Tag: Lafayette’s

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Music Music Blog

A Rare Appearance by Lee Ritenour

Lee Ritenour

It’s rare to find a musician accomplished enough to have played and recorded with such luminaries as Oliver Nelson, Quincy Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Henderson, Lalo Schifrin, and Stanley Turrentine. Lee Ritenour has been there and done that. He came of age, precociously, at a time when the giants of 20th Century American music still walked the earth, still young enough to carry the torch into the current era. And on Thursday, June 21, he’ll be playing in Memphis at Lafayette’s.

Oh yes, and perhaps you remember listening to Pink Floyd’s The Wall long ago, and wishing the band would drop the disco and just rock out, until the burning track “Run Like Hell” came on and you heard them turn it up to 11. As it happens, that was Ritenour as well, brought in to beef the song up. He’s no stranger to such pop accomplishments, having played his first recording session at age 16, on a track by the Mamas and the Papas. And if you’re a fan of “Strawberry Letter #23” by the Brothers Johnson (and who isn’t?), well, then you’re a fan of Lee Ritenour. So was famed Memphian Maurice White, who Ritenour collaborated with on the record “If I’m Dreaming, Don’t Wake Me.”

Naturally, he’s fared well as a solo artist as well, releasing his first record over 40 years ago, and sending the single “Is it You” with singer Eric Tagg to #15 on the Billboard pop charts in 1981. Dubbed “Captain Fingers” for his mad skills, he also kept those skills accessible with one ear cocked to the glories of pop, funk, Brazilian, classical, and rock guitar. He’s been nominated for 16 Grammy Awards, taking one home in 1986 for the instrumental “Early A.M. Attitude”.

Thursday is a rare chance to see this decade-spanning artist, still in his prime at 66 years young. We recommend that you do just that.

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Music Music Features

Earl the Pearl Banks: A Legend Gets His Due

CREDIT: Dan Wireman

At 81 years old, Earl “The Pearl” Banks is one of the most seasoned blues guitarists in the Mid-South, with experience reaching back to the 1940s. He can typically be seen plying his craft on Beale Street, where he is memorialized with a brass note, but this Wednesday, he moves to Midtown, as Lafayette’s Music Room hosts a tribute to his career. After arriving by police escort, he’ll receive a gift from the city and then proceed to knock the socks off any blues fan within a half-mile radius.

So you grew up in Germantown?

Earl Banks: I was born on Joe Kirby’s place. As in Kirby Road, Kirby Woods Mall. I was born March 17th. He named me Pat. It was St. Patrick’s Day. But my mother named me Earl. I guess in the early ’60s they gave me the nickname “Earl the Pearl.”

And you originally played piano, right?

I started out on piano. When I was about five years old, my grandfather, he bought my aunt a piano, and she never did learn how to play it. And I learned how to play it. After I got a certain age, I got in a lot of bands, and the club didn’t have a piano sometimes. I had to go over in the corner and just sit there and look. I said, “All right, I’m gonna play guitar.” Long about 1955 or ’56, I went and bought me a guitar and an amplifier. Cost $315 in those days. And I learned how to play that guitar. I been messing with guitar ever since.

You were playing piano with Joe Hill Louis?

Right! Right, when I was 10 years old. You know, I never hear nobody talk about him now. He was a one-man band. He’d come on WDIA, I think on Saturdays, and play 15 minutes. He was Joe Hill Louis the Be Bop Boy. He didn’t pay me, but I was helping him sound good. But he messed around, and I think he passed away. You know, he used to work for D. Canale. Back in those days, he was playing in Moscow, Tennessee. I was in Moscow every Friday and Saturday night when he’d be up there. It wasn’t nothing but corn fields and corn liquor. You know, whiskey. It was government-funded whiskey. Back in them days, it wasn’t nothing but the crapshoot goin’ on, and corn liquor in the juke joint. It was a nice crowd. People from Brownsville, Covington, Somerville, Bolivar, they would come down. One way in and one way out.

