Various Memphis Saturday Night (LP)

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catalog number: LPZ2005
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(Zu-Zazz) 16 tracks - By late 1956 THE sound in Memphis was ROCK AND ROLL. It... more

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Various: Memphis Saturday Night (LP)

(Zu-Zazz) 16 tracks -

By late 1956 THE sound in Memphis was ROCK AND ROLL. It brought some strange converts into the fold - some more converted than others. This album is a fascinating little cross-section of artists coming to terms with the shaking music. We see the urbanity of Bill Justis who had previously led a soci-ety dance band - the rawness of Merle Taylor who had played tent shows with Bill Monroe at the same time Justis was playing society balls - the mannered ex, aggerations of Wink Martindale who was trying to capitalise upon his local fame as a dee-joy.

And then we have Billy Riley, Jay B. Loyd, Eddie Bond, Mack Allen Smith and Ramon Maupin who intuitively under-stood which end was up. The most revealing cut is also the worst. In 1956, Bill Justis was trying to learn rock & roll from the stance of a schooled musician who basically hated the stuff. He was hired by Dewey Phillips to arrange some sessions for O-J Records in which Dewey had a stake. 0-.1 had scored a big hit with Dave Gardner's White Silver Sands and Justis was brought in to arrange Dewey's single and a potential single by another WHBQ on-air personality, Wink Martindale. The music is an abomi-nation, Martindale evincing no understanding of rock & roll.

However, the session chatter is wonderfully re-vealing as Justis puts down Sonny Burgess for his lack of musicianship, neatly missing by a mile the point of what Burgess - and rock & roll - were all about. Later in 1956 Justis took these tapes (with the obvious excep-tion of the one we have here) to Sam Phillips at Sun and parlayed them into a job as musical arranger. By 1959 Justis had been canned by Phillips and was starting his own Play-Me label, trying to capitalise on the fast fading glory of Raunchy. Among his first solo efforts was Instant Crap which shows the good natured cynicism that Justis brought to Rock & Roll.

His tone on the sox is sour enough to curdle milk. At about the same time, Billy Riley was developing a fascination for recording pseudonymously. He had al-ready recorded as 'The Spitfires' for Top Rank, 'the Mojos' for Mojo and Sun and 'Lightnin' Leon' for Rita before he emerged as 'Willie B.' on Hermitage doing a couple of wonderful Jimmy Reed styled songs which we have included here.

The other names are more-or-less familiar. Jay B. Loyd had alreody recorded as a 15 year old wunderkind for ABC-Paramount before he was signed to Hi Records where his star shone brightly for a few weeks. Ramon Maupin kicked off another local label, Fernwood Records, in fine style with these two cuts. Eddie Bond has been a veteran of countless rockabilly anthologies - and articles that scarcely need reprising here. This unissued cut from 1957 shows Bond's hillbilly roots shining through, to better effect than some of his man-nered attempts at rockabilly.

Mack Allen Smith was a late bloomer who came to Memphis in the late '50s and cut Mean Ole Frisco down in Muscle Shoals dur-ing the early '60s. This album exemplifies the reasons that rock & roll mu-sic from Memphis still exercises such a unique fascina-tion over the music world. It was loose, sparse and informal and - as such - contrasts favourably with the layered productions that have come into vogue since its demise. Musical mistakes don't matter a hell of a lot if the feel is there - and the FEEL IS HERE!

COLIN ESCOTT

Article properties: Various: Memphis Saturday Night (LP)

Interpret: Various
Album titlle: Memphis Saturday Night (LP)
Genre Rock
Label ZU ZAZZ Records
Geschwindigkeit 33 U/min
Vinyl record size LP (12 Inch)
Record Grading Mint (M)
Sleeve Grading Mint (M)
Artikelart LP
EAN: 4000127803122
weight in Kg 0.2

Various - Memphis Saturday Night (LP) LP 1
01	Intro.: Dewey Phillips-Memphis Saturday Night	Various
02	Apron Strings	LOYD, Jay B.
03	The Time Is Right	Various
04	I'm So Lonely	Various
05	I'll Be Alright	Various
06	No Chance	MAUPIN, Ramon
07	There's A Light	TAYLOR, Merle 'Red'
08	Love Fever	Various
09	Intro.: B. Justis-Saturday Afternoon Dixie...	Various
10	Instant Crap	JUSTIS, Bill
11	A Little Piece At A Time	RILEY, Billy a/k/a Willie B.
12	You'll Have To Come And Get It	Various
13	Mean Ole Frisco	SMITH, Mack Allen
14	King On Your Throne	BOND, Eddie & STOMPERS
15	Love Gone	MAUPIN, Ramon
16	Bug-A-Bop	MARTINDALE, Wink

Various Artists – Music for Every Mood The ultimate collections – from greatest hits to... more

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"Various"

Various Artists – Music for Every Mood

The ultimate collections – from greatest hits to themed compilations and rare B-sides. Here, you'll find everything that makes music diverse – on CD, Vinyl, and in special Box Sets

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