Tag: Steve Cropper

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Film Features Film/TV

Now Playing In Memphis: Automobile Edition

Vin Diesel and Daniela Melchior do car-related things in FAST X. (Courtesy Universal Pictures)

Did you know The Fast & The Furious, the 2001 film that started it all, was named for a 1954 B-picture by Roger Corman? The legendary schlockmeister traded the title for access to Universal Studio’s stock footage library. Now, it’s a billion dollar franchise that made Vin Diesel a household name and street racing cool.

This weekend, the tenth and perhaps last (or second-to-last, or even third-to-last, depending on who you believe) film in the series, Fast X, premieres. What’s it about? Who cares? Big muscle guys make cars go vroom.

In other car-related Memphis movie news, this month’s Time Warp Drive-In is on Saturday (May 20), and the theme is “Sing-A-Long Sinema: Mad Musicals in May.” The opener is based on a Roger Corman film (there’s that name again) from 1960 that became a classic musical in 1986. Little Shop of Horrors is directed by Frank Oz (yeah, the Muppet guy) and stars Rick Moranis as Seymour, a florist with a taste for the exotic who finds a plant from outer space. It’s a hit for the flower shop, owned by Mr. Mushnick (Vincent Gardenia), but Seymour’s got a secret. The plant, named Audrey II, is sentient, has an amazing singing voice (provided by Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops), and thirsts for human blood. When Audrey II offers to help Seymour land his love interest Audrey I (Ellen Greene in an all-time great supporting role) by disappearing her dentist boyfriend (Steve Martin, in an all-time great dual cameo with Bill Murray), things get interesting. The doo-wop revival songs, the impeccable puppetry, and a cast of legends at the top of their game, make Little Shop of Horrors an absolute must-see for people who like to have fun.

The second musical of the evening probably needs no introduction. So I won’t give it one. Instead, let’s just watch John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd cook with an all-star band, including Memphis muscle men Duck Dunn, Steve Cropper, and Matt “Guitar” Murphy, while reflecting on the fact that Belushi broke his foot the night before he filmed this scene.

Rounding out this absolute unit of a triple bill is The Wiz. The 1978 Sidney Lumet film is an all-Black musical adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, with a score by Quincy Jones. When Indie Memphis revived it at the drive-in in 2020, it was a blast and a half. Watch Micheal Jackson slay, even though he’s stuck on a pole as The Scarecrow.

The Time Warp Drive-In is Saturday, May 20 at the Malco Summer Drive-In. Show starts as dusk.

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We Recommend We Saw You

We Saw You: Jerry Lee and Me

Michael Donahue with Jerry Lee Lewis and Steve Cropper at an event on October 6th, 1995. Irma S. Waddell took the photo.

I can’t say I ever “interviewed” Jerry Lee Lewis, but I asked him questions and he answered over the years at several events.

The first question was at one of his birthday parties in the 1980s, probably at his Memphis home. I had never met him or said a word to him before that night. I walked up to him with notebook in hand and said, “Jerry Lee, I’m Michael Donahue with The Commercial Appeal.”

He responded, “That’s YOUR problem.”

That was that. The rest of the evening was sort of downhill.

That was Lewis’ cantankerous side. Which made me a little gun-shy going face-to-face with the Killer over the next few decades.

I photographed and videotaped him, most notably was when he was the guest of honor at his 75th birthday celebration. Kris Kourdouvelis and Sharon Gray hosted the lavish event at The Warehouse off South Main.

Everything was centered around Lewis, naturally. There was a choreographed dance number to “Great Balls of Fire,” and people gave warm speeches about him. All the while the Killer, wearing black-and-white loafers, kicked back in a comfortable chair with a cigar in his mouth. I don’t remember him ever taking the stage.

When he finally left to go to his dressing room, I followed him with my video camera. I didn’t know which Jerry Lee would speak that night, but I asked him something like, “How do you feel having all these great accolades said about you and all these festivities in you honor?”

He responded: “I feel like I want to go HOME.” That was one of the cantankerous responses.

Someone backstage that night said to me, “You’re not going to use that quote are you?”

“I sure am.” It was the kicker to my video about the event.

Other sort-of-close encounters with Lewis included maybe two or three visits to cover events at his home in Nesbit, Mississippi. I sat down and played his piano during one of those visits, just to say that I did. Someone snapped some photos.

