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Shop nowMemphis Mayhem
A Story of the Music That Shook Up the World
Narrator
Chris Abernathy
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Length
6 hours 16 minutes
Language
English
Memphis gave birth to music that changed the world—Memphis Mayhem is a fascinating history of how music and culture collided to change the state of music forever
Memphis Mayhem weaves the tale of the racial collision that led to a cultural, sociological, and musical revolution. David Less constructs a fascinating narrative of the city that has produced a startling array of talent, including Elvis Presley, B. B. King, Al Green, Otis Redding, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Justin Timberlake, and so many more.
Beginning with the 1870s yellow fever epidemics that created racial imbalance as wealthy whites fled the city, David Less moves from W. C. Handy's codification of blues in 1909 to the mid-century advent of interracial musical acts like Booker T. & the M.G.'s, the birth of punk, and finally to the growth of a music tourism industry.
Memphis Mayhem explores the city's entire musical ecosystem, which includes studios, high school band instructors, clubs, record companies, family bands, pressing plants, instrument factories, and retail record outlets. Lively and comprehensive, this is a provocative story of finding common ground through music and creating a sound that would change the world.
David A. Less has studied Memphis music for over forty years, and has conducted research for the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Gibson Guitar Foundation. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, DownBeat, Blues Revue magazine, and the Bulletin for the Society of American Music. He is a third-generation Memphian who still lives in Memphis, Tennessee.
Chris Abernathy is a lifelong professional storyteller who found his calling telling scary stories to campers around a roaring fire at Camp Sumatanga in Alabama. He spent the next thirty years telling stories on radio and television, earning a dozen Best in Broadcasting awards from the Alabama Broadcasters Association. In 2015 he began narrating audiobooks and now works full-time from his home studio. He is married with two sons and takes every opportunity to travel anywhere and everywhere he can convince his wife to go.