Dan Wireman

Earl the Pearl

Joe Hill Louis’ guitar tone was amazing. When you picked up guitar, did you try to get his sound?

No, really it was a guy named Fred Ingram. He had a Fender; it was a good looking guitar. He was a little short, dark fellow. I guess he was about four-foot something, and, man, he could play that thing. And I said I wanna play like him. Well, he called me Pat. He said, “Pat, if you wanna learn how to play a guitar, stop using them clamps.” Cheaters, they called ’em. Clamps, you know where you clamp down on the neck of it?

Like a capo?

Yeah, somethin’ like that. Some people used to have pencils and put em around. I call ’em cheaters. So I quit using that thing, and I did very well.

When I was in Germantown, my band was Banks and the Blue Dots. That was back in the ’50s. That was Teenie Hodges, his daddy Leroy Hodges, Ottie Golden, and Willie Moody. So I took Teenie Hodges when he was 12 years old and learned him how to play the guitar and put him in my band. He’s the one who wrote all the hits with Al Green.

Who was your favorite guitar player back in the day?

I admired Fred Ingram and B.B. King. Then Albert King came along, and I started listening to him. But B.B. King, he really is my idol. I still try to play like him now. I hit some licks, but I know it ain’t like him. I got my own thing going. It ain’t went too far. But I’m still moving.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Lafayette’s Breakfast Pizza

Brunch is something that should never be ignored. So on Sunday, off to brunch I went. The stop was Lafayette’s, the dish Breakfast Pizza ($12).

The breakfast pizza is made with an egg, bacon, smoked gouda, roasted tomatoes, sour cream, and arugula. The first thing you taste is the smokiness from the gouda. You get the creaminess of the yolk and the thickness of the cheese. The tomatoes were well seasoned; the bacon was crispy. This one’s a star.  

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Mardi Gras in Memphis

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

The first American Mardi Gras was celebrated in 1703 in what is now Mobile. The first krewe was the Masque de la Mobile. By 1718, New Orleans was a thing, and by the ’30s (the 1730s), they were doing Mardi Gras too. With a vengeance. In 1875, Louisiana Governor Henry Warmoth signed the Mardi Gras Act, designating Fat Tuesday as a legal holiday.

Somewhere in there the first pot of gumbo was made, and by the Great Depression, the Martin brothers threw some potatoes and roast beef gravy on French bread, and the first po’boys were served to New Orleans streetcar workers on strike.

Just as much as New Orleans is le centre Americain for all things Mardi Gras, its identity is also inseparable from its distinct cuisine.

Mardi Gras is just around the corner — Mardi, February 9th — and area restaurants are offering some traditional New Orleans dishes and signature drinks to save you the six- (or five or four-) hour trip. (And running around like an amateur.)

Chef Kelly English is synonymous with Louisiana in these parts — he’s a native — and if Mardi Gras means traditional New Orleans cuisine, it’s a party all year-round at his restaurant the Second Line. His menu of po’boys, including the O.G., short for original gangsta, short for the Martin brothers concoction of French fries and gravy; chicken and andouille gumbo; and barbecue shrimp will make you think you need to cross the neutral ground to go make some groceries.

For the big holiday, English will be offering drink specials as well as a bread pudding baby lottery, meaning one dish of bread pudding will have a king cake baby, and the lucky diner will receive dinner for two.

The Second Line, 2144 Monroe, 590-2829

Justin Fox Burks

Owen Brennan’s

Owen Brennan’s was one of Memphis’ original New Orleans ambassadors, taking home Best of trophies year after year. They’ll be Mardi Gras-ing it up this year with a celebratory menu of $5 small plates and drink specials. Their holiday menu will offer crawfish beignets with crawfish tails, andouille sausage, and tasso ham fried in a beignet and served with sriracha tartar sauce; Cajun calamari served with agrodolce and remoulade sauces; king cake; hurricanes; Mardi Gras Ritas; and Mardi Gras Mosas. They’ll also turn it up a notch with jazz music and a bead throw from the indoor balcony.

