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Beale Street Music Festival: Legends Old and New

Snoop Dogg’s America

Reflections on hip-hop’s amabassador to the world

On the 5th of May at 11:15 p.m., a legend will appear on the FedEx Stage, bathed in lights, voice booming over Beale Street and beyond. When he appears, you’ll see more than a mortal. You’ll see the Snoop Dogg of the mind. With Snoop planted into our collective consciousness, it’s hard to deny the message of “Legend,” the lead track from his 2016 release, Coolaid. “I can die right now/Still a legend!” The album captures our zeitgeist: angry, absurd, lurid, ridiculous. The “Lavender” video depicts a land of rampant, clownish brutality, culminating with a “BANG!” flag pistol fired squarely at a Donald Trump-like figure. And while not all of the album is so political, Coolaid clearly struck a nerve, reaching number five on the R&B/hip-hop album charts.

Snoop is everywhere now, ascended to ubiquity with all of his bluntness and flow — and his contradictions — intact. He’s the rapper with the cute name on the morning show; he’s the guy in the weed video with Willie Nelson; he’s the guy who quotes The Art of War, relishing the power of his weaponry, then exhorts people to love themselves; the guy who speaks of Martha Stewart’s warmth and humanity, then reminds listeners that “rap come from the streets, so we can never lose that mentality.” A vocal Hillary supporter, he’ll exclaim that we desperately need a female president, then launch a rap of sexual humiliation and domination that would make Trump blush. Like Walt Whitman, he contains multitudes.

One way Snoop can cover so much territory is by keeping it lighthearted. Devin Steel of K97 FM says, “You can’t really take what Snoop says seriously; he just makes fun party music. You take it more like, ‘I wonder, what is he gonna say?’ or listen for the word play. It’s fun. Nothing too serious. And he still has the art of storytelling in his lyrics.”

Perhaps this balancing act between the ridiculous and the sublime comes down to Snoop’s uncanny knack for improvisation. He’s always been master of freestyle, the branch of rap that plays out like verbal jazz. Rap created on the spot, live before an audience, was perfected on the West Coast, with Los Angeles’ Freestyle Fellowship arguably the masters of the style as it gained traction in the 1990s. This was the young Snoop’s milieu.

His improvisational powers remain formidable. Boo Mitchell, producer and engineer at Royal Studios, worked with Snoop when collaborating with William Bell and other Hi/Stax Records alums for the 2014 film, Take Me to the River.

“He wrote his rap in 10 minutes,” says Mitchell. “I sat and watched him do it.”

Mitchell recalls a moment when “…we were rehearsing for a concert after the film’s debut. We had a big band, four horns and all that stuff. [Snoop] came in while we were playing, and it blew him away. He started dancing and went into a freestyle as we played.” Mitchell, Bell, Snoop, and Cody Dickinson did more sessions earlier this year at Snoop’s Mothership Studio — their contribution to Take Me to the River’s sequel. Now in production, the sequel will be based in New Orleans, once again pairing eclectic artists from different eras. As Mitchell points out, the early California rappers like Snoop had a special fondness for old-school Memphis soul: Rufus Thomas’ “The Breakdown (Pt. II)” was used by N.W.A., for example. Devin Steel agrees: “In the evolution of Southern hip-hop, in the late ’80s, what drew people, especially hip-hop artists, in the South to the West Coast was the use of live bass and sampling a lot of Stax, a lot of the Memphis sound. We were drawn to that more than to the East Coast, and that’s what married the West Coast and the South together.”

For Snoop Dogg, this connection has always had a personal dimension. “I interviewed him backstage recently,” Steel remembers, “and it was all these city officials and groupies and a lot of weed smoke there all in the same place. It was a very weird situation — and Snoop was playing Al Green’s greatest hits! His family is from Mississippi; that’s what he grew up on.”

Snoop’s father is from Magnolia, and his mother is from McComb. “Even on his stuff with Dr. Dre and ‘Nuthin’ but a G Thang’, sampling Leon Haywood,” says Steel, “A lot of that stuff is old soul, borderline blues, and it was perfect for him and his flow and his personality and where he came from.”

And as for the show, Steel says, “You have to say you saw him at least once in your lifetime. Because he has so many hits, through the span of two and a half generations, and his show is really, really good. So you kinda say, ‘Oh, damn, I forgot about that! Oh, damn, I forgot about that!’ He’s perfect for Memphis; he’s got Isaac Hayes samples and all that. It lights a part of your brain from the feelgood era of hip-hop, where everybody knows the lyrics.”

Alex Greene

Booker T. Jones

Booker T. Jones Comes Home

The architect of Memphis soul reflects on 55 years in the spotlight.

Memphis is a place that has produced more than its share of musical geniuses, but the title of first among equals must belong to Booker T. Jones. He started working as a staff musician at Stax at age 16. In 1962, his song “Green Onions” was a huge hit for the label. It became the landmark instrumental of the rock and soul era. The song bore all the hallmarks of the sound he would help create for Stax: an instantly hummable hook, a groove that is somehow both urgent and laid back, and a deceptive complexity that remains as fresh on the thousandth listen as on the first.

Jones was a child prodigy, and he says it was the musical education he got growing up in 1950s Memphis that propelled him to greatness. “My grandmother taught piano. I had Chopin, Brahms, and Liszt in my home over there on Edith Street. My mother played piano, and her mother taught her to play. I had a Hammond organ teacher who … I haven’t run into any teachers who could come close to her. She was right around the corner over there on Orleans, teaching me how to play how I play now. Her name was Elmertha Cole, and somehow they were able to buy a very expensive Hammond B3 organ and get it into their house. I was very fortunate. I have no idea where I could have found that otherwise. She was something special. She had an understanding and was exacting, and she cared a lot. It was just the right person at the right time.”

He says he is immensely proud of the Stax Music Academy, and he remains a tireless advocate for music education at a time when many public schools are dropping programs. “I think a lot of legislators just don’t realize all of the things that are subconsciously taught by music. All of the math, the psychology that you learn by playing an instrument. It is taught very subtly. When kids learn piano at a young age or they pick up a flute or a saxophone, at first they entertain themselves. They’re engaged … In our society, we use music for everything. We use music when we feel good; we use it when we feel bad; we use it when we get married; we use it when somebody dies. It’s the fabric of our society, and it needs to be taught early.”

Music teaches creative collaboration, and very few people have collaborated with as wide an array of artists as Jones. With William Bell, he co-wrote “Born Under a Bad Sign” for Albert King; 50 years later he co-wrote songs for Valerie June’s debut album. He played with Ray Charles and backed up everyone from Neil Young to Rancid. People backing him up have included the Drive-By Truckers, Questlove, Lou Reed, and Sharon Jones. In 1977, he produced Willie Nelson’s album Stardust. “We realized we had grown up playing the same songs. ‘Stardust,’ ‘Georgia on My Mind’ … those are the songs he got to do as a young man playing clubs in Texas, and they were the same ones I had done in Memphis with Puff Beane and Willie Mitchell. So we wanted to make a record together, but it was tough to get the record company to let us make that record.”

Stardust went triple Platinum and made Willie Nelson a household name.

At age 72, Jones is still a road warrior. In the last month alone, he played three nights in Tokyo, the massive Byron Bay Bluesfest in New South Wales, Australia, and shows in Sydney and Melbourne. I caught up with him resting in Lake Tahoe, California, before he heads off to England and Ireland. Then he will return to Memphis to close out Beale Street Music Festival’s Blues Tent, Sunday night at 8:35 p.m. “It’s going to be a look into what made me who I am today, musically. It’s going to be my favorite music I’ve been involved with as a player and as a songwriter and sideman. ‘Green Onions’ is still my favorite song. I still love to play the Booker T. and the MGs music. I like to get up and play guitar. I started doing that in Memphis, but of course, I didn’t get the job at Stax as a guitar player. I play some songs that influenced me to be a musician, blues songs in particular. It’s my life in music up to today. That encompasses a wide range of music, because I’ve played with a lot of different people. That’s what I do on stage. It’s a little bit unpredictable, but it usually includes four or five songs by Booker T. and the MGs and music that I’ve written for other people, like Bill Withers. I might even do a Wilson Pickett song or something I did with Bob Dylan or a Beatles song … I have a lot of musical influences. On stage, I just enjoy myself, and hopefully the audience goes with me.”

Chris McCoy

Dead soldiers

Dead Soldiers Throw Down

Don’t call these Memphians “country.”

Before I interviewed Ben Aviotti and Michael Jasud about the new Dead Soldiers album The Great Emptiness, I had resolved not to ask them the dreaded “genre question.” The band, who made a name for themselves in Memphis with scorching live sets, freely crosses styles. Their songcraft bears the stamp of classic rock and outlaw country. Their blistering instrumental workouts skirt the bluegrass line, and rollicking jams sometimes resemble Gogol Bordello’s punky gypsy jazz. The Soldiers cut their teeth as a whiskey-soaked bar band, yet they routinely conjure moments of orchestral beauty. They can twang, but they have a soul horn section. They follow Memphis tradition of smashing together any and all musical influences that float down the river. But that means that they are tired of being asked “What are you?” by people whose jobs it is to put labels on things.

For the record, they brought it up. “People thought we were a country band, which was wrong. We’re not a country band,” says Jasud.

“That’s insulting both ways,” says Aviotti.

“It’s a huge insult to country music, and it’s an insult to us,” says Jasud.

“It’s the worst when you actually have to fill it out for the publishing,” says Aviotti. “I’m like, acoustic Christian contemporary has its own subgenre …”

“… That’s the worst one …” injects Jasud.

“… Then it’s just, are you rock or are you country? Are you post-punk shoe gaze, or are you rock or country? Maybe Americana?” says Aviotti.

“So, we decided we are going to call ourselves City Music,” says Jasud.

