#stax music academy

[sinceileftyoublog]

Kevin Morby Album Review: This Is a Photograph

(Dead Oceans)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

The last few years have given us a sense of perspective, perhaps even urgency when faced with the prospect of our own mortality. Yeah, it happens when you’re surrounded, whether in person or even just on the news, with so much death. For Kevin Morby, the illumination happened before the pandemic. His father collapsed at the dinner table and had to be rushed to the hospital in early 2020. Though his dad ended up okay, that night, in order to distract himself from worrying, he flipped through old family photos. He found a picture of his father, carefree and shirtless, sitting in the front yard. But it wasn’t just a photograph: It was a moment, captured, a document of hopes, moods, dreams, and fears at a point in time. Morby decided to travel to Memphis and chase some more ghosts. What resulted from that decision is This Is a Photograph, his best album yet.

Of course, traveling through the city and sitting in his room at night at the Peabody Hotel, guitar, microphone, and recording equipment in tow, were just the seeds of Morby’s latest creation. As much as the album is Morby’s most lyrically reflective, it’s also instrumentally lush and compositionally varied, the opposite of an insular singer-songwriter record, one that combines ruminations on American life with distinctly American sounds. With his field recordings, along with everything from banjo, harp, and organ to saxophone, flute, and melodica, it sports an uncanny sense of time and place while always transporting you elsewhere. And it doesn’t take long to go from setting the scene to blowing your mind. Morby drops the matter-of-fact statement that gives the album and title track its name in an anything-but-straightforward matter. Reflective, yet unmistakably groovy, he deadpans details of that picture of his shirtless father, appreciating the small things but knowing that they’ll one day go away. Around a bendy guitar line and shaky percussion, Morby increases in volume and urgency as he repeats his final declaration: “This is what I’ll miss about being alive.” By the time background vocalists from the Stax Music Academy start singing harmonies, “This Is a Photograph” is already Morby’s most thrilling moment since you first heard “I Have Been to the Mountain”.

Throughout the rest of the record, Morby defines for himself what “being alive” means, and it’s the process of looking at what came before while appreciating what’s right in front of you. “If you’re not appearing, then you’re disappearing,” he wisely declares on “Disappearing”, almost Cartesian in his thinking. Over hazy tremolo guitar melodica and producer Sam Cohen’s steady drums, Morby literally breaks down the statement, stopping on a dime after certain syllables the same way Bill Callahan builds up “If you could only stop your heart beat” on “Too Many Birds”. “Disappearing” has the album’s first reference to Jeff Buckley, who drowned in Wolf River in Memphis in 1997; appropriately, as Cohen’s organ and Alecia Chakour’s gospel-like vocals come in, the song turns into a funeral service. The album’s slow lurching centerpiece “A Coat Of Butterflies” continues from “Disappearing”, segueing with a recording of rushing water, with more references to Buckley but singing about tragedy in the context of America itself. “Number two in England, and they say you’re your daddy’s son / But Jeff if you’re anything like me, you only care about America,” Morby sings. Accompanied by gorgeous saxophone from Cochemea Gastelum and none other than contemporary jazz luminaries Brandee Younger on harp and Makaya McCraven on drums, Morby delivers an American epic, likening the river that swallowed Buckley to our country itself. “She’s violent and she’s stubborn and she’s ugly but I love her, goddman,” Morby states, Tweedy-esque in his multitudes.

It’s Morby’s songs dedicated to two lovers past and present that perhaps best encompass the artistic growth that This Is a Photograph represents. There’s piano ballad “Five Easy Pieces”, sung to a former flame called Bobby, one part Prine, two parts Nilsson, a tad David Berman in Morby’s ability to, well, say the word “cum” in a way that’s somehow emotionally resonant. He connects these memories of someone who “fuck[s] like a monster, but...still drive[s] me wild” with the album’s overall concept. As the song crescendos, Morby asks, “How do you make a bad time last? Get a camera, put it in a photograph!” Morby is enraptured by the power of images, but also of associations in general, stimuli that can make you viscerally reexperience something beautiful (the tufted titmouse credited on “It’s Over”) or, in this case, something tumultuous. But then there’s “Stop Before I Cry”, Morby’s dedication to his partner Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee. The title is taken from Morby’s plea to Crutchfield after recognizing the emotional power she has over him when singing. Amazingly, he pays tribute to her ability to connect with a wider set of folks: “From stage you would take flight, and whistle like a songbird / While swaying in a blue dress, you’d turn the crowd into a big mess.”