Owen Brennan’s Restaurant, 6150 Poplar, 761-0990

Lafayette’s is the new old kid on the block. After 38 years of shuttered windows, the Midtown music fixture reopened with a balcony that models those characteristic of the Big Easy. This week, from Monday, February 8th through Saturday, February 13th, chef Jody Moyt will serve up Carnival food specials such as red beans and rice for $4 a cup; muffalettas for $12 served on authentic Gambino bread shipped in from NOLA with mortadella, salami, homemade olive relish, and roasted red peppers; and king cake, either by the slice or whole — yes, the whole ones will have babies. “We’re the Mardi Gras spot in Overton Square. We’ve got the double-decker balcony out front and a mezzanine inside. We’ll have a horn band that will get a train going through the restaurant. It will be a big party. We’ll be as close to Mardi Gras as you can get without going down South,” Moyt says.

Lafayette’s Music Room, 2119 Madison, 207-5097

Chef Max Hussey at eighty3 Food & Drink at the Madison Hotel downtown says he loves Cajun cuisine and has been recognized with several awards for his gumbo. The New Orleans cuisine enthusiast added a Mardi Gras special to his menu for a limited time. For $15, revellers can get a crawfish po’boy and a cup of traditional New Orleans-style gumbo, made with clam and seafood stock, crawfish, shrimp, okra, scallops, lobster, rice, and creole seasonings. The special menu will run from Friday, February 5th to Tuesday, February 9th.

eighty3 Food & Drink, 83 Madison, 333-1224

It’s pretty much always Fat Tuesday at the Bayou. “Our menu is already suited for it,” owner Bill Baker says. This year on the big day they’ll have a crawfish boil as well as king cake, and the New Orleans-inspirited Mighty Souls Brass Band will carry you away to Frenchmen on their tuba, trombone, sax, et al. “It will start to pick up mid-afternoon, and by evening it will get crazy. We’ll have a bunch of beads. Beads will get thrown. Laissez le bon temps roulez,” Baker says.

The Bayou, 2094 Madison, 278-8626

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Music Music Features

Preston Shannon at Lafayette’s

Preston Shannon brings his Beale Street Boogaloo to Overton Square this Saturday night when he performs at Lafayette’s Music Room. Born in Olive Branch, Mississippi, Shannon relocated to Memphis at a young age, pursuing music shortly after that. Before gaining a spot in Shirley Brown’s backing band, Shannon worked a day job in between gigs with several blues bands around town. Later, he worked with Willie Mitchell, cranking out the albums Break the Ice, Midnight in Memphis and All in Time with Mitchell at the production helm.

Shannon has also appeared on the NBC television show The Voice, and can now be found playing weekly on Beale Street at B.B. King’s Blues Club. With a voice that sits somewhere between Otis Redding and Bobby Womack, Shannon has been dubbed the “King of Beale Street.” With Barbara Blue claiming to be the “Reigning Queen of Beale Street,” there’s really no more room at the top, but I suppose it would be interesting to figure out who the prince and princess are, along with the other members of the Royal Blues Court.

Preston Shannon

Like many professional Memphis musicians, Shannon is booked through the end of the year, but because he almost exclusively plays at B.B. King’s, this performance at Lafayette’s should be one of a kind.

Shannon calls his music “deep soul,” and when you get compared to Womack, that seems like an appropriate title. With its powerful blend of Delta soul and Memphis blues, his album Midnight in Memphis was considered one of the best Southern soul albums of the last 25 years.

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Music Music Blog

Tonight: Benefit for Bobby Memphis

Bobby Memphis

Friends of Robert Jordan AKA Bobby Memphis will gather tonight at Lafayette’s Music Room to raise money for Jordan’s recent medical expenses. Performers include Amy LaVere and Will Sexton, Susan Marshall, The Bluff City Backsliders, and Papa Tops West Coast Turnaround. Children are welcome at the event until 9, and checks and cash will be accepted although the concert is free. Those who cannot make tonight’s concert but wish to donate can do so by clicking here. 