The band formed in 2011, but Jasud says their roots go back farther than that. “Ben’s like five or six years older than I. I was this punk-ass 14-year-old kid hanging out around older, wilder music folks. That’s when I met Ben.”

An eight-piece lineup recorded The Great Emptiness with Toby Vest and Pete Matthews at High/Low Recording last year: Jasud and Aviotti on guitars and vocals (with occasional banjo), Clay Qualls on bass (with occasional mandolin), multi-instrumentalists Nathan Raab and Krista Wroten-Combest providing whatever the song needs, Paul Gilliam on drums, and Nashon Benford and Victor Sawyer blowing trumpet and trombone, respectively. The big-band approach is the key to their slippery sound on new songs like “Teddy Bears” and “Prophets of Doom,” which evolved with input from the entire crew. “There are various approaches to music with this band. Nobody has the same perspective. When we go into a song, we’re never on the same page,” says Aviotti. “We just try everybody’s ideas. Nothing is sacred. When everybody agrees that it’s good, then it’s done.”

The group dynamic did not appear overnight. “Our process is, we got really good at arguing with each other,” says Jasud. “It was bloody and prolonged and painful, but we slowly figured out how to argue with each other to where it really became just about the ideas. They’re not arguments any more. It’s just, ‘Let’s try it!'”

While they can sound ramshackle and jammy, Dead Soldiers sweats the details. Wroten-Combest and Benford played together in Memphis Dawls and brought their experience at creating lush soundscapes to the band. “Krista, to her eternal credit, has played with orchestras and writes scores,” says Aviotti. “She’s extremely good at orchestration.”

The orchestral sound is evident in the closing moments of The Great Emptiness, as the closing tones of “Cheap Magic” modulate upwards toward heaven, as the melody from “The Entertainer” floats through the ether. It’s a beautiful moment, but maybe not what you would call heartfelt. “That’s a sarcastic modulation,” says Aviotti.

“We were writing lyrics that were sarcastic, and we were trying to make the music do that, too,” says Jasud.

The lyrics of “Georgia Tann” touch on a dark bit of Memphis history. “Georgia Tann was the head of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, an adoption agency here during E.H. Crump’s reign … They would steal children from their homes and low income schools and whatnot and adopt them to rich people for money. In some cases, it was indentured servitude. There are all sorts of horror stories about torture and kids dying in her care. She died a free woman, but there was a pending case against her for hundreds of counts of wrongful deaths.”

Dead Soldiers will bring songs from The Great Emptiness to the River Stage on Saturday afternoon at 2:20 p.m. “Some of these songs are the first songs we wrote as a band, five or six years ago. We’re just now finally figuring out how they are supposed to go together,” says Aviotti. “But some of them are brand new, hot off the pan!”

Chris McCoy

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Beale Street Music Festival Guide!

Don’t walk around the festival like that bird in Are You My Mother? Download the Memphis Flyer’s portable guide the Beale Street Music Festival. It’s right here:

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Beale Street Music Fest: The Bands

Beale Street Music Fest: The Bands

Friday, May 2

Lord T & Eloise

FedEx Stage • 6 p.m.

Aristocrunk, the combination of debauched continental privilege and Deep South horror-core hip-hip, was founded by royalty right here in Memphis. Lord T & Eloise established the upper limit on wealth, braggadocio, and rococo trappings in the rap community. Providing an absolutist approach to policy issues, such as day drinking and fine cobblery, Lord Treadwell and Maurice Eloise XIII rain down doubloons and malt beverages on the 1-percenters themselves.

MS MR

Bud Light Stage • 6:05 p.m.

Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow formed this duo, which is signed to Columbia, while attending Vassar College. In a musical environment where duos and DJs pack everything they can find into tracks, MS MR reserve the spaces between the beats for Plapinger’s voice. She has earned the distinction, and the music is all the better for the style. It’s refreshing to see the voice take the primary focus of a band working in this milieu.

Project Pat

Orion Stage • 6:10 p.m.

Project Pat will be the perfect pick for anyone salivating to hear street-influenced lyrics spewed with a Southern drawl over bass-ridden tracks. The North Memphis-bred spitter has been doing his thing since the ’90s and continues to keep his name ringing. He’s released several projects over the past few calendars and was featured on his younger brother Juicy J’s Never Sober Tour earlier this year. He’s also putting the finishing touches on the sequel to his platinum-selling classic album, Mista Don’t Play: Everythangs Workin. Keeping the crowd pleased shouldn’t be too difficult for the gold-grill sporting Southern rap heavyweight.

Lucky Peterson

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 6:10 p.m.

Look out for Lucky Peterson. He had a hit at age five and grew up in a club where he soaked in blues and jazz from greats like Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed. Decades later he can still seem like a kid when he plays. Peterson can assume all sorts of musical guises — from wearing stylin’ suits onstage with Wynton Marsalis in France to running around the joint in a biker jacket with a Gibson 330. He’ll play gospel-spiked R&B on the Hammond or wild-dog blues on guitar. It all sounds good. Peterson’s backing band is worth the ticket, but he is a lively guitarist whose tone can be startlingly cool. Watching a musician who still has such enthusiasm for performing is a blast. Peterson would not be having so much fun if his audience wasn’t happily riled up, too.

GROUPLOVE

Grouplove

FedEx Stage • 6:50 p.m.

GROUPLOVE is a big, happy, and appropriately named collective of musicians. The group met traveling in Greece and New York. They bring an international bend to the traditional American pop collective: While the Mamas & the Papas and the Band might come to mind when you think of big, homey groups of talented musicians, GROUPLOVE is of these times. Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi bring big voices and a reliable pop sensibility to this group of talented players. That GROUPLOVE is hard to characterize speaks to their genre-bending capacities. They may look like a pop phenomenon, but this is a real band with good songs.

Third Eye Blind

Bud Light Stage • 7:30 p.m.

Those who grew up on MTV’s Total Request Live need no introduction to Third Eye Blind. With hits like “Jumper” and “How’s it Going To Be,” Third Eye Blind were one of THE alternative bands from the ’90s, alongside other radio-friendly groups like the Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox 20. Since starting in 1993, the alternative band from San Francisco has released four studio albums, appearing every few years or so to drop another album and keep the idea alive that purple-tinted sunglasses equal rock-and-roll. While their latest efforts might not live up to the hype of Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind is a must for anyone in their mid-20s wanting to take a trip down memory lane.

Dropkick Murphy’s

Dropkick Murphys

Orion Stage • 7:35 p.m.

While they have had a loyal following from Warped Tour types for years, it wasn’t until Martin Scorsese’s 2007 film The Departed that the Dropkick Murphys became a household name. That movie introduced the world to their song “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” a mega-hit that’s played at just about every sporting event you can think of. Since signing to Warner Brothers in 2007, Dropkick Murphys’ success continues to grow, with their last two albums making it to no. 9 and no. 6 on two Billboard charts. Not bad for a humble punk band from Massachusetts.

Will Tucker

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 7:40 p.m.

An up-and-comer on Beale, Tucker has settled in at B.B. King’s, where he started at age 14 and his band still has its regular Friday night gig. Tucker has opened for King and played with Charlie Musselwhite, the Beach Boys, and others. He’s attracted attention beyond the local blues scene, notably that of American Idol judge and populizer of the word “dawg,” Randy Jackson, who called upon the young Memphian for two soundtrack jobs. Tucker has earned warehouses of local fan-favorite awards and will be one to watch for another half century.

Juicy J

FedEx Stage • 8:20 p.m.

Thanks to his platinum single (and twerk phenomenon) “Bandz A Make Her Dance,” Juicy J has transcended from being known as a co-founder of Memphis’ most prosperous rap group, Three 6 Mafia, to a groundbreaking solo artist. Currently a part of Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang imprint, he dropped his Stay Trippy album in 2013 and is prepping the release of his forthcoming project, The Hustle Continues, later this year. The last time Juicy performed at the festival was in 2012 alongside fellow Three 6 Mafia co-founder DJ Paul. This time around, Juicy will perform by his lonesome, but if it’s anything like his recent concerts, be ready for a high-energy show and maybe a little twerking from talented dancers.

Fitz & the Tantrums

Bud Light Stage • 9:10 p.m.

Fitz & the Tantrums is an R&B/soul-inspired indie rock band that hails from Los Angeles. Formed in 2008, the group is fronted by a pair of dynamic lead singers — Noelle Scaggs and band founder/namesake Michael Fitzpatrick — and made its name in the underground music world through tours in support of groups like Hepcat, Flogging Molly, and Maroon 5, as well as a semi-legendary performance at Austin’s South By Southwest music festival in 2010. Later that year, the band unveiled its first full-length album, Pickin’ Up the Pieces, which garnered rave reviews and led to national television appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Conan, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The 2013 follow-up More Than Just a Dream also received positive reviews on the strength of the band’s solid pop hooks and club-ready beats.

311

Orion Stage • 9:15 p.m.

Nick Hexum and his DJ-infused pop-funk outfit have been riling up folks since 1988. They didn’t let a Bruce Willis-style escape from a burning tour bus hold them back and hit triple-platinum in 1995 with their self-titled third album. This year’s Stereolithic is their 11th album. 311 spices up the typical bro-funk-metal thing with elements of pop and ska. You don’t make it this far without a good live show.

Marco Van Rooijen

Ana Popovic

Ana Popovic

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 9:15 p.m.

Hailing from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Popovic has colonized the contemporary American blues scene. Growing up under the government of Slobodan Milosevic, she formed a band and rose as the nationalist regime fell. She took a music-study opportunity in Switzerland, turned it into European notoriety, and eventually landed a record deal in Memphis with producer Jim Gaines. She covered “Belly Button Window” for the Jimi Hendrix tribute album Blue Haze, which also featured cuts by Carlos Santana and John Lee Hooker. She’s a Memphian now, which is awesome.