I played Jerry Lee Lewis’s piano at an event at his home in Nesbit, Mississippi. Un-asked.
An “I couldn’t resist” moment at Jerry Lee Lewis’s piano in Nesbit, Mississippi.

Guests were roaming about his place during another event. There were cardboard boxes full of Lewis’ shoes in his garage or maybe a storage area. The boxes were dated, so there were shoes from different time periods. There were two-toned shoes, like maybe red and black. Red was definitely a Jerry Lee Lewis clothing color of choice.

I also got to see Lewis perform on many occasions. One late night at the old Hot Air Balloon (or whatever night spot was in that space at the time) in Overton Square, Lewis suddenly showed up. And he played the hell out of the spinet piano. But the vibe — at least from the management — wasn’t so cheerful when he was through playing. It’s possible that he damaged the piano in some way, maybe slamming the top down a little too hard.

But he was amazing to watch. Even in his later years, when he was slowly led to the piano bench, Lewis exploded once he sat down in front of that keyboard. He was on fire. He played the piano like he was in his teens or 20s. Everyone expected him to jump on the bench and start rat-a-tat slamming the keyboard cover up and down during those one-man musical extravaganzas.  

The last time I photographed Lewis was at the opening of the Hyatt Centric Beale Street Hotel on April 29th, 2021. The event included notables, including Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. But the big star that night was, as always, Jerry Lee Lewis. He was in a wheelchair and attended with his wife, Judith.

During his later years, Lewis was friendly but distant when we crossed paths. In one photo I took that night, Lewis is giving his trademark defiant look at the camera while surrounded by his fans, including Jerry Lawler and Kevin Kane.

Jerry Lee Lewis and his wife, Judith, at the opening party of the Hyatt Centric Beale Street Hotel. With fans, including Kevin Kane and Jerry Lawler. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

But one of my favorite Lewis stories was the time I saw him in the audience at the Orpheum. It was one of those “Should I or should I not speak to him?” moments. Lewis and fellow wild man piano player Jason D. Williams were leaving. They were about out of the auditorium door when I greeted them. Lewis turned and looked at me and said, “Hey, Killer.” He even smiled.

I was on cloud nine. Jerry Lee Lewis could do no wrong.

We Saw You
Categories
Music Music Features

Stax Music Academy to “Pump It Up” with Elvis Costello to Keep Music Flowing

CREDIT: Courtesy Stax Music Academy

Of all the gems in the crown of the thriving Memphis music education scene, the Stax Music Academy (SMA) may shine the brightest, by virtue of its location right beside the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Though it wasn’t yet in its current building, the music school opened 20 years ago at Stafford Elementary School and has gone from success to success ever since.

Despite the pandemic, the school is forging ahead with the new academic year, albeit with some new approaches in place. “We’re starting virtual,” says executive director Pat Mitchell-Worley. “We’re still going to keep the attention on the craft of being a musician, but instead of live performance, we’re focusing on recorded performance. And our students get to spend a lot more time in the studio this year, which is something we’ve always wanted to do, but preparing for all those live performances made it sort of impossible. So this is an opportunity. I want to focus on, what can we do that wasn’t possible last year?”

Courtesy Stax Music Academy

Booker T. Jones with Stax Music Academy students

One thing they’re doing is making up for the shortfall resulting from SMA’s suspension of all tuition charges when the pandemic hit. That’s the focus of a new fundraiser involving songwriter extraordinaire and longtime SMA supporter Elvis Costello, who is lending his voice to the cause. It’s not a recording or a performance, exactly, but a unique art object created by the London- and Austin-based Soundwaves company, which specializes in transforming audio recordings by musical artists, from Fleetwood Mac to Paul McCartney, into visual representations of the recordings’ waveforms.

Now, Soundwaves’ Tim Wakefield has created such a work based on Costello’s 1978 classic “Pump It Up,” and produced a limited-edition collection of prints, individually numbered and signed by Wakefield and Costello, as well as four originals. When first offered on July 15th, the originals sold out at $2,500 each, and roughly half of the prints sold for $450 each. Remaining prints are still available.

Courtesy Stax Music Academy

SMA students

As Costello observed in a statement, “I think this is the first time anyone has paid money to look at my voice. That said, I am really grateful to those who have made these contributions in support of the great work done by my friends at the Stax Music Academy.”

