During the mid-20th century, Memphis became influential in the music industry, being dubbed the Birthplace of Rock-and-Roll and the Home of the Blues, pushed along by then-up-and-coming blues, soul, and rock-and-roll innovators like Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Sam Phillips, and others.
Memphis continued to gain steam in these genres through the 1960s, but when the 1970s spurred a revolution of dance music and electronic means of instrumentation, Memphis artists caught on and joined a musical movement that would affect music throughout the world and in Memphis to this day.
Artists Anita Ward (singer known for her disco hit “Ring My Bell”), Dexter Haygood (frontman of glam rock/soul band Xavion, known for MTV video hit “Eat Your Heart Out”), Perry Michael Allen (songwriter and producer who was influential in synthesized soul as member of Kilo), and Larry Dodson (vocalist in The Bar-Kays and the Temprees) are just a few Memphis artists who were involved in this era of Memphis music, which has often been overlooked or under-recognized by fans and critics alike.
Just in time for Black Music Month, We Are Memphis celebrates these artists’ and others’ contributions to this time in musical history by hosting “The Lost Generation,” an online panel discussion led by local hip-hop musician and journalist Jared “Jay B” Boyd.
“These artists have done so much good work, and I want to honor them,” says Boyd. “I thought this was the best way to tell their stories and that this would be a cool way to connect with them and show them that I care about their story and that I’m very much interested in who they are and what they’ve done.”
Boyd’s interest in Memphis music started in college when he began collecting and spinning records after the death of his cousin Andrew Love, saxophone player for The Memphis Horns.
“I started collecting records to find all the records he played on,” says Boyd. “I built up quite the collection of Memphis records.”
This became the impetus for Boyd’s disc jockeying career, and since then, he has continued to regularly honor Memphis music during his DJ sets at venues like Eight & Sand at Central Station Hotel.