Posted by Matt Anthony | Email this to a friend

 Give me about a half a teacup of bass, a pound of fat back drums, four tablespoons of boiling Memphis guitars, a little pinch of organ, a half a pint of horns. Place on the burner, bring to a boil…now beat – well!  The recipe given to us by King Curtis on the hit Memphis Soul Stew.

  Named after an Egyptian city Memphis lays at the cross roads of the South.  The medium sized city is one of the World’s richest musical hot spots. Sun Records  based in Memphis released the early works of Elvis and Johnny Cash in the fifties and in the sixties Stax and Hi records released equally groundbreaking artists in Otis Redding, Al Green, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes.  The Sound was gritty and revealed the Church’s influence.  Booker T’s MG’s would be the backing band on most of the hit’s from Stax records and their influence in popular music remains in the work of Soulive, Galactic, the Budos Band, and The Daptones.  Otis Redding and Al Green brought an emotionalism to Soul making deeply romantic music. Al Green preaches in a Memphis church to this day and never really left.  Isaac Hayes worked both as business head and chief songwriter for Stax Records.  His solo work defined orchestrated Soul, set the sound of Blaxplotation soundtracks with Shaft, headlined WattSatx, as well as being a beloved cartoon character.   Though Stax was fully integrated in both sound and business the appeal to “cross over” as Motown attempted never was really an option in the South, which kept the Soul in Memphis dirty and funky.  Wildly popular Radio DJ turned wildy popular singer Rufus Thomas was the self proclaimed “Funkiest Man Alive”.  Carla Thomas of “Tramp”was her Pop, together and separate they created some of Stax’s most fun records like “The Breakdown”, “Do The Funky Chicken” and “60 minute Man”. 

  Memphis for a time forgot it’s legacy in music and the movie theater that became the studio for Stax, producing it’s city’s legendary Soul fell to disrepair and was for years a vacant lot.  In the new millenium the label has reformed producing new music, the vacant lot has become the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.  Graceland has past kitsch and is an honest historical attraction and Sun Records is busy now as a tourist destination.  But most importantly the South invisioned in the Soul music of Memphis, one without segregation and equality has come closer than ever.

Posted by Mark Bacon | Email this to a friend

Louisville basketball fans received a “week off” with the Cards idle until this Saturday’s tilt against Rutgers. Time to let the furor over this year’s team’s deficiencies and injuries die down a bit. Who’s emerged as U of L’s MVP and Most Improved Players? Who’s the biggest bust? Can this team emerge with a win in the second- and third-round NCAA Tournament? Will they make the NCAAs??

UK is back on top, with Anthony Davis emerging as perhaps college basketball’s most dominant player, or at least the one most fun to watch. Can anyone stop the ‘Cats? What about Murray State? Are they destined to become college basketball’s first undefeated team in over 3 decades? And what are Bellarmine’s chances of repeating as Division II Champs?

Special guest, c.d. kaplan, joins Matt and Mark with the answers and insights into these questions, and more, on this week’s Nothing But Net, the hoops podcast with a beat.

Posted by Kyle Meredith | Email this to a friend

Last week, the WFPK studios were graced by the all-star team behind the Forecastle Festival.  Unveiling the big announcement that My Morning Jacket would be not only headlining, but also curating the 10th anniversary weekend, JK McKnight, Ashley Capps, Mayor Greg Fischer, and Kyle Meredith were joined by Jacket’s Jim James and Patrick Hallahan.

Posted by Duke Meyer | Email this to a friend

c.d. talks briefly about Jack White and the New Orleans Jazz Fest.  Then he turns his focus to two films starring Michael Fassbender…Shame…a compelling adult drama and A Dangerous Method…pay your money and take your chances.

Posted by Kyle Meredith | Email this to a friend

Two for the price of one!  Twitter’s favorite comedy duo, Ryan Adams and Jason Isbell stopped in before their Louisville Palace show to talk with Laura Shine and play some tunes.  Along with new favorites like Lucky Now and Chains of Love, they busted out a perfect duet of Oh My Sweet Carolina and talked about metal, arcade games, Ear X-Tacy, and plenty more.

Posted by Kyle Meredith | Email this to a friend

Louisville Ballet’s Ben Needham-Wood dropped in to talk about their new production, Studio Connections, mixing old style, new style, hip hop and more, all up close and personal.  It happens Feb. 1st thru the 4th at Louisville Ballet’s studio (315 E. Main St.)

Posted by Marion Dries | Email this to a friend

Orchestrated, big, political, profound, uplifting, spiritual these are the sounds of Chicago soul and let’s not forget the voices.  Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler, Jackie Wilson, Etta James, Minnie Ripperton these people told us People Get Ready, Why Don’t You Check Out Your Mind, Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher, At Last, I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun.  Musicality came from Chicago, the electrified blues came from Chicago, and shaped Soul forever.  Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters headed a movement electrifying their Delta Blues in small clubs across the Northern boom town.  Their two guitar, bass, and drums lineup playing the 12 Bar Blues turnaround would be the same recreated in Britain. Fed back to America in the form of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, both would have American releases on Chicago Soul/Blues labels. Chicago, where gospel got the blues and brought everyone to church with The Staple Singers and Mahalia Jackson.  Both  crossed over and commanded large secular crowds, their talent  bound to escape Sunday morning.  African Americans escaping the oppression of Jim Crow laws and seeking employment in the industrial North, came to Chicago in the “Great Migration” intermingling with immigrants from Europe.  Born in Czestochowa, Poland Phil and Leonard Chess fell in love with their city’s sound and brought it to the world with Chess/Checker Records.  Curtis Mayfield wrote anthems for his generation, becoming a spokesperson and poet of the civil rights era as well as being an innovative guitarist. He released his music and other’s Soul artists on his own groundbreaking label Curtom. Donny Hathaway was Soul’s great tortured genius who used his demons to create some of Soul’s most emotional work. Lou Rawls met Jazz Composer David Axelrod and together they created beautifully complex songs.  Of course there are hundreds of bands that were together for a year, cut a side then broke up, which produced diamonds in their short lifespans. As with the city the sound had it’s gritty side and could sometimes out “South” the South.  Otis Clay, Etta James, Muddy and the Wolf all had a sound straight out the Deep South that pleased their Northern audiences.  A city in the middle of the country, not truly Northern filed with Southerners, Chicago’s Soul was uniquely it’s own.  It’s sticky sweet in the Chi-Lites and gritty like a growl from Etta James, poetic when sung by Curtis and woven with the deep Soul of Mahalia Jackson’s church.

New Orleans, Memphis, Los Angeles, New York, the Bay Area, Miami, Detroit and Philadelphia all had their own style and stamp on the formation of Soul.  For the next  months the Sound-Clash explores the cities that created Soul music, Friday nights at 10. 

Posted by Duke Meyer | Email this to a friend

Sir cd starts off with a nod to Johnny Otis and Etta James…both past away last week.  Then he reviews The Artist…sweet and very enjoyable.  Not so much for Haywire…an odd action film that he feels falls flat.