This week music writer Matthew Cheadle explores how the success of TV Show Memphis Beat has inspired a hit record and his take on it. Matt
Matthew Cheadle gives his verdict on 'The Beat of Memphis'
Matt writes;
TV SHOW MEMPHIS BEAT INSPIRES HIT RECORD
Hot on the success of hit US TV show, ‘Memphis Beat’, an album of songs featured in the show entitled,’The Beat of Memphis’, from singer Mark Arnell, is now riding high in the CD Baby charts and selling faster than an early bird special in a Tennessee diner.
The show itself follows Memphis detective Dwight Hendricks (played by Jason Lee of ‘My name is Earl’fame) as he fights crime by day and sings old rock n roll songs in bars at night. British singer Mark Arnell(from Brit/US rockers i-94) is actually the voice to which Lee mimes, despite a recent claim by the actor on the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Show’ that the he sang the songs himself!
Having picked up a fan base over the two season run, Arnell got together with the production team atWest13 Music in Hollywood to put together an album featuring tracks from the show, boasting some of the greatest songs ever associated with Memphis.
Arnell adds his honey-dripped vocals to a set ranging from Stax favorites, ‘Hold on I’m Coming’ and ‘Knock on Wood’, to Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’, to a bevy of Elvis hits such as ‘Heartbreak Hotel’,'Guitar Man’ and ‘Love me Tender’.
Skillfully and soulfully backed by the musicians at West13, Arnell’s vocals (recorded by Owen Thomas at Conversion Studios in the UK)
carry a feeling for the music that belie his background growing up in South East England in the 1980s!
From the gravelly grit of ‘One Night’, to the impassioned gospel of ‘I Want to be Free’, to the fiery funk of the one original tune on the album, ‘Let’s Go Down to Memphis’ (co-written with West13), Mark Arnell delivers with all the soul and ease of a man deeply at home in his musical surroundings.
Available at all the usual online outlets, ‘The Beat of Memphis’, is currently one of the top 10 selling albums on CDBaby with two tracks breaking the top 10 songs as well!
Ideal for young, would-be hipsters looking to discover some of the great songs of old, and mums and dads in search of nostalgia, ‘The Beat of Memphis’, offers the perfect testament to a city’s contribution to Rock n Roll, and the perfect vehicle for Mark Arnell’s first solo outing.
Grab a handful and dish ‘em out to aunties and cousins, grandkids and grandparents for Christmas!!
Subscribe via Email