Photo Credit: Memphis Music Hall Of Fame Website

The city that has long been, and continues to, undeniably, serve as the fulcrum for music’s most original creators is Memphis, Tennessee. Social, political and economic circumstances and a preternaturally musically included population catalyzed a vast array of musical genres to interact and intersect, creating a distinctive sound that shook the world. For practitioners and devotees of blues, gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, country, rockabilly, rock and roll, hip-hop and more, Memphis has been a destination, both real and metaphysical, for those who both make and appreciate the great music with which it is so rightfully identified.

This year, almost 60 years after a teen aged Elvis Presley first walked into Sun Studios to record a keepsake for his mother and almost a century since “The Father of the Blues,” W.C. Handy, penned Beale Street Blues, Memphis pays tribute to those who put it at the center of world’s musical map with the launch of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. Under the leadership of Memphis Mayor AC Wharton and the administration of the Smithsonian-developed Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, the names of the 25 inaugural Memphis Music Hall of Fame inductees were announced at a press conference on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 . The reveal was held at The Warehouse at 36 East G.E. Patterson Avenue in downtown Memphis. As the name implies, the facility is a converted warehouse that has been the site of several national music video productions.

An iconic list of many of music’s top names reflects the fact that Memphis boasts one of the world’s richest musical legacies, and a plethora of world-famous music-related landmarks, including Sun Studios, Beale Street, Stax Records and Elvis Presley’s Graceland, the second most visited residence in the world. Mayor Wharton commented, “Everywhere I go, people know Memphis, Tennessee. Every country around the world recognizes Memphis as the epicenter of music. The establishment of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame will lend focus to this fact, and pay tribute to the musical pioneers and icons whose contributions to our culture and our heritage, both locally and globally, are unequalled.”

The inaugural inductees were selected earlier this year by a Nominating Committee of local and national music professionals, including studio owners, producers, authors, and historians who discussed and debated at length who would be tapped for induction based on a variety of criteria. Those inductees will be honored at the MMHOF’s first induction event that is set for Thursday, November 29 at PM at the Cannon Center for Performing Arts in downtown Memphis.

The Memphis Music Hall of Fame website, including tributes to each inductee, a showcase of new Memphis musicians, and education components, as well as Hall of Fame social media tools, also launched on October 16, 2012. Tickets for the November 29, 2012 Induction Ceremony will also go on sale that day, and will be available through www.ticketmaster.com.

Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum is located at the corner of Third (legendary Hwy 61, “Blues Highway”) and 191 Beale Street at FedExForum, the city of Memphis’ premier sports & entertainment complex. The museum’s exhibition, “Rock ‘n’ Soul: Social Crossroads” was developed by the world famous Smithsonian Institution as part of its 150th anniversary celebration. The museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Additional information is available at (901) 205-2533 or at www.memphisrocknsoul.org.

2012 Memphis Music Hall Of Fame Inductees:

B.B. King

    Dewey Phillips

Elvis Presley

George Coleman

Howlin’ Wolf

Isaac Hayes

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jim Dickinson

Rufus Thomas

Willie Mitchell

Jim Stewart & Estelle Axton

Sam Phillips

Al Green

Bobby Blue Bland

Booker T. & The M.G.’s

Jimmie Lunceford

Lucie Campbell

Memphis Minnie

Nat D. Williams

Otis Redding

Professor William T. McDaniel

Staple Singers

Three 6 Mafia

W.C. Handy

Z.Z. Top

I could say a lot about this Dolly Parton original that Whitney Houston stylishly recreated as her own signature song but why overdo it with words? Sing it Whitney!

…..dropping the mic…..

“I Will Always Love You” was written by Dolly Parton. She recorded it in 1973 and again in 1982. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart both times.

And then there was Whitney Houston’s version.

