Spinning the sounds of the South

Southern Living, Nov 1995 by Black, James T

If you've ever sat in a darkened room, tenderly turning the lighted dials of a glowing radio, you've known that magic moment.

Moving through the crackles of static, monotones of local newscasters, and screams of religious pitchmen, you finally find The Sound. John Lee Hooker steadily beats back all of the world's blues with "Boogie Chillen." Jean Knight struts by asking "Mr. Big Stuff, who do you think you are?" Elvis Presley drops in to warn that little sister "don't you do what your big sister done."

Popular music has been an American obsession ever since the first scratchy sounds magically emanated from a windup Victrola.

While musicians from across the country contributed to that all-American music, much of it began in the South. In the jazz clubs of New Orleans, the blues joints of Mississippi, and the rock 'n' roll bars of other Southern cities, uniquely regional sounds were born, reared, and released to the world.

And thanks to people such as Tommy Couch, Wolf Stephenson, and Stewart Madison of Malaco Records and Nauman and Hammond Scott of Black Top Records, the music keeps on coming. Working in soundproof studios and at ear-splitting concerts, these Southern music men are discovering new musicians and rediscovering forgotten ones.

THE POWER AND THE GLORY

Malaco Records, Jackson, Mississippi

From the street on Jackson's industrialized western side, the squat, tan buildings still look like the warehouses they once were. But inside Malaco Records, the look changes.

Lobby walls are decorated with gleaming album covers of blues and gospel musicians. Near the reception desk a framed clipping from Billboard magazine lists the nation's top gospel albums for a week. A Malaco record is number one, and others are scattered throughout the list like loud "amens" from the congregation.

Tommy Couch smiles as he walks toward the wall. "That was a pretty good week," the soft-spoken president and co-founder of Malaco Records says.

Tommy got started in the music business as a University of Mississippi student. He'd grown up listening to the raw rhythm-and-blues bands of the 1950s and got the chance to meet many of the musicians when he worked as social chairman of his fraternity, booking bands for parties.

"I graduated with a degree in pharmacy in 1965 and moved to Jackson where my wife's family lived," Tommy says, settling behind a control board in one of the company's studios. "Went to work in a drugstore. That didn't last long."

Instead, the music-loving druggist formed a company with his brother-in-law Mitchell Malouf. Tommy's mother-in-law came up with the name "Malaco," a combination of their last names, Malouf and Couch. For a while, the partners tried their hands at booking bands, bringing such groups as Herman's Hermits and the Who to Jackson.

"But I thought we ought to have a studio," Tommy remembers. "So we opened a four-track studio right here where we are now. Used to be a warehouse for Pepsi-Cola. We didn't know what we were doing."

What the recording novices lacked in expertise they made up for in enthusiasm. Wolf Stephenson, a fraternity brother and fellow disgruntled pharmacist, came on board as an engineer three years later. Then Stewart Madison, another Ole Miss graduate, joined the company to handle the business affairs.

At first the Mississippi music makers barely got by--mainly recording local singers and commercial jingles. Then New Orleans producer Wardell Quezergue decided to give the Jackson studio a try. "He didn't like the sound he was getting in New Orleans, so he came up here," Tommy says. "Luckily, he brought some songs and singers with him."

Among the New Orleans vocalists who arrived was a singer named Jean Knight. She recorded a sassy single called "Mr. Big Stuff," and by the spring of 1971 Malaco had the number one rhythm-and-blues hit in the country.

"We had a few more hits, such as the number one disco hit 'Ring My Bell,' but things were up and down throughout the seventies," Tommy says. "Then rap really came in. I tried recording a little rap, but I didn't know anything about it. I couldn't tell the good from the bad."

So Tommy and his partners decided to study the gospels.

In 1976 Malaco started a gospel music division. Now one of the largest gospel labels in the country, the company records such groups as the Mississippi Mass Choir, the L.A. Gospel Messengers, and the Rev. James Cleveland. "Most of our gospel recordings are done live during performances," Tommy explains. "There's a real energy that comes through in a church or an auditorium."

Malaco's sacred side has been so successful that the company set up a telemarketing division to sell previously recorded gospel and R&B selections as "greatest hits" albums. "We found a lot of customers liked our records but didn't know how to get them," Tommy says. "Guess we're finally learning a thing or two about the record business."

SAVING LOST SOUL

Black Top Records, New Orleans

Nauman Scott collects antique radios, guitars, and Rolex watches; Hammond Scott salvages vintage automobiles. And together, the New Orleans brothers work as finders of lost soul--keeping alive the music they love.