Pretty Lights

FedEx Stage • 9:55 p.m.

A festival and neo-jam-circuit veteran with a sound that harkens back to a funkier age of hip-hop — Grand Puba, Funkdoobiest, and De La Soul come to mind. There is an underlay of ’70s-era funk that was an essential aspect of ’90s rap, but Pretty Lights brings to bear the big filters and synths that dominate less thoughtful electronic dance music. The latest release, A Color Map of the Sun, has no canned samples. Derek Smith recorded real musicians playing tracks and pressed them to vinyl.

Foster the People

Bud Light Stage • 10:50 p.m.

“All the little girls with their pumped up kicks …” That song. “Pumped Up Kicks” was Foster the People’s radio hit of 2011. Catchy as hell and worthy of a Grammy nomination, the skinny-jeans pop tune became a certified earworm and was a big break for former jingle writer Mark Foster. Their sound is a blend of digital production with occasional cameos by real instruments. The band released their follow-up album Supermodel last month. Foster’s jingle-writing past is still apparent, but Supermodel has a wider range of sounds and ideas than their debut Torches.

Snoop Dogg AKA Snoop Lion

Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion

Orion Stage • 11 p.m.

Snoop Dogg, or Snoop Lion, is likely to keep the crowd entertained at this year’s festival with more than two decades of hits to select from during his set. One of gangsta rap’s pioneers, Snoop has managed to diversify his archive throughout his career and appeal to individuals from all walks of life. His ability to maintain relevance and innovate new sounds, slang, and ways to hustle has preserved his seat among hip-hop’s elite. Fans of timeless tracks from the golden era of gangsta rap up until the modern hip-hop sound will be in for a treat when the D.O. double G. graces the Orion Stage.

Dickey Betts & Great Southern

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 11 p.m.

The name Dickey Betts is virtually synonymous with Southern rock. As a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, Betts is a certified music legend, having been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In fact, two of the group’s biggest hits — “Jessica” and “Ramblin’ Man” — are both Betts’ compositions. Betts has also been quite prolific on his own over the years, releasing several successful solo albums in his esteemed career. His current touring band, Great Southern, also features his son Duane Betts (named for his former counterpart Duane Allman) on guitar.

Kenny Brown

Blues Shack • Times Vary

Kenny Brown has blues cred like few others. R.L. Burnside referred to the slide-playing Nesbit, Mississippi, native as his adopted son. Brown also studied under Joe Callicott, the hill country legend whose sound and life emerged from the darkness of the forgotten North Mississippi sound as he mentored Burnside as well as Brown. As Burnside rose from obscurity to celebrity in the 1990s, Brown was essential to the sound and the logistics, serving as a grateful student to a renowned master. Brown has attained mastery in his own right and is a first-order exponent of the hill country sound.

Robert “Wolfman” Belfour

Blues Shack • Times Vary

Belfour is another second-generation hill country bluesman. A protégé of fife-and-drum bandleader Othar Turner, Belfour takes the acoustic bargain and keeps that regional drone and drawl humming in the air. His driving, rhythmic pulse bounces under his thumb as his fingers syncopate with sheet-lightning chords and jumper-cable lines. Belfour’s voice has the stone assurance that keeps the gravitas in the mix. This is the real deal.

Big Gigantic

Late Night at FedEx Stage • 12:15 a.m.

Big Gigantic, another duo arising from the lap-top-driven dance scene, take a more proactive approach to getting down over beats and samples. The group is driven by drummer Jeremy Salken and saxophonist/producer Dominic Lalli, with their live, instrumental ornamentation of the dance-music stock earning them the label of “livetronica.” Their latest album is The Night is Young. This is another big light show situation, which is de rigueur for the lap-top set.

Saturday, May 3

Sonny Burgess & the Legendary Pacers

FedEx Stage • 2:10 p.m.

Of all the rockabilly artists to cut records at Sun in the 1950s, very few could match the raw, raucous energy and excitement captured on vinyl by Albert Austin “Sonny” Burgess and his band, the Legendary Pacers. Burgess played in a boogie-woogie dance band before moving to Memphis. His dance-band sensibility is evidenced by swinging guitar-driven arrangements decorated with squawking horns, pounding keys, and wild call-and-response refrains. Burgess gets more rock on his first Sun single “We Wanna Boogie” than most artists manage in an entire career.

Daddy Mack Blues Band

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 2:15 p.m.

Mack Orr has been on the Memphis blues scene for decades and is known for a solid show that represents the Memphis sound in blues. Daddy Mack’s sound is derived from Albert King and redolent of the great Memphis blues bands that lasted into the early 1990s around Green’s Lounge. It’s R&B-infused but keeps things funky, earthy, and analog. Daddy Mack has a catch phrase, and he earned it: “When people say, ‘Memphis blues ain’t what it used to be,’ they haven’t heard the Daddy Mack Blues Band.” In a town that thrives on the braggadocio, there’s a lot of truth to what he says.

Eric Gales

Orion Stage • 2:25 p.m.

Gales’ latest undertaking is Pinnick Gales Pridgen, a collaboration with bassist dUg Pinnick and drummer Thomas Pridgen. The hard-hitting, radio-ready rock band features Gales’ renowned electric fireworks. He learned Hendrix parts (complete with the upside-down lefty approach) from older brother Little Jimmy King. Gales has played with Carlos Santana and Mitch Mitchell and remains in a tiny group of peers who play with the aural ferocity of Jimi Hendrix. He has released more than a dozen albums.

Memphis Dawls

Bud Light Stage • 2:30 p.m.

The trio of Holly Cole, Jana Misener, and Krista Wroten Combest started working on their sweet harmonies in high school, and it shows. Their soaring, complex vocal arrangements and guitar, cello, and violin sounds blend seamlessly to create a unique sonic space. Their music defies easy genre description, drawing influences from such disparate elements as Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, the Andrews Sisters, Otis Redding, and others. Their deeply felt folk style has been attracting big crowds in Memphis and beyond, where the band has opened for Jack White and toured America on their own. Don’t miss this hometown favorite.

Carolina Chocolate Drops

FedEx Stage • 3:20 p.m.

There are few sounds on Earth more joyful than listening to Rhiannon Giddens gorgeously singing an a cappella Irish reel while one of her bandmates in the Carolina Chocolate Drops beatboxes. The Chocolate Drops are an old-time string band from North Carolina and beatboxing doesn’t figure large in the group’s traditional banjo, mandolin, and fiddle-driven sound. But when they do break it out, the mingling of the ancient and contemporary can be something truly special.

Blind Mississippi Morris

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent 3:50 p.m.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” Morris told film director Bill Totolo. “There’s a lot of people got trapped down there and all their dreams died between them rows, choppin’ that cotton and pickin’. All their dreams died right there. But I got the chance to come to Memphis and further my life and see other things and do other things.” Morris is a harp player from Clarksdale and is an institution at Memphis’ Center for Southern Folklore.

Los Rabanes

Los Rabanes

Orion Stage • 4 p.m.

Representing this year’s Memphis In May honored country of Panama, Los Rabanes started out as a raw punk band playing the bars of Central America and, over their 20-year history, have grown into an international phenomenon. Everything about the Latin Grammy winners’ sound is eclectic and original, mixing bits of ska, calypso, and soca with more traditional Latin rock, and singing in a fiery combination of Spanish and English. With songs like the international hit “Bam Bam,” they will keep your booty shaking.

St. Paul & the Broken Bones

Bud Light Stage • 4:05 p.m.

Soul never dies, it just keeps on moving and changing. Birmingham, Alabama’s St. Paul & the Broken Bones are dedicated to bringing the legacy of the Muscle Shoals soul sound into the 21st century. Lead singer “St. Paul” Janeway understands that good soul is always rooted in the sacred music of the church, and the group’s first full-length album Half The City has been getting attention for its soulful, rootsy sound. Watch Memphis keyboard hotshot Al Gamble help out with the band’s energetic live show.

Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler

FedEx Stage • 4:55 p.m.

Best known for catchy hit singles like “Hook,” “Run-Around,” and “But Anyway,” New Jersey alternative/jam-rock act Blues Traveler is a well-established live commodity, having toured consistently since the early ’90s. The band is fronted by harmonica virtuoso John Popper, who also serves as lead singer. In its 25-year-plus history, Blues Traveler has also released 11 studio albums (including 1994’s Four, which cracked Billboard‘s Top 10) and played countless festivals, including Lollapalooza, H.O.R.D.E., Woodstock, and Bonnaroo.

Quinn Sullivan

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 5:25 p.m.

Fifteen-year-old blues guitar prodigy Quinn Sullivan has already done more in his short but illustrious career than artists more than three times his age. Initially discovered on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at the tender age of six, Sullivan has gone on to share the stage with blues legends like Buddy Guy and B.B. King, as well as appear on other national TV shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He’s also released two studio albums thus far, 2011’s Cyclone and 2013’s Getting There.

Aer

Orion Stage • 5:35 p.m.

Formerly a full band called Fresh Aer Movement, Aer is abbreviated in name and in personnel. Carter Schultz and David von Mering pared things down to a duo and hit with their 2011 EP What You Need, sing-songy, poppy hip-hop in the vein of G. Love & Special Sauce. Their next record, The Bright Side, showed some exposure to ’90s hip-hop but didn’t stray too far from the easy and accessible.

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis

Bud Light Stage • 5:45 p.m.

One could argue that Elvis had to go make movies because he couldn’t burn the house down like Jerry Lee. Nobody before or since has laid down such a primal musical gauntlet as did the Ferriday, Louisiana, native when he bum-rushed Sun Studio and recorded Big Maybelle’s “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” in 1957. Other people are singers or piano players. He is the fissile material in the detonation of rock-and-roll, and he’s still going. There are videos online of him performing recently. He’s 79 years old. He still tears up a piano.

