There are any number of songs by the late, great Michael Jackson that make me want to dance. Most of them, in fact. In addition to being a phenomenal and innovative dancer himself, MJ also had a preternatural talent for producing songs with just the right mix of rhythm and groove to force listeners’ bodies to…
Read MoreIf you’ve ever lived close to a train track, which I have for many of the years of my adult life, you know exactly what it means to love and to believe in the sound of a train in the distance. There’s something seductive and promissory about that sound, something that assures you that there…
Read MoreI had some major blog snafus this past week, so I’m waaay behind on the 30 Day Song Challenge! What that means for you, readers, is that the entries are going to be considerably briefer for the next several days while I catch up. Today’s prompt was easy for me. I’m choosing Sam Cooke‘s “A…
Read MoreFull disclosure: I am a huge fan of musical theater. This may be due in part to the fact that I seem to lack whatever aesthetic gene or neuron inclines us against corniness, but I like to think that it’s rather because I have a deep appreciation for storytelling in song. My favorite musical…
Read MoreI was really lucky to be surrounded by a lot of talented musicians (and devoted music-lovers) during my graduate school years at Penn State. I say “lucky” because, despite its popular sobriquet, “Happy Valley” is most definitely not a happiness-inspiring place to live, at least not for a city girl. State College is a tiny college…
Read MoreMy home, Memphis, is referenced in the lyrics of more recorded songs than any other city on the planet. In fact, several years ago, the Rock n Soul Museum began keeping a list of those songs, which now numbers over a thousand. So, it’s hard to pick just one song that reminds me of “home”–…
Read MorePhoto credit: Mike Harding (American Photo Blog) Pictured to your left is Willie Mitchell’s Royal Studios, which is a tiny little building tucked away on a tiny little street just south of Stax and just north of South Parkway here in Memphis. It also just happens to be the place where one of the biggest…
Read MoreI have a certifiably unhealthy obsession with sad songs. I think they’re the most beautiful things that human beings create, and I think you can learn far more truth about the complex, convoluted tragicomedy that is human life and community from sad songs than from all the rest of our creations combined. Among the reasons…
Read MoreYesterday, my good friend, fellow music-lover and ridiculously super-smart guy, Steven Thomas (Asst Professor of English and Director of Film and Media Minor, Wagner College), published on his blog a response to and critique of my post from a couple of days ago on the Thicke/Pharrell/Gaye lawsuit (“On Blurred Lines, Pop Music, Pirates/Thieves and Memphis’ Mustang Sally”). His…
Read MoreYesterday, Memphis turned out in force at W.C. Handy Park and on Beale Street to bid its final farewell in a home-going celebration for one of our city’s musical legends, B.B. King, who passed away last week. It was a dark and cloudy morning, which felt strangely appropriate, as Nature herself seemed unable to hold…
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