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A review by greg_talbot
It Came From Memphis by Robert Gordon
3.0
"Memphis is the capital of the large rural region that surrounds it...Ozarks to the west; distant Appalachians range cascades eastward...As a natural crossroads, the city has been influenced by many cultures, but its insulation has deterred European sophisication" (p.3). Having listened to Gordon's interview with Marc Maron recently, I became enamoured with artists like Jerry Lee Lewis and Howlin Wolf.
Gordon's love letter to Memphis is both inspiring and honoring to a wide range of players and connectors that birthed rock n'roll of Sun Records, R&B of Sytx Records and countless teenagers like Alex Chilton that found unimagined ways to make music. From teenage dances, to coffeeshops like the Bitter Lemon, or the music shops selling guitars, there was a novel sound that was greatly influencing a younger generation.
Great lengths are shown how culturally the racial barriers in rock n'roll were lifted in the music/arts community. DJs like Dewey Phillips played a wide range of artists to a young generation of national listeners. With the success of Elvis, more black musicians like Little Richard and Ike Turner started to get the much deserved recognition.
The fertile ground from the depression blues artists and the excitement of Elvis and Beatles opened up a word of sound, yearning and drugs to a generation of new artists. "The music that had earned disdain when the witnesses began playing it was now the soundtrack for a generation. And everyone wanted to be a part of it." (p.215). Artists like Big Star or the Mud Boys, may not have the underground cache of Velvet Underground of the Stooges...but their influence is well documented here.
An innocence is documented here. Corporate rock doesn't have it's feet fully planted, no one here is thinking of a career in as a "rock star". Its kids playing music, far too many putting aside lessons for loud ramblings, far too many jumping into drugs and aimlessness. Here we see a city of outsiders and dreamers pushing the boundaries of music and pushing against the racist conventions of their era.
Overall, a stunningly passionate book from Gordon. In some ways more of an anthropological study of the 50s, 60s and 70s of the Memphis scene than centering on any particular stories. Full of the detail that breathes life to artistic achievements of the epicenter of Americana.
Gordon's love letter to Memphis is both inspiring and honoring to a wide range of players and connectors that birthed rock n'roll of Sun Records, R&B of Sytx Records and countless teenagers like Alex Chilton that found unimagined ways to make music. From teenage dances, to coffeeshops like the Bitter Lemon, or the music shops selling guitars, there was a novel sound that was greatly influencing a younger generation.
Great lengths are shown how culturally the racial barriers in rock n'roll were lifted in the music/arts community. DJs like Dewey Phillips played a wide range of artists to a young generation of national listeners. With the success of Elvis, more black musicians like Little Richard and Ike Turner started to get the much deserved recognition.
The fertile ground from the depression blues artists and the excitement of Elvis and Beatles opened up a word of sound, yearning and drugs to a generation of new artists. "The music that had earned disdain when the witnesses began playing it was now the soundtrack for a generation. And everyone wanted to be a part of it." (p.215). Artists like Big Star or the Mud Boys, may not have the underground cache of Velvet Underground of the Stooges...but their influence is well documented here.
An innocence is documented here. Corporate rock doesn't have it's feet fully planted, no one here is thinking of a career in as a "rock star". Its kids playing music, far too many putting aside lessons for loud ramblings, far too many jumping into drugs and aimlessness. Here we see a city of outsiders and dreamers pushing the boundaries of music and pushing against the racist conventions of their era.
Overall, a stunningly passionate book from Gordon. In some ways more of an anthropological study of the 50s, 60s and 70s of the Memphis scene than centering on any particular stories. Full of the detail that breathes life to artistic achievements of the epicenter of Americana.