Buddy Guy

FedEx Stage • 6:35 p.m.

The Louisiana native is one of the revered architects of Chicago blues. While on the legendary Chess records, he recorded with the likes of Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. These recordings would go on to be revered by a generation of blues rockers like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. His flamboyant live performances and feedback-heavy style were cited by Jimi Hendrix as his greatest influence. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee has played on dozens of albums and taken his sound live around the world. He’s a true blues legend who is still going strong at 77.

Reba Russell Band

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 7 p.m.

Now in her fourth decade of working the Memphis music scene, Russell has forged an independent career alongside her bass-playing, art-making husband. The only person she ever “worked for” was Chips Moman, for whom she sang with Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Ringo Starr, and U2. Otherwise, she has released her own work and formed a production company with business partner Dawn Hopkins called Blued Eyed Bitches. Russell established her place among the wild-hare, furiously independent Memphis music world and continues to chart her own path with songs that embody her feisty spirit.

Wolfmother

Orion Stage • 7:10 p.m.

Guitarist Andrew Stockdale’s hard-rocking trio took their native Australia by storm in 2006, selling a half-million records and winning a Grammy for their song “Woman.” Stockdale’s soaring vocals can sound uncannily like prime Ozzy Osborne, and his guitar prowess rivals any metal gunslinger you care to name. But they can also do fast and hard garage rock and woozy psychedelia, slipping between styles sometimes within the same song. After a brief hiatus, the band is back with the recently released album New Crown.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Bud Light Stage • 7:20 p.m.

Cleveland’s thuggish-ruggish hip-hop supergroup Bone Thugs-N-Harmony know a thing or two about writing a hit. From the silky smooth voice of Krayzie Bone to the classic beats used on tracks like “Tha Crossroads” and “1st of tha Month,” songs by Bone Thugs are usually recognizable within the first few seconds. Although the group saw the height of their fame in 1997 when they won multiple awards (including a Grammy for Best Rap Album) for their album E. 1999 Eternal, Bone Thugs have stayed active despite line-up changes, releasing six studio albums since the mid-’90s.

Twenty One Pilots

FedEx Stage • 8:15 p.m.

Pure pop. Twenty One Pilots has a knack for the sugar. This duo has a divining rod to tunes that are current and catchy. The chirpy, adolescent-crisis-confessional raps and dance-derived synth pads stay on target. That focus earned drummer Josh Dun and producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer Tyler Joseph — who would be perfect if they redid the FedEx commercial where the guy talked real fast — a spot on the 2014 MTV Music Awards broadcast.

Kenny Neal

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 8:40 p.m.

They say Kenny Neal was 3 years old and making a racket crying about something when Slim Harpo put a blues harp in his mouth to quiet him. Despite the questionable logic of giving a child a harmonica, things worked out. Neal grew up in a home filled with legends: Harpo, Lazy Lester, and Buddy Guy were family friends. It’s no wonder that decades later Neal has earned Grammy nominations and Handy Awards.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

Orion Stage • 8:50 p.m.

Joan Jett is a genuine rock legend. In 1975, she founded the Runaways, a pioneering, all-female rock band perched on the cusp of glam, metal, and punk. As a solo artist in the 1980s, she had chart-topping success with “I Love Rock ‘n Roll,” “Bad Reputation,” and “I Hate Myself For Loving You.” Not only is she a feminist icon who has been portrayed onscreen by Kristen Stewart, but just a couple weeks ago, she sang “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with Nirvana at their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction. That’s rock-and-roll.

Chick Corea & the Vigil

Bud Light Stage • 9:05 p.m.

Currently on a tour of solo performances, Corea will perform with his band the Vigil. He’s had a Latin undercurrent in much of his jazz dating back to early gigs with percussion master Willie Bobo in the 1960s. Corea went on to epitomize the electric jazz of the late 1960s and ’70s. He is the definitive electric pianist in the jazz idiom and has remained on the vanguard of new sounds. His solo work and his collaborations with the groups Circle, Return To Forever, and the Elektric Band represent a wide range of genius.

STS9

FedEx Stage • 9:50 p.m.

Sound Tribe Sector 9 are primarily a live act born of the festival circuit who are geared toward gigging over recording. STS9 demonstrates a synthesis of dance-driven rules but with vigorous live shows. Very comfortable on a bill with electronic dance music or a jam band, the Georgia-bred, California-based group favors simple, interlocking instrumental parts that evolve over the timespan of a club track or DJ set.

Tommy Castro

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 10:25 p.m.

Castro has won a frigate’s worth of awards for his hollering and Stratocaster playing. He is a Bay Area stalwart and one of the superstars of modern blues. Castro is a regular opener for B.B. King. His show is a high-energy electrical machine. Rather than looking to a throwback concept, Castro is content in his identity, giving the music a radio-rock feel.

Kid Rock

Kid Rock

Orion Stage • 10:35 p.m.

It’s not easy being a self-proclaimed “American badass,” but then again, not everybody can use a made-up word for a chorus and get a platinum-selling album out of it. Thus is the skill set of Kid Rock, who is equal parts trailer park hero, hip-hop outlaw, and country-music superstar. Kid Rock is the epitome of a renaissance man, and he’s got the chart-topping hits to prove it. With 11 albums under his belt and no sign of slowing down, it’s safe to assume the Cowboy from Michigan will be gracing our ears with hits for quite some time.

Patti Labelle

Bud Light Stage • 10:50 p.m.

Beginning with the Bluebells’ “I Sold My Heart to the Junk Man,” LaBelle has carried one of the big guns of 20th-century diva soul. The early girl-group records are all about that huge, acrobatic voice. Go find the self-titled first record of her band, Labelle. Holy moly, it’s good. They opened for the Who and went on to own 1970s glam with “Lady Marmalade.” The ’80s? “New Attitude” was on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. She earned a Grammy in 1991. Her influence on the sound of female R&B vocals can’t be overstated. Her melismatic vocals set the style for the 1990s and beyond.

Fuzzy Jeffries

Blues Shack • Times Vary

Jeffries is a contemporary blues burner whose sound slips easily into classic R&B. His playing comes from the post-Hendrix world of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, and to a lesser extent, Robert Cray. His band, the Kings of Memphis, bear the hallmarks of gospel and R&B experience, which rounds out the sound much better than a straight blues band would with this sort of music.

Leo Bud Welch

Blues Shack • Times Vary

Leo Bud Welch is the purest spring of good music to surface in a long time. He’s 81 years old and released his first album earlier this year. Sabougla Voices is a collection of gospel songs. Welch is a preacher in Bruce, Mississippi, where he also worked on logging crews. His message is delivered with all the hill country charm and power that has made the region’s secular blues so popular in recent decades. This is exciting and engaging gospel from a man who has been spreading the word since 1975. This is a festival highlight.

Beats Antique

Late Night at FedEx Stage • 12:15 a.m.

Beats Antique is a dance-driven multicultural storm of lights and exotic sounds. Legendary producer Miles Copeland helped assemble the group to support a dance troupe, and it has kept people dancing around the world since 2007. The mix of live belly dancing, a remix palette of international scope, and live instrumental performance are one thing. The lights add another dimension.

Sunday, May 4

FreeWorld

FedEx Stage • 2:10 p.m.

Richard Cushing’s FreeWorld are a Memphis institution that have transcended their jam band roots to become as solid a band as you can find in town. Serving as a reliable gig for jazz eminences and as a breeding ground for young musicians, FreeWorld are rolling toward their third decade. FreeWorld can easily jump from a respectful take on a classic soul tune to a Zappa-esque caprice. They call themselves the world’s tightest jam band. To see what it takes to survive as a musician in Memphis, go see FreeWorld.

Los Rabanes

Bud Light Stage • 2:15 p.m.

Since its inception in 1977, punk rock has become something of a universal musical language, as bands throughout the world have taken the music of rebellion and made it their own. Representing this year’s Memphis In May honored country of Panama, Los Rabanes started out as a raw punk band playing the bars of Central America and, over their 20-year history, have grown into an international phenomenon. Everything about the Latin Grammy winners’ sound is eclectic and original, mixing bits of ska, calypso, and soca with more traditional Latin rock and singing in a fiery combination of Spanish and English. With songs like the international hit “Bam Bam,” they will keep your booty shaking.

Herman Green

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 2:15 p.m.

From 1955 until 1957, Herman Green was the saxophonist in the house band at San Francisco’s legendary Black Hawk Club, where he played with Cannonball Adderley, Dave Brubeck, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Miles Davis. He backed Marilyn Monroe and had Sinatra sit in. A gig for Lionel Hampton led to a move to New York and friendship with John Coltrane. Green’s played with Bob Weir, Jimmie Vaughan, and countless others. His work with the Newborn family and his tenure with FreeWorld are highlights of his time in Memphis.

Surrender The Fall

Orion Stage • 2:20 p.m.

Memphis’ own Surrender The Fall make their debut Beale Street Music Festival appearance, adding their dynamic brand of modern hard rock/metal to this year’s eclectic line-up. The band, which formed in 2005, is currently touring in support of its latest release, the 2012 full-length Burn In The Spotlight. The album was released by the Rum Bum Records label (also the home of fellow local heavy-rockers Saliva) and debuted on Billboard‘s Active Rock chart.

Black Joe Lewis

FedEx Stage • 3:35 p.m.

Lewis continues to awe festivals and critics with his mix of punk and blues. He learned to play in a pawnshop, which is probably the coolest possible way to learn the guitar. His last album, Electric Slave, takes the Jon Spencer playbook into the Jack White age. It’s fuzzy, straight-ahead power sludge that is a natural habitat for Lewis’ feral shriek. It’s some of the best pure rock-and-roll to come out in this decade. If you invite comparisons to Roky Erickson, then congratulations on being great at music. Lewis also includes horns and — for the love of all that is good — a bass player.

