Tag: The Halloran Centre

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William Bell: Tonight at the Halloran Centre

Vintage William Bell (Photo courtesy Stax Museum of American Soul Music)

The Halloran Centre at the Orpheum Theatre has made a name for itself as a songwriters’ showcase, partly due to its ongoing Memphis Songwriters Series, hosted by Memphis songwriter Mark Edgar Stuart. But one event that should have all fans of classic songwriting rushing the stage is happening tonight with little of the standard “songwriter” hype. That’s simply because tonight’s performer, in addition to helping pen some of the most memorable songs in American culture, is also a stellar performer.

That would be William Bell, the Memphis native, now living in Atlanta, who helped put Stax Records on the map, and then helped it stay there. He wrote and sang “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” one of the first Stax singles to hit the charts, and, like “Green Onions,” another surprise hit for a B-side. He wrote “Born Under a Bad Sign” with Booker T. Jones, a tune first recorded by Albert King and made legend by Eric Clapton and Cream, that has since become a pillar of American popular music.

And that’s just for starters. Anyone who loves the sound of Stax soul should be flocking to this show. More recently, Bell’s won considerable acclaim for his Grammy-winning album, This is Where I Live, and for his featured role in the Memphis music documentary Take Me To The River, where he and Snoop Dogg performed another one of Bell’s compositions, “I Forgot to be Your Lover.”

Reflecting on a career spanning several decades, Bell recently told the Memphis Flyer, “In my concerts I’ve got three generations of people now. I’ve got the grandparents, the parents and the kids, and when you can hear them grooving and dancing and singing along, it’s a wonderful feeling to know that. Yeah, this is the same music, this is the same story, and you can feel what we’re doing. It’s great.”

So get your family’s generations together, and go hear one of the last of the original soul singers still standing. He’s a true pillar of Memphis music, still out there doing his thing.

William Bell Onstage at the Halloran Centre, Friday, August 27, 7:30 p.m. $47.50

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Music Music Features

Booker T. Jones at the Halloran Centre

CREDIT: Piper Ferguson

This Saturday night, Memphis music legend Booker T. Jones will kick off the inaugural On Stage at the Halloran Centre series. Most known as the keyboard player for the widely popular Stax band Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Jones has been the recipient of five Grammy awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame. In addition to that impressive resume, Jones has produced albums for Rita Coolidge, Bill Withers, and Willie Nelson, and played on albums by Ray Charles and Neil Young.

Joining Jones on stage at the Halloran Centre will be three handpicked horn players from the Stax Music Academy. The players will join on the songs “Mr. Big Stuff” and “Respect Yourself,” and classmates of the students selected to participate will have the opportunity to sit in on the sound check before the show. Stax Musical Director Paul McKinney said this is a great learning experience for the students at Stax.

Piper Ferguson

“Any time our students have the opportunity to interact with original Stax Records artists, it’s like something magical happens,” McKinney said.

“But for three of our students to perform in public on stage with an artist of Booker’s caliber and status in the music world will be life-changing for them.”

Individual tickets are available for $35.00 and can be picked up at the Halloran Centre or by calling their ticket office. Tickets are also available at the Booksellers of Laurelwood and through Ticketmaster. Purchasing tickets in advance is recommended.

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Music Music Features

Starlite Revue Returns

A vision came to Reverend John Wilkins in a dream. He was playing at the Starlite Revue, a prominent charity-driven gospel and blues concert hosted by WDIA through the 1960s. Unique, however, was that rising Midtown Memphis musicians joined him onstage. The idea shook Wilkins from bed, and he called Kevin Cubbins, executive producer of the Beale Street Caravan public radio show. Inspired, they rebirthed the festival last year. Now, as Beale Street Caravan celebrates its 20th anniversary, the Revue will return April 8th to the Orpheum’s Halloran Centre. With performances from co-headliners Wilkins and Jimbo Mathus, as well as contemporary artists like the Bell Singers, the Revue will merge Delta veterans with up-and-coming musicians. The Flyer spoke with Cubbins about what he calls “the most infectious music on earth” and his plans for Beale Street Caravan’s future.

Rev. John Wilkins headlines the Starlite Revue this Friday.

The Memphis Flyer: How is preparing for the second annual Starlite Revue different from when you prepared for the first one?

Kevin Cubbins: I guess the biggest difference is that last year, me and Rev. Wilkins got inspired, winged it, and pulled it off by the seat of our pants. This year, it’s better organized, and WDIA has come on as a supporter.

How has the Beale Street Caravan grown over the past 20 years?

Public radio, overall, has been a pretty exciting and innovative space in the last decade. Our growth lately is more about catching up and getting plugged in to where we need to be and continuing to deliver high-quality content that focuses on the amazing music that flows from Memphis and the Delta region.

BSC is unique and extremely lucky in that while there’s plenty of programming dedicated to Americana, or whatever it’s called these days, and indie-type stuff, we’re basically the sole proprietors (on public radio) of gospel, blues, and soul. Which is fine by me because it’s the greatest, most infectious, most evergreen music on earth. So I feel like we have a responsibility. It’s our mission to evolve as the landscape evolves and get this stuff out there.

This will be Rev. John Wilkins’ second time headlining. Why? And how did you decide who else would play?

The Starlite Revue is Rev. Wilkins’ party. This is his vision. He called me one morning and said that he’d had a dream that night. A crystal clear dream. In that dream he was at the Starlite Revue, and he was playing with all of his friends just like he did back in the day. There were bands from Midtown playing, too. “White” bands.

He asked me to help him do this, and he said, “I know you know all those white kids in Midtown, and I know they probably don’t go to church much anymore, but I bet they did when they were little, and they probably remember the songs. Get some of them involved and let’s make this happen.”

So I did. And that’s why the Reverend is headlining — it’s his vision. The other acts are longtime stalwarts of this absolutely unique, traditional gospel scene that thrives here and in North Mississippi and goes largely unnoticed by the mainstream. And we have some local Midtown favorites thrown into the mix, too, to bring their take to the show.

Where did the name Starlite Revue originate?

There was an annual concert in Memphis, put on by WDIA, that featured the best in local blues and gospel. It was amazing, by all accounts. What JazzFest is to New Orleans in this day and age, the Starlite Revue was to Memphis back in the day. WDIA played a very, very special role in the social fabric of this city in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. That station is an irreplaceable part of Memphis history, and I wish more people understood that.

Of all that Beale Street Caravan has accomplished, what are you most proud of?

That’s tough. I mean, surviving for 20 years is a major accomplishment in public radio, and I have to credit our founders, who included Sid Selvidge, of course, for that. I’m always excited about what’s next.

Heck, I’m super excited about [an upcoming] radio show featuring the Walker Family Singers that we recorded on the front porch of Shangri-La Records. We have some new productions and initiatives we’ll be launching in the months to come — things that are pretty big steps for us. I’m definitely proud of that.

The Starlite Revue featuring Rev. John Wilkins, Friday, April 8th at the Orpheum Halloran Centre, 7 p.m. $23.