Memphis Grammy winner to be honored with brass note on Beale
Deanie Parker, left, and Robert Gordon accept the award for Best Album Notes for "Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos" during the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 4, in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/AP file)
When author Peter Guralnick first met Robert Gordon in the late 1980s, he knew he had found someone special.
The occasion was Gordon’s first filmmaking project, “All Day and All Night: Memories From Beale Street Musicians,” which was produced by the Center for Southern Folklore. Guralnick was in town working on what would become his two-volume Elvis biography, and he met Gordon at the Center. They struck up a conversation that led to a tour of Memphis and a friendship that continues to this day.
“I was just totally sold on Robert from the beginning because of his spirit, because of his enthusiasm, because of his knowledge and because of his quest for knowledge,” said Guralnick, also the author of “Sweet Soul Music” and “Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ’n‘ Roll.” “Everything that he does, he just puts everything he has into it.”
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Robert Gordon Memphis music Beale Street Beale Street Brass Note Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Jody Callahan
Jody Callahan graduated with degrees in journalism and economics from what is now known as the University of Memphis. He has covered news in Memphis for more than 25 years.
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