Memphis music honored by Grammy Hall of Fame

If the Grammy Museum does in fact end up in Memphis, the city will be well-represented in more ways than one.

Several recordings with Memphis ties were among the 140 elected into the Grammy Hall of Fame this year. The Hall of Fame was originally established for recordings made before the inception of the Grammy Awards. A few years ago, though, the competition was opened to any recording more than 25 years old.

Hall of Fame songs and records are selected annually by a panel of musicologists, historians and annotators. Five or six a year were added from the first year, 1974, to last year. Last December, though, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences convened a special committee to "fill in the gaps," according to the Grammy program announcing this year's recipients.

Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records, was responsible for several of the songs. Rock songs with Memphis ties joining such classics as Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" included:

• "Great Balls of Fire," by Jerry Lee Lewis, released on Sun Records in 1957.

• "Raunchy," by Bill Justis and His Orchestra, released by Phillips Records in 1951.

• "Rocket 88," by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats, released by Chess Records (and recorded by Phillips) in 1951.

• "That's All Right," by Elvis Presley, released on Sun Records in 1954.

• The blues songs inducted this year were:

• "Cross Road Blues," by Robert Johnson, released on Vocalion in 1936.

• "Dust My Broom," by Elmore James, released on Trumpet Records in 1952.

• "(I'm Your) Hoochie Koochie Man," by Muddy Waters, released in 1954 on Chess.

• "The Thrill is Gone," by B.B. King, released on BluesWay in 1969.

The lone Memphis entry in R&B was "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," by Otis Redding, released by Stax in 1968. Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line," released on Sun Records in 1956, was entered in the Country category.