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With her new album Memphis, Amy Black has made an abrupt turn from the backwoods of the heartland towards the namesake city after which this record is titled. It’s not as abrupt a switch as one might think — after all, Americana forms a broad umbrella — but Black’s effort to affect a tribute to that city’s legacy of soul and R&B, a sound that fermented Stax and sounds that rode on the crest of the Mississippi, provides a distinct portrait of a particular place and time.
Black’s taken this tack before; her last album, The Muscle Shoals Sessions, owed its allegiance to that fabled studio where so many landmark recordings of historical significance were made. So if she seems to have embarked on a Magical History Tour, the thematic fit makes sense. Still, it’s a heady commitment, given that the last word on the Memphis sound was well etched with Al Green, Mavis Staples, Ann Peebles and all the other venerable artists that called the city their home. Happily though, Black seems undeterred. Enlisting, among others, Charles and Leroy Hodges, the original session players who played on all those classic Al Green sides, and opting for a mix of choice covers — “If Could Reach Out (And Help Somebody),” “I Need Your Love So Bad” and the erstwhile “Further On Up the Road” — and impressive originals, she effectively captures the style and sound of Memphis in its mainstream. There’s no hint of pretense, no unnecessary posturing, but rather instead, the sound of a cool groove, basic blues and simmering soul.
Wisely then, Black’s efforts don’t redefine that precious legacy, but her intent rings true. Her goal is clearly to reaffirm the role played by Memphis in the creation of genuine American music, and at that, she succeeds. As Black affirms here, short of a personal pilgrimage, there’s no better way to sample those sounds than to drop the needle on Memphis in the meantime.