Tonight: Benefit for Bobby Memphis (2)

Tonight: Benefit for Bobby Memphis

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Music Music Features

Lafayette’s Knows What You Want

Memphians love to complain. One of our favorite old saws was about how all the live music in town was either party music, a usually awful knock-off of Memphis’ classic recorded music, or got started about five minutes before dawn in some un-air-conditioned hell hole. For years, Memphis’ music scene was awesome if you were still young enough to sleep it off the next day. If you had kids or a job, there wasn’t as much for you. Lafayette’s Music Room is designed to appeal to all of us.

The reincarnation of the early ’70s music hall opened last week and set the stage for a new relationship between Memphis’ musical talent and the busy people who’ve been missing out. Lafayette’s opened with a strong showing of local greats. The Bo-Keys, vocalist Susan Marshall, bassist Sam Shoup, and Joe Restivo, and Marcella René Simien were among those who played. There’s no angle to these bookings other than the fact they are great musicians. That’s encouraging in Memphis’ often scene-bound music scene.

We are adding some new writers to our music coverage. Below, Joshua Cannon takes a look at four national acts that are coming to Lafayette’s this month. Look for expanded Flyer music stuff online, even if it starts at 6 a.m. on Monday morning.

— Joe Boone

Shook Twins

Shook Twins: October 16th, 9 p.m. $5.

When Katelyn and Laurie Shook’s voices come in on “What We Do” from their 2014 LP of the same name, their near-perfect harmonies are proof that the sisters share a bond unmatched by most bands. To call them a folk band would be selling the Twins short. Their sound ranges from blues to bluegrass, and their melodies are that of a pop band. The Shook Twins won’t be confined to one genre, and no instrument is off limits. Banjo, electric and upright bass, acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, glockenspiel, ukulele and a slew of other instruments find their way into the Shook Twins’ songs. While Katelyn sings through a repurposed telephone microphone, sister Laurie records ambient, vocal loops and does percussive beat boxing over different arrangements. There’s something special about family bands.

Ruby Velle & the Soulphonics:

October 17th – 18th. $5. Ruby Velle & the Soulphonics have torn to the root of R&B. In the process, they’ve managed to write songs reminiscent of ’60s soul while simultaneously cooking up fresh sounds. The group’s debut album, It’s About Time, is 10 tracks long, and each song showcases the diverse band’s wide array of talent. On the opener”My Dear,” Velle sings, “Only love will help us overcome everything,” with such sincerity that it will tug at your heartstrings. The Soulphonics rhythm section will pull you on the dance floor, and their horns will keep you grooving through the entire set. The group has toured to SXSW and played with Kings of Leon and Kanye West.

Junior Brown:

October 21st, 8 p.m. $15. With a career spanning 10 albums, Junior Brown has followed the conventions of traditional country music in the most unconventional way. Brown is an outlaw who defies what country music was and what it has become. Under a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, he sometimes-sings, sometimes-speaks over his songs in a low baritone voice evocative of Merle Haggard. Brown wields what he calls his “guit-steel” — a double-neck crossbreed of an electric and steel guitar — moving his fingers like Hendrix having a psychobilly freak out. With songs like “Hang Up And Drive” and “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead,” he pairs tongue-in-cheek lyrics with an individualistic style of playing guitar, creating a sound that could be attributed to no one other than Brown.    

Leon Russell: November 16th, 8 p.m. $50. At 72 years old, Leon Russell has spent most of his life shaping the music industry in ways that many musicians can only dream of doing. He’s led a long career as a session musician, songwriter, solo artist, and producer, and he even started his own record label, Shelter Records. He’s collaborated with musicians from Steve Cropper to John Lennon to B.B. King and even once found a hit with “Hummingbird,” a song from his debut album that was first released in 1970. In April, Russell released Life Journey. The album features the seasoned musician singing a mix of new material and songs by other artists that have moved him throughout his life. Shelling out $50 for an evening with Russell is more than worth it.

