| Blues
Cat was off this weekend, and that gave me a chance to enjoy one of
my day gig's best perks ever. It was Select-O-Hits 40th
anniversary, and they invited myself and about 750 other crazy
music business people to Memphis for the weekend.
Select-O-Hits began as the coolest record shop in Memphis around
1960, and now they are without a doubt the best distributor of independent
music in the southeast.
Select-O-Hits
is owned and operated by the Phillips family, and they have
proven that you don't have to sacrifice honesty and integrity to
be successful in the music industry. You may have heard of one
member of the Phillips family. Sam Phillips opened a
little business called Sun Recording Studio in 1950.
Other members of the Phillips family that are highly respected
in the music business, and that I am honored to consider friends
include Johnny, Skip, Kathy and Tiffany.
And they sure know how to throw a party!
Friday Night
Party at the Peabody
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performers on Friday night included J. Blackfoot
& The Barkays among others, and we got
a taste of the soul of Memphis. Here are some pictures: |
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Saturday at
Graceland
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| It was
wonderful to visit Graceland again. I'll always
have a place in my heart for Elvis as he was my
inspiration to become a musician. I met Elvis while he
was filming "Follow That Dream" in
1962, and I found him to be gracious and considerate,
even to an awestruck 11 year old little kid. He even
showed me some karate. Oh oh! You mathematicians out
there can figure out how old I am.
I took a lot of great
pictures, but I am going to respect the wishes of the
people who operate Graceland, and not put them on the
internet. Please visit Graceland when you're in Memphis.
You won't be disappointed. |
Saturday
Afternoon at Sun Recording Studio
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| Any musician
that can stand in the Sun Recording Studio and
not feel a tingle run up his spine has no soul. Sam
Phillips and Memphis gave us more than Elvis. The
music they gave us broke the color barrier, and that
music changed our lives forever and for better. Here are
some pics: |
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Saturday Night
on the Mississippi
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| We began
Saturday night with dinner and a tour at the Memphis
Rock & Soul Museum. The sign said no cameras, so
I couldn't take a picture of Duck Dunn's Precision bass
or B. B. Kings Gibson ES 355 (the original Lucille), or
any of the other wonderful things on exhibit there. Go
to Memphis and see it for yourself. You might even learn
something, I learned a lot.
After dinner it was
down the Mississippi with some incredible entertainment
by Wes Jeans. Wes is an artist on Johnny
Phillips' Icehouse Records, and he kicks ass. |
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Beale Street
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We
finished off every night with a trip down to Beale
Street. By the time we would get there we would
already be fried. Did I mention that everywhere we went
(except for Graceland & Sun) Select-O-Hits had an
open bar for us. The musical highlight of the weekend
for me was seeing Preston Shannon at "Elvis
Presley's Memphis". |
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| I added this
page to the journal because I know that if you are a fan
of Blues Cat you would love Memphis. I hope that
I was able to give a little taste of Memphis to those
who haven't been there yet, and if you have been to
Memphis, I hope that I was able to bring back some of
the wonderful memories that I know you have. One more
thing... |
Thank You
Select-O-Hits!
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