Live-streaming is cranking back up for the Halloween weekend! Though many venues are offering in person shows, the virtual game is also strong in the days to come. Tonight’s Beale & Peachtree event is especially intriguing: a celebration of the bonds between Memphis and Atlanta, with Black Cream playing live in Royal Studios. Other events abound! Check them out, stay safe, and be sure to tip your favorite performers.
REMINDER: The Memphis Flyer supports social distancing in these uncertain times. Please live-stream responsibly. We remind all players that even a small gathering could recklessly spread the coronavirus and endanger others. If you must gather as a band, please keep all players six feet apart, preferably outside, and remind viewers to do the same.
ALL TIMES CDT
Thursday, October 29
Noon
Live DJ – Downtown Memphis Virtual Carry Out Concert Facebook
Boo Mitchell and family, keepers of producer Willie Mitchell’s legacy and the ongoing musical productions at Royal Studios, are currently in the throes of tragedy, as they hope and pray for the recovery of Boo and Tanya Lewis Mitchell’s eldest son, Elijah. Friends and colleagues across the world were shocked to read a social media post by Boo on August 16th:
This is the most difficult thing for me to post. Please excuse me if I’m a little scattered. Yesterday our oldest son Elijah Mitchell (Elijah Lewis) was taken to Regional One Health for a gun shot wound to the back, broken ribs and other injuries. Suspect, his girlfriend’s ex lover, broke in her house and waited for him, shot him in the back then beat him after he was down. His front teeth were all beaten out. Unfortunately the bullet went through his spinal cord and he has lost all of the feeling in his legs. Suspect has been arrested and is in custody. We are grateful and thankful that Elijah is alive. We have a lot of work ahead of us. This is the most devastating [thing] that has ever happened to me or my family. We are thankful for the amazing team of doctors and nurses at Regional One Health; they have been nothing less than angels through this. Please keep Elijah and my family in your thoughts and prayers. We know that God is in charge and we are praying and hopeful that one day he will fully recover.
As a testament to the tragic situation — and the good will Boo and family have inspired throughout Memphis — hundreds have stepped up to help. Elijah, at 26, can no longer be covered by his parent’s insurance and has none of his own. Accordingly, the Memphis community has risen to the occasion. Yesterday, Vicki Loveland, a Memphis music veteran, launched a GoFundMe campaign, Elijah Mitchell Medical Emergency Fund, to assist the family with the coming onslaught of medical bills.
courtesy Boo Mitchell
Elijah Mitchell
Today, the campaign has gathered roughly 20 percent of its fundraising goal of $50,000. The fund is steadily growing thanks to contributors from all walks of life, but of course the Mitchell family’s importance to music is reflected in the list. Indeed, the importance of music to so many is evoked in Loveland’s statement on the campaign page:
Music lovers all over the world, and certainly the Memphis music community, know the beautiful history of Royal Studios. We have lived our lives listening to hits from Al Green to Bruno Mars. But the biggest reason Royal has continued to be so vitally important to this world is because of the Mitchell family and the love and kindness they show, not only for Memphis but for people everywhere. Now, they need all of us to reciprocate and show them what we all can do to lift them up from a horrible tragedy that has stricken their family.
Her words reflect the deep connection between music and community, but it’s the last word, family, that best expresses the heart of the matter. For what parent has not imagined what a crushing blow such events would be?
As of today, there have been no updates on Elijah’s condition, but Loveland did add this postscript to the GoFundMe page: “Just want to say THANK YOU once again for keeping the love train rolling around the world. It really does matter.”