Black Stone Cherry

Orion Stage • 3:50 p.m.

Black Stone Cherry are gearing up to release a new album, which is probably what brings the boys from Edmonton, Kentucky, down to Memphis. Since forming in 2001, the band has seen its fair share of success, touring with the likes of Def Leppard and Nickelback, and somewhere in there a deal with Road Runner Records came along. But don’t look to the aforementioned bands if you’re trying to pin down the sound of Black Stone Cherry, as the band rides a groove best described as modern hard rock with a Southern twang. With songs about marijuana (“Me and Mary Jane”) and questionable lifestyles (“White Trash Millionaires”), Black Stone Cherry keep the subject matter light and the riffs heavy.

Ghost Town Blues Band

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 3:50 p.m.

These guys have been kicking up a storm in Memphis since 1999 and have earned loads of awards and fans. In 2013, Ghost Town were finalists in the International Blues Challenge. A full-on West Memphis-style blues act with keys and horns, they infuse the tried-and-true big-band lineup with a powerful dose of youthful energy. Ghost Town take an eclectic approach, sampling from Memphis soul à la Rufus Thomas or working things out on a scale appropriate to the jam band scene.

The Dandy Warhols

Bud Light Stage • 3:55 p.m.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of one of the alternative ’90s best, the Portland, Oregon-based Dandy Warhols. The band, whose single “We Used To Be Friends” is familiar as the theme song to the TV teen detective show-turned film Veronica Mars, have explored sounds from ’60s garage psychedelia to Big Star-style power pop to ’80s postpunk and Britpop. In addition to their high-profile international appearances, such as an opening slot for the legendary David Bowie’s last tour, the band was also the subject of the 2004 film Dig!, which won the Best Documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Leftover Salmon

Leftover Salmon

FedEx Stage • 5:15 p.m.

Jam band legends Leftover Salmon formed in Boulder, Colorado, in 1989 around a trio of founding members: Drew Emmitt, Mark Vann, and Vince Herman. The group, which combined elements of bluegrass, Zydeco, and rock into its sound (dubbed “polyethnic Cajun slamgrass” by the band itself), enjoyed immense success throughout the ’90s, releasing four acclaimed studio albums and touring relentlessly. Vann’s death in 2002 was a tragic setback, but the group has soldiered on, even releasing a new album called Aquatic Hitchhiker in 2012 with recent members Andy Thorn, Greg Garrison, and Jose Martinez.

Anthrax

Orion Stage • 5:25 p.m.

Anthrax entered its fourth decade in 2011. They have released 11 full-length albums of thrash metal. This music fed a generation of dudes raised on Anthrax and their peers Megadeth, Slayer, and the big winners (and in some ways losers) Metallica. Pharaoh-bearded guitarist Scott Ian (the only consistent member) has held onto the wheel of a band that has seen lots of turnover in personnel but maintained a durable fan base.

Jason Isbell

Jason Isbell

Bud Light Stage • 5:30 p.m.

Would you be surprised if Jason Isbell was governor of Alabama one day? Here’s to that. Isbell has been on a tear since he dropped the bottle and his position in the Drive-By Truckers. Isbell is well into a slow-burn career that just keeps smoldering. He is the antidote to Nashville’s slavish adherence to commodity country. He bites harder lyrically, his voice is human (not auto-tuned), and his music can be replicated live. Where country and its alt cousin seem caught up in mindless fun, drinking Bud and PBR, respectively, Isbell has elevated the dialog. It’s good to see someone take on the mantle of adulthood and keep making sincere music in such an artful way.

Tony Joe White

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 5:30 p.m.

There was a belle epoch in country soul and Tony Joe White had a lot to do with it. White wrote “Polk Salad Annie,” the sad tale of a lady’s granny, which hit no. 8 in 1969. It became a regular tune in the live shows of Tom Jones and the King of Rock-and-Roll, Elvis Presley. White wrote “Willie and Laura Mae Jones,” which ended up on Dusty in Memphis, Dusty Spingfield’s country-soul masterpiece. White rose again in the early 1990s, writing for Tina Turner. In 2006, he hit his own stride, warming up for Roger Waters in Europe and cutting records with Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, and others.

Bootsy Collins

FedEx Stage • 7 p.m.

Bootsy Collins’ unorthodox appearance, entertaining alter egos, and talented bass guitar skills were a breath of fresh air to the funk culture several decades ago. From playing background for funk icons like James Brown and George Clinton to forming his own collective, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, which crafted an array of hits, he’s solidified his spot among the who’s who of the genre. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee continues to spread the funk across the globe. From “I’d Rather Be With You” to “Stretching Out” to “Can’t Stay Away,” attendees should anticipate receiving earfuls of funky hits when Bootsy touches the FedEx Stage.

Seether

Orion Stage • 7:05 p.m.

The alt-rock/metal trio Seether might hail from South Africa, but the band’s sound is steeped in the sounds of late-’90s American modern-rock radio, a formula which has yielded great success. The group has regularly shared the stage with acts like 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, and Papa Roach. Seether is perhaps best known for hit singles like “Remedy,” “Fake It,” and “Broken,” the latter of which featured a cameo from Evanescence’s Amy Lee. The band’s sixth studio album, Isolate and Medicate, is due out later this year.

North Mississippi Allstars

North Mississippi Allstars

Bud Light Stage • 7:15 p.m.

Local boys! The Allstars ought to be amped up for Memphis. They have a lot to be excited about, starting with a perfect slot. They have made seven albums and draw from a wellspring of songs, styles, and creativity that sustains their success. Luther Dickinson is at his best with a wide-open pick up and full-throttle rhythm section, which is just what Cody Dickinson and bassist Lightnin’ Malcolm provide.

Roy Rogers & the Delta Rhythm Kings

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 7:15 p.m.

Roy Rogers played on the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest soundtrack. But that’s not the half of it. He has won two Grammys for producing John Lee Hooker albums, penned Grammy-nominated tunes for Bonnie Raitt, and released an album with Ray Manzarek of the Doors. His specialty is slide, and his style is rooted in the bobwire tones and skip rhythms of the Delta. He moves from wild jump blues to beautifully all-worn-out country-blues philosophical tales.

The String Cheese Incident

The String Cheese Incident

FedEx Stage • 8:45 p.m.

Colorado jam band institution the String Cheese Incident has been a near-constant presence on the festival/touring circuit since its formation in 1993. Drawing influence from an eclectic mix of music genres, including bluegrass, reggae, prog-rock, and psychedelia, among others, the band has amassed a large and dedicated following throughout the years. Though the String Cheese Incident is primarily known as a live act, the group has also released nine fine studio albums, including this year’s A Song In My Head.

Avenged Sevenfold

Orion Stage • 8:50 p.m.

Avenged Sevenfold have earned the right to be called one of the biggest bands in alternative rock. Since forming in 1999, the band has seen an overwhelming amount of success, thanks in large part to a music video for the single “Bat Country” from their album City of Evil that parodied Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. While many bands that sell themselves on looks have a short shelf life, Avenged Sevenfold continue to evolve and change their sound, a practice that’s seen them sell more than 8 million records to date.

Alabama Shakes

Alabama Shakes

Bud Light Stage • 9 p.m.

They’ve only been around for a little less than five years, but the Alabama Shakes have already made a big splash in the world music scene, playing on Austin City Limits, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night With David Letterman in support of their gold record Boys & Girls. Singer/guitarist Brittany Howard and company promise to bring the same gutsy vocals and bottomless soul that have wowed audiences from the Glastonbury Festival in England to the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.

Canned Heat

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent • 9 p.m.

Canned Heat keeps burning. One of the original “festival acts” going back to the Monterey Pop Festival, Canned Heat set the standard for hippie blues recordings with the freewheeling flute of “Going Up Country” and the bonkers falsetto and eerie hammered piano strings of “On the Road Again.” United by a love for digging through record crates, the original members have gone on to their rewards with the exception of drummer Adolfo de la Parra. Founder and master harpist Alan Wilson’s last effort was the band’s 1970 collaboration with John Lee Hooker, Hooker n’ Heat.

David Evans

Blues Shack • Times Vary

The Doctor. Memphis is lucky to have this ethnomusicologist popping up on stages, radios, and at lecterns at the University of Memphis. A world authority on blues and musical culture, he’s won a Grammy for liner notes and is the author of The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to the Blues. Evans has published tons of field recordings, but he plays guitar and jumps right into the river of sound. He’s also a member of the Last Chance Jug Band. If you want to get schooled on the blues, gospel, folk, and all sorts of other things, this is your chance. He’s a 24-7 master class.

Brandon O. Bailey

Blues Shack • Times Vary

To say that Memphis musician Brandon O. Bailey is a unique artist is more than an understatement. Bailey is a one-man-band who combines his equally skillful blues harmonica playing and hip-hop beatboxing (with help from a loop pedal) into a wholly original live experience he calls “harpboxing.” His talents have been featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition as well as PBS’ Music Voyager series, and he placed second in the 2010 International Blues Competition (solo/duo category).

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Sing All Kinds We Recommend

Jazz Fest Lineup Announced: Memphis Handicaps

New Orleans Jazz Fest 2014 lineup went public today. It runs from April 25th through May 4th. There is usually some important overlap between the venerable Jazz Fest and our own Beale Street Music Festival, the lineup of which has not been announced. There’s usually some good handicapping to be done about who plays BSMF on the “festival circuit.” Heck, let’s all engage in rampant speculation.

Here’s the Jazz Fest 2014 lineup. Get your extra-bad self back over here for everything Beale Street Music Festival.

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News News Blog

Memphis In May Has An App For That

Memphis In May has released their free 2013 smart phone app, and it’s a vast improvement over their apps in years past (thanks Paul Ryburn for letting us know). The app is available for iPhones and Android phones.

