Playing for a piece of the door: A history of garage \u0026 frat bands in Memphis, 1960-1975 by Hall, Ron (2001) Paperback by Ron Hall


Playing for a piece of the door: A history of garage \u0026 frat bands in Memphis, 1960-1975 by Hall, Ron (2001) Paperback
Title : Playing for a piece of the door: A history of garage \u0026 frat bands in Memphis, 1960-1975 by Hall, Ron (2001) Paperback
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0966857518
ISBN-10 : 9780966857511
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 172
Publication : Published January 1, 2001

Playing for a Piece of the A History of Garage and Frat Bands in Memphis 1960-75 is a candid history and discography of over one hundred bands who recorded at least one record in Memphis from 1960-75. From nationally charting groups like the Box Tops, Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, the Gentrys and the Hombres to long-forgotten high school rockers who cut a record, had their fifteen minutes of fame, and then faded away, every Memphis garage band is included. Includes many unpublished photos as well as a complete listing of all band members and discographies of each band. Though countless books have been written about Memphis Music--including Elvis, Stax, and the blues, this genre of Memphis music has never been exhaustively touched upon until now.

Playing for a piece of the door: A history of garage \u0026 frat bands in Memphis, 1960-1975 by Hall, Ron (2001) Paperback Reviews

  • Al

    The main value of this work is the author's commendable cataloging of most of the garage bands playing around Memphis and the Mid-South in the 60's and early 70's. Although the more well known groups that had a national hit(s), e.g., The Counts, Gentrys, Box Tops, Guillotines, & Big Star are documented in some detail, most of the others are sparsely covered. I would love to read more about "regional" bands like The Rapscallions, Ronnie & the Devilles, Flash & the Casuals, and The Short-Kuts that frequently played dances throughout both the Arkansas and Mississippi Deltas during the period covered by this book. To the author's credit, more facts and anecdotes about these groups would no doubt be difficult to uncover when the book was compiled in 2001.

    If you are interested in the raw, yet surprisingly sophisticated, sounds blasted through everything from Silvertone guitars and amps to vintage Fender, Gibson and Farfisa's played full out by teenagers who were having the times of their lives, this is a great start. If you were lucky enough to hear them live back then, even better!