In recent years, the appeal of classic sounds from the the ’60s and ’70s has grown and grown, leaving many wondering if such retro stylistic moves are mere trend-hopping, simply another attempt to create a flavor of the month. And yet, there’s a certain rightness to the sound, an undeniable frisson when you listen to a contemporary act capture the sound and feel of that era, as if synth-pop and Pro Tools had never happened. As it turns out, this may all be because the records of that era were simply, objectively better. In an interview with Tape Op, Gabriel Roth, co-owner of the retro soul label Daptone Records, puts it like this:
I started making records because I was listening to old records and they sounded great. It’s not really an agenda or an angle as much as it is just kind of being honest with ourselves. In articles, people say, “Aren’t you just doing something that’s been done before?” or “Isn’t this some kind of retro fad?” First, we’re not making enough money for it to be called a fad, that’s for sure. We’re just trying to be tasteful and try to make the kind of records that sound good and feel good. If they sound old, that’s great — I dig old records … the truth is we dig old records, so we’re going to try to make old records.
Daptone is based in Brooklyn, but it turns out that the same philosophy holds true in another epicenter for classic soul and funk sounds: Memphis. It shouldn’t come as a great surprise, given the longevity of many legendary studios here. Some of them, like Royal Studios, still have the same gear used to make those classic sounds in the first place. Others, like Scott Bomar’s Electraphonic Recording, take pages out of the Royal playbook and stick to the same methods.
Beyond that, one needs players who are sensitive to the classic sounds and textures and, most of all, an artist capable of delivering performances with all the soul, integrity, warmth and outright heat that was more typical in the days before sequencing and cut-and-paste production.
And all those elements come together seamlessly in Don Bryant’s latest album, You Make Me Feel (Fat Possum). It’s not surprising, given that Bryant, after a brief foray as a solo artist, was a house songwriter for Willie Mitchell’s Hi Records, eventually marrying Ann Peebles, who made his “I Can’t Stand the Rain” famous. He carried on behind the scenes for decades, until his second solo album, Don’t Give Up On Love, was released in 2017. That album, like the latest, was produced by Bomar, pairing Bryant with Bomar’s crack soul band, the Bo-Keys. It was such a powerful return to form, with all of the classic ingredients, that one might consider it Bryant’s 21st century comeback. Now, with the same team in place for a second album, we see that Bryant, now nearing his 80th year, is not slacking his pace or his taste in the least.
The album kicks off with a classic horn-driven intro conveying the majesty of a blues-based riff in a soul context, before laying down a very ’70s groove that can’t be denied. Then, track two reveals Bryant’s take on a song (that he wrote) made popular by his wife back in the day, “99 Pounds.” Also sporting some powerful horn riffs, this one captures the classic Royal sound, with the same driving Howard “Bulldog” Grimes beat that made Hi a beacon of soul back in the day.
From there, we hear plenty of mood swings, all delivered with an aching, heartfelt panache that few singers can pull of these days. For Bryant, it seems it’s second nature. And, as tracks evoking various emotions go by, we are reminded of how eclectic Bryant’s career was even before the mid ’70s. Some tracks here, like “Your Love is Too Late” or “Cracked Up Over You,” evoke more of a ’60s soul sound, with the latter sporting echoes of the old Satellite Records (pre-Stax) track by Prince Conley, “I’m Going Home.” It’s an earlier take on R&B than the classic Ann Peebles-type, funk-infused grooves, but Bryant, who was singing and recording from the 1950s onward, can carry both with equal aplomb.
Interspersed along the way are some moving ballads, which, given the homespun strength of Bryant’s voice, may be his strong suit. (Though, to be fair, he can howl on the uptempo tracks with a unique urgency). The standout here may be “Don’t Turn Your Back on Me,” which begins with only solo guitar and Bryant’s vocals. From there, it adds layers of sound and emotion as the band falls in.
Both the ballads and the groovy numbers have one crucial element: air. The sound of a band playing mostly live in a room just may be the key to that “old record” sound. And it only makes it better when it’s a room in Memphis, where one of soul’s great architects is pouring his soul into every note.
Don Bryant’s You Make Me Feel is an Instant Classic
Shangri-La Records continues its tradition of remaining absolutely undaunted in the face of the Memphis heat. This Friday, they’ll host an early evening show by J.D. Westmoreland, who’s celebrating the vinyl release of a single he cut at Royal Studios. It’s one of a handful of releases by the new Royal Records label, and, as such, it’s an interesting statement of eclecticism by the new imprint.