Overall, This Is a Photograph is an album steeped in the philosophy of everyone from great thinkers to country singers, and it enters your frame of mind just as much as Morby’s percipience shaped it. “The living took forever but the dying went quick,” Morby sings on waltz “Bittersweet, TN”. It’s a guarantee. In the end, when all that’s left is photographs, let ‘em know you lived.

[scotianostra]

October 1st 1999 saw the sad death of Lena Zavaroni.

Lena was a Scottish child singer and a television show host. With her album Ma! He’s Making Eyes at Me at ten years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the top ten of the UK Albums Chart. Later in life she hosted TV shows and appeared on stage. She died at the age of 35 after a long battle with anorexia nervosa.

Born Lena Hilda Zavaroni November 4th 1963...( there is where it hits me, how young she was when she passed away, less than two years younger than myself, seeing it written is such a reminder of our own mortality)...  in Greenock and grew up in the small town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute with musical parents, who owned a fish and chip shop. Father Victor Zavaroni played the guitar, mother Hilda sang, and Lena herself sang from the age of two. Her Grandfather, Alfredo had emigrated from Italy.

She was discovered in the summer of 1973 by record producer Tommy Scott, who was on holiday in Rothesay and heard her singing with her father and uncle in a band. Scott contacted impresario Phil Solomon, which led to his partner Dorothy Solomon’s becoming Zavaroni’s manager.

In 1974 Lena appeared on Opportunity Knocks hosted by Hughie Green and won the show for a record-breaking five weeks running. She followed this with the album Ma, a collection of classic and then-recent pop standards which reached number eight in the UK album chart. At 10 years, 146 days old, Zavaroni is still the youngest person to have an album in the Top 10 and was also the youngest person to appear on the BBC’s Top of the Pops.

Zavaroni also sang at a Hollywood charity show with Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball in 1974, at which Ball commented, “You’re special. Very special and very, very good,” although some sources attribute the words to Sinatra. Following this, Zavaroni guest-starred on The Carol Burnett Show. She also appeared in The Morecambe and Wise Show, the 1976 Royal Variety Show and performed at the White House for US President Gerald Ford. Signed to the soul-oriented Stax Records label in the United States, Zavaroni did not make much of a chart impact Stateside despite the praise and television appearances, as her Ma album failed to chart and its title single made it only to number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 during a four-week chart run in the summer of 1974.

While attending London’s Italia Conti Academy stage school, Lena met and became long-term friends with child star Bonnie Langford. The two starred in the TV special Lena and Bonnie.

Between 1979 and 1982, Lena had her own TV series on the BBC, Lena Zavaroni and Music, which featured singing and dancing, and included guests such as Spike Milligan, Elaine Stritch, and Les Dawson.

From the age of 13, Zavaroni suffered from anorexia nervosa. While at stage school, her weight dropped to 56 lb (4 stone or 25 kg). Zavaroni blamed this on the pressure placed upon her to fit into costumes while at the same time she was “developing as a woman.

She continued to suffer from anorexia throughout the 1980s, and in 1989 she married computer consultant Peter Wiltshire. The couple settled in north London but separated 18 months later. Also in 1989, Zavaroni’s mother, Hilda, died of a tranquilliser overdose and a fire destroyed all of her showbiz mementos.

After the breakup of her marriage, Zavaroni moved to Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, to be nearer to her father and his second wife. By this time, she was living on state benefits and in 1999 was accused of stealing a 50p packet of jelly, although the charges were later dropped.