As Mitchell-Worley notes, Costello has often been involved with SMA. “He’s met with students,” she says, “and when he was in town last time, he did a testimonial video about the program.” The “Pump It Up” campaign is a perfect expression of that support. “It’s something I’m super excited about,” she says, “’Cause it’s just a cool thing. I’m like, is it wrong for me to buy one? ‘Cause I’m a fan!”

Costello isn’t the only musical genius to lend support to SMA. Direct financial assistance has come from a notable Stax alum. “Steve Cropper put up all the money for the cash prizes for kids, for the songwriting contests we’re doing,” says Mitchell-Worley. “The next one will be in August, and Cropper’s coming again with the prize money. He wants to encourage kids to write songs. He knows how important that was for him.”

The assistance of high-profile artists like Costello and Cropper is crucial now, according to Mitchell-Worley, as the SMA fills in where other avenues of music education have been curtailed due to the coronavirus. As she notes, simply taking a break from playing is not an option. “You’ve got to keep your skills up,” she says. “It’s just like math. If you go without math for a time, then that knowledge is lost. Continuing to practice, continuing to play is an important piece of growing as an instrumentalist and a vocalist.”

After virtual classes begin on August 17th, says Mitchell-Worley, “We’re playing it by ear. ‘Cause we know kids want to be back, and their families want them back, but safety, of course, is everybody’s first concern. For us, it’s still our 20th anniversary, COVID or not, and we’re still going to educate teenagers about music. We’re adapting to what the community needs are. It’s a really strange time, but we’re trying to figure out how we can help. These are the things I’m thinking about, the things that keep me up at night.”


Categories
Music Music Features

Come Go With Me: The Complete Staple Singers on Stax

In 1968, Stax was bouncing back from having lost its back catalog to Atlantic, even as the entire African-American community was bouncing back from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Enter the Staple Singers, seemingly destined to heal wounds in both places.

They brought with them to Stax a proven track record — a decade’s worth of albums elsewhere — not to mention the unique, soulful blend in the voices of Roebuck “Pops” Staples, daughters Cleotha and Mavis, and son Pervis (later replaced by his sister Yvonne). And their song catalog was already loaded with calls for political awareness, a benchmark of their popularity in both gospel and folk circles. They had only just covered Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” for Epic earlier in the year.

Thus, the evolution of the group’s sound in the years after signing to Stax became both a measure and a maker of people’s determination to act on King’s vision of empowerment. As such, they’re the perfect group to honor with a major archival release in the month that’s designated to celebrate African-American history.

Courtesy of Stax Archives

Pops; (back, l-r) Cleotha, Yvonne, and Mavis Staples

In recent years, Craft Recordings has issued a distinguished line of Stax rereleases. Some have been notable CD box sets, such as the Grammy-winning collection, Stax ’68: A Memphis Story, focused on every single released in that pivotal year; others have been classic Stax LPs, painstakingly remastered and pressed locally to the highest standards in their Memphis Masters series. Now, with the release of Come Go With Me: The Stax Collection on February 21st, Craft offers something that’s a bit of both: a deluxe LP box set, complete with an oversized, illustration-laden booklet, containing remastered versions of all six of the Staple Singers’ studio albums on Stax, spanning 1968–1974, plus a seventh compiling their B-sides and performances from the epic Wattstax music festival and film. (The complete collection will also be released in hi-res 24-bit/192 kHz and 24-bit/96 kHz formats for the first time.)

It’s an investment, to be sure, but also a priceless slice of cultural history. If one hallmark of 1970s popular music was bringing socially conscious lyrics to foundations more funky than folky, the Staples’ trajectory surely mapped out that terrain for many more to follow. It’s not as if they weren’t funky from the get-go, but when they landed in Memphis, it was clearly unavoidable, once their more spare folk-gospel collided with the MGs.

With their first two albums on Stax, produced by Steve Cropper, there’s plenty of funk, brought by a band that included Cropper, Al Jackson Jr., Duck Dunn, Marvell Thomas, and the Memphis Horns. But there are also folk touchstones. Both clearly signalled the group’s allegiance to either the folk-rock scene, the San Francisco scene, or both, as did their first single for the label, an original: “Long Walk to D.C.”

Courtesy of Stax Archives

Pops Staples

Yet from the first needle drop on the first track of the first album, “We’ve Got to Get Ourselves Together,” the Staple Singers’ magic seems in place: a call to action that could apply to either sexual politics or the peace movement, made urgent by Mavis’ galvanizing voice and the buttery harmonies of a family surrounding her, and the band’s groovy bass and drums, topped with chicken-scratch guitar, giving it all a mighty thump.

