Music of Tennessee
Memphis musicians have had an enormous influence on blues, early rock and roll, R&B, and soul music, as well as an increasing presence in rap.
[1] Bristol is best known for being the site of the first commercial recordings of country music, showcasing Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, and later a favorite venue of mountain musician Uncle Charlie Osborne.
According to local oral tradition, Queen Victoria was so impressed by the Singers that she commented that with such beautiful voices, they had to be from the Music City of the United States.
[3] Ryman Auditorium, opened in 1892, is a world-famous music venue in downtown Nashville, known for hosting the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974 and The Johnny Cash Show from 1969 to 1971.
The weekly stage show and broadcast would play an important role in the popularization of country music and is today the longest running radio program in the world.
[2] By the late 1950s, the city's record labels dominated the country music genre with slick pop-country (Nashville sound), overtaking honky-tonk in the charts.
Meanwhile, white and black met in Printer's Alley, where Music Row studio musicians gathered at day's end to play jazz[4] and rock and roll.
The 2004 compilation album Night Train to Nashville, spawned by an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame, showcased and celebrated this history.
[6] The album's success helped transform Nashville's conservative music reputation and artists including Simon and Garfunkel and Leonard Cohen soon followed to record there with Johnston.
[9] Several notable musicians have attended or graduated from MTSU, including Julien Baker, Sharon Van Etten, George S. Clinton, Hardy, Tay Keith, Lecrae, Amy Lee, and Hillary Scott.
East Tennessee old-time artists include Clarence Ashley, Charlie Bowman, Uncle Am Stuart, Theron Hale, Curly Fox, and G. B.
Collectors like Cecil Sharp, Artus Moser, C P Cambiaire, Edwin Kirkland, Lillian Crabtree, and George Boswell all included TN ballads in their collections.
King, Bobby Bland, Rosco Gordon, Junior Parker, Johnny Ace, Willie Nix, and Joe Hill Louis.
Among the artists who made some of their recordings on Sun were Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis,[11] Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins, and Charlie Rich.
Country blues artists from Tennessee include Memphis Jug Band,[12] The Two Poor Boys, Howard Armstrong, Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Hammie Nixon, Son Bonds, Noah Lewis, DeFord Bailey, John Henry Barbee, Memphis Willie B., Hattie Hart, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Brownie McGhee, Blind James Campbell, Hambone Willie Newbern, Sonny Boy Williamson I, and Terry Garland.
[11] Memphis-born jazz artists include clarinetist Buster Bailey, singers Alberta Hunter, Eden Atwood, Dee Dee Bridgewater, violinist Erskine Tate, bassists Moses Allen, Jamil Nasser, trumpeters Booker Little, Louis Smith, Johnny Dunn, Marvin Stamm, pianists Lil Hardin Armstrong, Harold Mabern, Phineas Newborn, Jr., Rozelle Claxton, Jimmy Jones, James Williams, alto saxophonists Frank Strozier, Sonny Criss, saxophonists George Coleman, Hank Crawford, Charles Lloyd, Ben Branch, Ben Smith, Garnett Brown, Frank Lowe, Kirk Whalum, drummers Jimmy Crawford and Tony Reedus, and guitarist Abu Talib.
In addition, legendary band leader Jimmy Lunceford is closely associated with Memphis due to the influential jazz orchestra he formed in the late 1920s in that city.
[4] Legendary blues singer Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, and busked its streets with her brother as a young girl.
Double bassist Jimmy Blanton, member of Duke Ellington's band, pianist Lovie Austin, trumpeter and singer Valaida Snow, multi-instrumentalist and composer Yusef Lateef, and saxophonist Bennie Wallace were also born in Chattanooga.
Stax put out funky, distinctly Southern records by artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Booker T. & the M.G.
Hi Records' peak was in the early 1970s, due to the highly creative work of Al Green, whose hits on the label included "Tired of Being Alone", "Let's Stay Together", "I'm Still in Love with You", and "Call Me".
Other artists on the label, including O. V. Wright, Don Bryant, Otis Clay, and Ann Peebles released soul singles or albums.
[15] Justin Timberlake "the Prince of Pop" from Memphis has had 4 #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits in the R&B genre, including "SexyBack" in 2006 and "Can't Stop the Feeling" in 2016.
Other notable Memphis rappers include Project Pat, Gangsta Pat, Gangsta Boo, Playa Fly, Moneybagg Yo (had a #1 album in 2021), Blocboy JB, Young Dolph, Blac Youngsta Al Kapone, the duo Eightball & MJG, and Yo Gotti.
Young Buck, JellyRoll, Starlito, Tha City Paper, Negro Justice, and All Star Cashville Prince are from Nashville.
A few hardcore punk bands gained a following, including His Hero Is Gone (Memphis), Nashville's Love Is Red, From Ashes Rise, and Committee for Public Safety, and Knoxville's Johnny Five, The Malignmen, The Splinters and STD.
The scene again reached a peak during the mid-1990s, at that time tied closely to The Mercury Theatre, a popular all-ages venue where many Knoxville bands, such as Superdrag, got their start.
The early 1970s power pop band Big Star, cited as a primary influence by many grunge and alternative rock groups since, was from Memphis.
Memphis-based Goner Records, founded in 1993, has released artists including Oblivians, Reigning Sound, and Jay Reatard.
Tennessee's location in the Bible Belt has led to an active southern Gospel music scene with such groups as The LeFevres, as well as being the origin of some notable Christian rock bands such as Memphis's DeGarmo and Key.