Zavaroni underwent a number of drug treatments and received electroconvulsive therapy in an attempt to beat her anorexia. Her inquest was told that none of these had been successful in the long term. In addition she was suffering from depression and begged doctors to operate on her to relieve her depression. Although the operation would not cure her anorexia, she was desperate for it to proceed and threatened suicide (she also took a drug overdose) if it did not.

In September 1999 Zavaroni was admitted to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for a psychosurgical operation. After the operation, she appeared to be in a satisfactory condition and after a week she was “making telephone calls, cheerful and engaging in conversation,” even asking her doctor if he thought there was any chance that she would get back on stage. However, three weeks after the operation, she developed a chest infection and died from pneumonia on 1st October 1999.

[queensboro]

isn’t this so cool. I really want to go, it’s this Wednesday and I’ll be done with work by 3pm that day

https://www.lincolncenter.org/series/summer-for-the-city/booker-t-jones-a-career-retrospective-780

https://lincolncenter.org/series/summer-for-the-city/the-stax-academy-rhythm-section-294

they’re having a free talk/interview/whatever with Booker T Jones at lincoln center and then there’s going to be a free music performance afterward :’) like booker t of booker t & the MGs

[votava-records]

Rufus Thomas - Itch And Scratch - Part 2

A singer, comic, tap dancer, songwriter, and disc jockey, Rufus Thomas was an iconic entertainer in the Memphis scene, beloved for his youthful spirit, outrageous costumes and endless inventions of dance crazes. Stax signed Rufus in 1960 as a duet act with his daughter, Carla. Though Carla Thomas would become a breakout star in her own right, her father remained a legend at the label, releasing over 30 singles during his time at Stax.

About Stax Records Stax Records, now owned by Concord/Craft Recordings, was founded by Jim Stewart in 1957 in Memphis, Tennessee. It rose from a small, family-operated company to become one of the most influential soul music record labels in the world, helping create “The Memphis Sound” and launching the careers of icons such as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, the Staple Singers, Sam & Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas, The Bar-Kays, and dozens of other artists who helped change popular culture forever. In all, Stax placed 167 hit songs in the Top 100 in Pop and 243 hits in the Top 100 in R&B.

Stax Records works closely with the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School, all operated by the Soulsville Foundation and all located on a vibrant campus at the original site of Stax Records in Memphis, TN. The Soulsville Foundation perpetuates the soul of Stax Records by preserving its rich cultural legacy, educating youth to be prepared for life success, and inspiring future artists to achieve their dreams.

[delectablywaywardbeard-blog]

Porretta Soul Festival celebra lo Stax Museum di Memphis

La trentacinquesima edizione del Porretta Soul Festival, dal 20 al 23 luglio nella località dell’Appennino bolognese, celebrerà i vent’anni dell’apertura dello Stax Museum of American Soul Music di Memphis, in collaborazione con la Stax Music Academy e la partecipazione di artisti che hanno fatto la storia della musica soul. Da poco è scomparso a 92 anni Jim Stewart, fondatore assieme alla…

[reasoningdaily]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Memphis was made on music, and since 1979 each June, the country celebrates our city’s contributions during Black Music Month.

Many of the most well-known Black musicians, singers, songwriters, and composers got their start in Soulsville with Stax Records. And in this 5 Star Story, we celebrate the past, present, and future of a sound as unique as the neighborhood that created it.

Since 2003, it has sat in the heart of Soulsville USA, at the corner of McLemore and College — the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

And according to executive director Jeff Kollath, “The Stax Records story, the way we describe it, it could only happen in Memphis.”

The foundation for that story was laid in the Mississippi Delta, in churches built by former slaves and sharecroppers.

”Soul music, and frankly, American pop music as we know it, is rooted in the Black Church, and in the Black experience in the United States,” explained Kollath.

There’s the story of how white banker and fiddle player Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton turned an old movie theater into Stax Recording Studio and Satellite Records in a then-segregated Black neighborhood in the South.

Stax Records became an integral part of the neighborhood and the city, providing opportunities where they were rare.

“And to have people like Rufus Thomas, who was such a well-known Dee Jay and, you know, had had some hit records before Stax. You know, being the first person through the door with his daughter, Carla Thomas, because he heard about it from his mailman,” said Kollath.