It was these elements that Stax president Al Bell seized on when he took over the production seat for their third and subsequent records. He upped the funk, replacing Cropper and company with the famed Swampers from Muscle Shoals. That led to the group’s first success on Stax, “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom),” which in turn paved the way for classics such as “Respect Yourself,” “I’ll Take You There,” and “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me).”

Once they’d hit their stride, they embodied an elusive combination of immense popular success (and danceability) blended with uncompromising ideals. It’s an example from which those living in the 21st century could learn a thing or two.

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Music Music Blog

Memphis Music Hall of Fame: Gala Event Honors Artists From Blues to Opera

CREDIT: Courtesy Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Courtesy Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Scott Bomar & Don Bryant

This past Friday evening in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame honored some of music’s most influential singers and songwriters at its eighth annual Induction Ceremony.

The event honored eight Memphis-area musicians whose lifetime contributions to music embody elements of the “Memphis Sound,” all central figures in the history of chart-topping music of the 20th Century.

The official nexAir Stage at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts was filled with luminaries, both presenting and receiving the night’s distinctions. This year’s roster of inductees was an impressive and diverse group: Don Bryant, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Charlie Musselwhite, The Memphis Boys, Steve Cropper, Dan Penn, Tina Turner, and perhaps the most surprising, posthumous inductee and “The First Lady of Grand Opera,” Ms. Florence Cole Talbert-McCleave.

McCleave was an American operatic soprano and one of the very first black female opera singers to receive acclaim and critical success in the 20th Century, as well as one of the first to record commercially. Though not originally from Memphis, it was here she eventually settled and during her time was a sought-after performer, trailblazer for African-American women, and active educator for young black musicians throughout Memphis, even co-founding the Memphis Music Association. It is a testament to their scope that the Memphis Music Hall of Fame has opened its arms to classical forms of music like opera: the tribute performance to McCleave, an excerpt from “Aida” by soprano Michelle Bradley, was second-to-none and, quite simply, breathtaking.
Courtesy Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Don Bryant

Next up was Don Bryant, house songwriter for Willie Mitchell’s Hi Records throughout the 60s and 70s, husband to singer Ann Peebles, and gifted singer in his own right. Bryant is the rare combination of sincerely disarming, winsome, and talented. Backed by a bevy of some of the finest working musicians in Memphis, the Bo-Keys, Bryant let shine from that stage his unparalleled smile and inventive, heartfelt vocals. The Bo-Keys, who now tour regularly with Bryant, included: Joe Restivo on guitar, Scott Bomar on bass, Marc Franklin and Kirk Smothers on horns, Archie “Hubbie” Turner on keys, and the Memphis “Bulldog” himself, Howard Grimes on drums. The latter two bandmates, with Bryant himself, served as key members of the house band at Mitchell’s Royal Recording Studios, playing on some of Hi’s most celebrated recordings of the era.

One of the eight inductees was actually a group award. Six session musicians made up The Memphis Boys, the house band at legendary producer Chips Moman’s American Sound Studio, comprised of drummer Gene Chrisman, bassists Tommy Cogbill and Mike Leech, guitarist Reggie Young, pianist Bobby Wood, and organist Bobby Emmons. Together these men laid down the grooves for over 120 hit records between 1967 and 1972 for artists like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, B.J. Thomas, Dusty Springfield, and notably, on Elvis Presley’s last number one hit “Suspicious Minds.”
Courtesy Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Extended family of The Memphis Boys

Of the remaining members, keyboardist Bobby Wood gave a sincere thanks to the city of Memphis while drummer Gene Chrisman audibly held back tears of gratitude as he accepted his award, and in an endearing moment of appreciation of those years he reminisced, “I’ll tell you it was such a pleasure…We had more fun than two Christmas monkeys.”

As the room bubbled with cheer and nostalgia, the house band and guest singers led a medley of the Memphis Boys’ greatest hits: “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” “Son of A Preacher Man,” “Suspicious Minds,” and “Sweet Caroline,” among others.

Courtesy Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Charlie Musselwhite and Bobby Rush

Boundless blues entertainer Bobby Rush introduced his erstwhile touring partner, friend and Grammy-winning electric blues heavyweight Charlie Musselwhite. Charlie, gracious as always, serenaded us with his famous harmonica stylings on “Blues Overtook Me.”

