© 2024
NPR for Northern Colorado
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

American Sound Studio On World Cafe

American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tenn.
World Cafe
American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tenn.

"Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley. "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" by Aretha Franklin. "Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield. "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. All of these legendary songs were recorded at Memphis' American Sound Studio, the last of the five studios we're featuring in our trip to Memphis as part of the quarterly "Sense of Place" series.

Between 1967 and 1971, the studio produced approximately 120 hit songs. Musician and producer Ben Vaughn is uniquely poised to discuss the rise and fall of American Sound: Besides his love of the music, he worked with the American house band, The Memphis Boys, on Arthur Alexander's 1993 album Lonely Just Like Me. Vaughn goes through some of the most important songs to come out of American and shares his experience working with The Memphis Boys.

Listen toWorld Cafe's American Sound playlist on Spotify.

Copyright 2020 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.

David Dye is a longtime Philadelphia radio personality whose music enthusiasm has captivated listeners of World Cafe ® since 1991. World Cafe is produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania.
Related Content
  • This poppy folk band brings a fresh perspective to the Memphis music scene. Listen to a performance and interview with the group, recorded at Ardent Studios.
  • World Cafe couldn't leave Memphis without a taste of the blues from gospel-blues singer and preacher Rev. John Wilkins. Here, he performs a session with a cover of his father's famous song, "Prodigal Son."
  • Our "Sense of Place" spotlight on Memphis wouldn't be complete without visiting Ardent Studios, where the power-pop royalty in Big Star recorded three albums. We speak with the group's drummer, Jody Stephens, who still runs the studio.