Westmoreland, perhaps best known as a member of the popular “Gypsy-Jazz-Bluegrass-Skiffle” group Devil Train, is revealing his skills as a singer/songwriter of late. The single, which is already available online, has a laid back vibe that brings to mind early ’70s Dylan, with his unhurried vocals layered over a soul shuffle tinged with pedal steel (“Birds of Paradigm”) or sprightly, uptempo folk (“Can’t Seem to Get it Right”).
As Westmoreland says, “For this particular project I wanted more of a clean, simple production so that the songs could really express the story. Both these songs deal with the ambiguity of love and circumstance. I wanted to crystallize emotions in a simple format – kind of a bright way of looking at darkness.”
On the A-side, it’s especially encouraging to hear the warm electric piano tones of Royal coloring the country/soul saunter of Westmoreland’s writing. Somehow, in this age of chaos, the marriage of homespun poetry and funky urban grooves does the soul good. A perfect choice for a vinyl release, and an intriguing new twist from Royal.
Now gunning for its second year, and rolling with the momentum of its 2017 turnout, the Mempho Music Festival lit up the Mid South some days ago when it announced its slate of 2018 performers. Today, they’ve announced the details of the schedule and are opening ticket sales. The Flyer’s advice: get ’em while they’re hot. This is a lineup of artists that rivals any festival in the business (see below).
Beck
Grammy Award winners Beck and Phoenix will headline on Saturday, October 6. On Sunday, October 7, the legendary Nas, who has just dropped a new album, will headline, along with Post Malone. The festival will also bring us Grammy-nominated funkstress and Prince protégé Janelle Monáe, indie-rock favorite Mac DeMarco, German folk rockers Milky Chance, Atlanta-based rapper Rich The Kid, Danny Barnes’ Space Program, and “Stones Throw”, led by The Rolling Stones’ musical director Chuck Leavell and featuring current and former backing band members. And let’s not forget the brilliant collective that is George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic.
Talibah Safiya
First and foremost, the festival lives up to its name with plenty of local talent.
Mempho is fully committed to the #BringYourSoul city branding movement, celebrating the originality, soul, and change that Memphis is known for. Accordingly, we’ll see shows by many a local legend: Juicy J, Project Pat, Lucero, Eric Gales, The Bar-Kays, Don Bryant & The Bo-Keys, Big Ass Truck, John Nemeth & The Love Light Orchestra, Boo Mitchell & The Kings featuring URiAH Mitchell, Lil Al & G Reub, and The Product, Talibah Safiya, and Cory Branan.
Jamie Harmon
The real Lucero
Especially notable will be a tribute set dedicated to Royal Studios. Led by Grammy Award-winning producer Boo Mitchell, the Royal Studios Tribute will feature Grammy Award winners William Bell and Bobby Rush, Oscar Award winner Frayser Boy, and Grammy Award-nominated Hi Rhythm Section.
Also on the local tip, by way of Como, Mississippi, will be Dap-Tone Records’ stars, the Como Mamas.
Como Mamas
“We are thrilled to be back at Shelby Farms Park for year two of the great Mempho Music Festival,” says Mempho Music Festival founder, Diego Winegardner. “We couldn’t be more excited to announce this year’s lineup, which includes an extraordinarily diverse
roster of today’s hottest artists, legends of rock, funk, and soul, as well as a healthy dose of local Memphis talent.”
Big Ass Truck will make a rare appearance
One lesser-known aspect of the Mempho Music Festival is Mempho Matters, a non-profit organization committed to developing “Learn To Rock”, a philanthropy-based arts education and funding initiative. Working with Memphis area businesses and community leaders, the initiative provides Memphis area music teachers and their students admission to Mempho at no cost.
Project Pat
Mempho Music Festival is also partnering with the Memphis Area Women’s Council to promote the Memphis Says NO MORE campaign—aimed at raising awareness for domestic violence and sexual assault—by providing a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all attendees.
