Month: October 2019

Categories
News News Blog

U of M Investigating Off-Campus Homophobic Incident


Two University of Memphis students were met with homophobic slurs while attending a fraternity party over the weekend, and now the university is investigating the incident.

Luke Chapman, an international student from the United Kingdom, along with local student Benjamin Buckley attended an off-campus keg party on Saturday, but within less than an hour of arriving, the two were told to leave.

The two students were called “faggots,” threatened with violence, and made to stand in the rain after being kicked out of the party, as first reported by the university’s newspaper, the Daily Helmsman. Chapman posted about the incident on Facebook.

“Tonight I attended a University of Memphis fraternity party, of which I was forcibly removed from for being gay,” Chapman wrote. “Getting shouted ‘fuck off you fag’ and ‘go the fuck back to great Britain you faggot’ isn’t acceptable in many forms and many might know that, but when the institution of study agrees with the people that physically threw you out, when the police in your area agree with the idea that homophobia is safe and a good practice, who do you go to? Where do you go when you’re physically thrown out of a place you’ve paid to enter and you’re sworn at and chucked out, what do you do?

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“When the University of Memphis pays money towards this practice and you turn up to class supporting this, and aid this behavior who do you go to? What do we do? This is being gay in this south and there is no help, and there is no one.”

Two days after the incident, U of M president M. David Rudd sent an email to the university community saying that it would be investigated.

“An off-campus incident involving possible bigotry has been brought to my attention and has been referred for investigation,” Rudd wrote. “The Office of the Dean of Students is in the process of reaching out to the students and others potentially involved. As a reminder, one of our core values is diversity and inclusion.

“The University of Memphis is a community where everyone is respected, included and given the opportunity to excel. This is a value we embrace with conviction. We will investigate the incident and respond accordingly.”

Based on the university’s Code of Student Rights and Responsibility, students are prohibited from making “verbal threats and/or attempts to intimidate, including but not limited to statements meant to provoke conflict with another person or which cause reasonable fear for a person’s safety.”

Such actions may subject offenders to disciplinary actions, reads the code of conduct.

The code applies to behavior that takes place on the campus and at university-sponsored events, as well as “off-campus conduct in cases in which it is determined that said conduct constitutes a substantial university interest.”

Per the code, behavior considered a substantial university interests includes:

• Any behavior that presents a danger or threat to the health or safety of any member of the university community

• Any behavior that significantly infringes upon the rights, property, or achievement of any member of the university community, which breaches the peace, and/or causes social disorder

• Any behavior that is substantially detrimental to the education mission and/or interest of the University of Memphis.

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Students who violate the code of conduct generally are notified of the charges against them via email and called in for a hearing with university officials within five days, in which they will have the opportunity to contest the alleged violation.

Disciplinary sanctions listed in the student code of conduct for those found to have violated any of the school’s policies range from a warning to expulsion. Students could also be required to pay fines or make an apology, depending on their violation.

University officials did not respond to the Flyer’s request for comment on the status of the investigation, what specific disciplinary actions, if any, the students involved could face, or what disciplinary actions the university has taken in the past for such offenses.

U of M’s Gay-Straight Alliance, Stonewall Tigers Gender and Sexuality, responded to the incident in a Facebook post earlier this week.

The group applauded university officials for their speedy response to the incident, saying, “We know this will be dealt with fairly.”

“We have extended our support to the student(s) involved in the incident and we respect the university’s efforts in conducting a prompt and formal investigation of this incident,” the post reads. “But more than anything, we want to continue our mission of providing a safe space on campus as well as educating those around us to continue to create an inclusive environment that empowers our students, faculty, and staff to pursue their intellectual, professional, and personal goals.”

The group also encouraged the campus community to attend training sessions offered by the university counseling center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. The Safe Zone trainings are meant to address and prevent discrimination of sexual and gender minorities.

“We implore you, the concerned members of our campus community, to seek these options out in the wake of this incident.”

Categories
Music Music Blog

Elton John: The Rocket Man’s Final Launch Lifts Fans Into Stratosphere

CREDIT: Jamie Harmon

Jamie Harmon

Elton John

The atmosphere on Beale Street was more carnivalesque than usual last night, as Elton John fans filed into the FedExForum to catch Memphis’ last glimpse of the storied entertainer. That the show happened the night before Halloween was entirely fitting, with many fans paying homage to the glam-master’s wardrobes of yore. But along with the glittery trappings and finery, it was a powerful measure of just how dearly Memphis fans hold his music to their hearts.

Looking stout but far more spry than most 72-year-olds in his rhinestone-bedecked tux, John commanded the proceedings from a grand piano, stage right, as the band, featuring players dating back to his 70s tours, spread out on a multi-level stage set below a gigantic Jumbotron screen. All was framed by a gold-bricked, medallion-festooned proscenium topped with the tour’s motto: “Farewell Yellow Brick Road.” This is John’s final series of performances.