“You know, David Porter worked in the grocery store across the street, James Alexandar was born in the hospital here on McLemore Avenue, the Bar-Kays grew up in the neighborhood, Booker T. Jones grew up in this neighborhood, you could walk here, come in the front door, see Ms. Axton in the record store, you know, listen to music, talk to her, she finds out maybe you can sing a little bit, maybe you can play a little bit, you had a chance to do that here,” recounted Kollath.

Many of those artists went on to greatness, like Isaac Hayes, the first Black man to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song with “Theme From Shaft,” whose 1972 custom Cadillac El Dorado is one of the museum’s biggest draws.

There’s also the story of Al Bell, who came to Memphis, became the majority owner of Stax, and turned it into one of the most successful Black-owned businesses in the country.

“It’s a story about, you know we talk about “grit and grind,” we talk about hustle here in Memphis, but there’s also serendipity and there’s luck, too,” Kollath said. “And I think it’s one of the things that makes this such a unique story, is that, at nearly every instance, Stax was able to capitalize on who came through the front door.”

The museum recounts how Bell enticed the Staple Singers to come to Memphis to record music that later became a soundtrack for the civil rights movement.

“They had captured people’s hearts and minds with their great gospel work that they’d done in Chicago, but to come to Stax, to take that gospel impulse, to add some secular messages to it, and to create their greatest work ever here, and how it sustained a community and sustained a message in a movement, you know, throughout the late ‘60s and early ‘70s,” Kollath regaled.

The museum’s Hall of Records showcases Stax’s prolific recording catalog, from Blues to R&B, folk & country, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll.

“We’ve got about 920 or so of the 930-940 singles that Stax released, produced or distributed between 1957 and 1975,” explained Kollath.

And there’s the tale of those behind the music.

“... On down through the engineers in the control room, the songwriters, but also, you know, the studio musicians and the session musicians, too. And so many of those men and women are still in Memphis... I think it’s always very important to highlight the folks that are still with us, that are still in the community, that are still making music,” Kollath explained.

On Saturday, June 10, Stax Museum celebrates Family Day with free admission from 1 to 4 in the afternoon.

Legendary radio personalities Stan Bell and Bev Johnson from WDIA will broadcast LIVE, alongside food trucks, bouncy houses, balloon artists, and more!

[sheetmusiclibrarypdf]

Bruce Springsteen: the 100 most inspiring musicians of all time

Table of Contents

Bruce Springsteen: the 100 most inspiring musicians of all time

American singer, songwriter, and bandleader Bruce Springsteen (b. Sept. 23, 1949, Freehold, N.J., U.S.) became the archetypal rock performer of the 1970s and ’80s. Bruce Springsteen grew up in Freehold, a mill town where his father worked as a laborer. His rebellious and artistic side led him to the nearby Jersey shore, where his imagination was sparked by the rock band scene and the boardwalk life, high and low. After an apprenticeship in bar bands on the mid-Atlantic coast, Springsteen turned himself into a solo singer-songwriter in 1972 and auditioned for talent scout John Hammond, Sr., who immediately signed him to Columbia Records.

His first two albums, released in 1973, reflect folk rock, soul, and rhythm-and-blues influences, especially those of Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, and Stax/ Volt Records. Springsteen’s voice, a rough baritone that he used to shout on up-tempo numbers and to more sensual effect on slower songs, was shown to good effect here, but his sometimes spectacular guitar playing, which ranged from dense power chord effects to straight 1950s rock and roll, had to be downplayed to fit the singersongwriter format. With his third album, Born to Run (1975), Springsteen transformed into a full-fledged rock and roller, heavily indebted to Phil Spector and Roy Orbison. The album, a diurnal song cycle, was a sensation even before it hit the shelves; indeed, the week of the album’s release, Columbia’s public relations campaign landed Springsteen on the covers of both Time and Newsweek. Three years passed before the follow-up, the darker, tougher Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978), appeared. With “Hungry Heart,” from The River (1980), Springsteen finally scored an international hit single. By then, however, he was best known for his stage shows, three- and four-hour extravaganzas with his E Street Band that blended rock, folk, and soul with dramatic intensity and exuberant humor. The band, a crew of mixed stereotypes —from rock-and-roll bandit to cool music professional— was more like a gang than a musical unit, apparently held together by little other than faith in its leader.

