History of country music and why it happened in Tennessee (Bristol Sessions in 1927-28 where we got Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family)

Origins of black gospel music – original Fisk Quartet started in Memphis, Tennessee and ultimately moved to Nashville when Fisk University started and expanded to the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

Contemporary Christian Miracle – the three Christian companies that are accounting for 90% of the industry all either started in or moved to Nashville and are presently here (a) Brentwood, founded by Jim Van Hook which has emerged into Provident; (b) Word, which started in Waco, Texas but ultimately moved to Tennessee about the same time Mike did when it was purchased by Thomas Nelson and then Gaylord purchased it from Thomas Nelson and then Warner/Curb acquired it from Gaylord; (c) Sparrow, which started in California with Billy Ray Hearn (Billy Ray moved to Nashville approximately the same time that Mike and Word). Sparrow morphed into Chordant and ultimately EMI Christian and today is called Capitol Christian (d) Curb Christian moved at the same time Curb Records did in 1992 (approximately the same time that Word and Sparrow moved to Nashville).

The Miracle of WSM/Grand Old Opry in approximately 1925 (originally called the Barn Dance) that brought great country musicians to Nashville as well as many of the great country artists.

Music Row Miracle - Many of the country artists were living in other states such as Texas. When Jim Beck was building the studio for Decca Records which had most of the cutting edge artists at the time (mid-1950s), he had an agreement with Paul Cohen of Decca Records for 100 recording sessions in Texas and he was building his studio that would have created the nucleus of Music Row being in Texas (Mike believes it was in Dallas). Beck died from injuries suffered when he was completing his studio, at which time Owen Bradley (who was a band leader) went to Paul Cohen and said I’ll build a Quonset Hut if you’ll guarantee me the same number of sessions. According to Harold, I don’t know whether that occurred, but he built the Quonset Hut. Music Row became a cluster after the Quonset Hut was built (RCA Studio B, publishing companies, chart companies, record companies, management companies, booking agencies, etc.). Music Row is bookended by the Curb College at Belmont on one side and Vanderbilt on the other (the Curb Center at Vanderbilt is actually the closest to Music Row). Fisk is on the other side with Van Vechten and the Jubilee Singers. If you go to the right of the circle, you go to what is known as the Music Mile and the Music Mile takes you to the Bridgestone, the Music City Center, the Schermerhorn, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Ryman Auditorium

Chattanooga - First African American Diva – Bessie Smith, who in the mid-1920s recorded such classics as “St. Louis Blues” (written by W.C. Handy), was born in Chattanooga.

Clarksville - Rhodes University, home to the Curb College for Music History, started in Clarksville and later moved to Memphis.

Knoxville - Chet Atkins was born near Knoxville and went on to become the head of RCA Nashville and one of the fathers of Music Row. The Mid-Day Merry Go Round produced Chet Atkins, Roy Acuff, etc.

Memphis - African American musicians were comfortable recording just over the state line in a place called Memphis on Beale Street and why they recorded there as opposed to other Delta states. Mike’s theory is that since Tennessee was the first state back in the Union and because the Tennessee Governor Andrew Johnson became VP to Lincoln, it became a place where African Americans felt protected. Later on when Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes tied for President in the House of Representatives and they had to break the tie - in order for Hayes to get the vote he needed from a southern delegate he allegedly agreed to the states’ rights concept and I think we all now know that states’ rights meant that many African Americans no longer enjoyed protection and that spawned the whole concept of ‘separate but equal’ which we’re still fighting today. The ultimate result of this was that 50 years later along comes Sam Phillips and he’s recording African American artists like Howlin’ Wolf, Rufus Thomas, Roscoe Gordon, BB King, Ike Turner and Jackie Brenson. He’s recording these artists and unquestionably they’re doing the roots of rock and roll. Many people think that “Rockin’ 88” was the first true rock and roll record. You have to acknowledge what Sam Phillips did when he said ‘if I could find a white singer that could sing these songs we could take rock and roll to the world’. Then he found Elvis Presley who was able to record songs written by Arthur Crudup (“That’s Alright Mama”) Little Junior Parker (“Mystery Train”), Mama Thornton (“Hound Dog”), “Good Rockin’ Tonight” originally recorded in 1948 by Wynonie Harris.

Rockabilly happened in Memphis – the name came from the two Burnett sons, Rocky Burnett and Billy Burnett. Billy later recorded for Curb. No question that Johnny Burnett and Dorsey Burnett created Rock a Billy in Memphis. Both went on to have solo careers of their own.

Bulleit Records – Frances Craig recorded “Near You” which was produced by Owen Bradley and may still hold the record of 17 weeks at #1 on the charts. Cecil Gant had a real innovative record on Bulleit, the first #1 record on the Billboard race chart “I Wonder” was by Cecil Gant. Cecil was from Tennessee and came back to Nashville and recorded for Bulleit. Jim Bullet was also an investor in Sun Records.

The art forms of music whether R&B, rock and roll, rockabilly, black gospel, contemporary Christian – Tennessee had a role either in creating the environment for these or being the home for them now. Today Nashville is the home for country music, the home for contemporary music, the home of the jubilee singers, the home of numerous people from other genres, including rock, R&B, classical.

What Sun, Stax and Curb all have in common is that they are all multi-genre.