Later in the show, after a rousing performance of “Sad Songs (Say So Much),” John addressed the bittersweet context of the show directly. “This is my 50th year of touring. I couldn’t have imagined a farewell tour even 10 years ago, but 10 years ago, I didn’t have a family. Now I do.

“The greatest thing is to get a reaction from another human being,” he went on. “Thank you, Memphis, Tennessee. You’re in my soul, you’re in my heart.”

Judging from the ecstatic reaction from the crowd, John was clearly in their hearts as well. They also responded to a very personal moment between songs, when he frankly described his battles with addiction. “Ask for help!” was his advice to substance abusers. “Don’t sit on the pity pot.” After he himself asked for help, he noted, “I got sober.” At that, the crowd went wild with cheers and applause. It was a remarkable moment.

With a Jumbotron screen displaying either close-ups of the band, or pre-edited montages of images, videos, and animations, one sometimes forgot to look at the actual humans on stage. Then, a thumping sub-woofer boom from the kick drum or synthesizer would snap you back to reality. But percussionist Ray Cooper, who first toured with John in 1974, gave the Jumbotron a run for its money with his theatrical skins- and gong-pounding. This was most entertaining when the rest of the band left the stage, leaving only Cooper and John to perform the epic “Indian Sunset.”

Introducing the tune, John described writing songs with longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. Upon first seeing some freshly-written lyrics, John noted, “a little movie appears in my mind. Then I put my hands on the piano.” Taupin’s lyrics for “Indian Sunset,” he said, “were five and a half pages long.” The grandiose, three-part suite was the result.

The power and proficiency of the band shone on a parade of both hits and, like the aforementioned tune, deep cuts. Some of the greatest rave-ups came in the extended outro jams to “Rocket Man” and “Levon.” On the latter, John revealed how powerful and precise his voice still is, even if his classic falsetto had to be carried by other singers in the band. And, with a nod to his stage histrionics of yore, he rose out of his seat to pound the keys at the climax of “Philadelphia Freedom.” 

After the encore concluded with “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” which John performed in a silk dressing robe decorated with cats, he tossed off his outer garment to reveal a track suit beneath. Climbing onto an automated ski-lift-like platform, he waved to adoring fans as he was lifted up into an opening in the video screen, seeming to retreat into his own fantasy and the fantasies of the Memphians who have marked their lives with his music.

See the slideshow by Jamie Harmon, below. [slideshow-1]

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Indie Memphis Day 2: All Hallow’s Eve

Horror Noire

Indie Memphis hasn’t had a Halloween night since 2014, but this year the calendar aligned to supply the festival with a fright night.

This being a Very Serious Film Festival (TM), it’s not all ghouls and goblins. The evening starts out with a timely and enlightening documentary, Horror Noire (4:30 p.m, Hattiloo Theatre).

It’s an old cliche that, if you see a black person in a horror film, they’re going to the first to die. This production by the Shudder streaming network, which specializes in horror, goes beyond just dissecting that particular trope. Director Xavier Burgin starts with Birth of a Nation.

The seminal 1915 film, famous for its technical innovations, pre-dated the horror genre by about 16 years (if you accept Dracula as the first “true” horror film, which is a huge debate we don’t have the bandwidth to pursue here) and was considered a historical epic by its creators.

But to the black people who watched the “heroic” Klansmen lynching their ancestors, it certainly qualified as horror. African Americans got their first horror hero with Duane Jones’ timeless performance in 1968’s Night Of The Living Dead, which Horror Noire uses as a jumping-off point to explore the evolving relationship between the genre and race. Interviewees include veteran horror and sci-fi actor Kieth David and the current best horror director in the business, Jordan Peele.

The centerpiece of Indie Memphis’ spooky night is Blacula, (6:30 p.m., Playhouse on the Square) the 1972 classic which I wrote about in this week’s Memphis Flyer cover story. Check out this awesome trailer for a little taste of the ebony bloodsucker.

Indie Memphis Day 2: All Hallow’s Eve

Meanwhile, back at the Hattiloo, the Narrative Feature competition kicks off with Di Lo Mio at 7:00 p.m. Here’s director Diana Peralta discussing the origin of the film, which explores the experience of Dominican immigrants, at her Brooklyn Academy of Music Cinema Fest appearance.

Indie Memphis Day 2: All Hallow’s Eve (2)

Happy Halloween, and stay tuned to the Memphis Flyer for more daily updates from Indie Memphis. 

Categories
News News Blog

City Unveils ‘New and Improved’ Data Hub

The city of Memphis introduced a “new and improved data hub” Wednesday.

The site, data.memphistn.gov, first launched early last year and since then Ursula Madden, the city’s chief communication officer, said the city has been working to improve it.

The new site, which offers new and more detailed data sets, is meant to “increase usability and resident engagement,” said Craig Hodge of the Office of Performance Management.

“It builds on the mayor’s commitment to hold city government accountable for its performance,” Hodge said. “Internally, the Data Hub is the foundation for how we continually use data to inform our decisions; having a platform to load and share data across divisions allows city leaders to break down silos and better work together to be ‘brilliant at the basics.’”