Finally, Mempho has teamed up with the Oceanic Global Foundation—a non-profit that educates individuals on issues impacting our ocean through art, music, and emerging technologies. One specific impact of this partnership is Mempho’s pledge to make the festival completely straw-free. Plastic straws, of course, constitute a major proportion of the plastic waste currently accumulating in the Pacific and other oceans.
Love Light Orchestra
This year, Mempho Music Festival has partnered with CID Entertainment to provide VIP and Super VIP experiences, including on-site camping and glamping options.
Janelle Monáe
A limited supply of GA, VIP, and Super VIP pre-sale tickets and packages are available on Monday, June 11th, for returning fans, starting at $79 for Single Day and $139 for 2-Day tickets.
General on-sale begins on Friday, June 15th, at 10 A.M. CT, starting at $89 for Single Day and $159 for 2-Day tickets. Prices will increase on July 13th and September 28th, so reserve your tickets while supplies last.
Going in to this, I knew that Lamont Dozier was nothing short of a pop music icon – a true legend. After all, the man’s resume is undeniable. As a member of the Motown songwriting and production trio Holland-Dozier-Holland, he is responsible for well over 30 top ten hit singles, including 13 number ones. He also had an often overlooked but influential career as a performing artist, and his music has been sampled by everyone from Tupac Shakur to Linkin Park. Go ahead and tack on another number one co-written with Phil Collins and more awards than I could possibly list. Simply stated, the man knows his way around a song.
Earlier this week, when I received the invitation to meet Lamont Dozier and his producer, Fred Mollin (who has had an impressive career in his own right, working with folks like Miley Cyrus, Billy Joel, and the late Chris Cornell), I was a bit nervous, but also excited. Interviewing musicians, much less famous ones, is always a bit of a hit-and-miss proposition – they aren’t always patient, cooperative subjects or even nice people in some cases. However, none of that was true of Lamont or Fred. In our time together, they were introspective, generous with stories and information, and generally just good guys to hang out and share a meal with. Here are some of the highlights of our lengthy conversation:
The Memphis Flyer: For starters, what brings you to town? Lamont Dozier: We’re here to work on a new album at Royal Studios singing old songs that were iconic back in the day and putting a new slant on it vocally and arrangement-wise.
Fred Mollin: It’s very intimate and stripped down. Don’t look for big production. It’s the first time Lamont has recorded them in this way, in his own voice, very acoustic and intimate. Essentially, you’re going to get to hear these songs again for the first time, at the genesis of where they came from.
Why did you decide on the stripped down approach? FM: As a producer, I’ve done several records with great songwriters this way. Lamont was one of the first ones I wanted to do, but it’s taken 20 years to get it actually started. It was always my dream to do it like this because it becomes a timeless album. These are just incredible songs, and he’s an incredible singer. It’s a real chance to hear him sing these songs in a way that is really soulful and heartfelt.
LD: We’re giving the songs a new approach, a face lift, a new idea to give the fans an opportunity to hear these songs in a new light but still bring back memories. Really, it will give everybody insight as to what it was like to hear them as they were being written – just very sparse and intimate.
Do you see this as an opportunity to re-claim these songs as your own? LD: There were a few that I had put in my back pocket that I had always hoped to record myself. But when Barry Gordy comes in saying, “Hey, you’ve got to come up with something in a hurry. Marvin Gaye is going out of town and we need something to put in the can,” you have to come up with something. So, for instance, I had stashed “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).” I always had this comeback idea in my head, so I was holding it back. I had a feeling that it could bring me back to the forefront as an artist. But we were in a hurry and couldn’t really come up with anything special, so I went ahead and pulled it out of my back pocket and gave it to Marvin to do. It became a big hit for him.
And for James Taylor. LD: Oh, yeah (laughs) – and a lot of other people too.
FM: We’re hoping to have James come in and sing with Lamont on that one for the album.
Are there any other songs you wish you could have back? LD: I guess “Little Darling.” That was Marvin, too. It was a personal song for me because I wrote it for my grandmother, who was very ill at the time. I came over to her house when she was ill and played her this song when we had just recorded it. And this is one song, personally, that I wished I had sung myself, to her. But Marvin didn’t do a bad job with it either. And it became a hit for the Doobie Brothers and Michael McDonald later on.
