King Biscuit Blues Festival, Oct. 7, 8 and 9 - Helena, Arkansas

The Ole King Biscuit Blues Festival - Across the bridge from Clarksdale in Helena, Highway 49
October 7, 8 and 9, 2010 - Don't miss this event!  Blues and Heritage Festival - Tickets and Info
 

B.B. King, Dr. John, Charlie Musselwhite are just a few of the artists who will be performing at this 25th annual Arkansas Blues and Heritage festival.  Formerly known as the King Biscuit Blues Festival, this event comes at the end of several blues events that occur throughout the year celebrating the Delta's rich, music heritage.  Expected to attract upwards of 100,000 or more, this is sure to please any blues fan. 

The original name of the festival came from the King Biscuit Time radio program which featured famous Blues performer Sonny Boy Williamson of Helena. The radio program was sponsored by the King Biscuit Flour Company.  The official name of the festival was changed due to a dispute over the use of the King Biscuit name.

The Soulsville Foundation Gets New CEO

Grammy nominee, Kirk Whalum, new CEO for the Soulsville Foundation
by Christopher Blank, Special to The Commercial Appeal

On Sept. 7, opening day at the Stax Music Academy, Kirk Whalum, the new CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, stops by the new Mac computer lab to help Brandon Chornes, 15, learn the music editing software used by professionals.

Memphis, Memphis Everywhere!

Hot Property! Everyone wants a piece of Memphis!


Why America Loves The City of Memphis in 2010!


Memphis - A List of Some Very Good Things!

Review of Sheryl Crow's "100 Miles from Memphis"

BLUE CRUSH - A company owned by IBM has changed the face of law enforcement!

23rd Annual Cooper-Young Festival

Thanks to a Facebook friend for bringing this highly respected, award-winning, Seattle-based blues photographer, Jef Jaisun, to my attention. 

Seattle-based blues photographer Jef Jaisun - Keeping the Blues Alive!

The Blues Foundation - Memphis, Tennessee

Jukeboxes Are Loaded!

Jukeboxes are loaded and ready to go!

Click on the "Jukeboxes" page, and currently there are three music collections:  The Memphis Beat Jukebox has been moved to this location.  Then there are two jukeboxes with mostly pre-1966 songs.  It took 2 jukeboxes to hold nearly 300 songs from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s.  There may be a few duplicates, but there shouldn't be many.  Hope you enjoy these.   Would love to have your comments and suggestions for future music playlists.

Some really great live performances of Al Green and Tina Turner in the Music Videos section.  Check it out!  You will not believe the ageless Tina Turner....69 years old and looks and performs better than she did 40 years ago!  This picture was 2008.  She was born 1939!  Amazing!  Some of the videos can be adjusted to hi-def....very high quality viewing!

More to come.....................

Memphis Beat Renewed for Second Season!

 It's Official!  Turner Announces the Beat Goes On!

Click link above for official announcement today!

 

 

 

 

Previews of Coming Attractions!

What's new?

There are new songs in the Music Videos section, and I will be frequently adding content there.

Be sure to listen to the two new songs by a young blues artist -- John Nemeth -- it's like he stepped out of a time machine from the Fifties!  He is really amazing!  Young or old, you have to appreciate this refreshing talent.  He's been around for awhile, but escaped my notice until he appeared briefly in a bar scene in my favorite new tv show, Memphis Beat.  I fished around and finally found out more about him, and then went to YouTube and found these two recent releases. 

"Walking in Memphis" - Marc Cohn

No Memphis anthology would be complete without Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis".  It has been covered by many artists -- my second favorite other than Marc is Cher's version.

Lyrics are below the video frame.

This Is One Title Memphis Will Be Happy To Give Up!

Memphis' title as one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. may be be risk!  And happily so! Check out these recent articles that show a trend that many Memphians will agree is welcome and long overdue!  And the program responsible is one that is being emulated by law enforcement departments in other areas of the U.S., and, even internationally!  And one letter to the editor thinks that Memphis may be getting a bad rap! Here are some recent reports that show a more positive trend for crime:  DOWN!

Other Cities More Dangerous than Memphis - Commercial Appeal 8-16-2010

Memphis Crime Down - Commercial Appeal 8-19-2010

Operation Blue Crush a Key Factor in Crime Drop: Commercial Appeal 8-22-2010

MEMPHIS IS

        Oftentimes, all you hear about Memphis are the negatives.  That Memphis has many positives may surprise you.  Did you know that Memphis is:

• #1: World’s largest cargo airport
• Only dual passenger & cargo hub in the
       world
• World’s largest mail processing center
• 2nd largest port on Mississippi

Why America Loves the City of Memphis in 2010

CLICK ON LINK ABOVE to read article (also a video) from
MyEyewitnessNews.com

On Broadway!  On TV! 

I am an unabashed fan of Memphis Beat!

The show is without a doubt one of the freshest ideas to come along in many years of tv watching.  Much has been written about the show.  Though most of the comments and reviews have been positive, there have been some questions raised about various issues:  Why isn't the show filmed in Memphis?  Does Jason Lee do his own singing?  What about the "glitches" and miscues from the freshman season?