In addition to tracking performance surrounding neighborhoods, public safety, youth, jobs, and good government, the site now allows users to track 311 requests, find civic assets near them, and see a real-time crime map.

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Madden said the new information is an effort to be “open and honest about what we’re doing well, but also our challenges.

“Ultimately if you have knowledge, you have some sort of sense of security,” Madden said. “You can take that information and do something with it. You can do things that improve your neighborhood.”

New features on the site include:

• An interactive map that shows nearby civic assets, such as parks, community centers, police and fire stations, and libraries

• Ongoing and recent capital projects and the city division responsible for them

• A real-time map of crimes, excluding sexual assault, throughout the entire city broken down by type

• A map showing ongoing and recent 311 requests, as well as code enforcement violations

Crime map


Users can also suggest other data sets not featured on the site. Madden said the site will “evolve” with new data sets being added to it in the future.

Unlike the old data hub, which she said was “sort of a static document,” the new site will be “active and engaging and can be utilized as the type of tool the public can use.”

“This is new for us,” Madden said. “We’re finally getting into the 21st century. We know that other cities already do this. So, we’re finally getting our data out to the public as well.”

City Unveils ‘New and Improved’ Data Hub

Categories
Music Music Blog

Hernando’s Hide-A-Way Opens October 31st With a Halloween Party

MIchael Donahue

Hernando’s Hide-A-Way — the legendary music club — will reopen for one night October 31st with a Halloween party/fund-raiser. It’s slated to open to the public November 15th.

So, expect to see Elvis. Or a lot of Elvises at the Halloween party. It’s a “Dead Celebrity” party, says singer-guitarist-songwriter Dale Watson, who owns the club with Patrick Trovato. But costumes must be “tasteful,” he says.

The club in the building — originally an African-American-owned dry goods store — dates to 1883.

Hernando’s Hide-A-Way isn’t really hidden away; the club at 3210 Old Hernando Road off Brooks Road is visible from Elvis Presley Blvd.

On Halloween, guests will get a peek at the $400,000 renovation to the club, where Jerry Lee Lewis and other legends performed.

When they enter the club, some guests will say, “I proposed to my wife (here) 50 years ago,” Watson says.

Music will be Ameripolitan, which is Watson’s “rockabilly, honky tonk, and Western swing” band. In addition to his band, the club will feature Amy LaVere, Will Sexton, Jerry Phillips, and some blues. It also will feature local and touring bands.

Watson says he’s the “music” and Trovato, a restaurateur from New York, is the “food.”

The fund-raiser will be for Ameripolitan, which will perform at the Halloween party.

Visitors will feel as if they’re going back in time to the 1950s. “That’s the whole esthetic,” says Watson’s daughter, Dalynn Watson, as she decorates for the party.

An area with booths and some tables will greet people as they enter. An old telephone booth with a door graces the area. A special VIP area is the site of the original stage. It’s smallish, but stages were small back in the day, Watson says.

The gleaming new kitchen is off the dining room. Part of the original green-painted concrete floor still can be seen, but the majority of the floor was re-done and now is red. Old paneling was removed and exposed brick can be seen.

Watson added swinging doors to separate the dining room from the “dance hall” with the big stage, which is where the stage was in the 1980s. Watson recreated the iron railing with music notes in front of the stage.

Tables and chairs surround the 24’x30′ stage. The dance hall includes a 25-foot-long bar. A dance floor is in front of the stage. Booths line the walls. Above each booth is a photo of whoever the table is dedicated to. So, guests might be sitting in booths dedicated to Elvis, Carl Perkins, or Johnny Cash.

The dance hall includes a 25′-long bar.

The vintage jukebox in the dance hall is the same kind as the one at the Rendezvous, Watson says. They also have an original cigarette machine.

The “green room,” a room off the main room, is for performers to relax before they go on stage. Watson decorated the room, which includes a chandelier. Jerry Lee used to call the room his office, Watsons says. They uncovered a door, which Lewis entered from the parking lot.

The decor of the club is done in red, green, and brown.

The bathrooms are labeled “John” and “June,” which is what they were called back in the day, Trovato says. And whoever doesn’t know who those names stand for probably needs some music education.

The club has two TVs for viewing what’s happening on stage.

The front of the club was painted white, which was the color back in the 1950s, Watson says. The iron railings in front of the club came from the old Sun Studio Cafe at the Memphis International Airport.

Food items will include Memphis-themed fare, including the “Thank You Very Much” peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich, and the “Bluff City Slaw” burger. They also will serve other burgers, including the Stax burger and the Ameripolitan burger.

And they’ve got fried chicken, including fried-chicken-and-waffle sandwich appropriately named “Funky Chicken.”

Trovato describes the menu items as “American fast casual.” The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner. He began his restaurant career selling hamburgers in a food truck before he opened his restaurant in Long Island.

