. Bush elected president in 2000.

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News

Woohoo! Biodiesel!

According to Biodiesel Magazine’s Web site, Milagro Biofuels of Memphis produced its first biodiesel Monday in an old cotton oil mill.

Milagro is waiting for samples sent to the EPA to be certified and expects to begin selling its product by the end of September. Oddly enough, Harold Ford, Jr., the congressman currently running for U.S. Senate, filmed part of his campaign commercial at the new biodiesel facility. But, in the interest of maturity and environmentalism, we’ll refrain from making a gas joke. This time.