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3 Doors Down Gives Back, Digs Rush

After forming in 1996, south Mississippi natives 3 Doors Down hit the big time starting in 2000 with their debut album The Better Life. That album was certified platinum six times. Away from the Sun went double platinum in 2003, making the band one of the most successful groups of the aughts.

When you attain fame and fortune, people ask for help. 3 Doors Down started the Better Life Foundation to manage the confusion and take control of how they give back. The band will host its annual Better Life concert on Saturday, November 15th, at Horseshoe Casino in Tunica. We spoke with guitarist Chris Henderson about giving back, watching younger bands try to succeed in today’s market, and about the band Rush as mentors and menders of broken hearts. Yes, this includes a Rush love story.

What’s going on with the Better Life concert?
This is our 11th year. It started in response to a show we played. When you’re in a band like this, everyone is asking you to donate. We’re always happy to give. But in the beginning, we did shows for a lot of different people. At first, it $was just us in a van. But the bigger we got, the bigger these charities wanted te shows to be. It got to be where it was costing us $40,000-60,000 to put a show on. We said, ‘ Let’s figure out how much money we made for these charities and how much good we did. We started seeing how much money the other people made besides the charity, how much it cost us to put a show on, this wasn’t working out. Let’s start our own charity where we can control every penny. So we started asking for volunteers and that’s how the Better Life Foundation was born.

We wanted to find charities that most people overlook. We decided to give to women’s shelters and children’s charities to begin with. People typically won’t gve to childhood diabetes unless they have a child with diabetes. Those people really need the money. Over the years, it’s grown into everything we can think of. Dream racers are video game consoles that fit in the hospital room. Kids can get in them in the hospital bed, but they look like race cars. This guy builds them. The kids can sit in there while they are getting chemotherapy or a treament. They are really cool.

You achieved success in music on a level that’s impossible today. What’s it like seeing younger musicians attempt to make a living?
It’s kind of a double-edged sword, it’s good because we can sit back and think about how good it was to get in early. We go into the record business when records were still a big part of an artist’s income. You didn’t have to go out and tour like crazy. You can’t do it with record sales and publishing like you used to. But, I think bands that are trying to start today have such a harder time trying yo make a living. Ten or 15 years ago, a record label — knowing that you were going to sell records — would give you money based on projected sales. You could get $500,000 record deal, put money in the bank and feed your family. Record labels don’t do that anymore. Now they come in and say, ‘I’m not going to give you anything. In fact, I’m going to take something from you. It’s not because they are evil. They are in the business to make money. The business has changed. It’s a different animal out there. A lot of bands don’t have a chance.

You got to work in the studio with Alex LIfeson from Rush. What was that like?
That was one of the coolest experiences I ever had. I’m from south Mississippi. We grew up with Rush. I’m a huge fan. Matter of fact, I’ll tell you a Rush story. I had a girlfriend. I was engaged to her. We broke up after five years of being together. She went off and did whatever to get over it. I put in Rush Chronicles, got in my truck and drove around for five days. That’s how I got over that relationship. After I listened to that record, I said, ‘I don’t need this crap. I’ve got Rush.’ So needless to say, when Alex Lifeson’s name came up as a producer, I was in, Jack. I didn’t need to hear anybody else’s name. I can’t explain how nice a guy and how smart he was. How cultured he was and how great a musician he is. I can’t put into words how much his influence brought to my life before I met him and after I met him. There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t think of that experience. I spent three weeks with him in the studio.

He taught me that the technical aspect of being a producer is not th most important part. THe most important part is the song and how to delegate. If you want to change someone’s art, they are going to fight you on it. If it’s all about the art becoming better, you’ve got to get your point across. That’s what Alex taught me. Instead of saying ‘I’m a producer. I’m from Rush. You need to listen to me.’ He wasn’t like that. He came in and was like,’ Think about it like this: What does the fan think? From a radio listener’s perspective, you have about 13 seconds. They hit that seek button. That’s the way it works. He taught us that.

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Induction Ceremony Slideshow

Patrick Lantrip

Denise LaSalle sing Carl Perkins’ song, “Blue Suede Shoes.”

On a chilly Saturday evening in Downtown Memphis, a diverse cross-section of locals congregated at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts to honor the achievements of an equally diverse selection of the city’s more euphonious residents. The tertiary edition of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony enshrined nine more members at the event hosted by actor and comedian Marlon Wayans. This year’s class included Carl Perkins, Ann Peebles, Big Star, Al Bell, Lil Hardin Armstrong, John Fry, Furry Lewis, Chips Moman, and Jesse Winchester, and was indicative of the heterogeneous hodgepodge of diverse styles that defines Memphis music.

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton was on hand to deliver a crowd-rousing commencement speech that began the night of performances, biographies, and genuinely touching acceptance speeches.