They’ll also sell Trovato’s sandwiches, including Philly cheese steak and fried catfish Louisiana po’ boy sandwich.

Halloween party-goers can sample Trovato’s cuisine, which will be served buffet style.

Hernando’s Hide-A-Way will be no smoking, but from time to time, they will have cigar events but “only in the back,” Watson says.

Seating also will be available on the deck on the east side of the building. The club also has a second floor, which was where “late night poker games” reputedly were held back in the day. It’s now Watson’s office, as well as a bedroom.

Watson first entered Hernando’s Hide-A-Way in late 1982. “When I first came in the door it was smoky, dark. On stage, I think Linda Gail (Lewis) was in the house at that point. I looked up on stage. Something was lying on the microphone, covered with dust.” It was a pair of glasses with “1982” on them. They were left on there during a 1982 New Year’s Eve party and, apparently, had never been removed.

Watson says this was the club immortalized in Johnny Burnette’s “Rockabilly Boogie.” “He mentions the Hide-A-Way,” he says.

The club’s slogan is “Come Early Stay Late,” which is what Watson wants everybody to do.

Hernando’s Hide-A-Way is a special place for Watson. And he wants it to be for others, too. “We want people to feel they’re going to a piece of Memphis history.”

Doors open at 5 p.m. October 31st for Hernando’s Hide-A-Way Halloween Party. The band will begin at 9 p.m. $10 cover charge.

MIchael Donahue

Patrick Trovato and Dale Watson in the VIP area of Hernando’s Hide-A-Way.

Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Dale Watson with a photo of Jerry Lee Lewis appearing at Hernando’s Hide-A-Way.

Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue


Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Many People Are Saying …

This is the best column anyone ever wrote in the history of Memphis.

Many people have thought about writing a column this good but were unable to get it done. People are saying no one can write a column like I can, and they are right. It’s not surprising. That’s because I invented the word “column.” I have all the best words, and no one else even compares.

Geoff Calkins tried 11 times to write this column. Dan Conaway couldn’t even make his fingers move when he tried to write this column. Tonyaa Weathersbee? No way. John Beifuss? Don’t make me laugh. Even Jackson Baker gave it a shot, but it just didn’t happen.

I’m a stable genius, and I’m the best. Get over it. No one writes like I can. But writing isn’t all I do.

Many of you have probably driven by the empty pedestals in Memphis’ Downtown parks. Most people don’t know there used to be statues of Confederates there. They were very fine people, but the statues were put up after the War Between the States, which I call the “Civil War.” Many people don’t know that we had a Civil War. That’s because it was 300 years ago, which is why we needed to take down the statues. They were too old.

I called the mayor of Memphis last year and said, “Mayor Stricker, those statues have to come down.” He said, “Sir, no one has been able to take down those statues. They’ve been there for 250 years. It can’t be done, sir.” Well, I got it done. Afterwards, he said, “Sir, I did not think anyone could do that. Thank you.” There were strong men and women in the mayor’s office, and they were all crying because they didn’t think anyone could take down those statues. They all said, “What a great outcome, sir. Thank you. And congratulations.”

True story. You can look it up.

Many of you will be surprised to learn that the University of Memphis football team used to be terrible. It’s true. They lost 29 games in a row in 2003. It was ridiculous how bad they were. Most people don’t know that David Rudge, the president of the university, called me a couple of years ago. He was whimpering and crying on the phone. He said, “Sir, what can we do? People are saying our football team is terrible.”

I said, “Hire a great coach, Dave.” And I told him about this young fellow, Mark Norveen, who at the time was an assistant volleyball coach at Arkansas College. Most people haven’t heard of Arkansas College. Great school, just outside of Tulsa. Mark’s a handsome young man. Right out of central casting. “Hire Mark Norveen,” I said.

Well, Dave did, and look what happened. The Tigers have been undefeated for six years, and they’re going to be on Fox’s “Gamers Day” show with Steve Doocy this weekend against the great University of Notre Dame.

I plan to be at the game. They’re going to put my picture on the big television screen — I call it a JumboTron — so people can cheer for me. People are saying I’ll get the greatest ovation in the history of football. They say 20,000 people won’t even be able to get into the stadium.

There are lots of other things that many people don’t know about me. For example, I helped do the deal to get Bass Pro to build a pyramid Downtown. It used to be a Walgreens. The elevator to the top? That was my idea. The giant man-eating alligators? That was my idea, too.

And many people would be surprised to learn that I was behind getting $270 million dollars allocated from the city to move the Raymond James brokerage out of that dump Downtown into a great new building they already owned out in eastern Memphis.

Here are some other things people would be surprised to learn about me:

I helped design the Midtown Kroger parking lot.

I taught Penny Hardaway how to do a crossover dribble.

I named Mud Island.

I invented barbecued ribs.

