Looking back on the year in Memphis music
There’s no question 2020 will be regarded as a historic year for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that live music events and much of the entertainment industry came to a screeching halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thankfully, however, there still were many fine new records — as well as reissues, music books and films — released in the past 12 months.
Here is a look at our picks for the year’s best Memphis and Mid-south music.
Album of the Year
Don Bryant, “You Make Me Feel,” (Fat Possum) When Memphis R&B singer Don Bryant resumed his solo career at the age of 75 — after a nearly 50-year break — he couldn’t have anticipated what a remarkable new chapter was just beginning for him. After three years, two critically acclaimed albums and numerous well-received tours, Bryant capped his comeback story in November by earning his first Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album category for his LP “You Make Me Feel.”
Released in the midst of the pandemic, Bryant’s album served as a kind of balm, with the Hi Records veteran and songwriting ace delivering his signature brand of soul-blues with a spiritual touch. Produced by Scott Bomar, the acclaimed film composer and band leader of The Bo-keys, who aided in Bryant’s return to recording, and mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Matt Ross-spang, “You Make Me Feel” also features Bryant’s longtime cohorts from the Hi Rhythm section — drummer Howard Grimes, keyboardist Archie “Hubbie” Turner and organist Charles Hodges — as well as members of St. Paul and the Broken Bones.
The 10-track LP features a quartet of Bryant/bomar co-writes, several deep cuts from the Bryant catalog (”Cracked Up Over You,” “I Die a Little Each Day”) and nods to the church music that represents his musical foundation. There might have been bigger sellers or more buzzed about records from Memphis artists in 2020, but nothing was as deeply felt and fully-realized as Bryant’s masterwork.
Artist of the Year
NLE Choppa
Memphis rapper NLE Choppa turned 18 last month, but his relatively tender age wasn’t the most remarkable number in a year where he cemented himself as a bonafide star. In 2020, Choppa fulfilled a meteoric 18month rise, with the release of his first full-length album for Warner Music, “Top Shotta.” The disc followed a series of singles and an EP that took him from viral sensation to Billboard hitmaker, sparking a multi-million-dollar label bidding war for his services, and made him one of the most talked about young stars in music.
Released in August, his album “Top Shotta” debuted at No. 10 on Billboard Hot 200 and peaked at No. 7 on the Rap and No. 6 on the R&B charts. The chart success of “Top Shotta” was boosted by the album’s RIAA gold certified single “Walk Em Down,” featuring Roddy Ricch. The track also hit the Top 10 at Urban Radio, earned 150 million Youtube views so far and has been streamed more than 400 million times globally. Choppa’s label, Warner Records, also confirmed that the hip-hop phenom was averaging some 13 million monthly listeners on Spotify, cementing him as one of the “300 most-listened-to artists in the world.”
Choppa — who was banned from Instagram last year — has still managed to remain an online influencer. As he noted recently on Twitter, “Haven’t had Instagram since October 2019 and still manage to more than double my streams on Spotify to a BILLION,” Choppa wrote. In total, NLE Choppa’s songs have been streamed more than 3 billion times.
As teenagers do, Choppa has spent most of the year finding himself. His social media profile has seen him evolve from glitzy street rapper to a spiritually conscious new age convert of sorts, preaching about the holistic values of meditation, sun salutation and various other centering practices. Some of that metamorphosis can be glimpsed on a mixtape released in November titled “From Darkness to Light” — the cover of which depicts Choppa as a toga-wearing guru seated in a lotus position. It will be interesting to see what changes — and further success — await him in 2021.
Producer of the Year
Matt Ross-spang
Although he’s got a pair of Grammys on his mantle for his engineering work in the Americana field, Memphis studio wiz Matt Ross-spang made a further push into producing in 2020. This past year Ross-spang diversified his portfolio, producing high-profile projects for indie rockers The Mountain Goats and Cut Worms, as well as albums for singer-songwriter Arlo Mckinley and blues-rockers the Allman Betts Band.
And that’s not to mention his continued engineering/mixing work, which included Don Bryant’s Grammy-nominated “You Make Me Feel,” the Drive-by Truckers’ acclaimed “The Unraveling,” Josh Ritter and the Milk Carton Kids’ self-titled collaboration, as well as local guitar ace Will Sexton’s exquisite “Don’t Walk the Darkness.” All this is in addition to his continued efforts for Sony/legacy on the Elvis Presley catalog, which resulted in the 2020 box set “From Elvis in Nashville,” as well as an archival 1973 Lou Reed live album, “Live at Alice Tully Hall.”
Newcomer of the Year
Bailey Bigger, “Let’s Call It Love,” (Big Legal Mess)
Although she lives across the river, singer-songwriter Bailey Bigger has been building a buzz in Memphis for the last couple years. After releasing her debut for the University of Memphis’ Blue Tom label in 2019, the 20-year old Marion, Arkansas, native signed with Bruce Watson’s Big Legal Mess label. Watson — always a keen eye for talent — produced her new EP, “Let’s Call It Love,” which features a trio of Bigger folk-soul originals that instantly charm with a poetic sense that recalls the clever wordplay and whimsy of John Prine. The tracks will leave listeners wanting much more. Thankfully a Bigger full-length is expected in 2021.
Trend of the Year: The Rediscovery of Memphis Gospel
Various Artists, “The Last Shall be First: The JCR Records Story, Vol. 1” (Bible & Tire)
Various Artists, “The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection” (Concord Music Group)
The world of lost, forgotten or overlooked gospel music made in Memphis in the 1960s and 1970s has provided a rich vein of material for reissues over the last couple years.
In 2020, Memphis-based gospel label Bible & Tire Recording Co. continued its deep dive into the work of pastor, producer and radio DJ Juan D. Shipp. In 2019, they kicked off their Shipp catalog drive with a series of releases from his D-vine Spirituals label. This year, the focus was on Shipp’s other label, JCR Records. “The Last Shall Be First” exhumes 17 rarely heard singles and recordings from Shipp’s trove of material, with co-producer and historian Michael Hurtt adding key context to the records in his accompanying booklet.
Meanwhile, the Concord Music Group also added to the Bluff City’s spiritual renaissance with the release of “The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection.” A well-curated history of Stax Records’ gospel imprint, the 34-track, 3-CD/1-LP compilation covers the label’s entire run featuring recordings by The Rance Allen Group, The 21st Century, and the Terry Lynn Community Choir, among others. The set also includes an informative, thoughtful essay by Memphis radio personality and writer Jared Boyd.