Search - It Came from Memphis :: It Came from Memphis

Music From the Secret Music Capital of the U.S.A.

diskojoe | Salem, MA USA | 08/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have always thought that Memphis is the secret music capital of the U.S.A.. In comparasion with the products of Nashville, there has always been in Memphis music a certain "hairy vitality", as the late Jean Shepherd would say. I would say that Memphis music is more inclusive than Nashville music. Memphis music is the blending or collision of different elements, much like American society itself. Memphis music is so much more than Elvis, who nevertheless is its prime and most successful example.



This is the third complilation that Robert Gordon has produced with the title It Came From Memphis. What he lacks in imagination in titling is more than made up by the breath and depth of its contents. The major labels of Memphis musical history (Sun, Stax & Hi) are well represented here. Many of its leading lights are also represented. For example, Jim Dickinson appears on three songs, as part of Mud Boy & the Neutrons covering the "5" Royales "Slummer D Slum" (very good, but not as great as the original), as a solo doing "Down in Mississippi and finally as lead singer of the Jesters' "Cadillac Man", the last great Sun record, a '66 record with the spirit of '56. Although Otis isn't around for this particular date (& neither is Rufus Thomas), the Stax contingent is well represented with Booker T. & the M.G.'s, The Mar-Keys, Eddie Floyd, William Bell's "You Don't Miss Your Water" and Issac Hayes' epic version of "By The Time I Get to Phoenix". Hi Records is present & accounted for with songs from Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson and Al Green with one of my favorite songs of his, "Simply Beautiful". Alex "LX" Chilton pops up here with Big Star's "September Gurls" and solo with "Hook or Crook" (I would have added the Box Tops' "Soul Deep" to complete that particular trifecta). There's Sun rockabilly madness with Billy Riley, Sonny Burgess, Jerry Lee Lewis & even Elvis as part of the Million Dollar Quartet and blues in the personages of Howlin' Wolf, Bobby Rush and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.



In the midst of all these riches, there are three tracks that really struck me. The first one was "Spanish Delight" by The Bo-Keys, made up of Memphis musical vets, which sounded like vintage Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Another song was "Whitewash Station Blues" by the Memphis Jug Band, which made me realize where the Lovin' Spoonful got most of their style from (& john Sebastian his voice). Finally, the Reigning Sound's "If You Can't Give Me Everything" sounds and feels like Blond on Blond Dylan.



To finally finish up, this is a great compilation that is well worth picking up. It's sad to note that this fine set of American music is a U.K. import. However, this is a fine representation of the music of the Secret Music Capital of the U.S.A.."