Do I get any credit? No. But that’s all right. I’m a big boy. I don’t need the applause. I don’t need everybody to grovel and suck up to me. Many, many people are saying I’m the best columnist ever and this is the greatest column anyone ever wrote. That’s enough for me. For now.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Gray Canary Sous Chef Heats Things up on Stage and in the Kitchen

Bailey Parks Patterson spent much of his 26 years trying to figure out if he wanted a career in food or music.

Patterson, now sous chef at The Gray Canary, says, “I’ve always been a big dude. I’ve always liked food. I always wanted to eat and try new things.”

But he also loved playing music after he learned to play bass in high school and joined his first bands, Voltron and Up-State.

Michael Donahue

Bailey Parks Patterson

He spent two semesters at Southwest Tennessee Community College, but he dropped out because he “couldn’t find the motivation.” He just wanted to play music.

Patterson’s first restaurant job was at Ubee’s. “Driving food around town and prepping hamburger balls,” he says. “Just goofy little things. Washing dishes.”

Six months later, he began cooking, then working as daytime manager and tending bar. “I did everything in a restaurant real quick. Figured it out slightly enough to where I was like, ‘I like this.’ It felt good doing it.”

Working at a restaurant gave him “a weird sense of confidence,” he says.

Two years later, Patterson left Ubee’s and got a job as a pizza cook at Hog & Hominy, where he worked with owners Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman. “I got to work right next to them in the kitchens a lot and learn straight from them. Learning from Mike Hudman how to extract pizza dough was pretty cool. Especially for a 22-year-old.”

He created his first pizza when the restaurant was closed because of snow. He and a couple of other cooks came in to feed the yeast starter. “We made some dough, and we were like, ‘We might as well start the oven and cook some pizzas.’ I threw some stupid stuff on a pizza.”

It was a hit. “It was like Canadian bacon and red sauce and some cheese. And some lemon zest and something else. Nothing fancy by any means. But Mike was like, ‘Hell, yeah. Snow Day Pie.’ For whatever reason, the bacon was sliced real thin and it curled up. He just freaked out.”

They ran the Snow Day pizza as a special for several weeks after the restaurant re-opened.

“It definitely fired me up,” Patterson says. He still wanted to play music, but he says, “It made sense for me to be in a kitchen because it’s like-minded people. It’s like a judgment-free zone. Everyone does their own thing, looks their own way, says what they want. We’re pirates.”

Patterson progressed to salads, desserts, and the hot line, and “just tried to learn everything that I could,” he says.

He then moved to the old Porcellino’s Craft Butcher, which also was owned by Ticer and Hudman. He joined a new band, Pillow Talk. They recorded their full-length album in Tolono, Illinois, with Matt Talbott, vocalist/guitar player from Hum, at Talbott’s “really cool, crazy studio.”

“That was definitely the coolest adventure music ever took me on,” he says.

Eight months later, Patterson moved to The Gray Canary, where he began as a cook working on the open fire hearth. He joined Overstayer, a hardcore band, a few months later.

Patterson quickly moved from cook to chef tournant, the person under the sous chef. That’s when he decided his focus was going to be on cooking instead of music. “I felt like it really clicked,” he says. “Because I always knew this is a cool thing I can do. And I feel like I’m good at it. And I’ve made my way.

“I see kids my age or older or younger coming in fresh out of culinary school who just can’t hang,” he says. “They know they have good information, but when it starts going, they can’t because they’ve never worked in a serious restaurant. So, all of the sudden it’s like, ‘I need this right now. Hey, I need this. Where’s that? This doesn’t taste right. Redo it.’ And they go down.”

Two months ago, Patterson was made sous chef.

So, how does he identify himself? A chef or a musician? “A chef,” Patterson says. “That’s the first time I’ve said that, but I guess that really is what I’m doing now. And what I want to do.”

The Gray Canary is at 301 South Front. Visit thegraycanary.com for more info.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Pop-Up Shop and Memphis Sandwich Clique Meet Up this Sunday

CREDIT: Jason Payton

Looking for unique, locally made holiday gifts for friends and family? Or perhaps just a delicious sandwich? The Planet’s Finest Gift Shop, a CBD dispensary and art dealer fusion store, provides a one-stop shop this Sunday with their Holidays Pop-Up Shop and Memphis Sandwich Clique Meet Up.

A number of vendors will set up shop in the neighboring parking lots, offering wares including original canvas artworks, candles, quirky crocheted hats, and crafts made by artist C. Young (the artist behind the University of Memphis Tiger sculptures seen around town) and 14 others.

Jason Payton

Pop-up shop features local art.

Guests will also be able to explore the shop’s museum-esque wall of visual art for sale and brand-new apparel room while checking out CBD products that are produced in-house.

Outside, the popular Facebook group Memphis Sandwich Clique, of which Jason Payton (co-founder of The Planet’s Finest) is a moderator, will be hosting a meet-up for their first battle of the buns. Bain Barbecue (barbecue sandwiches) and Walking the Dog (made-from-scratch hotdogs and sausages) will ask for customers’ votes to help Clique members settle a hot debate.