Bruce Springsteen’s refusal, after Born to Run, to cooperate with much of the record company’s public relations and marketing machinery, coupled with his painstaking recording process and the draining live shows, helped earn his reputation as a performer of principle as well as of power and popularity. Nebraska (1982), a stark set of acoustic songs, most in some way concerned with death, was an unusual interlude. It was Born in the U.S.A. (1984) and his subsequent 18-month world tour that cinched Springsteen’s reputation as the preeminent writer-performer of his rock-and-roll period. Springsteen’s social perspective has been distinctly working-class throughout his career, a point emphasized both by his 1995 album, The Ghost of Tom Joad, which concerned itself with the economically and spiritually destitute in America and by his 1994 hit single (his first in eight years), the AIDS-related “Streets of Philadelphia,” from the film Philadelphia, for which he won both an Academy Award and a Grammy Award. The other side of Springsteen’s work is reflected in the albums that he produced in the period beginning with Tunnel of Love (1987) and including Human Touch and Lucky Town (released simultaneously in 1992). The songs on these albums are intensely personal reflections on intimate relationships. In general, they have not been as popular. Bridging all this is the five-record set Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live 1975–1985 (1986), which captures as much of his highly visual stage show of that period as can be rendered in a sole audio form. The breakup of the E Street Band in 1989 and general trends in pop music fashion curbed Springsteen’s popularity. In 1998, he put together a box set, Tracks, consisting for the most part of leftover material that had failed to make the cut on his albums with the band. This grandiose gesture established him as prolix beyond all but a couple of peers. Sales of Tracks were trivial compared with those for Live. In 1999 Springsteen reunited the E Street Band. They appeared with him when he alone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in early 1999, then spent a year touring with him, resulting in a live album (Live in New York City ) but only a handful of new songs. On Sept. 21, 2001, Springsteen performed the national debut of his song “My City of Ruins” on a television special. It was written about Asbury Park but took on a different tone in the wake of the September 11 attacks. That tone continued on The Rising, his 2002 album with the E Street Band, which weighed the consequences of the attacks and their aftermath. Beginning on the Rising tour, Springsteen became an adamant critic of the U.S. government, especially regarding the Iraq War. Springsteen’s 2005 solo tour, following the release of the Devils and Dust album, explored the full depth of his song catalog and continued his opposition to the administration’s policies. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006) took a turn unanticipated by even the closest Springsteen observers. He made the recording over a period of 10 years with a folk-roots band and a horn section. It featured traditional American folk songs (“Oh, Mary, Don’t You Weep,” “Froggie Went A-Courtin’,” and “John Henry”) as well as songs associated with its inspiration, Pete Seeger (“My Oklahoma Home,” “How Can I Keep from Singing,” and “Bring ’Em Home”). Springsteen’s tour of the United States and Europe in 2006 featured a 20-piece band. Magic (2007), another E Street Band album, sometimes spoke metaphorically and sometimes explicitly in opposition to the war and government intrusions on civil liberties. Springsteen continued his commentary through a worldwide tour with the E Street Band in 2007 and 2008. After the April 2008 death of the E Street Band organist and accordionist Danny Federici from melanoma, the band’s playing acquired a darker urgency of tone. The later stages of the Magic tour featured arguably the most assertive, inspired playing Springsteen and the group had ever done. Working on a Dream, released in early 2009, concerned itself lyrically with thoughts of love and life, how fleeting both are and what it takes to stay the course. The music on the album was a much more sophisticated version of what Springsteen had done on his first two albums, with a greater emphasis on harmony, especially vocal harmonies characteristic of the later work of the Beach Boys. In the lyrics, Springsteen’s knack for particular detail served him well. On Feb. 1, 2009, Springsteen and the band were the featured entertainment at halftime of Super Bowl XLIII; with an average viewership of 98.7 million, the game was the most-watched televised sports event in American history. Many fans and much of the press criticized Springsteen for commercializing himself this way. But in the aftermath, it was generally agreed that he had managed to condense the structure, message, humour, and athleticism of his live show into the 12 minutes allotted. On the largest popular culture platform available, Springsteen established that some rock artists remained determined to sustain their vitality and creative ambitions all the way to the end.