The app features the lineup of bands for the Beale Street Music Festival, and users can highlight favorites to create their own personal schedule within the app. There are two general maps of the park tailored to the music fest and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, each highlighting where stages and vendor tents are located for the events. And there’s a separate map highlighting the disability-accessible viewing areas for music fest.

Additionally, the app includes information for where to take or locate “lost and found” items during the festivals, a list of events throughout May celebrating Memphis In May’s 2013 honored country of Sweden, and a list of barbecue teams participating in the cooking contest.

Perhaps, most importantly, the app includes themed photo booths for music fest, the barbecue contest, and Sunset Symphony. In the spirit of investigative journalism, we’ve tested them out.

Flyer intern Chris Shaw sings for the band Ex-Cult by night. But we just cant get him to stop singing ... like ever.

  • Flyer intern Chris Shaw sings for the band, Ex-Cult by night. But we just can’t get him to stop singing … like ever.

We cant believe Contemporary Media executive assistant Michael Shelton actually stopped eating to pose for this shot. Hes such a pig! Okay, we kid.

  • We can’t believe Contemporary Media executive assistant Michael Shelton actually stopped eating to pose for this shot. He’s such a pig! Okay, we kid.
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Sing All Kinds We Recommend

The 2013 Beale Street Music Festival Lineup

The full lineup is out for this year’s Beale Street Music Festival, which takes place Friday, May 3rd through Sunday, May 5th at Tom Lee Park, with artists such as the Black Keys, the Roots, Hall & Oates, and the Black Crowes among the headliners.

Three-day passes for the festival are $85 and are available through April 21st. See MemphisinMay.org for more info.

The Line-Up:

Friday
FedEx Stage: Alice in Chains, Deftones, Yngwie Malmsteen, Don Trip.
Early Read: Ace local rapper Don Trip makes his BSMF debut, then things get heavy.

Soul man Charles Bradley will close out the Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent on Friday night.

  • Soul man Charles Bradley will close out the Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent on Friday night.

Orion Stage: Hall & Oates, Sheryl Crow, The Wallflowers, Shannon McNally
Early Read: Maybe the most broadly appealing stage of the festival, with Mid-South powerhouse Crow setting up pop hitmakers Hall & Oates.

Bud Light Stage: Bassnectar, Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeros, Mimosa, The Joy Formidable.
Early Read: Alternating alt-rock and electronics, but don’t sleep on the opener, Welsh alt-rock power-trio the Joy Formidable, whose most recent album is appropriately titled The Big Roar.

Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent:Charles Bradley, Heritage Blues Orchestra, Louise Hoffsten, Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-State Coalition.
Early Read: I saw soul man Charles Bradley a couple of years ago at Austin’s South By Southwest Music Festival and can testify as to his live bona fides. Once a James Brown impersonator called “Black Velvet,” Bradley has more recently found an audience with his own music and should play well down in Soulsville.

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Music Music Features

Big Sounds on the Banks of the Big Muddy

Combining the best of Memphis music past and present with some of the most legendary performers in rock and soul history and a sampling of today’s biggest bands, Memphis in May’s Beale Street Music Festival has become one of the largest music festivals in the country, routinely drawing more than 150,000 fans to the banks of the Big Muddy. This year’s lineup should only help continue the festival’s popularity, bringing acts from a variety of musical genres and generations for a three-day celebration of the city’s mighty music heritage.

The Beale Street Music Fest will divide acts among four stages — with an added “blues shack” this year — in Tom Lee Park, a 33-acre site that sits at the base of historic Beale Street and stretches along the majestic Mississippi River.

Friday night’s lineup features a diverse trio of heavyweight headliners that may force eclectic music fans into a tough decision: On the Cellular South Stage, emo-punk stars My Chemical Romance will show off the melodic, empathetic style that has made them heroes to legions of young fans. On the Sam’s Town Stage, singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow will tap into her deep catalog of hits. And on the Budweiser Stage, hip-hop house band the Roots will supply head-bobbing beats and rhymes. Those who arrive early can see a couple of Memphis’ emerging stars in satirical hip-hoppers Lord T & Eloise and versatile roots chanteuse Amy LaVere.

On Saturday night, guitar fans can camp out at the Cellular South Stage for a trio of diverse legends: Chicago blues icon Buddy Guy, alt-rock godfather Lou Reed, and Latin-/classic-rock superstar Santana. Or blues fans could bypass Guy and stay at the Tennessee Lottery Blues Tent, where Watermelon Slim and Bettye LaVette bracket a set from Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin. Adventurous rock fans can show up early for a trio of hip indie/alt acts — power trio the Whigs, folk-rock sister duo Tegan and Sara, and cult-fave Cat Power.

Sunday, the Sam’s Town Stage boasts a historic double-shot: back-to-back sets from Memphis-connected hall-of-famers Jerry Lee Lewis and Aretha Franklin. Elsewhere, pop superstar Fergie headlines the Cellular South Stage while Southern rockers the Black Crowes will debut new lead guitarist Luther Dickinson (of the North Mississippi Allstars) when they close out the Budweiser Stage.

Friday Band Listings

Saturday Band Listings

Sunday Band Listings

Categories
Music Music Features

Friday, May 4th Band Listings

Plain White T’s

Cellular South Stage

6:10 p.m.

Since its formation a decade ago, Chicago emo-core group Plain White T’s have recorded three albums, participated in the 2005 Take Action Tour and the ’06 Warped Tour, and grown from a trio to a full-blown quintet, while lead singer Tom Higgenson has survived a devastating car wreck that nearly cost him a kidney. Last year, Plain White T’s cut their Hollywood Records debut, the hook-laden Every Second Counts, which features power-pop anthems such as “Our Time Now” and “Hate (I Really Don’t Like You),” served up with crunchy guitar chords courtesy of Tim Lopez and Dave Tirio, Mike Retondo’s rapid-fire bass work, and De’Mar Hamilton’s hammer-like beats. Expect to hear both hit songs in the group’s live set along with fan favorites such as “Hey There Delilah,” off the group’s sophomore effort, All That We Needed.

Sum 41

Cellular South Stage

7:40 p.m.

With a punk-meets-hip-hop style that harkens back to early-’80s Beastie Boys, Canadian rockers Sum 41 have made a career out of ridiculous antics, fifth-grade humor, and rousing punk-pop lyrics. Their fourth full-length, Chuck, was released three years ago, followed by a high-energy (and high-volume) live effort, Go Chuck Yourself, which came out in 2006. Frontman Deryck Whibley — who comes across as cartoonish as the Gorillaz at times — invites inevitable comparisons to Blink-182 vocalist Tom DeLonge, employing plenty of sarcasm and some explicit language to get the party started. Expect a mostly male crowd dominating a makeshift mosh pit in front of the stage, dancing and posturing to tunes such as “The Hell Song” and “We’re All To Blame.”

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Cellular South Stage

9:15 p.m.

Florida quintet the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus have perfected the emo sound that dominates today’s alternative music scene. Frontman Ronnie Winter tackles domestic abuse on the song “Face Down,” the first single off their platinum-selling debut Don’t You Fake It, singing, “Do you feel like a man when you push her around?” Remove the thought-provoking lyrics of tunes such as “Your Guardian Angel” and “Cat and Mouse,” and you’ll hear elements of Jimmy Eat World and Hawthorne Heights — which is why the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus won over so many fans on the Warped Tour last summer. With their appearance at the Beale Street Music Fest, they’ll up the ante for likeminded modern-rock outfits with their hard-won insight, which, ironically, has taken them to the top of the Billboard charts.

Iggy & the Stooges

Cellular South Stage

10:55 p.m.

Iggy Pop, rock’s original bad boy, has rejoined guitarist Ron Asheton and drummer Scott Asheton (with Mike Watt filling in for the late Dave Alexander on bass) in the Stooges after a 30-year absence. Progenitors of the punk-rock and metal movements, the Detroit-based quartet made their reputation on hard-driving albums such as early-’70s classics Fun House and Raw Power as well as via Iggy’s oft-chronicled onstage antics, which included self-mutilation, crowd surfing, and chaos-inducing dance moves. Re-formed in 2003 to the joy of rock-and-roll nihilists everywhere, the Stooges have delivered stellar sets at music festivals ranging from England’s All Tomorrow’s Parties to Australia’s Big Day Out. Although the Stooges’ new studio album, The Weirdness, hasn’t earned the critical acclaim of its ’70s predecessors, the Stooges are sure to strike a chord with anthems such as “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Raw Power,” which have influenced countless other bands, including Guns N’ Roses, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and Slayer.

The Derek Trucks Band

Budweiser Stage

6 p.m.

Derek Trucks, son of the Allman Brothers Band’s Butch Trucks, capably tosses off blues riffs, funk licks, and jazzy chords like a master musician, his technique belying the fact that he has yet to hit 30 years old. Both live and in the studio, nuance reigns supreme as Trucks alternately shows dedication, restraint, and unbridled energy on a grab bag of tunes that often includes country-blues songs, free-jazz numbers, and certified hits such as Curtis Mayfield’s “Freddie’s Dead.” Expertly wielding a push-and-pull attitude that veers from solid traditional leanings to pure experimentalism, Trucks is also an able bandleader who controls the sheer dynamics of the group with an easy hand, à la Jimi Hendrix. His forte is propelling the freewheeling Southern jam-band style originated by the Allmans — whom Trucks apprenticed with — into the 21st century, forging a new path for fellow acolytes such as Widespread Panic and Medeski, Martin & Wood.

Jerry Lee Lewis

Budweiser Stage

7:30 p.m.