“Half of the moderators think hot dogs are sandwiches, and the other half think they aren’t,” says Payton. “So we’re going to let our guests decide by voting on the best sandwich.”

While shopping and deciding whether or not a hotdog is indeed a sandwich, attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy a smorgasbord of electronic music from local artists like Brian Hamilton, Tree Riehl, and GuTTA KicK.

“The big thing that I want to push is bringing people together to do their holiday shopping with local artists and makers while supporting local art, whether that’s visual, musical, or culinary,” says Payton.

Holidays Pop-Up Shop/Memphis Sandwich Clique Meet Up, The Planet’s Finest Gift Shop, Sunday, November 3rd, 1-5 p.m., free. First 50 guests will receive free CBD flower pre-rolled joints.

Categories
Music Music Features

Time Is Tight: The Life and Times of Booker T. Jones

Most Memphians associate Booker T. Jones with the M.G.’s, the house band for the glory years of Stax Records and instrumental hitmakers in their own right. But Jones’ several decades’ worth of hits as a producer and distinguished sideman after moving to California should not be lost in the shuffled beats of McLemore Avenue.

This quickly becomes apparent when reading his vivid and thoughtful autobiography, Time Is Tight: My Life Note by Note (Little, Brown, 2019), which opens not on the tracking room floor of a studio, but with the words “Acapulco Gold,” the smoke of a joint wafting around him during his first brush with an earthquake in Malibu. From there, Jones presents vignettes from all chapters of his life, skipping like a stone over the river of his years. And, of course, many ripples extend outward from Memphis.

Piper Ferguson

Booker T. Jones

Still living in California, Jones spoke with me about how he came to write the book, his approach to music, and how he still treasures lessons he learned in the Bluff City long ago.

Memphis Flyer: Was your new book quite a long time in the making?

Booker T. Jones: Yeah, it was much longer than I thought it would be. I didn’t start out to write a book. Ten or 12 years ago, I was just writing some essays about my life. It was almost like practicing songwriting. I was just practicing writing. And my wife said, “Why don’t you make that into a book?”

I had a number of accomplished authors offer to write or help me write it. But I read some autobiographies of some very close friends, and the problem was, all the events were accurate, and the facts were accurate, but the voice was just not their voice. So that’s why I decided I’d just like to, right or wrong, do it in my own voice.

Your voice certainly comes through in the very personal passages, such as when a teacher caught you cheating on a test and took you straight to your father’s classroom in the same school.

Yes, and in the book, there’s a photo of him in his white shirt and tie, standing by his blackboard. And that’s right where the woman marched me, right up there in the front of the room, right next to him. That’s where I had to stand in front of everybody.

Reading the book, one thing that strikes me is the importance of families to the Memphis scene. The Steinbergs, the Newborns, the Jacksons, and your own.

I’m glad you picked that up. It’s amazing, how there’re a lot of indications of that. It’s in the language. The use of words. And a lot of it is in the nice sense of community, of well-meaning activities for young people in Memphis that I took advantage of.

I’m curious about your approach to minimalism, your restraint, through so much of the Stax material. You never really tried to play like, say, a Jimmy Smith.

It was a convergence of attitudes, fortunately, for me, when I got to Stax. It was always underneath the surface, but it came out into the open with Al Jackson Jr., and Duck [Dunn] and Steve [Cropper] in particular, and also Jim Stewart. We actually talked about it. We didn’t use the term minimalism, but it was almost like, “Keep it simple, don’t play too much.” It’s almost like there’s a spiritual revelation or accomplishment in simplicity.

We’re really getting into it here, Alex, with this whole idea behind minimalism and music. I mentioned in the book that when I was playing the song “Time is Tight,” I hold that note, that one G, for so long in the melody, but that also gives me a chance to kind of emote and be emotional while that note is playing, you know, underneath it. And it’s such a simple melody.

You work the Leslie [tremolo speaker] beautifully on that simple melody as well.

Thank you. I’m really glad to hear you say that. I wanted this to be a book for musicians, to relate to and get into some of the concepts, and do exactly what you’re doing with it.

Yes, you even have some musical charts in the back.

The music that is printed in the book represents ideas of mine that go with the chapters, that I’m trying to emulate some of the feelings of those chapters. It’s not really music that’s been recorded. It’s just three or four bars of sentiment about that particular chapter, in music.

Courtesy of Stax Museum

Booker T. Jones

Speaking of the power of simplicity, I was fascinated to read that you were inspired by Bach when you composed “Green Onions.”

It’s just those three chords, the one, the minor three and the four, and the inversion on the right hand, where the little pinky finger starts on the tonic and goes down to the fifth and then the third. And it’s the repetition of it. I feel like the voicing I’m using is Bach’s piano voicing. And that’s what I was studying at the time. I was trying to figure out Bach’s reasoning for moving the notes the way he did when he wrote all his contrapuntal fugues and so forth. And repeating all that over and over in a kind of jazzy, bluesy, groove, there’s just something about the imposing that on blues. I don’t know how to say it. There’s something about that. It’s still one of my favorite records. It still kind of hypnotizes me.