Produced by David Foster for the soundtrack to the movie The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston re-arranged the song, broke it down and built it back up with a vocal performance that knocks your socks off. It was almost as if she had something to prove. Houston’s version of the song set records (staying at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 14 weeks), sold hundreds of thousands of copies, achieved international success and won many awards including a Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

“Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus was EVERYWHERE when it was released. Love this song or hate it–it’s undeniably catchy and unforgettable. “Achy Breaky Heart” was Billy Ray Cyrus’ debut single and most successful song. It was a crossover hit; reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  It also became the first county single to be certified platinum since 1983. Long before Miley Cyrus had her “Party In The USA”, her dad was makin’ ‘em line dance up a storm to “Achy Breaky Heart”.

You know I’ve always been a dreamer
(Spent my life runnin’ round)
And it’s so hard to change
(Can’t seem to settle down)
But the dreams I’ve seen lately
Keep turnin’ out, and burnin’ out,
And turnin’ out the same…

“Take It to the Limit,” The Eagles’ 1975 Top Ten hit about a lonely wanderer who never managed to make much of his life, carried a country tone with a tinge of blues around the edges. Etta connected with this song—perhaps saw herself in it—and began including it in her stage act, eventually recording it in the studio on Deep in the Night in 1978—a year that also found her headlining the Montreal Jazz Festival and touring as opening act for no less than the Rolling Stones.

Though Etta would continue to perform the occasional live concert after 1978, she would largely leave the spotlight for the next ten years, struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction so badly that she would release only one studio album in the following decade.

And when you’re lookin’ for freedom
(Nobody seems to care)
And you can’t find the door
(Can’t find it anywhere)

1981′s Live From San Francisco comes from that rough period, a bootleg recording that, despite all her hardships, shows Etta clearly in full command of her powers. Refusing the trends of the day, she never got involved with disco, funk, or Philly soul, and stayed hard and true to the gritty blues that spoke from deep within.

When Randy Meisner, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley wrote “Take It to the Limit,” surely they could never have imagined just how bluesy it truly was. In a period when she was fighting her own demons for her life, in Etta’s hands these lyrics reached their full potential. When she raises to a full-throated roar on “You know I’ve always been a dreamer,” she sounds practically on the verge of tears, and you know this is a woman who’s been given a raw deal her whole life. She’s had to fight for everything she’s ever gotten, and times have gotten darker than she’ll ever say, but she’s never given up on finding what she deserves. That theme has been the trademark wellspring of tormented soul that’s laced throughout Etta’s entire catalog—right through her final album, 2011′s The Dreamer.

Slowed way down into a dragging church waltz with reverent piano and organ and a call-and-response chorus, Etta reaches in with her bare hands and molds this song into a religious experience—a testament to the determination of the human soul, a sermon on the gospel of regret.

…So put me on the highway
And show me a sign
And take it to the limit
One more time…

Not that said author is not grateful for gainful employment but er um all of you out there like me who are on the check-in today from the J-O-B, surely understand
Happy Monday!

For all of those who have been affected by cancer in one way or another, we hope you enjoy this powerful song and video from Martina McBride. The video features cameos from famous cancer survivors Robin Roberts, Sheryl Crowe, Katie Couric and “Today” show anchor Hoda Kotb.

Fortunately, the video is less about ‘celebrity’ and more about ‘survival’, love and getting through it. Cancer sucks! It knows no boundaries and The lyrics speak for themselves:

When you’re weak, I’ll be strong
When you let go, I’ll hold on
When you need to cry, I swear that I’ll be there to dry your eyes
When you feel lost and scared to death,
Like you can’t take one more step
Just take my hand, together we can do it
I’m gonna love you through it.

She made it through the surgery fine
They said they caught it just in time
But they had to take more than they planned
Now it’s forced smiles and baggy shirts
To hide what the cancer took from her
But she just wants to feel like a woman again
She said, “I don’t think I can do this anymore”
He took her in his arms and said “That’s what my love is for”

Hit the jump to see Robin’s emotional reaction to the video premiere. The song is from her new album, “Eleven”, due out Oct. 11 and available for download on iTunes today. This song goes out to all the survivors, family members and those unheralded but critical members the support system — God Bless you all!

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