Way back in 1957, this twice-married, once-jailed, 21-year-old Bible-college dropout from Ferriday, Louisiana, was determined to become Sam Phillips’ next discovery. His first single, the pumping piano tune “Crazy Arms,” did moderately well. Then all hell broke loose when Jerry Lee Lewis cut “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” at Memphis’ Sun Studio. Onstage, the Killer fulfilled every parent’s worst nightmare, delivering a solid mule kick to his piano bench and shaking his hips in a frenzy. Lewis reinvented himself as a straight country star in later decades, but a slow-building rock-and-roll comeback (which began with the late-’80s big-screen biopic Great Balls of Fire and includes his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) has rightfully restored Lewis to his position at the forefront of rock royalty. In concert and on his latest album, last year’s Last Man Standing, you can still hear the insolence: Elvis might’ve started the revolution, but Jerry Lee Lewis confirmed it: Rock-and-roll is here to stay.

Gov’t Mule

Budweiser Stage

9 p.m.

With onetime Allman Brothers Band alumnus Warren Haynes at the helm, this musical apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree. Since the mid-’90s, Gov’t Mule has purveyed its Southern-tinged down-and-dirty musical style into a touring machine that attracts jam-band fans and hardcore rockers alike. Originally a power trio, the band nearly derailed after the death of founding member Allen Woody in 2000. Now a quartet, Gov’t Mule is bigger and stronger than ever: Their latest album, High & Mighty, is a rollicking road trip that touches on reggae (“Unring the Bell”), African pop (“So Weak, So Strong”), and New Orleans funk (“3 String George”). Live, expect plenty of extended jams, à la the nine-minute “Endless Parade,” a free-form classic-rock extravaganza that, along with “3 String George,” closes out High & Mighty.

The Allman Brothers Band

Budweiser Stage

10:55 p.m.

Hailed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as “the principal architects of Southern rock,” the Allman Brothers Band has persevered for nearly 40 years, overcoming hardships, handicaps, and tragedy that would fell many other groups. Founded by brothers Gregg and Duane Allman in Macon, Georgia, in 1969, they proved to be the South’s original jam band, following the Grateful Dead’s lead in combining blues, country, R&B, and jazz influences into a heady, often drug-fueled rock-and-roll party. Despite the deaths of Duane Allman and bassist/co-founder Berry Oakley in the early ’70s, the remaining members of the group soldiered on, recording classic albums such as Eat a Peach and Brothers and Sisters and inspiring Southern rockers such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackfoot in their wake. Led today by organist Gregg Allman, the Allman Brothers Band continues to boogie, aided by original members such as drummer Butch Trucks and percussionist Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and second-generation Brother guitarist Derek Trucks.

North Mississippi Allstars

AutoZone Stage

6 p.m.

Favorites on the jam-band and Southern-rock scenes, the North Mississippi Allstars — anchored by brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson (who play guitar and drums, respectively) and bassist Chris Chew — might live across the state line, but in Memphis, they’re hailed as hometown heroes. Influenced by regional talent such as R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and Otha Turner — the holy trinity of hill-country bluesmen — the Allstars spend approximately 300 days a year on the road, spreading the north Mississippi blues sound far and wide. On their last album, 2005’s Electric Blue Watermelon, and in their contributions to the score of Black Snake Moan, you’ll hear the Allstars take those roots-based influences to an even higher level, fusing folksy tradition with contemporary rock.

Chevelle

AutoZone Stage

8 p.m.

Although this Chicago-based power trio honed their craft amidst headbangers on the Ozzfest circuit, Chevelle’s sound focuses more on the tightrope between sound and silence than bona fide heavy metal. Contrasting thumping guitar riffs and melodic vocals, frontman Pete Loeffler harnesses pure energy for his inspiration. Anchored by his younger brothers Sam (drums) and Joe (bass), Loeffler truly comes unhinged on hit singles such as “The Red” and “Send the Pain Below,” both from the band’s 2002 Epic debut, Wonder What’s Next. While their next studio album, 2004’s This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In), brought inevitable Tool and Korn comparisons, the brothers Loeffler prove their individuality with tracks such as “Panic Prone” and “Vitamin R (Leading Us Along).” The band’s newest album, Vena Sera, which was released last month, features a lineup change (with brother-in-law Dean Benardini replacing Joe Loeffler on bass), heavy, headbanging riffs (check out “Brainiac” or “Midnight to Midnight”), and, on songs like “Well Enough Alone” and “Humanoid,” plenty of emo-oriented lyrics.

Social Distortion

AutoZone Stage

9:40 p.m.

Led by Mike Ness, Social Distortion made a big splash in Southern California’s early-’80s punk-rock scene with songs such as “Mommy’s Little Monster” and “Another State of Mind.” A decade later, the group rebounded with Los Angeles’ retro-vibed rockabilly enthusiasts when it released original tunes such as the rangy-and-twangy “Ball & Chain” and a well-suited cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” Today, Social Distortion is an accepted member of the pop-music mainstream — body-covering tattoos, black eyeliner, and all. They’re an edgy, roots-influenced rock band in the vein of the Rolling Stones, still going strong with songs such as “Reach for the Sky,” “Don’t Take Me for Granted,” and “Nickels and Dimes,” all from their last studio album, 2004’s Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Three 6 Mafia

AutoZone Stage

11:20 p.m.

There’s a reason why Three 6 Mafia are the most revered — and the most hated — group from the Dirty South. Triple 6 has had North Memphis on lockdown for the last decade, while at the 2006 Academy Awards, they proved unbeatable as well, instantly catapulting from Most Known Unknowns to the most famous rap group in the world. This weekend, reality TV’s newest stars will make the journey from “Hollyhood” to their home turf, turning up the volume on crowd pleasers such “Tear Da Club Up,” “Stay Fly,” and “Poppin’ My Collar” as well as an encore presentation of their Oscar-winning “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp.”

Popa Chubby

TN Lottery Blues Tent

6 p.m.

It might be time for Bronx-born Ted Horowitz to change his name permanently: With more than a dozen searing guitar-based blues albums to his credit as Popa Chubby, the young musician has certainly established himself as a favorite on the club scene. With his 2002 breakthrough, The Good the Bad and the Chubby, he matured into a strong, postmodern player, whose work — all original tunes — ranges from the hard-rockin’ (“If the Diesel Don’t Get You Then the Jet Fuel Will”) to sultry Southern soul (“I Can’t See the Light of Day”) and beyond. His latest effort, Stealing the Devil’s Guitar, shows that he’s also a student of the north Mississippi blues scene, weighing in with a spirited cover of the late Jessie Mae Hemphill’s “In This World.” On his studio recordings, Popa Chubby’s insightful lyrics are darkly humorous; delivered onstage in his trademark growl, songs such as “Smuggler’s Blues” and “Preacher Man” are sure to draw comparisons to Tom Waits’ bluesy oeuvre.

Hubert Sumlin &

Willie “Big Eyes” Smith

TN Lottery Blues Tent

7:30 p.m.

Greenwood, Mississippi-born Hubert Sumlin got his start on KWEM radio in West Memphis, playing with Pat Hare and James Cotton back in the 1950s. Howlin’ Wolf took Sumlin north to Chicago, and blues guitar hasn’t been the same since. Sumlin’s unpredictable twisting riffs and solos — check out “Killing Floor,” “Mr. Airplane Man,” and “Wang Dang Doodle,” for starters — led him to be crowned the King of the Outer Space Guitar. Now in his 70s, Sumlin never ceases to astonish and amaze. Don’t miss this performance, which will be anchored by legendary drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith.

Richard Johnston

TN Lottery Blues Tent

8:55 p.m.

In recent years, Johnston, a late-blooming street performer, has become one of the rising stars on the independent blues scene, winning the 2001 International Blues Challenge and releasing a best-selling debut album, Foot Hill Stomp, dedicated to — and inspired by — the late north Mississippi hill-country blueswoman Jessie Mae Hemphill, who joined Johnston onstage at the Beale Street Music Festival last year. Solo, Johnston is sure to wow audiences with his world-weary howl and his picking ability on the cigar box LoweBow, a one-stringed cousin of the electric guitar.

Koko Taylor

TN Lottery Blues Tent

11 p.m.

The Memphis-born sharecropper’s daughter who became the Queen of Chicago blues, “Miss ‘Wang Dang Doodle'” herself, Koko Taylor is undoubtedly the last of the brassy-voiced blues shouters. One of the perennial performers on the blues festival circuit — and the holder of more Blues Music Awards than any other female blues singer in history — Taylor got her start at the legendary Chess recording studio before cutting 10 albums for Alligator Records. Nearly sidelined after a devastating van wreck while on tour two decades ago, she nevertheless rebounded, recording hit albums such as 1990’s Jump for Joy and Royal Blue (which featured B.B. King, Keb’ Mo’, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd) a decade later. Taylor’s latest, Old School, which was released last month, features five new originals as well as cover tunes penned by fellow Chicago blues-scene veterans such as the late Willie Dixon and Magic Sam.

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Music Music Features

A World of Sound

Combining the best of Memphis music past and present with some of the most legendary performers in rock and soul history and a sampling of today’s biggest bands, Memphis In May’s Beale Street Music Festival has become one of the largest music festivals in the country, routinely drawing over 150,000 fans to the banks of the Big Muddy. This year’s lineup should only help continue the festival’s popularity, bringing more than 60 acts from a variety of musical genres and generations for a three-day celebration of the city’s mighty music heritage.

The Beale Street Music Fest will divide acts among four stages in Tom Lee Park, a 33-acre site that sits at the base of historic Beale Street and stretches along the majestic Mississippi River. This year’s festival is headlined by a couple of the most interesting bands from 1970s, each of which has made high-profile comebacks.

Detroit bad boys Iggy & the Stooges, who were arguably the first punk band, will close out the Cellular South Stage Friday night, and fellow ’70s artists Steely Dan, who became unlikely radio stars with a blend of rock, jazz, and soul, will headline the Cellular South Stage Saturday night.

But the festival’s real calling card may be jam-bands, particularly ones with a distinctly Southern flavor. The Budweiser Stage on Friday is the place for fans of venerable road warriors the Allman Brothers Band, with spin-off faves the Derek Trucks Band and Gov’t Mule among the bands warming up for them.