You might be interested to know that there’s a crack band of Memphis players, the MD’s, who play only Booker T. & the MGs music. And they’ve just launched a project based on imagining “what if the MG’s interpreted the Beatles’ Revolver just as they did Abbey Road?” In fact, the band learned the entire MG’s album, McLemore Avenue, before they did it. It’s really something. They call the new album Revolve-Her.

I’d love to hear that. Revolve-Her! That’s reminiscent of Hip Hug-Her! Well, they are really into it.. Cool. That’s so great. Send me whatever information you can. If they worked on McLemore Avenue, that would give them a jumping off point for how to do that, how to have a better understanding of doing Beatles music in the spirit of Booker T. and the MGs.

Reading the book, I was impressed at how deeply you studied music theory even at Booker T. Washington High School, and then later at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. Was there a conflict between your love of minimalism and the formal studies of complex music theory and arranging you were doing at BTW and Bloomington?

It was impossible for it to be a conflict for me, because so early on I had this curiosity about the different instruments and their textures. So I was compelled to know what key the French horn is in. What an F-clef was. I had the music in my head, and that was what I wanted to write down. So I never did get the chance to choose to be a by-ear musician. I knew a lot of people who were, and I could have been a by-ear musician.

Although actually, I was a by-ear musician. And I think I fooled a lot of people, because I could hear music and I could play it just ‘cos I heard it. A lot of by-ear musicians do that; they can play symphonies or whatever, without actually knowing what the notes are. But the minute you get that desire to reproduce for a group like the Memphis Symphony…

Anyway, I still do by-ear sessions. I just did one a couple weeks ago. I don’t always write it down. I think I function both ways, now that you mention it. I never really thought about this before. A lot of players, you can just hum it to them, and you say, “Put a harmony to this,” and they know what you mean. And in some ways it’s faster.

You know, we did head arrangements at Stax. But those guys also read music. So sometimes I wrote stuff down for them, but most of the time, we worked with artists who just hummed the lines to us, or just did our own head arrangements.

Otis would dictate horn parts…

Oh yeah, he would jump around singing and shouting and humming.

Did he suggest organ parts that way?

No, usually horns. He had song ideas, and definite ideas about horns. He left the keys pretty much open to me and Isaac.

I was shocked to read that that’s Isaac Hayes playing organ on “Boot-Leg.”

I was shocked too! I drove 400 miles from Bloomington to Memphis, and Cropper says, “Hey Book, I want you to hear something.” He played “Boot-Leg” and I was so confused. I thought, well maybe that’s a Mar-Keys record, when I heard the Hammond organ. But I don’t tune the Hammond that way; I have different drawbar settings. Yeah.

Well, you were gracious about it.

Thank you. It’s great, it’s absolutely a great track. Great bassline. I love it.

Were there any other MGs tracks that didn’t include Booker T?

That was the only one, while it was Booker T and the MGs. It was the MG’s without me, I think Carson Whitsett played with Al and Duck and Steve after I left Memphis. But “Boot-Leg” was the only one. It was a great one though.

Booker T. Jones

People don’t talk about your piano playing much, but it seems that’s as much your instrument as the organ.

Yeah, I am first and foremost a pianist. I do Hanon scales maybe twice a week or more. That’s my go-to when I want to whip myself into shape. The first time that music evoked an emotion in me was hearing my mother play Debussy, Liszt, and Chopin on the piano. Very emotional stuff.

You write in the book that scoring the movie Uptight! was fulfilling a long held dream of yours, to compose soundtracks. But I gather you didn’t do many soundtracks after that.

No, that’s true. I had dreamt of going to Hollywood and scoring movies at some point. I think that’s one of the reasons I went to Indiana. Of course, when I got to Hollywood there were no African-American musicians scoring music. Henry Mancini was trying to bring people like Quincy Jones in and Quincy was really the only one that kind of broke through that. Of course he came right to see me when he heard I was doing the score and sent aides over to my sister’s house, to help me.

So there was a lack of opportunity for black directors and composers as well. I was really disappointed in Hollywood in that area. Uptight! was a Jules Dassin film. Jules was very talented. But because of his political leanings, he was not a Hollywood favorite. I think he was pretty lucky to get that deal with Paramount. But he actually got kicked out of Hollywood because he was married to Melina Mercouri, and she went on the Johnny Carson show and told the nation that Greece was about to be overrun by a junta. So that happened, and the next morning we were up and out of Hollywood, just like that. Just gone, out of Hollywood. So we went to Paris.

But yeah, scoring films was an ambition of mine. I guess I used to go to the theater on Mississippi Boulevard and that was a fantasy of mine.

It seems things have changed now enough to where you could have more opportunities now.