Bruce Springsteen's Sheet Music download here.

Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A. (Full Album)1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MibWGEO79qc

Track Listing

All tracks are written by Bruce Springsteen. Side one 1."Born in the U.S.A." 2."Cover Me" 3."Darlington County" 4."Working on the Highway" 5."Downbound Train" 6."I'm on Fire" Side Two 7."No Surrender" 8."Bobby Jean" 9."I'm Goin' Down" 10."Glory Days" 11."Dancing in the Dark" 12."My Hometown" Personnel Bruce Springsteen – lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar The E Street Band Roy Bittan – piano, synthesizer, background vocals Clarence Clemons – saxophone, percussion, background vocals Danny Federici – Hammond organ, glockenspiel, piano on "Born in the U.S.A." Garry Tallent – bass guitar, background vocals Steven Van Zandt – rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals Max Weinberg – drums, background vocals Additional musicians Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg – background vocals on "Cover Me" and "No Surrender" Ruth Davis – background vocals on "My Hometown" Read the full article

[kickmag]

A Gangsta Boo Posthumous Album Coming

A posthumous Gangsta Boo album is on the way later this year. The Three 6 Mafia legend died on January 1st at age 43 of a drug overdose. La Chat, Latto, Skepta and Crunchy Black are on the album and Drumma Boy, El-P and Nick Hook are the producers. Gangsta Boo's estate has also launched a new merchandise website with some of the proceeds going to the Stax Music Academy. The untitled album is scheduled to be released on August 7th which would have been her 44th birthday. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Thee Gangsta Boo (@missyeahoe)

[lboogie1906]

Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was a singer, songwriter, actor, and producer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a session musician and record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. He and Porter were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in recognition of writing scores of songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was born in Covington, Tennessee, the second child of Eula and Isaac Hayes Sr. His mother died young and his father abandoned his family, he was raised by his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a sharecropper family, he grew up working on farms in the Tennessee counties of Shelby and Tipton. At age five, he began singing at his local church; he taught himself to play the piano, Hammond organ, flute, and saxophone. He dropped out of high school, but his former teachers at Manassas High School in Memphis encouraged him to complete his diploma, which he did at age 21. After graduating from high school, he was offered several music scholarships from colleges and universities. He turned down all of them to provide for his immediate family, working at a meat-packing plant in Memphis by day and playing nightclubs and juke joints several evenings a week in Memphis and nearby northern Mississippi. His first professional gigs, in the late 1950s, were as a singer at Curry's Club in North Memphis, backed by Ben Branch's houseband. He was well known for his musical score for the film Shaft. For the "Theme from Shaft", he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He became the third African-American, after Sidney Poitier and Hattie McDaniel, to win an Oscar in any competitive field covered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He won two Grammy Awards that same year. He was given his third Grammy for his music album Black Moses. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/CheupTWLHCPOGcduBHOEwYqYkTkStapXE-QrGs0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[timberlakegallery]

[theonehotnews]

Stax Museum offering virtual events for Black History Month

[karenpulferfocht]

Stax Music Academy Launches Fundraiser #MusicMustContinue

Zalissa Stewart sings out some soul music to entertain the crowd during a vaccine incentive event outside the Stax Museum on Friday August 6, 2021. Free Moderna COVID vaccines were administered by Christ Community Health Services for those who qualified. Anyone who got a vaccine received two free guest passes to the Stax Museum.

Soulsville Foundation's indoor/outdoor Solid Gold Soulsville event presented by the Stax Museum and Stax Music Academy on Aug. 6, 2021. The event featured live music by 926 (the Stax Music Academy Alumni Band).

