It came from Memphis

About this book

Delta bluesmen, a peanut vendor, a matinee cowboy, a professional wrestler, a manic deejay - these were the intersections where cultures collided in Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1950s. It Came from Memphis documents through firsthand accounts how an audience of white teenagers, caught in the middle of this extraordinary confluence of music, entrepreneurship, and eccentricity, broke through the walls of institutional racism and helped usher in a new musical form called rock and roll. Beginning with notorious deejay Dewey Philips and his show "Red, Hot & Blue," It Came from Memphis is a rollicking tale of street-corner jug bands, shady West Memphis, nightclubs, first bands and first hits, of hippie puppet shows and outdoor music festivals, and of learning the ropes of the music biz as the ropes were strung. It is also the story of how a generation of Southern white kids befriended a generation of Mississippi Delta blues artists, and what happened to Memphis and the music industry when these two ostracized cultures met and found mutual inspiration on society's margin. Unlike previous books about Memphis, this one does not focus on Elvis Presley, Al Green, Sun and Stax studios. Instead, It Came from Memphis prefers the shadows cast by these institutions, focusing on artists like Jim Dickinson and Alex Chilton, and bands like Mud Boy and the Neutrons, the Mar-Keys, and Big Star. The result is an anecdotal, digressive, thoroughly informative and entertaining history of rock and roll's hometown.