The industry has kind of moved on. It’s completely changed. But it’s a hard job to score a film. It’s a lot of work. I know quality musicians that have left the field because it was so crazy. André Previn was the first one. He was making millions of dollars composing music and he quit because it was just too much. The deadlines. You work with a director, and music has just such a big role in pictures, and it’s just so arbitrary, I’ll say that. You have to be so disciplined as a composer for film, because it’s all about the story. It’s all about what’s happening on screen.

You sometimes work with students at the Stax Music Academy on your return visits.

Yeah, so much talent there. I used Evvie McKinney on my recording of ‘”‘Cause I Love You.” She sounds so good on that song. She’s a Stax graduate, and I’m sure there’s gonna be collaborations with others from Stax in the future.

Time Is Tight: The Life and Times of Booker T. Jones

I just started a record company, that’s why I’m saying this. It’s called Edith Street Records.  ‘”‘Cause I Love You” is the first release on Edith Street Records and it’s a companion to Note by Note album, which is a companion to the Time is Tight book.

What’s the rest of the new album like?

It’s a musical reproduction of my life. ‘”‘Cause I Love You” was the first song I ever played on at Stax. “Time is Tight” and some of those songs I recorded in Memphis are on there. And it kind of correlates with the chapters of the book. Each chapter has a musical song as its title.

You were relatively young when you moved out west. What does Memphis mean to you today?

Sometimes, when I’m preaching about how great it is to have come from Memphis and how lucky I was to have been born there, someone might say, “Well, I come from Cincinnati, and it’s great to be from there too!” But I do feel that Memphis is special, and I’m thankful that I grew up there and got my musical start there. And Time Is Tight is sort of a tribute to that, I think.

An Evening with Booker T. Jones, with Daily Memphian reporter Jared Boyd, takes place at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 McLemore Ave., Friday, November 1st, at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6 p.m. A screening of an Aretha Franklin documentary takes place at 4:30. Free.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Lend a Hand. Help Make Life Better for Others.

CREDIT: Chainat | Dreamstime.com

I always face a moral dilemma when approaching an intersection where I see someone with a “Homeless” or “Hungry” or “Anything Helps” sign.

The first thing I feel is pity, sadness. It never fails. And then perhaps to make myself feel better, I begin to wonder if what they’re saying is true. Are they really homeless? If I give them cash, will they use it for food or another necessity or for something else? Drugs, beer?

Occasionally, I will scrape together whatever I can find and offer it to them. But mostly, I avoid eye contact, staring off into space as I anxiously wait for the light to change. There are times when I don’t have any cash or honestly I’m just too wrapped up in my own day to care about anyone else or to make room in my heart for more of the world’s misfortune.

Chainat | Dreamstime.com

And other times, without even knowing a person’s story, I find myself judging. After looking the person up and down, assessing the state of their clothes, the penmanship on their cardboard sign, the look in their eyes, I wonder how they let their lives get to this point. Maybe my judgment is a means to avoidance.

Then for a moment, as I pull off in my climate-controlled car with food, water, and everything else I need perfectly attainable, I feel a certain sense of shame and guilt. I could have helped, but I didn’t. Why? Because I judged someone I didn’t know. Because I was too busy thinking of myself and my problems.

Even on days when I am feeling particularly generous and I’ve offered a dollar or whatever else I have to give, there’s still a feeling of inadequacy as I drive off, moving on with my day and leaving them behind. Nothing I can do in those moments will give that person what they really need — a bed, a warm meal, and a place to call home.

My two dollars won’t drastically change their lives. In the big scheme of life, two bucks is a drop in the bucket of what they really need. But it’s this type of thinking that keeps me and maybe others from doing what they can, when they can, how they can.

And even if a couple of bucks won’t solve all their problems, it is something. If nothing else, it’s an acknowledgement. It acknowledges that they are a real human being who, for whatever reason or because of whatever unfortunate life circumstances they’ve faced, is in a pretty desperate situation.

Whatever the case, as fellow human beings and fellow Memphians, it’s remiss of me and, dare I say, of you, to pass these people on a daily basis without offering so much as a smile. We all can do better.

Memphis has been ranked one of the country’s most philanthropic cities in the past. In 2017, a study from The Chronicle of Philanthropy named Memphis the most charitable city in the country. I wonder though, how much more charitable Memphis would be if we gave without judgment, without apprehension, and without expectations.

There are everyday needs all around us and tangible ways to meet them. There are people literally standing on a street corner right now in the cold, in the rain, in real need. If not a dollar, then buy them a hot coffee or a hot meal or give them a sweater from the bag of clothes you were going to donate anyway. Beyond that, there are a plethora of ways to help out those in need in the city all year-round, but especially now as the holiday season approaches.

Make a meal, deliver a meal, volunteer, tutor, mow your neighbor’s lawn, read to kids, pick up trash. There is something that you and I both can do today. We don’t have to wait until we’re richer or have more time or more energy or more motivation. We can do it now, and we should do it now. Let’s stop staring off into space and begin doing something kind for someone in need. It’ll feel good, I promise.

Maya Smith is a Flyer staff writer.