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When Memphis’ Beale Street — a hub of music and activity since the 1860s —was being plowed under for “urban renewal” in 1976, James Luther (Jim) Dickinson — who had played with the Stones, Ry Cooder, and the Flamin’ Groovies (later with Bob Dylan and the Cramps among others), as well as produced Big Star, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Alex Chilton (also, The Replacements, Green On Red, and Mudhoney) — decided to not only celebrate the legacy of great Memphis music, but make the mythic street back into the place where both the blues and rock ’n’ roll originated.
A cadre of Memphis musicians, photographers, artists, thespians, and “appropriate weirdos” gathered under Dickinson’s direction to record the heart of Beale Street, past and present. From blues legends Furry Lewis and Sleepy John Estes to singer-songwriter Sid Selvidge and Dickinson’s own Mud Boy & the Neutrons, Beale Street Saturday Night is an unparalleled audio trip through Memphis music history.
Recorded in places varying from artists’ homes, to Ardent Studios, to the Orpheum Theatre, Beale Street Saturday Night was originally created as a fundraiser for the Memphis Development Foundation to help restore Beale Street’s legendary Orpheum Theater. This reissue will serve a similar purpose, as a portion of the proceeds will go to support the radio program Beale Street Caravan, which focuses on Memphis music, new and old.
Omnivore Recordings’ April 14, 2015 reissue of Beale Street Saturday Night (on CD, digital, and LP on clear vinyl with download card) features new liner notes from producer Jim Lancaster (who worked on the original release) and previously unseen photos by Omnivore’s resident Memphis expert Pat Rainer, who also worked on the original recording, as well as a cover photo by William Eggleston.
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