“This is what we’re all about, this is who we are,” Wharton said. “As the young folks say, this is the way we roll. We’re just full of soul.”

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However, it was Wayans and his impromptu rapport with announcer, Leon Griffin, whose voice Wayans repeatedly referred to as “Black God,” that set the tone of the event and provided a lighthearted counterbalance to some of the evenings more solemn moments. Wayans delivered a solid performance as MC, and playfully poked the crowd while cracking jokes about Memphis weather, its size, and Elvis’ late in life wardrobe.

The first inductee to be honored was Lil Hardin Armstrong, the wife of Louis Armstrong, who as an accomplished jazz singer in her own right. “Hot Miss Lil” made a name for herself up and down the Mississippi River in the 1920s before she met Armstrong, and she is cited as a major reason for his success. Joyce Cobb performed a tribute to Hardin that harkened back to the smoky Chicago nightclubs that launched Hardin’s career.

Next, soon-to-be inductee John Fry introduced power pop pioneers, Big Star. The band took their name from an eponymous, now defunct area supermarket, took their sound of the Beatles, The Who and The Byrds and made into something uniquely their own. As the last living original member, Jody Stephens performed with next-gen members Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, of Posies fame, after accepting his award. The trio was joined on stage by Drew Hummel, the son of original member Andy Hummel, and Steve Selvidge.

Selvidge stayed on stage to present the award for Walter “Furry” Lewis, a depression-era delta bluesman that also played a major role in the blues revival scene of the 1960s. Contemporary bluesman Ronnie Baker Brooks performed the musical tribute to Lewis.

Dixie Fried Rockabilly virtuoso and Million Dollar Quartet member, Carl Perkins was honored next with a performance by “Queen of the Blues” Denise LaSalle, who was a close friend of Perkins. She also reminisced about a story Perkins told her about his most famous hit, “Blue Suede Shoes,” before performing the song much to the delight of the crowd.

Jesse Winchester may not be a household name in the States, partly due to the fact the he became a Canadian citizen to avoid the Vietnam War, but the CBHS graduate’s folk-style music influenced a number of artists, including six-time CMA Musician of the Year, Mac McAnally, who also performed his tribute. Sadly, Winchester passed away earlier this year, just one month after receiving an invitation to be inducted in the MMHoF. His family was on hand to accept the award on his behalf.

Owner and founder of the legendary Ardent Studios, John Fry was next. Stephens returned to present the award to his old friend and colleague, and then the quartet of Selvidge, Stringfellow, Auer, and Stephens returned to play another set.

For a musician there are few compliments that rank higher than being told by John Lennon that one of your songs is “the greatest ever written,” but for Ann Peebles that is just one feather in her cap. Her husband Don Bryant, who co-wrote “I Can’t Stand the Rain” with Peebles presented the award. Peebles, who spoke to the Flyer before ceremony, said that encounter was one of the highlights of her career.

“It was the very first time I traveled abroad,” Peebles said. We sat down and talked, and even he came to my show one time. It was one of the most exciting times in my career.”

Sam Moore of Sam and Dave fame performed a rousing version of “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” with some help from Peebles and Bryant in the audience, and Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell played the electric timbales that are responsible for iconic rain sound at the beginning of the track.

“I feel blessed to have all of my accomplishments recognized,” Peebles added.

Chips Moman was responsible for engineering the sound of many artists, but perhaps he is most famous for Elvis Presley’s revival, producing such hits as “In the Ghetto” and “Suspicious Minds.” Another one of his collaborators, B.J. Thomas of “Rain Drops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” fame accepted the award on behalf Moman, and performed a version of the Moman-produced hit “Hooked on a Feeling.” 

The final act of the evening was in honor of former Stax owner and Motown executive, Al Bell. Bell was an integral part of the Stax sound that tore up the airwaves in the 1970s and was the mastermind behind the Wattstax Music Festival, and the subsequent Golden Globe Award winning documentary. William “Born Under a Bad Sign” Bell and Memphian, Al Kapone joined forces for an updated rendition of the Stax-era classic “I Forgot to be Your Lover.” For the finale, Bell remained on stage to perform an extended version of “Knock on Wood,” that brought the crowd to a standing ovation.

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Memphis Music Hall of Fame 2014: Lil Hardin

Memphian Lil Hardin Armstrong (1898-1971) will be inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame this evening. She was already at the top the jazz world in 1922 when Louis Armstrong showed up in Chicago to play for King Oliver. She had been the piano player for a year. Hardin thought Armstrong looked country and clothed him. She also helped him work through his divorce. Then she married him. She played piano and composed songs for what are arguably the most important recordings in American musical history: The Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions. Hardin wrote “Struttin With Some Barbecue,” probably the most Memphis song ever. She became a solo artist and eventually led her own all female orchestra. She collapsed at the piano in 1971.

Memphis Music Hall of Fame 2014: Lil Hardin