The Playlist: From Sun to Stax

A friend of mine told me that he thought Memphis was a bit of a dump - I think my friend is broken in the head. After spending a little time in Memphis myself, I can honestly say it now contends with Austin, San Francisco and New York as my favourite city in the US. There is so much to do here; the people are fantastic, the food is unbelievable, the architecture is beautiful, and it is steeped in rich southern history.

Situated on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, Memphis marks the unofficial northern boundary of the famous Mississippi Delta. The Delta is uniquely tied the origins of all kinds of popular music, including the Delta blues, jazz, soul, and rock and roll. This music, and it's spirit, lives everywhere in Memphis - and I do mean everywhere.

Let's start with the rock and roll. Sun Studio was opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis in January of 1950. In 1951, Philips recorded a track by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats called 'Rocket 88' that is widely credited as being the first recorded example of what would become rock n' roll music. Philips was electrified by this new sound and sought to find more artists and composers who could write and play it. Not an easy task, until a young Elvis Aaron Presley recorded 'That's All Right' at Sun in 1954 and opened the proverbial floodgates.

So many legendary artists cut their first records at Sun Studio that it actually boggles the mind: Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, Johnny Cash, Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis just to name a few. To stand in that room - with the original sound baffling panels on the walls ceiling, and the same microphones and recording equipment used by Johnny, Roy and Elvis sitting right there - I can't tell you how amazing that was! I'm still buzzing two days later...

But wait, it gets better - well, just as good anyway...

Founded by Jim Stewart (a white country fiddle player) and his sister Estelle Axton as Satellite Records in 1957, Stax Records is credited as having created the southern soul music sound within it's walls on the east side of Memphis. Closely associated with the rise of the smooth, metropolitan Motown sound (Motown Records was in fact Stax's main competitor), soul music instead reflected the wild and unbridled passion of the same themes as performed by artists who lived south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Booker T. & the MGs, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, Isaac Hayes, and none other than the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown, got their start in this studio. Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby were also known to bum around the studio when in town, and both recorded comedy albums at Stax.

Stax is now the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and it's fitting that its a museum... The cultural significance of soul music is undeniable: without soul, there would be no funk and no hip-hop - no Shaft and no Public Enemy - and that's not a world I want to live in, I tell you whut...

Today's playlist is an homage to the great city of Memphis, as performed by some of those legendary artists who helped to put it on the map. If you're ever in the area - or even if you're not - you really need to do yourself a favour and check out this town... I highly recommend it...

Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats


Walk the Line by Johnny Cash


Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins


Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley



Cat Called Domino by Roy Orbison



Great Balls Of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis



Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs



Sittin on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding



Hold On, I'm Comin by Sam and Dave



Mustang Sally by Wilson Pickett



Breakthrough by Isaac Hayes



Papa's Got a Brand New Bag by James Brown


Epilogue:

Oh, forgot to mention... on my way out of town, en route to Nashville, I stopped in at another Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives recommendation: Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken.

Now, I love fried chicken... but i ain't never tasted fried chicken like this before - by far the BEST fried chicken I have ever had (sweet, yet salty; crispy, yet melts in yer mouth - and oooohhhhh, the sauce... omg, actually I can't write about it anymore... I'm salivating on my keyboard - gross)... here, watch the clip from the show:



Uncle Lou was actually there and went around and talked with everyone in the place as I was sitting there eating - this guy has it figured out - and when I told him that that was the best fried chicken I'd ever eaten, he just laughed (exactly like in the clip) and said, 'Yeah it was'.