Why did you decide to record in Memphis? FM: Most of the album was actually done in Nashville, because that’s where I’m based out of. But we wanted to pay homage to Memphis. Because I know Boo Mitchell and work at Royal when I’m here, I wanted to bring Lamont down for a day of vocals. It was literally like a pilgrimage day for us.
What songs did you work on at Royal? FM: I think we did “Reach Out (I’ll Be There),” “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” and “Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While).” These are unbelievable songs, the soundtrack to people’s lives.
What did the guys at Motown think of the music coming out of Memphis back in the day? Did you view it as a rivalry? LD: No, we didn’t view it as a rivalry. A hit song is a hit song. I loved Stax. Stax had its own iconic sound. There was stuff coming out of there that we respected as songwriters and producers. Their sound was more blues-based. Their house was full of blues, I’ll put it that way. We respected that sound, because we knew the blues started it all, and I think they respected us.
How long have the two of you worked together? FM: We’ve worked on a few things together. We worked together here on a Cliff Richard record at Royal back in 2011. To be honest, this is the first chance that I’ve had to make this particular dream come true.
LD: If there’s anyone I trust enough to work with as my producer, it’s him.
Do you feel your immense success as a songwriter and producer has overshadowed your career as an artist? LD: No, I think it added to it. They always say Motown was like a college for music writers and producers. Sometimes if you wait, and study hard on your skills, you’ll just be better at something. When the time came for me to sing again, I was better because I had written and produced for other artists.
Did you ever tailor songs for particular artists? LD: Oh, no. A hit song is a hit song, anybody can sing it. The song is king always. If it’s good, anybody with half a voice can do it. That’s how it was done, cut the tracks first and then bring in whoever was going to sing it and teach them the song.
My favorite song of yours from the Motown era is “Bernadette.” What do you remember about writing that one? LD: (laughs) Everybody asks about that one.
FM: The version we have on the new record is so gorgeous.
LD: This particular song is a girl’s name, which is something we would never do because then all the other girls would want their names in a song. But in this particular case, the name just fit the music so well, and we all at one time had girlfriends called Bernadette. All three of us – different girls, though. She was my first puppy love thing was when I was 11 or 12. My Bernadette was like Venus de Milo. What does an 11 year old know? (laughs) She was this little Italian girl that just made my heart sing. And she was my muse, I used that feeling that I had for her to write songs up in to my 20s. Whenever I was writing a love song about someone I had feelings for, she would always be the picture in my mind’s eye.
“Hey, I”m looking forward to this! It’s a full band and everything. It’s exciting to me!” Don Bryant can barely contain his mirth, contemplating another show with old-school soul masters the Bo-Keys. With a new album out this year – his first since his 1969 debut LP on Hi Records – he’s been leading the band through several performances lately. But Friday’s show, dubbed “Poppa Willie’s Night” in honor of Hi’s longtime manager and producer Willie Mitchell, will be especially notable: it marks Bryant’s return to Royal Studios, where he worked for many years as a hit songwriter for Hi. He’ll be kicking off a series of three concerts being staged to celebrate the studio’s sixtieth anniversary.
It was as a songwriter that Bryant gained his widest fame, having co-written the hit “I Can’t Stand the Rain” with Ann Peebles, who he married soon after. And it could only have been in the Hi Records milieu, bursting with talents like Al Green, Otis Clay, and others, that a singer of Bryant’s caliber would be relegated to writing rather than recording hits. And he wrote many – 154 by one account.
It started early. Having begun his career leading a vocal quartet, the Four Kings, he had a song of his, “I Got to Know,” recorded by the 5 Royales when still in his teens. “When they recorded the song it was at a studio down on North Main,” he recalls. “And I wasn’t even allowed to go in the studio, I had to sit out in the lobby. That was one of the biggest deals I could have had in those days, because they were one of the most famous groups. My group was always trying to imitate them, dance-wise and song-wise. They had a lot of popular songs.”