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Sing All Kinds We Recommend

Lafayette’s Returning to Overton Square

CREDIT: Randy Haspel

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Last week, we learned that Lafayette’s Music Hall will return to Overton Square. Loeb Properties has leased the site of the venerable showcase theater to Beale Street Blues Company. Lafayette’s was short lived but looms large in the mythology of Memphis music.

The club was something of an afterthought for Overton Square developers Ben Woodson, Charlie Hull, Buck Doggrell, Jimmy Robinson, and George Saig. The club was named for legendary bartender Lafayette Draper.

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“I knew them all,” Draper says. “They decided to name the club after me because I was familiar with everybody.”

Draper was not a partner in the bar. Having other jobs, he had to keep his association something of a secret.

“I was working at Sears and Roebuck at the same time. Of course, they were going through the liquor by the drink thing. My general manager [at Sears] wasn’t to happy about liquor by the drink. So I kind of kept a low profile.”

On a side note, Draper furthered his reputation as a pioneer with Lafayette’s Corner when Beale was first developed.

“That was in 1983,” Draper says. “Beale Street hadn’t taken off then. It stayed there until about ’85 or ’86.”

Lafayette’s is famous for booking acts that later went on to huge successes. Billy Joel has credited the club and Memphis for his breakout success. The club was part of a circuit, according to Jerry Swift, who booked local talent for Lafayette’s and opened his own club, the Ritz Music Hall, when Lafayette’s closed in 1975.

The bands that came through were part of a showcase circuit.

“They would start up at the Bottom Line in New York or the Cellar Door in DC,” Swift says. “And then come down the East Coast, the Great Southeast Music Hall in Atlanta, the Exit Inn in Nashville. They’d come in to Lafayette’s and when it closed to my place, the Ritz. Then they’d head to New Orleans and then to Armadillo World Headquarters (in Austin).”

It was another time altogether for music.

“Groups wanted to come here because of the power of FM100 at the time,” Swift says. “If they could get airplay and an add at FM100 — which is what made Billy Joel come back so many times. FM100 was a major powerhouse and AOR. If you got added at FM100, you got added at stations across the Southeast and all across the country.”

Lafayette’s only lasted from 1973 to 1975. But the square endured for a few years after that, leaving an impression on the minds of Memphians who appreciated a place to enjoy themselves.

“It was strange in the fact that it never set out to be a club,” Swift says. “The club never really had managers, etc. They didn’t have a kitchen. It was small, two story. They could max it out around 300 people. It was the ’70s and we had very cooperative state government officials, as well as local mayor Wyeth Chandler. People didn’t crack down on stuff like that. Lafayette’s was kind of an annex to Friday’s. They’d sent someone over there to manage the place, a few bartenders and somebody to book the place. Then it got to taking off.”

Jack Phillips of Beale Street Blues is excited to be moving into the Overton Square resurgence and sees the bar appealing to a wide range of musical patrons. People who have complained about late start times and band P.A. systems will find solace in the plans of the new proprietors.

“We’re still designing the logo,” Phillips says. “I hope to have Tab Beniot and Kermit Ruffin come up. We’re pretty open to what will be playing. Earlier in the evening, we’ll have an acoustical set or a trio, something a little quieter for the dinner crowd. Where people can hear each other talk, bring the kids, and have fun. Later in the evening, it gets a little louder, a little more involved.”

Lafayette Draper is proud to see his name returning to the Square:

“It made me feel good just to use the name. What made me want to do that was … I remember one of the tax collectors in town after I came out of the Navy — my dad was a bartender at the American Legion — he walked up and told me I wouldn’t be a better man than my daddy. I told him I might not be a better man, but I’d be a good man. And I’m going to make my daddy’s name known. That was one of the things that made me go on as strong as I could. I am just so proud of the name Lafayette. Sure am.”

Lafayette Draper has poured drinks for three presidents.

  • Lafayette Draper has poured drinks for three presidents.