The Stax Music Academy has just launched its #MusicMustContinue campaign to assist students with tuition funding. Since many of their families have been so negatively affected by the COVID pandemic, this year 90% of their students qualify for financial aid as opposed to 50-70 percent in recent years. Their goal is to raise $50,000 so that no student is turned away for financial reasons.

Donation link is here:https://soulsvillefoundation.networkforgood.com/projects/136155-musicmustcontinue2021

Source: Soulsville Foundation Summer Newsletter

[ifelllikeastar]

Remembering ~ Isaac Hayes Isaac was a black American songwriter, musician, singer, actor, and voice actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer. Teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes and Porter were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. In 2002, Hayes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hayes was known for his musical score for the film Shaft (1971). For the "Theme from Shaft", he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1972. He became the third black person after Hattie McDaniel and Sidney Poitier, to win an Oscar in any competitive field covered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also won two Grammy Awards for that same year. Later, he was given his third Grammy for his music album Black Moses. The hit song "Soul Man" has been recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame. Born: Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. on August 20, 1942 in Covington, Tennessee

Died:  August 10, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee at the age of  65. He is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee,

[blackkudos]

Philip Bailey

Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist best known as an early member, and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Bailey has won seven Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Bailey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work with the band.

Bailey has released several solo albums. Chinese Wall from 1984, which received a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male, included the international hit, "Easy Lover", a duet with Phil Collins. "Easy Lover" won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance in a Video in 1985 and was Grammy nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals.

In May 2008, Bailey was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music at Berklee's Commencement Ceremony where he was the commencement speaker.

Life and career

Early days

Bailey was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, United States. He attended East High School in Denver and graduated in 1969. He was also in a local R&B band called Friends & Love. Some of Bailey's early influences included jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Max Roach, the Motown sound, in particular the music of Stevie Wonder and he was also largely influenced by female singers such as Sarah Vaughan and Dionne Warwick.

Earth, Wind & Fire

In 1972, while attending college, Bailey was invited to join the band Earth, Wind & Fire by EWF-founder and bandleader Maurice White. Bailey was the featured lead vocalist on popular Earth, Wind & Fire songs as "Devotion", "Keep Your Head to the Sky", "Reasons", "Fantasy", "I'll Write A Song For You", "Imagination", "I've Had Enough", and "Guiding Lights". He also shared lead vocals with Maurice White on such EWF hits as "Shining Star", "Getaway", "September", "Sing A Song", "Serpentine Fire", "Saturday Night", and sang lead with both White and the girl group The Emotions on their classic disco collaboration "Boogie Wonderland".

With Maurice White's retirement and then death, Bailey became the on-stage leader of Earth, Wind & Fire, along with bassist Verdine White, vocalist/percussionist Ralph Johnson and vocalist/percussionist B. David Whitworth.

In live duet performances, Bailey will sing his falsetto part, then switch to the vocal part originally sung by White, showing off his vocal prowess and versatility.

Solo albums

In 1983, Bailey issued his debut studio album, titled Continuation, on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 19 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. An album cut titled "I Know" rose to No. 10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

During 1984, Bailey released his second solo album, titled Chinese Wall, also on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 22 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 10 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA. Off the album, a duet with Collins titled "Easy Lover", rose to Nos. 1 & 2 on the UK Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts, respectively.

Bailey went on to issue his third studio album, titled Inside Out, in 1986 on Columbia. The album reached No. 30 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. A single from the album titled "State Of The Heart" reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

During 1994, Bailey issued his self titled fourth studio album on Zoo Entertainment. Artists including Brian McKnight, Chuckii Booker and PM Dawn guested on the LP. The album cut "Here With Me" rose to No. 33 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.

Bailey went on to release his first jazz album, titled Dreams in 1999 on Heads Up International records. The album featured artistes such as Gerald Albright, Grover Washington, Jr. and Pat Metheny. It reached No. 43 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. During 2002 he released Soul on Jazz, his sophomore jazz album once again on Heads Up. The album rose to No. 45 upon the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.