Poppa Willie’s Night: Royal Studios kicks off 60th Anniversary Celebration
Soon after that, the Four Kings began fronting Willie Mitchell’s band. This proved fortuitous for Bryant’s solo career. “My group had problems and broke up. So I told Willie, ‘If you would accept it, I’d like to try doing solo.’ Because singing was my thing. And he said, ‘Okay, I’ll try you out.’ And that’s how I got to sing vocals with Willie Mitchell and band.” Bryant started by contributing vocal parts to some of Mitchell’s singles for Hi.
Boo Mitchell, heir to Willie’s throne as manager of today’s Royal Studios, says “He sang on some of my dad’s instrumental recordings. My favorite is a song called ‘That Driving Beat’, which he sings. It’s a Willie Mitchell song and Don is singing it. It is badass. It’s from like ’66, I think. And there’s a song called ‘Everything’s Gonna be Alright’, and it’s a Willie Mitchell song, but Don is singing. And I only found this out after my Pop passed, ‘cos it has harmony vocals throughout the whole song, and Don said, ‘That’s Willie singing harmonies.’ I was like, ‘No Shit!’ I never knew it, man! And then, Pops wasn’t around so I couldn’t give him any shit about it, and say, ‘How come you never told me it’s you singing?’”
Poppa Willie’s Night: Royal Studios kicks off 60th Anniversary Celebration (3)
Poppa Willie’s Night: Royal Studios kicks off 60th Anniversary Celebration (2)
For Bryant, this culminated in the release of his solo album, Precious Soul, in 1969. But it wasn’t long before other singers in the Hi Records stable, like Al Green, eclipsed Bryant’s solo career. Part of this had to do with major changes for Hi Records, Royal Studios, and Willie Mitchell himself. Says Boo, “Right after Joe Cuoghi [Hi Records’ original owner] died in 1970, I think he willed his shares in Hi Records to Pops, and so it was a big transition for him, you know. And when Joe Cuoghi died, [Al Green’s] ‘I’m So Tired of Being Alone’ had been out for like three or four months and had only sold like 2000 records. And Pops knew it was a hit, so after the funeral and all that stuff was over, Pops basically went to Atlanta, New York, and Chicago, and just camped out at radio stations until they played it. And they finally played it. When they played it in Atlanta, it hit. They played it in NY, same thing, Chicago, same thing. And then it went platinum.”
This marked the beginning of many years of mega-hits from Green, who outsold even the classic hit makers from Stax Records. As Boo Mitchell recounts, “Stax was doing a lot of singles. And they weren’t really selling a lot of albums, you know what I mean? And Al Green was doing the opposite because Willie Mitchell came from the album world. Which was more I guess what white artists were doing. Because of Hi Records. And so when he started doing Al Green, he did it with that same mentality of the album. And you know there were songs that were selling the albums…like ‘How Can You Mend a Broken Heart’ was the song that sold the Let’s Stay Together album. ‘Let’s Stay Together’ as a song was awesome, but all the radio stations were playing ‘How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,’ which was like a six minute song. It was never a single. Neither was ‘Love and Happiness’.”
Bryant settled in as a songwriter for the Hi Records team. He married Ann Peebles and saw her star rise through the 1970s. But by the end of the decade there came another sea change. “You know, it was like a perfect storm of badness,” says Mitchell. “Stax posted bankruptcy in ’75, which was very impactful. Then Elvis died in ’77. Al Green went completely gospel around the same time. And then disco was coming in. So things were changing. Pops had partners and he was kind of outvoted to sell the label. Because his partners were business guys, you know. And on paper it probably looked like the right thing to do. Okay, our bread and butter Al Green is going gospel and the music is changing and we should get out. You know what I mean? It may not have been a good decision. But Pops made the great decision, when they outvoted him to sell the label, he made the decision to buy the studio. So that was a great decision on his part.”