Those who like to groove to a ’70s sound will want to stake out a good place at the AutoZone Stage Saturday night, where funk masters the Ohio Players give way to boogie-rock headliner George Thorogood. Younger listeners already nostalgic for the ’90s will want to seek out the Cellular South Stage Sunday night for a closing double-bill of the Barenaked Ladies and the Counting Crows.

There’s also plenty of exciting contemporary music to be had at this year’s festival. Soul fans can catch a back-to-back showcase of two of contemporary soul’s emerging stars on the Budweiser Stage Sunday night: British chanteuse Corinne Bailey Rae (of the smash single “Put Your Records On”) followed by Grammy favorite John Legend.

Some of the most interesting new acts at this year’s festival are ones that bring a fresh approach to roots genres, including bluegrass. Nashville’s Old Crow Medicine Show play the Cellular South Stage Saturday afternoon, and the Duhks play the AutoZone Stage earlier in the day. On Sunday, in the TN Lottery Blues Tent, the Lee Boys will try to blow the roof off with their soaring, sanctified steel-guitar sound.

Headbangers will also have plenty of modern rock to choose from this year. Australia’s Wolfmother bring their breakout freak-out rock to the Budweiser Stage Saturday night. Youngsters can swoon and thrash to the emo-style rock of Hawthorne Heights and Taking Back Sunday on the Budweiser Stage Saturday. And those with a taste for more muscular rock can take in American Idol star Daughtry and emerging radio-rock heavyweights Hinder. They close the AutoZone Stage Sunday night.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the Beale Street Music Fest without a heaping helping of blues, and this year is no exception. Former Howlin’ Wolf sideman Hubert Sumlin and Chicago blues queen Koko Taylor highlight the TN Lottery Blues Tent Friday. Eclectic blues master Taj Mahal brings the genre to the AutoZone Stage Saturday night. Sunday, blue-eyed blues will be on display at the TN Lottery Blues Tent in the form of Watermelon Slim.

The Beale Street Music Festival also remains a must-see for the musical legends of Memphis and the Mid-South. Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis will play the Budweiser Stage Friday night. On Saturday, you can celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stax records with Eddie Floyd and the Bar-Kays on the Cellular South Stage, then head over to see Beale Street’s own Bobby “Blue” Bland close out the TN Lottery Blues Tent. On Sunday, Sun rockabilly bad boy Billy Lee Riley will get things red hot on the Cellular South Stage, while Hi Records songstress Ann Peebles performs on the Budweiser Stage later that afternoon.

And you can also get a sense of what Memphis sounds like today, sampling hip-hop (Three 6 Mafia; Project Pat), blues (Richard Johnston; Daddy Mack Blues Band; and Alvin Youngblood Hart), and rock (North Mississippi Allstars; Egypt Central).

All in all, the options are daunting, but with a solid plan and some comfortable shoes, you should be able to pack your weekend with great music.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Bad-Vibe Bands

At first blush, the Stooges and Steely Dan — who will close out the Beale Street Music Festival on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively — have nothing in common beyond their proximity in record-store bins. They were two of the very best American rock bands in that diffuse, transitional period between the breakup of the Beatles and the rise of punk, but it’s hard to think of two major rock bands more different: in sound, image, background, and fan bases. (The only people who like both bands: rock critics.)

The Stooges, whose original run lasted from 1969 to 1973 (with a hiccup of a breakup in between) and whose original recorded output consisted of 23 songs and just over a hundred minutes of music across three albums, were essentially the bridge between mid-’60s garage rock and mid-’70s punk. Led by snarling, combative, confrontational singer Iggy Stooge (later Pop), the Stooges were middle-class Michigan kids who blasted away at suburban nothingness with the biggest, ugliest sound they could muster. Iggy later described the band as “juvenile-delinquent kids, running wild in America.” (By contrast, Steely Dan could have described themselves as overprivileged collegians, smirking lazily in the dorm lounge.)

The Stooges’ first, eponymous album, produced by the Velvet Underground’s John Cale (who didn’t seem to quite get them) included a few duds and three eternal anti-anthems — “1969,” “No Fun,” and the elemental “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” Iggy, at age 21, opens the record — and closes the decade — with a summertime-blues lament for an age of literal rioting in the streets: “Well, it’s 1969 okay/War across the U.S.A./It’s another year for me and you/Another year with nothing to do.”

The band’s last album, 1973’s David Bowie-produced Raw Power, added a fourth classic, “Search and Destroy,” which not even a Nike TV commercial could ruin. But, in between, was the megaton bomb: Fun House, which opens with Iggy yipping and howling before the band launches into the menacing groove of “Down on the Street.” Intense dirges “Dirt” and “Loose” were a self-lacerating peak no punk band would ever match. The title track, with Steve Mackay joining on a squawky saxophone, is like a spazz-out, garage-rock version of a James Brown jam.

If the Stooges were a pure rock band, Steely Dan was nothing of the sort. After launching their 1972 debut Can’t Buy a Thrill with the beautiful, bitter radio-rock classic “Reeling in the Years,” the band became AOR staples throughout the decade. Yet musical partners Walter Becker and Donald Fagen never really seemed that fond of rock. Rather, Becker and Fagen assembled their sui generis sound from every element tangential to rock-and-roll — jazz, traditional pop, blues, and R&B. And, unlike the Stooges, who got an unlikely record deal on the strength of their assaultive live shows, Steely Dan eschewed the traditional origin-and-development arc of the “rock band,” forming in the studio and pretty much staying there. Steely Dan has almost always been a two-man operation — with a rotating cast of studio musicians — and the “band” ceased touring after 1974 until an unlikely return to the stage in the ’90s. Where the Stooges were committed to total audience

The Stooges

engagement, Steely Dan preferred not to interact with the concert rabble.

Where the Stooges spoke directly and simply, lashing out with a first-person revulsion that was clearly their own, Steely Dan’s songs were tricky, laden with irony and delivered by untrustworthy narrators, qualities hard to hear through a sonic aesthetic that could sound like cocktail hour for upscale fortysomethings.

But the very source of Steely Dan’s charm is in the tension, such as it is, between the band’s low-life lyrics and high-toned jazz-rock soundscapes (a dynamic reinforced by the knowledge that this totem of serious, musicianly respectability is named for a dildo in William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch). Those plush, meticulous backing tracks are perhaps best heard as the idealized interior soundtrack of the typical Steely Dan protagonist — invariably a well-educated and well-off white guy of questionable moral character for whom things aren’t quite working out. Fagen has even sort of endorsed this reading by confessing that he and Becker think of their albums as comedy records to some degree.

Steely Dan albums are populated by junkies, losers, and killers, but these subjects tend to be approached with distance and irony. The Stooges were the “dirt” they sang about. And yet this ostensible perversity unites the bands. Both the Stooges and Steely Dan were bad-vibe bands, essaying a societal sickness without ever making message music. They approached the same bad shit from very different perspectives, and the more you listen and learn about them, the more the distinctions begin to blur. Steely Dan’s songs are more writerly, to be sure, but are also suffused with cryptic, sneakily personal references. And, as primitive as the Stooges may have sounded, they were no savages. In later years, Iggy explained the band’s music as a deliberate, thought-through artistic strategy: “Slowly I came up with a kind of concept. A lot of it was based on the attitude of juvenile delinquency and general mental grievance that I’d gotten from these dropouts I was hanging out with,” he said, comparing the band’s basic, overwhelming sound to the drill presses at hometown Ford plants.

The bands also shared a jazz connection, though Steely Dan were inspired by bop, and the Stooges were more attracted to the atonal attack of free jazz.

The Stooges and Steely Dan have also made comebacks this decade, a move that, on record at least, has worked out better for Steely Dan. (In concert, this dynamic could well be reversed.) This is predictable: Steely Dan’s music has always sounded “old,” so, in a way, Becker and Fagen may just be catching up with their own sound. By contrast, the Stooges’ “juvenile-delinquent” rock doesn’t befit AARP members, and on the band’s recent comeback album, The Weirdness, you can hear Iggy and original bandmates Ron and Scott Asheton (with Mackay back on sax as well) struggle to keep pace with the past.

Where Becker and Fagen have only grown more familiar with the questionable characters they’ve long given voice to, Iggy struggles to enliven an aesthetic rooted in a snotty, personal dissatisfaction that doesn’t age well. The result is lyrics like, “I got the top down on my Cadillac” and “You can’t have friends/The money’s gonna see to that.”

Steely Dan’s comeback album, 2000’s Two Against Nature, was a triumph by comparison. The cheekily titled Two Against Nature was something of an album-length sequel to the band’s last hit single, 1980’s “Hey Nineteen,” in which a class of ’67 “dandy of Gamma Chi” tries to pick up a girl too young to remember Aretha Franklin, a mortality-enforcing romantic failure that leaves our hero repeating the refrain “The Cuervo Gold/The fine Colombian/Make tonight a wonderful thing” as jazz-fusion sings him to sleep.

Two Against Nature is consumed with tales of aging men in pursuit of sex, from “Gaslighting Abbie”‘s cryptic triangle to the protagonist of “Almost Gothic,” who is so infatuated with a Little Eva of Bleecker Street that he’s “sizzling like an isotope.” But most memorable of all is “Janie Runaway.” It’s the story of a Manhattan painter rejuvenated by jailbait Janie who ends the song angling for a threesome with her friend Melanie.

Two Against Nature completed Steely Dan’s comeback by beating out Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP for the Grammy, a feat that was widely derided as an example of the Grammys’ old-fogey instincts and probably was. But what critics and Grammy voters seemed to miss, equally, is that Two Against Nature is, in its own way, as prickly, confrontational, and outré as The Marshall Mathers LP — or anything by the Stooges.