Carla Thomas, Willie Hall & Vanese Thomas - Dropping Bombs

The musical influence of the Thomas family in Memphis is enormous. Rufus Thomas was a true showman. His children learned that craft from the best. Carla Thomas scored 2 major hits in the 1960s with Gee Whiz and B-A-B-Y (the latter showing up recently on the Baby Driver soundtrack) along the way, the time spent at STAX was important for Carla.

Also, our great friend Willie Hall joined the conversation to talk about his days with STAX and Isaac Hayes and Booker T. & The MGs. And then Carla's sister, Vanese got on the air and dropped a bomb.



NEXT WEEK: Kyle & Gabe are Brother Boulevard

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Stepping Off The Mothership with Harold Beane

If there was some sort of an accurate record out there regarding just how many times a guitar player had his work sampled, Harold Beane would probably win. Harold played all the guitar parts for Isaac Hayes iconic Hot Buttered Soul album. He also spent some quality time with George Clinton and Funkadelic.

And this is just some of the story.

Wait until he tells the sad story of the plane crash that killed Otis Redding and most of the Bar Kays. He was supposed to be on that flight.



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NEXT WEEK: Gee Whiz, It's Carla Thomas

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Another Conversation with Willie Hall

It is always a great time when Willie Hall comes around. He's been a guest on Radio Memphis a few times including a rather famous encounter with Jim Dandy from Black Oak Arkansas. This time around, we wanted to spend some extra time talking about his work with Isaac Hayes.

They made some tremendous music together over the years. The stories you will hear in this show came from some fantastic memories of his years at Stax.

Also in this episode, we'll get a track from Isaac Hayes. One of the many songs Willie played drums on. Enjoy!



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NEXT WEEK: Three great guests on one big show. We talk about what it was like to work with the great Willie Mitchell. Toni Green, Howard Grimes and John Gary Williams. Plus, music from The Mad Lads.

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Willie "Too Big" Hall - Part 2

Willie Hall

You aren't seeing things. Here is part 2 of our conversation with Willie Hall. In this episode, we talk about the movies, writing and performing one of Hollywood's biggest films and stories from the production of the Blues Brothers.

My thanks to Willie Hall, Mark Caldwell, Rickey Self, Steve Davis, Jeff Janovetz and everyone at Radio Memphis.

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After you listen to that, this video will make MUCH more sense.




NEXT WEEK: The power of suggestion compels you to listen.

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Willie "Too Big" Hall - Part 1

Willie "Too Big" Hall

I am a fortunate guy. In the course of working in this end of show business, I get to take part in some truly great moments. This time is one of those. One of my favorite movies (and is one of many of yours) is The Blues Brothers.

The thing about that band, it is truly one of the greatest bands ever to perform. Like any band of this nature, the rhythm section is the key to the whole thing. The backbone if you will, falls to the bassist and the drummer. In that band it was Donald "Duck" Dunn and Willie "Too Big" Hall.

Willie came to Radio Memphis one night and Jeff Janovetz and I had a great evening talking about music, movies, the road and all things Willie is doing. This is part one of that broadcast. It was only edited to remove our commercials and other Radio Memphis bits of business. We talk about where his nickname came from and how he got is start in the music business.

Included in this episode are a couple of songs played by permission from the Bar-Kays and The Bo-Keys. We also start a conversation about working with The Blues Brothers and how the movie was made.



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Our thanks to Mark Caldwell of The Memphis Blues Society  for making this happen.

NEXT WEEK: Part two of this conversation including how the theme from Shaft was made, the whole story about The Blues Brothers and what Willie is doing now.

Stay tuned...