Joey Miller
Royal Studios
This was a pivotal moment for Royal, enabling it to continue operating without Hi. And through all these years, the studio itself has barely been altered. “It hasn’t changed since 69. It’s the same,” says Mitchell. And this only enhances its appeal to current day artists. Lately, after the success of the Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars hit “Uptown Funk,” recorded at Royal, the studio’s star is on the rise again. Mitchell explains, “Me and my sister started Royal Records last year. And also Royal Radio. Which is an app, or on Google Play. And it’s housed at Royal Studios, and it streams mostly music that was made at Royal, but all kinds of different music. We have radio shows with Barbara Blue and Preston Shannon, they have a blues show. Al Kapone has a show. Frayser Boy has a show. Charles Hodges from the Hi Rhythm Section has a show.”
Joey Miller
Boo Mitchell
A distinct family vibe permeates the studio to this day. This will be apparent at Friday’s shindig. The in-studio party will feature homestyle cooking by Mitchell’s Aunt Yvonne, who has served soul food to most of the renown artists who have recorded there. And now Don Bryant, with his new record, Don’t Give Up on Love, out on Fat Possum Records, will return there to honor Royal’s rejuvenation. “It’s just like homecoming to me,” he says.
And no other living artist goes as far back into Royal’s history as Bryant. “It’s so awesome to have Don, because he was there with my dad almost from the very beginning, you know,” says Mitchell. He says having Bryant kick off this year’s anniversary celebrations “was really the only thing that made sense to me, historically. You know, it was just like, that’s the right thing to do. It’s a miracle he was available because he’s been touring all over the place. And, you know the stars lin ed up.”
Rhythm on the River (Poppa Willie’s Night), featuring Don Bryant & the Bo-Keys, takes place at Royal Studios, Fri., July 28, 7 p.m., $200. Future events connected to Royal Studios’ 60th Anniversary include a free show, Memphis Mojo, at the Levitt Shell on October 14th, and the grand finale, Sixty Soulful Years, featuring several international stars at the Orpheum Theatre, November 18th.
A couple things to know about Yvonne Mitchell, daughter of the legendary founder of Royal Studios Willie Mitchell: She can cook and she can cook for crowds.
“My mother always had musicians living with us,” Mitchell explains, saying she recruited to help feed the masses when she was around 8 or 9.
So consider Mitchell prepared for Friday’s “Rhythm on the River (Poppa Willie’s Night),” the first in a trio of events in celebration of Royal’s 60th anniversary. Mitchell will be cooking dinner for the crowd.
“I’m making salmon croquettes with a special sauce I made up. Chicken with mushroom gravy, rice and greens, black-eyed peas, homemade cornbread, lemon poundcake, peach cobbler, and a 150-year-old recipe for chow chow,” Mitchell says.
Mitchell has worked for the studio for nearly 50 years, doing everything from being an administrator to doing copy writing to cleaning the machines and staging photo sessions for the musicians. She and her sister formed A&V Enterprises, and they worked with Ann Peebles and Hi Rhythm.
When Willie Mitchell passed away in 2010, the family had to regroup and figure out how best to serve the studio. They decided to make Boo Mitchell the face of the studio, with Yvonne providing a little TLC for the musicians.
Musicians often stay in the studio from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., says Mitchell. She would bring them her famous lemon pound cake and then feed them a proper Sunday dinner, so they would have some comfort food after days of burgers and barbecue.
She cooked for Bruno Mars, John Mayer, and Boz Scaggs. She cooked for Melissa Etheridge for seven days. She’s catered the Memphis Music Hall of Fame inductions.
For the Rhythm on the River event, held at the studio, Don Bryant will perform with the Bo-Keys. It’s Bryant’s first time back to Royal since the 1960s.
As for Mitchell’s 150-year-old chow chow recipe, it’s her grandmother’s, and she’s getting the grandkids in on the act because she messed up her shoulder and needs help with all the chopping. She says they’re doing pretty good.
So, does anyone ever cook for Mitchell? “Not really,” she says. “My sister can’t boil water.”
