Introducing the Memphis Music Issue
By Oxford American
Our first city-centric issue focuses on the artists and sounds of Memphis, Tennessee. An exceptional lineup of contributors celebrate the Bluff City as the unofficial capital of the Delta, where American sounds and stories flow between the riverbanks of time. Forgotten Memphis melodies will resurface, beloved icons mingle with lesser-known trailblazers, and distinctly Memphian spaces come to life through reported essays, profiles, personal narratives, visual art, fiction, and more.
The Oxford American’s 26th annual Music Issue is the first to center on a Southern city—Memphis, Tennessee. Experience the thrill of the Memphis music scene—past and present—through great writing and an exceptional playlist. The Memphis edition is supplemented by a playlist of beloved Memphis hits and deep cuts, available through an included digital download card so that readers can burn their own CD, as well as on an optional limited-edition vinyl LP add-on. Both the digital download card and LP feature sixteen carefully curated tracks that celebrate the depth and variety of Memphis sounds.
Subscribers will be the first to receive their issues and discover the closely held secrets of the playlist, featuring previously unreleased tracks, well-known artists, and new sounds that listeners will fall in love with. 
“Nashville is where you go to make a hit that sounds like everyone. Memphis is where you make a hit that sounds like no one else,” writes contributor Robert Gordon in his essay about the Memphis jukebox industry.
Al Green is this year’s cover artist. The dynamic photograph of Green was taken by renowned music photographer Eric Johnson, who Vanity Fair credited with being responsible for “some of the most memorable music imagery of the last few decades.” Johnson’s black-and-white portrait of Green radiates with the fierce individuality and Memphis-specific charisma that this special edition celebrates. It’s at once glamorous and naturalistic, both soulful and a little bit punk.
Nashville is where you go to make a hit that sounds like everyone. Memphis is where you make a hit that sounds like no one else.
Memphis historian and filmmaker Robert Gordon
The wealth of sounds and artists that have emerged from Memphis are explored throughout the issue:
-
Elena Passarello takes a contrarian approach to the King’s catalog, considering a wildly famous bootleg of “shitty” Elvis songs.
-
Zandria F. Robinson exalts Memphis rapper GloRilla’s “new blues woman gospel epistemology.”
-
The story of Happy Hour, an unreleased collaboration between Jazze Pha and Cee-Lo Green, is told by Michael A. Gonzales.
-
Andria Lisle profiles her late friend, singer-songwriter Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., known as Jay Reatard, a luminary of the Memphis garage-punk scene.
-
Award-winning musicologist Robert F. Darden details how Memphis and the Church of God in Christ form the roots of gospel singing’s emotional and supernatural core.
-
William Skeaping is in conversation with the godfather of Memphis rap, DJ Spanish Fly, accompanied by archival images of the city’s hip-hop scene.
-
Memphis historian and filmmaker Robert Gordon writes about jukeboxes—“the overlooked engines of the early record business.”
-
And much, much more
“This isn’t a comprehensive take on Memphis. It’s a celebration of the music you may not know with some fresh takes on the music you do,” said Editor-in-Chief Sara A. Lewis. “Our favorite part of making our Music Issue every year is discovery—whether it’s a deep cut from a beloved artist or unearthing an obscure track. We want you to have as much fun listening and reading along to this issue as we did making it.”
The Oxford American will launch the issue with a listening party at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis on December 4. Details to come.
The 2024 Southern Music Issue, with an optional vinyl LP add-on, is available now for pre-order at OxfordAmericanGoods.org. Subscriber copies mail on November 25, 2024. Find the issue at select newsstands on December 10, 2024.
Subscribe to the Oxford American by visiting OxfordAmerican.org/subscribe.
For bulk orders, contact info@oxfordamerican.org or 501-263-0191.