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" Sam Phillips and Peter Guralnick join the Caravan as new feature hosts this season. "
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By Norm Shaw
A sound heard around the world? This sound is the music that made Beale Street famous. The medium taking the blues global is a non-commercial radio program called Beale Street Caravan. And on Oct. 1, the Beale Street Caravan launches its second season. Produced by the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Beale Street Caravan is a weekly, hour-long program with a magazine format and takes listeners to blues festivals and clubs around the United States. From the Pocono, San Francisco and King Biscuit blues festivals to Manny's Carwash and B.B. King's Blues Clubs, Beale Street Caravan gives a live experience in the music that America can call its own. "We are so excited about the new season. We have fine tuned the sound of the program and are receiving numerous positive responses from around the world," says senior producer Sid Selvidge. The show launched on 120 stations and is now heard nationally on more than 250 stations and globally via the Armed Services Radio Network. Letters of support, rave reviews and long distance dedications have come from Florida to Tokyo, illustrating the programs international reach. FEN Tokyo alone exposes Beale Street Caravan to more than 3 million people in Japan. The Memphis Horns did a wonderful job hosting the premiere season, but for the 1997-'98 season the torch has been passed to Sam the Sham and Joyce Cobb. As many are aware, Sam the Sham carved his name in the music history books through the fame of his hit singles "Wooly Bully" and "Li'l Red Riding Hood." Cobb has been honored with a Beale Street note on the sidewalk recognizing her legacy as a Memphis artist. She has appeared on stage with Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal, and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and has toured Europe with Otis Clay. She has recorded for Stax, RCA and Waylo records. In addition, feature hosts Jerry Wexler, Tracy Nelson, Keb' Mo', Bob Porter, John Hammond, Allen Toussaint and Richard Hite return to bring an insider's perspective on the lives and times of great blues artists. Last season's segments spotlighted greats like Bessie Smith, Robert Cray and Robert Johnson. Sam Phillips and Peter Guralnick join the Caravan as new feature hosts this season. Phillips is primarily associated with the discovery and recording of Elvis Presley. He was the founder of the legendary Sun Studios, where he recorded such blues greats as Howlin' Wolf, Rufus Thomas and Ike Turner. Guralnick has authored such books as Feel Like Going Home, Lost Highway, Searching for Robert Johnson, Sweet Soul Music and Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. He is a recognized authority on American music. Beale Street Caravan began recording for the new season last spring. To date, this year's venues include the W. C. Handy Awards Show, Beale Street Music Festival and the Eureka Blues Festival in Eureka Springs, Ark. Also recorded were the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Ore., Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport, Iowa, the Queen City Festival in Ohio, and performances at B. B. King's Blues Club in Memphis. Other Venues, including the Blues Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony will be recorded later in the season. Specials include tributes to Johnny Copeland and Luther Allison, both of whom died this past summer. You can hear Beale Street Caravan at 11 p.m. on WKNO-FM.
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