Ask the Memphian: Why hasn’t Liberty Stadium had a concert in years?
For roughly three decades, the only musicians who played what is now the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium were marching bands. But why?
Topic: Memphis music
RSSThere are 62 article(s) tagged Memphis music:
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April 2025
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March 2025
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‘Music defines cities:’ What a new report says about Memphis music scene
Sound Diplomacy’s 169-page report, released Saturday, touches on some sensitive topics in the long history and heritage of Memphis music, not the least of which is the intersection of music and business.
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December 2024
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Jeff Hulett on his new album and MTV (of course)
Jeff Hulett joined Eric Barnes to talk about his new album “Little Windows” performed with his band The Hand Me Downs.
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Jeff Buckley lives on and on, including in Memphis
The myth of Jeff Buckley remains strong in the city where he died, as plans to turn his former home into an Airbnb have stirred strong feelings.
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November 2024
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Memphis Grammy winner to be honored with brass note on Beale
Robert Gordon is being honored with a brass note on Beale Street, a recognition of his work telling the rest of the world about Memphis and its culture.
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Friends remember slain musician with the sly grin
Friends remember Blake Rhea for his “loud” smile and an easygoing nature that made him a favorite to all who knew him.
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Memphis musician killed after argument, police say
Memphis police arrest suspect after argument leads to death of Memphis musician Blake Rhea, who plays bass in the band Southern Avenue.
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October 2024
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Memphis hires DeMarcus Suggs as new ‘arts czar’
“The easiest way to explain is that for the first time in the city’s history, we’ve created what is basically an Office of Arts and Culture,” said an official involved in the hire.
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September 2024
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The Essential Memphis Library: Big Star’s ‘#1 Record’
Named after a Memphis grocery store chain, Big Star recorded three haphazardly distributed albums over the course of just a few years, toured sporadically, got good press and had no hits. This obscurity grew over time into a considerable cult.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Otis Redding’s ‘Otis Blue’
From Sam Cooke to Motown, blues to the British Invasion to his own classic songwriting, Otis Redding’s groundbreaking 1965 album turned everything it touched into one man’s soulful sound.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Otis Spann’s ‘Hotel Lorraine’
At a Chicago church, on the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Mississippi-bred bluesman Otis Spann delivered what arguably remains the most profound musical response to the tragedy.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Elvis Presley’s ‘Don’t Be Cruel’/‘Hound Dog’
Elvis’ popularity may have started this week in 1956. That’s when “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel”— constituting two sides of one 45 rpm single — reached the top of Billboard's pop singles chart.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Moanin’ at Midnight’/‘How Many More Years’
Memphis was a way station for the Wolf on a journey from the Delta to Chicago, but he was in Memphis long enough to cut a two-sided single as monumental as anything created in one of America’s signature music cities.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Johnny Cash’s ‘Cry, Cry, Cry/Hey Porter!’
Cash recorded his debut single, released in June 1955, at Sun Records.
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The Essential Memphis Library: John Prine’s made-in-Memphis debut
John Prine was raised in Illinois and settled in Nashville, but he recorded three of his first six albums at different Memphis studios, including his classic debut, “John Prine.”
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The Essential Memphis Library: B.B. King’s early recordings
From King’s WDIA debut in 1949 to his departure from Memphis only a few years later, he recorded a handful of early sides in the city.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Jay Reatard’s ‘Watch Me Fall’
The crazy-talented wunderkind Jay Reatard was coming into his own with 'Watch Me Fall.' Five months later, he was gone.
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The Essential Memphis Library: The Replacements’ ‘Pleased to Meet Me’
Recorded at Midtown’s Ardent Studios in late 1986 and early 1987, the Replacements’ “Pleased to Meet Me” is a fusion of the Minneapolis’ band’s ramshackle, often poetic post-punk with soul-honed Memphis studio sensibilities.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Elvis Presley’s ‘Elvis is Back!’
In all, the album comprises the coolest version of the Elvis the public tended to adore and rock puritans resist, mixing great schlock with great art until you can’t quite tell the difference.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Reggae giant Toots Hibbert’s Memphis pilgrimage
Three decades ago, Hibbert brought his sound — and all of reggae’s — back to one of its sources with a 1988 album recorded at Midtown’s Ardent Studios that went on to a Grammy nomination.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Isaac Hayes’ ‘Hot Buttered Soul’
This 1969 album established Hayes’ sound and persona. It not only made him a star, but it made him a new kind of star.
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The Essential Memphis Library: Al Green’s ‘Call Me’
With three hit singles, two turf-grabbing country covers, definitive secular and religious anthems and some of the most tender pop music ever recorded, 1973's "Call Me" is Al Green's finest moment.
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August 2024
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The Playlist: New Memphis music from January to June
In this playlist, Elizabeth Cawein highlights “all the new Memphis music you might’ve missed from January to June.”
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July 2024
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Sterick developers have plans for newly named Stereo Alley
The historic alleyway runs east from Second Street now to Fourth Street between Court and Madison avenues. Stuart Harris, a developer who spearheaded a renaming effort, said the “in-between” place holds “a lot of possibility and magic.”
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September 2023
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Sculptor wants Memphis music legends to forever stand tall
Mike McCarthy and others want to preserve the city’s music culture with more sculptures similar to the Johnny Cash image he created that stands in Cooper-Young.
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