The Independent (Free subscription) | 04/17/2008
The musical history of Memphis leans heavily on R&B, rock’n’roll and soul, but in the late Sixties, Ardent Studios was a lone outpost catering to the region’s burgeoning wave of Anglophile groups.
Glorious Noise (Free subscription) | 04/16/2008
Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story is out now in the UK on Ace/Big Beat. According to the Ace Records press, the 2-disc collection from the legendray Memphis recording studio contains "no less than 14 rare or unissued Big...
The Independent (Free subscription) | 04/13/2008
From pouting garage rock to psychedelia so anglophile that the accents recall Teddington more than Tennessee, and on to the pre-punk power pop of Big Star, this 2CD survey of cult Memphis label Ardent is so revelatory it's hard to listen to anything else. The first disc's selection of Sixties singles, including solo work by Big Star's Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, mixes sharp mod R&B with phased guitars,...
Rachel and the City (Free subscription) | 06/21/2007
Since the hot and dusty autumn of 1915, when W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues (Talkin' 'bout dem Boss Crump Blues)" hit the top of Circus Tent and Minstrel Show magazine's most requested list of shoutouts for the whole year, Memphis popular...