This Friday night, Melissa Etheridge will perform at Minglewood Hall in support of her Stax tribute album, MEmphis Rock and Soul. Released earlier this month on Stax/Concord Music Group, MEmphis Rock and Soul features 12 Stax classics, including “Hold On, I’m Coming,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” “Born Under a Bad Sign,” and “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember.”
Recorded at Royal Studios with Boo Mitchell and the Hi Rhythm section, MEmphis Rock and Soul sold 14,000 copies in its first week and made an impressive showing on the Billboard 200 chart, earning the No. 1 spot in the Blues category and No. 9 in Rock. The tour in support of MEmphis Rock and Soul kicked off last week, and this is Etheridge’s only Memphis appearance this year.
It’s been a busy year for Etheridge, who in June penned a benefit song for the survivors of the shooting in Orlando at the gay nightclub Pulse. The song — also called “Pulse” — saw all of its benefits donated to the Equality Florida Project. Etheridge has long been a voice for the LGBT community, and her message of equality has reached hundreds of thousands throughout her long career.
Initially recognized as a top-tier songwriter in 1988, Etheridge played the Grammys that year before winning one herself for the song “Ain’t It Heavy” in 1992. Her 1993 album included the chart-topping hits “Come to My Window,” and “I’m the Only One,” the latter of which won her a second Grammy in 1995.
Last Weekend, Royal Studios held a block party to celebrate their latest venture as a Memphis institution: Royal Records. I caught up with siblings Oona and Boo Mitchell to talk about what led to the creation of Royal Records and what the duo has planned for the future. — Chris Shaw
The Memphis Flyer: How long has the idea for Royal Records been in the works?
Oona Mitchell: We’ve probably been talking about it for the past five years.
Boo Mitchell: I think we had it in the back of our minds that we would need to do it one day. We weren’t avoiding it, but when we first started thinking about it, the timing wasn’t right, the climate wasn’t right, and we just didn’t have the talent. You know, the music business was changing so much, and we were still learning all the ways to monetize music. We didn’t have a firm handle on the streaming and the downloading and that type of stuff.
How did winning the Grammy help spur the start of a label?
Boo Mitchell: The Grammy was a big part of it, because it gave us a platform. It was kind of like a right of passage, ya know? It kind of gave us and Memphis the attention and energy. I mean, you can’t pay for that kind of publicity.
Who are some artists that Royal Records are working with?
Boo Mitchell: Lil Riah and Key Money are our flagship artists. They are the first product that we are going to push. As a studio, we work with a lot of artists that are unsigned like Frayser Boy, Al Kapone, and Tori WhoDat. These are all people who potentially may end up on the label. But me and my sister are so all over the map musically. I mean, today we have Devil Train coming in to record after this interview.
Let’s talk about the Block Party that went down on Saturday. It seemed like a pretty big success.
Oona Mitchell: I think the neighborhood is excited, and I think Memphis is excited. I think a lot of people have been waiting on us to do something like this.
Boo Mitchell: We couldn’t have asked for better success. We had people from the neighborhood there. We had the mayor there and people both white and black from all walks of life. It was bigger than we expected. There was such a diverse group of people enjoying the music, and that was really cool to see.
Do you think the label will take away from the studio side of things at Royal?
Boo Mitchell: The label will make the studio a little bit more exclusive as far as booking sessions. One energizes the other. I think having a studio is the perfect magnet for talent, and it’s the perfect launching pad for a label. We have the history of recording famous people, but we also record local people who are trying to get their music out there.
What’s next for the label? Do you want people submitting their music to you?
Boo Mitchell: We are dropping the album [for Lil Riah and Key Money] in September, and then at the first of the year we will probably start releasing other artists. We want to make sure we have quality over quantity, so we’re probably going to focus on this while we get our legs under us.
As for demos, I like things to happen organically. I mean, my dad wasn’t out looking for Al Green, it just kinda happened. I approach my career the same way.
Photographs courtesy of Michael Graber 
courtesy Boo Mitchell 
courtesy Boo Mitchell 
Paul Chandler Moulton 
Jamie Harmon 
Joey Miller 
Joey Miller 
Joey Miller 