It was a night of montages, as rapper Al Kapone stepped out to speak with an unexpectedly heartfelt appeal to support live Memphis music. As he stepped aside, dueling DJs live-mixed an audio mosaic of some of the most cherished hits to come from our city: “Hound Dog,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Gee Whiz,” “Pretty Woman,” “Hold On I’m Coming,” “Soul Man,” “Shaft,” “Love and Happiness,” “Ring My Bell,” and many others, on through more modern Hip-hop hits like “Hard Out Here for a Pimp.” This was followed by a brief but thoughtful “In Memoriam” video paying tribute to those Memphians in music we’ve recently lost.
Courtesy Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Dan Penn

Grammy-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang presented the next inductee, composer, instrumentalist, and singer Dan Penn. One of the most prodigious songwriters to come out of the Shoals, Penn’s songs possess a permanence that not many can boast – most famed among them, Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and The Box Tops “Cry Like A Baby.” Penn gave a brief and witty acceptance and returned to play another of his seminal hits, “The Dark End of the Street,” a hit for James Carr on Goldwax in 1967. At 77, Penn’s stunning voice still commands a standing ovation.

Native Memphian and dynamic singer Dee Dee Bridgewater got her well-deserved accolades from Royal Studios’ Boo Mitchell, son of legendary producer Willie Mitchell. Mitchell spoke of the recent work he has done with Ms. Bridgewater on her last record Memphis… Yes, I’m Ready, and ready she was: attired in glittering silver from head to toe, Bridgewater dazzled and shone. The jazz singer, Broadway star, and Grammy-winner addressed her Memphis roots and mesmerized the audience with her rousing rendition of “Can’t Get Next to You.”
Courtesy Memphis Music Hall of Fame

Steve Cropper

Blues guitarist and brother to the late Stevie Ray, Jimmie Vaughan introduced the incomparable Steve Cropper. Guitarist, songwriter, producer, Stax house guitarist, and OG “G” of Booker T. & The M.G.’s, he’s responsible for some of the greatest songs ever recorded, having written for and worked with everyone from Otis Redding to John Lennon. Inducted in 2012 as a member of Booker T. & The M.G.’s, this year saw him inducted as a solo artist for his life-long accomplishments, and, a natural charmer, he treated us to a version of his Redding co-write “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay,” leading the audience through whistles at the end.

The final inductee of the night was to a lady born Anna Mae Bullock in nearby Nutbush, Tennessee, and known to the world as Miss Tina Turner. Though not present at the ceremony, we enjoyed an agreeable medley of her greatest hits to round out the festivities, performed by a collection of local female artists who did Miss Turner proud: “Rock Me Baby,” “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” and “River Deep, Mountain High” among others.

Memphis is a town chock full of heavy contributions to the music world – and these ceremonies, presenting so many timeless artists and songs in one sitting, are mind-blowing. It was a night of sheer celebration and a night of sober reflection. It was, as Chrisman mused with his distinct Southern drollness, ‘more fun than two Christmas monkeys.’

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Music Music Blog

MemphoFest debuts, nice and easy

CREDIT: Jon W. Sparks

Jon W. Sparks

Booker T. Jones at MemphoFest Saturday.

Saturday afternoon began with anticipation as curious music lovers trickled in to the brand spanking new MemphoFest on the expansive grounds of Shelby Farms. The day before was the first day of what organizers expect to be the first of many annual festivals, and it was blessed with good attendance, pleasant weather, and a well-organized operation.

By mid-afternoon Saturday, the crowd flow continued to increase, coming to sample two stages of sounds, including bluegrass by Devil Train, no-nonsense rock by Hard Working Americans, and the funk/steel guitar power of Robert Randolph and the Family Band, who did a tribute to the victims of the Las Vegas tragedy.

Robert Randolph on the First Tennessee Main Stage at MemphoFest Saturday.

By the time Booker T. Jones settled behind his keyboard around 530 p.m., the mellow crowd was ready to soak up some Stax-flavored tunes delivered by first rate performers backing up the man who brought the world the MGs.

