Music of Tennessee - Memphis: "Birthplace of The Blues"

Memphis: "Birthplace of The Blues"

Memphis' most significant musical claims to fame are as the apparent "Birthplace of the Blues" and "Birthplace of Rock and Roll". Famed African-American composer W.C. Handy is said to have written the first commercially successful blues song "St. Louis Blues" in a bar on Beale Street in 1912, and Memphis was a center of blues music for much of the 20th century (see Memphis blues). Later during the 1940s, Memphis was the home of blues guitar legend B.B. King.

In 1952, Sam Phillips started Sun Records, a seminal early rock and roll and electric blues label. Among the artists who made their first recordings on Sun were Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins, and Charlie Rich.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the city was home to Stax Records, a soul music record label. Stax put out funky, distinctly Southern records by artists like Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett that stood in sharp contrast to the smoother, more pop records coming out of Detroit's Motown (see Memphis soul).

In late 2008, a doo-wop band simply called the Doo Wops were formed in Brentwood, TN. The band members include musicians from the early 1990s, including SMc, P Lock, and Benny Boy. They have had a few local hits including "BD", which was an instant heartthrob with many. They continue to create music and perform at many local events.