Leigh M. Johnson

There aren’t many Michael Jackson songs that don’t make me want to dance. But I’m a sucker for the “Little Michael” songs in particular, before he was “MJ” or “The King of Pop” or the tabloid-dubbed “Wacko Jacko.”  Give me the way-back-when, pint-sized wunderkind of The Jackson 5, strutting and mugging and hamming it up in his…

My pick today, perhaps not surprisingly, is a song sung by one of the most heartwrenchingly beautiful female voices in the history of song.  Unless you’re a diehard fan of early-90’s alt-country music, you’ve probably never heard of Maria McKee (or her tragically under-rated and under-appreciated band Lone Justice), which is a damn shame.  I used…

My head often needs “clearing” and, as far as I’ve been able to tell, music is the only thing that can do that.  For others, the cure for a muddled mind is exercise, or meditation, or visit to church, or a good cry, or a long conversation with a dear friend… but none of those…

There are about two dozen songs that every single R&B band in Memphis plays every time they perform.  Whether you’re on Beale Street, or in a local juke joint, or rolling down the river on the Memphis Queen or just down South at the casinos, you’re going to hear all two dozen.  Songs like “Proud…