While the tunes of Booker T. and the MGs are ingrained in pop culture consciousness, Jones still wants to scratch that creative itch. The 1969 hit “Time is Tight” was on the MemphoFest playlist, but the very different version Saturday echoed one Jones presented five years ago at a concert with the late, lamented Opus One ensemble from the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. It began with a slow, gorgeous, and thoughtful extended prelude far different from the East McLemore original. Eventually it morphed into the recognizable hit we remember, backed at MemphoFest by a superb band, even as it was backed by an orchestra in 2012.

Hoops madness at MemphoFest.

Next on the First Tennessee Main Stage was Steve Cropper, the only other surviving MG, who did a number with Jones and then played on with his band, including some tunes with fellow Stax star Eddie Floyd.

Other bands at MemphoFest included Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Chinese Embassy Dub Connection, Objekt 12, and Marcella and Her Lovers. Friday’s lineup included Southern Avenue, Dead Soldiers, Star & Micey and Cage the Elephant.

Diego Winegardner,  the festival’s founder and the CEO of Big River Presents, which is putting on the event, was in high cotton about the way the festival was going. Discussions about doing a fall music festival at Shelby Farms got underway in earnest only about nine months ago and went into high gear in April. He says there were no surprises, due in large part to painstaking planning with Jen Andrews, executive director of the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy. Security, parking, production values, and food were well thought out, he says, and of course it was nice of the weather to cooperate (rain was forecast for Saturday; didn’t happen).

Paul Chandler, executive director of the Germantown Performing Arts Center, was in on the creation of MemphoFest, bringing people together. As he looked over Saturday’s crowd from the Super VIP tent, he remarked that, “There’s a sense of happiness and calm here, even with a band rocking out on stage.”

Sunset at Saturday’s MemphoFest.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Booker T. and the MGs

Today’s Music Video Monday salutes a group of Memphis legends.

Booker T. Jones closed out the Beale Street Music Festival Blues Tent last night with nearly 90 minutes of perfection. Battling that bane of all outdoor music festivals, bass bleeding from the next stage, the Lifetime Achievement Grammy winner led his band through a tour of songs from his five decade career—”Hip Hug-Her”, “Born Under A Bad Sign”, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”—with some of the artist’s personal favorites like “Summertime”, “Purple Rain” and “Hey Ya” thrown in for good measure. Here’s a short clip I filmed from the back of the packed Blues Tent of Jones and company playing the song he wrote in 1962 that he claims his still his favorite to this day, “Green Onions”.

Music Video Monday: Booker T. and the MGs (2)

You can read my interview with the genius of Memphis soul in this week’s Memphis Flyer Music Issue cover story. Booker T. closed his set with the stirring live arrangement of the classic “Time Is Tight” that he used to wow audiences with in the 1960s. Here he is in 1970 with Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, and Alan Jackson Jr. bringing the house down as the guys from Creedence Clearwater Revival look on in awe.

Music Video Monday: Booker T. and the MGs

If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

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Opinion The Last Word

Dock of the Bay

CREDIT: Pierre Jean Durieu | Dreamstime.com

As I write this, on January 8th, 2016, it is the 48th anniversary of the release of the Otis Redding single, “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,” recorded right here in Memphis at Stax Records. Cowritten by Booker T. & the MG’s guitarist and music legend Steve Cropper, the song made Redding a household name and further cemented Memphis’ position as being the real music capital of the world.

The song almost instantly became a global sensation, selling more than four million copies and garnering two Grammy Awards: Best R&B Song and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. “Dock of the Bay” was the sixth most-performed song of the 20th century, was ranked by Rolling Stone as No. 28 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and the album by the same name was named 161 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. (It was the second-highest ranking of Redding’s songs on Rolling Stone‘s list. His “Respect,” which later ushered in international success for Aretha Franklin — also from Memphis — was named No. five of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.)

Pierre Jean Durieu | Dreamstime.com

Over the years, “Dock of the Bay” has been covered by the likes of Glen Campbell, Cher, Peggy Lee, Bob Dylan, Percy Sledge, Dee Clark, Sam & Dave, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, and countless others. In 2013, when President and Mrs. Barack Obama hosted a special concert at the White House to honor Memphis soul, Justin Timberlake — also from Memphis (well, a suburb of Memphis) — sang it for the POTUS and guests with millions of television viewers watching.

Unfortunately, Otis Redding never got to hear the final version of the song. Shortly after recording it, with just some finishing touches left to be added, he was killed, along with most of the members of the Memphis band, the Bar-Kays, in a plane crash. Redding was just 26 years old.

