Beale is a blues training ground

" The up and down world of the blues business. "

By Norm Shaw

The blues industry in Memphis is a little bit like beauty. It is truly in the eye of the beholder.

For some, business couldn't be better. For others, Nashville looks better every day.

Memphis is home to approximately 25 studios, a number that will decrease by one in the very near future. Memphis is the home of Beale Street, the most famous street in blues lore. Memphis is the home of the Blues Foundation, the W.C. Handy Awards and Green's Lounge.

Conversely, Memphis was the home of the only all-blues radio station in the United States - KMZN FM-107.1 changed to an R&B/soul format in February. Memphis was the home of Stax Records - until the city tore down the studio. Memphis was the home of Elvis - but he went and died.

More than anything, though, Memphis was - and remains - the home of the blues. And it is home to more musical creativity than any other city this century, and remains a leading-edge music center.

For all that, the music industry, and particularly the blues industry, remains a roller-coaster ride for those involved.

"Memphis is the only place with that much music and that little industry," says Larry Nager, former music critic for The Commercial Appeal and the author of a forthcoming book on the history of Memphis music. "What Memphis has is national recognition of the 'Memphis sound.'"

Nager cites Rusty Zinn and Pat Boyack and the Prowlers as examples of newer artists who have appropriated that sound. Boyack found that sound at Crosstown Recorders, located at 435 N. Cleveland in a nondescript strip mall.

Crosstown is owned by Greg Morrow and operated in partnership with Rusty McFarland. McFarland is a good example of how both the positive and negative in the Memphis music business exist together like sin and virtue.

McFarland has carved out a niche for himself as a producer, engineer and session musician. He was able to work with Morrow at a studio that had a lot of success. Today, though, the studio is closing and McFarland is planning how to land on his feet again.

"We made many, many great records there," he says. "But then Greg moved to Nashville, Franklin actually, and we decided to shut it down. Greg says I'm stupid to stay here, and it probably makes more sense financially to go to Nashville. But my family is here. My wife and I are real active in our church here, and I want to try and stay.

"Memphis is a great town, but it is something of a music industry ghost town. Let's face it, the labels aren't coming back."

But Memphis has been good to McFarland. Crosstown, which has been around since the 1960s and may remain open under new management, was practically the house studio for Bullseye Records (Boyack's label), and for the most part the studio was regularly booked. McFarland says it is imperative that a studio find a niche if it is going to survive here.

"You have to carve out your niche, but you have to be versatile too," he says. "But you've got to work at it every day. We struggled to make ends meet. Most everybody struggles. They have to find that one area and hone in on that. Maybe it's jingles, or mastering. But the work is not just going to automatically be there."

McFarland says Crosstown suffered through some lean months before hitting its stride. In the end though, it was time for a change. That was what led to Morrow moving and McFarland moving on.

McFarland has hooked up with someone who has become something of a mini-industry himself in Memphis - Jim Gaines.

Gaines, best known for his work with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana, Luther Allison and many more, may well be the busiest man in the industry in Memphis.

"Oh man, I'm almost too busy," Gaines says as he sets up for a session at 315 Beale Studio. "The last year has been real good for me, and I'm booked solid for the next six months."

Gaines recently completed the new Luther Allison record for Alligator and has plans for work with a host of other top names. The plan right now, is for McFarland and Gaines to work at Ardent Studio on Madison. McFarland says a verbal agreement has been reached with John Fry, Ardent's owner, for all of them to work together.

For the time being, Gaines and McFarland are recording at 315 Beale. The studio located on the legendary street is owned by Elizabeth Johns and managed by Skip McQuinn. McQuinn says the studio had an outstanding year, but he realizes how hard it can be to make it in Memphis. To McQuinn, Memphis needs an injection of success.

"All Memphis needs is another hit record. What was the last million seller that came out of here? 'Disco Duck'? I mean (a hit) made here by someone from here. We get a lot of credit for the Gin Blossoms and bands like that. But we need another hit," McQuinn says. "It could come from anywhere. After all, Memphis is the home of left field."

What Memphis doesn't need is another "messiah" who claims he can come in and turn the industry around, says Nager. To rebuild an industry, Memphis needs strong business and government leadership, he says. Nager cites city and county government's willingness to support music tourism as a good first step. Even more important is the addition of a Gibson Guitar plant, which will be built this year to the south of Beale Street.

"Gibson is a real positive, because they are a major player and that benefits Memphis music and benefits the blues," Nager says. "Elvis Presley Enterprises is another really strong business entity that has the potential to fill a vacuum."

Overall though, Nager says Memphis' left-field reputation, its sound and its amazing heritage are the keys to returning the industry to its glory days of Stax, Hi Records and international hits.

"Memphis needs to take possession of this music," he says from Cincinnati, where he works as music critic at The Enquirer. "The new labels (such as Loverly, Shangri-La, Icehouse and others) are a good idea. The museums are a good idea. 'Home of the blues and birthplace of rock 'n' roll' should be more than a slogan.

"There's something that makes every city unique. For Memphis, it's that incredible font of music. No city can match it, decade for decade. Tourism is huge, and if the city will get behind it, like they did in New Orleans, it will bring in more musicians because there is more work. Once you start to get that national attention, you can build an industry. Memphis' greatest strength has been its consistency of great music. That's what will succeed."