Third Man Books is excited to announce the 25th Anniversary edition of It Came From Memphis, Robert Gordon‘s celebrated history of Memphis music. The updated and revised 25th Anniversary edition features more than 80 new photos and a new layout, an updated text featuring more voices, a new foreword by Hanif Abdurraqib, afterword and updated buying recommendations from the author.
Like no other music history, It Came From Memphis: Updated and Revised dishes its tuneful tale with a full context of social issues. From institutional racism to cowboy movies, from manic disc jockeys to Quaalude motorcycle gangs, this story is as unvarnished a history of rock and roll as ever has been written. Stars pass through— Elvis, Aretha, Jerry Lee—but the emphasis is more on the singular achievements of artists like Alex Chilton, Jim Dickinson, Furry Lewis and wrestler Sputnik Monroe.
Between the 1950s and the 1970s, Memphis changed the fabric of American society and popular culture. It Came From Memphis burrows deep into the practicalities of those changes telling the story of the weirdos, winos, and midget wrestlers who forged the original rock and roll spirit. Music liberated that Memphis audience, and the world followed. A storyteller’s storyteller, Robert Gordon puts you in the shotgun seat, riding with the old coots and the young rebels as they pass a bottle and a blunt.
Watch a trailer featuring Robert Gordon himself.
Robert Gordon is a native Memphian who has been exporting the city’s authentic weirdness since long before It Came From Memphis (1995). He’s been nominated for six Grammys; his win was for the liner notes to the Big Star box set Keep an Eye on the Sky. His Emmy was for Best of Enemies, the 2015 documentary about Gore Vidal, William Buckley, and the demise of civil discourse in America. He’s not the rockabilly singer, he’s not the author of Deep Blues, and he’s not the university in Scotland. He lives in Memphis.
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*Feature image: Screengrab of trailer