Gospel

Bailey featured on Andraé Crouch's 1979 album I'll Be Thinking of You. He and Maurice White then collaborated with The Hawkins Family on their 1981 live album, The Hawkins Family Live.

In 1980, Bailey joined with friends, Deniece Williams, Billy Davis and Marilyn McCoo to present a gospel show at a popular Los Angeles club named The Roxy. The show was called "Jesus At the Roxy". Williams later reported that "God did something miraculous. Over three hundred people were saved." After that, both Bailey and Williams decided to pursue careers in Christian music.

During 1984, Bailey issued his first gospel album titled The Wonders of His Love on Myrrh Records. The album reached No. 13 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart and No. 17 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart. The Wonders of His Love was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best Inspirational Performance.

His second gospel album Triumph was released in 1986 on Horizon Records. The LP reached No. 18 on the Top Christian Albums chart and No. 33 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart. Triumph also won a Grammy for Best Gospel Performance, Male.

During 1989 he released his third gospel album titled Family Affair on Myrrh Records. The album reached No. 37 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart.

Bailey later played percussion and sang on the King Baptist Church Mass Choir's 1990 album Holding on to Jesus' Hand.

Work with other artists

Bailey sang on Jazz guitarist Alphonso Johnson 1976's LP Yesterday's Dreams. He later played percussion alongside Verdine White on bass upon the track "Tahiti Hut" composed by both Maurice White and Eumir Deodato from Deodato's 1978 album Love Island. He also sang on Ronnie Laws' 1978 album Flame.

Bailey went on to produce R&B Band Kinsman Dazz's 1978 debut LP Kinsman Dazz and work as an arranger and guest artist on their sophomore 1979 album Dazz. As a band, Kinsman Dazz later became known as the Dazz Band. Bailey also collaborated as a vocalist with tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine on his 1981 album Tender Togetherness.

As well he guested on Stevie Wonder's 1985 "In Square Circle" album, Kenny Loggins' 1985 LP Vox Humana, Ray Parker Jr.'s 1987 album After Dark and Anita Pointer's 1987 LP Love for What It Is. Bailey also collaborated with Julio Iglesias on his 1988 album Non Stop, Little Richard on the soundtrack of the 1988 feature film Twins and Deniece Williams on her 1988 album As Good As It Gets.

He later featured on Nancy Wilson's 1989 LP A Lady with a Song, Dianne Reeves' 1990 album Never Too Far and George Duke and Stanley Clarke's 1990 LP 3. Bailey also guested on jazz group Fourplay's 1991 self-titled debut album, Ronnie Laws' 1992 LP Deep Soul, George Duke's 1992 LP Snapshot and Fourplay's 1993 sophomore album Between the Sheets.

Bailey then featured on Chante Moore's 1994 album A Love Supreme, Keiko Matsui's 1994 LP Doll, George Duke's 2000 album Cool, Boney James's 2006 LP Shine, Deniece Williams' 2007 album Love Niecy Style and Gerald Albright's 2008 LP Sax for Stax.

Bailey sung uncredited vocals on Travis Scott's "STOP TRYING TO BE GOD" from his 2018 album Astroworld. The song also features fellow musicians Stevie Wonder and Kid Cudi.

On screen

Bailey appeared in an episode of the TV show Matlock in the role of Pvt. Bobby Thomas. He also played a soldier in the 1987 feature film Full Metal Jacket.

On October 27, 2007, Bailey sang "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch in Game 3 of the 2007 World Series held at Coors Field, Denver, Colorado. This was the first World Series game that was ever played in his hometown of Denver. He also threw out the ceremonial first pitch on June 30, 2012 in an MLB game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Detroit Tigers held at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Personal life

Bailey is currently married to singer/ songwriter, Valerie Bailey (née Davis), who has worked with Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.Bailey is the father of seven children, one of whom is Pili Bailey, the daughter of Jeanette Hutchinson of the R&B hit group The Emotions. His son, Philip Doron Bailey, is also a member of Earth Wind & Fire.

Accolades

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Bailey has received one award out of four solo nominations.