Shangri-La Projects

Wut! New record from Eddy Current Suppression Ring posting over on Goner soon! New(ish) video out too! Best swimming song since Meat Puppets' "Swimming Ground"!! Does this mean the 2nd best Gonerfest band ever is making a return this fall??? Whoa!!...check Polymarkets for the odds!

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING - SWIMMING HOLE EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING - SWIMMING HOLEBRENDAN SUPPRESSIONE...

Ok, sometimes you go for this, and you get that. Dick Raichelson's symposium the week before last at the Sound Convention about the 1st recording sessions in Memphis in February, 1927, (Autozone World HQ!) was really fantastic! In addition to the raison d'etre, the talk about the recording sessions was educational, deep dish, and fascinating. But what was really fun and educational were the advertising graphics he dug up to tell his stories.

While he focused his talk on the actual recordings and the sessions, the ads for where and when the recordings might be purchased got me thinking about the first actual record stores in Memphis.

Everyone knows about Shirley's Poplar Tunes--later sold to the Cuoghis & the Novareses in the early '50s when they removed "Shirley" and her name from the enterprise and sign. Most hipsters know about the legendary Home of the Blues--on Beale St. where the Elvis statue currently resides--and the stories surrounding Ruben Cherry starting the store & label (the 1st store label in Mempho??) in 1948. And a few even know about Dewey Phillips' record department in the W.T. Grant's department store in the late 1940s/early 1950s. Dewey fashioned a p.a. system in his department and screamed at you through the p.a and threw records at you in attempt to move the latest wax & shellacs. His notoriety led to him being discovered by the g.m. of WHBQ and hired to take that insane show down the street to the airwaves at WHBQ on the first floor of the Hotel Chisca!

But were these the 1st record shops in Mempho??? Heck, no, according to Professor Raichelson! He showed slides of ads for records being sold at Goldsmiths in the basement in April, 1927, and at O.K. Houck Piano Company on Beale St. in May, 1927.

But the real grandaddy ad of them all is Mutual Furniture Company on 183 Beale St (at 3rd & Beale) from February, 1924!! If you google that address, you can see Silky Sullivans. Zoom in past the cheezy sign, and you can still see faded "Mutual Furniture Company" verbiage above the windows. Until someone shows me some other data, I'm calling this the oldest record store location in Mempho!

We are proud to be involved in a small way in a 102 year-old (at least!) tradition and industry here in Mempho! Thank you to Dick Raichelson for such amazing digging & great information!!

Thank you, USA Today & Chris Kenning, for extolling the virtues of a couple of the Memphis music institutions we created that folks have been enjoying for the last 20+ years!! Please swing by Shangri-La Records next time for the trifecta!!!

The cradle still rocks - Memphis keeps writing its music story New venues, deep history and growing energy keep Memphis' uniquely American sound relevant and exciting.

Shout-out to Ford Nelson, legendary Memphis dj. When we did the Will Roy Sanders/Fieldstones doc 27 years ago, he reached out to us and told us he used to have Will Roy play guitar on his show on WDIA when Will Roy was a kid in the early '60s!! He remembered Will Roy as quite a talented young guitar player! Ford Nelson was an O.G. Memphis dj for sure! RIP, Mr. Nelson, and thank you for your service!

Double-posting Thursday!!! Sorry for the swampin' of your feeds today, but, if you got $30 in your pocket, & you want some Memphis OG blues/gospel knowledge, get on down to that ole run-down hotel the city bought, across from Ellis Auditorium, tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. !! The Association for Recorded Sound Collections' convention is dropping the knowledge!!

Today was Friend of the Label Dick Raichelson, who we often used to see on our library research extravaganzas. O.G. indeed! Anyway, he connected some serious dots on the 1st recording sessions in Memphis in February, '27!!! (1927!!!) Great stuff! Sorry you missed it!

Friday: 9:00 a.m. Jug Bands by Roberta Schwartz followed by the B.B. King archive at University of Mississippi talk followed by a discussion with Friend of the Label Scott Baretta: Music Making at Parchman!

But wait, there's more, rekkid nerds!!

11:00 Dr. Dave Evans & the history of High Water Records from the man himself!! One of the great unknown stories of Memphis music history! Dr. Dave's talk will be followed by one of Dr. Dave's superstar students of the '80s, Kip Lornell, who wrote Happy in the Service of the Lord!!! Kip will be talking about his work in Memphis in the '80s!! Don't miss this if you have time!!

Yo Yo Ma's son, Nicholas Ma, put together a super healing concert in Memphis called American Revival to remind everyone how special Memphis is and how much Memphis needs a group hug. It was a nice reminder that the world does care about Memphis, and all the current attacks by both the federal and state governments are causing community screams. Memphis needed this and much more. It is a hard time to be in Memphis right now, but the message, which we definitely agree with, is this too shall pass. When you need city-wide healing, definitely call the lady who cut her teeth at Maggie's Pharm! Get out & vote!! (Unfortunately seldom seen headliner T-Bone Burnett cancelled, but Keb Mo filled in nicely at the last minute). P.S. Best act was the Whitehaven High School Drumline! Go, Memphis!

One of the delightful parts of fan journalism is the fun reimagining of artwork. Here you are with a fine stab at our month-long cause celebre from April: Wattle & Daub by the legendary Strapping Fieldhands! Have fun; rearrange album track orders! https://spectrumculture.com/2026/05/10/resequence-strapping-fieldhands-wattle-daub/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRxer1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe0SWvqEUB8oqBwcTiYCIhPMsWRP-1wjVmcazXrAVVd7lLo1VPD7AUzrCN6zU_aem_VcKWD7d0qD4wEQfjo1WCMA

Resequence: Strapping Fieldhands: Wattle & Daub - Spectrum Culture This resequence of the gleefully uneven and typically untidy Wattle and Daub reworks the album with an eye toward maximizing connection and minimizing waste, without sacrificing irregularity.

A few more reviews as we wrap up our month-long hug of the amazing Strapping Fieldhands Wattle & Daub. It's been a blast reminiscing about this breakthrough record. We still have lps! We still have cds too! Don't sleep on Discus, which we also have on cd! Brilliant! And don't sleep on all the great singles that really broke the lofi psyche genre on Gobs on the Midway. Collect 'em all, and thank you for listening to our faves the Strapping Fieldhands!!!

Our month-long celebration of Wattle & Daub almost concludes, but we cannot do so without checking in with the gods of psyche at Ptolemaic Terrascope. Let's see what they think of this gem!!!

Great high school reunion for all the music weirdos yesterday! Happy 37th for the shop at the Jugfest!! Beautiful music & weather and plenty of generational friends & kids abounded. Also, perhaps the 1st Rick Steff live at Shangri-La Records appearance!! Whoa! Followers of the label will remember Rick saving the For Her and the Snow record--along with producer Doug Easley--with his beautiful mellotron work! Great to see the folks out on an amazing Saturday!