You might be wondering why I’m writing about this. I’m wondering too. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I work by day at the Soulsville Foundation, which operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Stax Music Academy, and the Soulsville Charter School, so, yeah, this is a little self-serving. I’ll take that even one step further and mention that we have our largest fund-raiser of the year, Staxtacular, on the 29th of this month. It’s hosted by Vince Carter and the Memphis Grizzlies, and you should all think about attending to help us help out the thousands of kids we work with, based on the legacy of Stax Records. We believe that if you give someone a chance to succeed, they just might succeed against all kinds of odds.

We’re in a neighborhood where virtually everyone lives at or below the poverty level, but they are, by and large, awesome people. One hundred percent of our Soulsville Charter School seniors have been accepted to college for the four years we’ve had graduating classes, all with some kind of scholarship or grant. There have been 207 seniors so far, and they’ve earned more than $30 million in scholarships and grants to schools, including Brown University, Tufts University, University of Pennsylvania, Wesleyan, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Middle Tennessee State University, and many, yes, right here at Southwest Tennessee Community College. Since 2008, every senior enrolled at the Stax Music Academy has been accepted to college. I’m not even sure how many have been and/or are now at Berklee College of Music in Boston on full scholarships.

The Stax Museum is a beacon in the neighborhood, with visitors from every continent making the pilgrimage to Memphis and Stax and Sun Studios and Graceland every year. Yet, there are people in Memphis who know nothing about this organization. And there are those who truly get what all this means, and they love Memphis for what it is, despite the lists of fattest, poorest, most dangerous, and that other bull-roar that rears its ugly head when Forbes or some other source lays the crap on us.

And don’t get me started on Nashville. Ugh. I don’t hate Nashville, but I would hate Memphis if it started trying to be Nashville. We are not Nashville, thank goodness. And we are not Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, or, God forbid, Austin.

We are the city where Al Green recorded “Love and Happiness” and “Take Me to the River” and “Let’s Stay Together” and where Bruno Mars recently recorded the global sensation “Uptown Funk” in the very same rooms where Green changed the music world and where Ann Peebles recorded “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” We are the city where, 48 years ago, Otis Redding recorded “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” Why don’t we all make a New Year’s resolution in 2016 to stand up and stake our claim?

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Sing All Kinds We Recommend

Stax Academy WEDNESDAY at the Shell – Bettye Crutcher Playlist

CREDIT: Ronnie Booze

Ronnie Booze

Bettye Crutcher

[It rained. You may have noticed. The Grand Finale Concert will be on Wednesday, July 2nd, at the Shell.]

I’ve spent the past week sort-of embedded in the Stax Music Academy as the Summer SNAP! season comes to a close. That program brings 60 kids together and runs them through the rigors of being a professional musician. They perform, they write, record, and produce under the tutelage of established master like Steve Cropper and Bettye Crutcher.

Crutcher wrote “Who’s Making Love …” — Johnnie Taylor’s breakout hit — and had her work recorded by the Staple Singers, Joan Baez, Delaney & Bonnie. See the playlist below. She’s been teaching a songwriting course, and the students will perform a new song of hers on Sunday, June 29th, the Stax Music Academy Grand Finale Concert at the Levitt Shell.

“It has been very gratifying to come back to the home of Stax Records and work with this new generation of soul music musicians,” Crutcher says. “They have so much energy and talent and they absorb so much that it reminds me of what it was like back in the day at Stax when we were all just learning from each other and supporting each other.”

 Yesterday, I sat in on a workshop in which Steve Cropper led four young guitar players and me through some of his most iconic parts. He talked of the music that led him to play his classic parts, of Ben Branch and the 5 Royales. We traded solos over changes, which was terrifying until you pulled it off. Then it was one of the most rewarding things ever. And that’s what music teaches you: how to use your skills to master a difficult and sometimes scary task. These kids have done just that all summer and deserve the adulation they’ll receive Sunday night at the Shell.

Stax Academy WEDNESDAY at the Shell – Bettye Crutcher Playlist

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Steve Cropper at Stax for Lunch on Friday

On Friday, June 27th, Steve Cropper will host the Soul & Blues Brown Bag Music Series ​at the Stax Music Academy Amphitheater at noon. He’ll also be on Live at 9 on News Channel 3 that morning. For the Brown Bag, Cropper will play and answer questions. He’s a major architect of Memphis soul. Here’s your chance to ask him something.