Mighty Sound of the South

Last updated November 21, 2023

The Mighty Sound of the South is the marching band that represents and performs for the University of Memphis in Memphis, TN.

History

At the end of the 1962-1963 basketball season, the Tiger team had the distinction of being the only southern team to be invited to play in the National Invitational Tournament in Madison Square Garden. Thomas C. Ferguson, in only his second year as band director, was a big basketball fan, and furnished a pep band for every home game, which was not a given as it is today. He decided that his pep band should go to New York City, and he called the tournament committee for permission. They had to check into it, because a pep band had never before played for a basketball game in the Garden. They were given the green light to become the first.

Nineteen pep band members boarded a bus for New York City. They were determined to make a name for themselves - literally. Using markers and an old bed sheet, they fashioned a makeshift sign with the words "The Mighty Sound of the South" to humorously describe their modestly sized band. The basketball team went on to an impressive showing, and the name "The Mighty Sound of the South" is still used, in a more literal sense, for the 200+ member marching band.

A history of previous-thru-current directors / assistant directors of The Mighty Sound of The South is as follows:

Year Started	Year Ended	Name
1940	1950	Lawrence "Pat" Cooney
1950	1952	Gaston Taylor
1953	1956	Ralph Hale
1957	1959	Olin Blickensderfer
1962	1974	Dr. Tom Ferguson
1968	1970	James Richens
1972	1986	Art Theil
1975	2002	Dr. Sidney McKay
1987	1998	Dr. James "Marty" Courtney
1999	1999	Geoff Carlton
2000	2011	Dr. Nicholas Holland
2002	2011	Dr. Kraig Williams
2008	current	Dr. Albert Nguyen
2011	2012	Dr. Quintus F. Wrighten, Jr.
2011	2016	Dan Kalantarian
2012	2014	Dr. Armand V. Hall
2014	2016	Dan Kalantarian
2017	current	Dr. William J. Plenk

The Mighty Sound of the South is officially charged with preserving the traditions of the Memphis Tigers and for performing “Go! Tigers! Go!” the University of Memphis Tigers’ fight song.^[1] The fight song was written by Tom Ferguson, former Director of Bands at Memphis State University during the 1960-1970s.

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References

↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLKs3V2XL6Q Go! Tigers! Go! Lyrics and Performance

External links

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[1] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLKs3V2XL6Q Go! Tigers! Go! Lyrics and Performance

[1]

v t e University of Memphis
Located in: Memphis, Tennessee
Academics	University of Memphis University of Memphis, School of Law FedEx Institute of Technology Advanced Distributed Learning Workforce Co-Lab
Athletics	Memphis Tigers Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Men's soccer Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium List of Memphis athletes FedEx Park Baseball Field, University of Memphis Memphis Soccer & Track Stadium University of Memphis Tennis Complex Elma Roane Fieldhouse
Journals	Southern Journal of Philosophy University of Memphis Law Review
Life	The Daily Helmsman Mighty Sound of the South FedEx Forum Art Museum at the University of Memphis WYXR TOM II TOM III Memphis Pom
Founded: 1912 Students: 20,585 Endowment: 199 million

v t e Memphis Tigers football
Venues	Normal Field (1912–1916) Russwood Park (1912–1915, 1918–1920, 1922–1924) Hodges Field (1917, 1919, 1921–1923, 1926–1929) Memorial Field (1924–1936) Fairgrounds Stadium (1937) Crump Stadium (1937–1964) Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (1965–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Arkansas State: Paint Bucket Bowl Cincinnati Louisville Ole Miss Southern Miss: Black and Blue Bowl UAB: Battle for the Bones
Culture & lore	Pouncer TOM (mascot) "Go Tigers Go" Mighty Sound of the South Miami Beach Brawl
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

v t e Memphis Tigers men's basketball
Venues	Various locations (1920–1929) Memorial Fieldhouse (1929–1966) Mid-South Coliseum (1966–1991) Pyramid Arena (1991–2004) FedExForum (2004–present)
Rivalries	Cincinnati Louisville UAB
Culture & lore	Pouncer Newby's TOM (mascot) "Go Tigers Go" Mighty Sound of the South
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1942–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Memphis Tigers women's basketball
Venues	Various locations (1920–1929) Memorial Fieldhouse (1929–1936, 1972–present)
Rivalries	Cincinnati Louisville
Culture & lore	Newby's TOM (mascot) "Go Tigers Go" Mighty Sound of the South
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23

Mighty Sound of the South

Contents

History

Related Research Articles

References

External links