Memphis music

"Midnight approaches in the River City, a city filled with American music and its many myths." So writes Rafael Alvarez in the July Spotlight. He continues, "In a downtown hotel room, a radio is tuned to WEVL, a 4,800-watt beacon of all things Memphis at 89.9 on the FM dial. It's a quiet night by the Mississippi River, colored with the late-night mood of the film Mystery Train, in which the disc jockey voice of Tom Waits floats from a green plastic radio to give the time — 'It's 2:17 right here in Memphis, Tennessee' — before a pistol shot goes off.

Tonight, the gun is Lonnie Mack's guitar, loaded with Chuck Berry riffs, as WEVL plays 'Memphis,' a 1963 hit for both men.Songwriter Berry's version started with the lyrics, 'Long-distance information get me Memphis, Tennessee,' while Mack's was an instrumental that launched 10,000 garage bands." Come with us now as we explore the Memphis sound.