 Rolling Stone Ron Wood cover story, October 1986 issue | |
| Categories | Music magazine |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Bi-monthly |
| Year founded | 1986 |
| First issue | 1986 (September/October) |
| Final issue | 1989 |
| Company | Nine-O-One Network, Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Language | English |
| OCLC | 24881957 |
Nine-O-One Network was an American bi-monthly music magazine, published in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1986 to 1989.
The magazine originated during the heralded 1986 "Class of '55" recording session in Memphis with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins. Producer Chips Moman asked James L. Dickerson, a reporter with The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis, if he would create a magazine that could be used as part of a sales package for a telemarketing campaign for the album. Dickerson agreed to do it without fee if Moman would allow him to name the magazine, copyright it, and use it to launch a bi-monthly music magazine. Moman agreed, and the magazine was named Nine-O-One Network, the name derived from Memphis's telephone area code, 901. [1] Dickerson resigned from The Commercial Appeal to publish the magazine so that he would not have a conflict of interest. [2]
The first subscription check to arrive in the mail came from Cash. Soon afterward a subscription check arrived from Lewis. [3]
By the end of the first year, the full-color, slick paper magazine had newsstand circulation in fourteen states. By the end of 1987 it was sold on newsstands in all 50 states and throughout Canada, and in selected cities in Portugal, Japan, Australia and the Soviet Union. The distributor was Capital Distribution Co. of Derby, Connecticut. At its peak, the magazine had a circulation of 100,000 which made it the third-largest music magazine in the United States, behind Rolling Stone and Spin . [4]
Initially, the magazine was financed by Dickerson, who used his savings and cashed in his life insurance policy to live on and pay start-up costs. The magazine was incorporated in the State of Tennessee and preferred common stock was offered, all of it purchased by 25 Mississippi and Tennessee investors. [2]
The first issue featured a photograph of Cash, Perkins, Orbison and Lewis. The second issue featured Rolling Stone Ron Wood as the cover story, with inside articles about Belinda Carlisle, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Steve Wariner and Sweethearts of the Rodeo. The eclectic mix reflected the magazine's philosophy that a true American music magazine should contain articles about all the major forms of native music – rock and roll, country, blues and jazz. [2]
Back issues of Nine-O-One Network Magazine are available at:
In 1988, the magazine formed a spin-off company to produce a radio syndication called Pulsebeat – Voice of the Heartland. With James L. Dickerson as executive producer, the company produced two programs – a 30-minute, weekly country music program that was carried by about 60 radio stations from coast to coast, and a 60-minute blues program that was produced in partnership with Helena, Arkansas, radio station KFFA-Am, which had broadcast since 1941 the universally acclaimed King Biscuit Time' show. [5]
Both syndicated programs featured radio personality Kim Spangler. Veteran King Biscuit announcer "Sunshine" Sonny Payne, KFFA general manager George Hays and Memphis radio personality Henry Nelson also hosted segments on the blues show. [6] The weekly blues show was broadcast by 40 stations from New York City to the Yukon. Featured guests included Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Melissa Etheridge and Little Milton. Pulsebeat—Voice of the Heartland ceased operations in 1990.
Samuel Cornelius "Sam" Phillips was an American record producer who played an important role in the development of rock and roll during the 1950s. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Howlin' Wolf. He launched Presley's career in 1954. Phillips sold Sun in 1969 to Shelby Singleton.
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American singer, musician, and pianist, often known by his nickname, The Killer. He has been described as "rock & roll's first great wild man and one of the most influential pianists of the twentieth century."
Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. Prior to that, Sun had concentrated mainly on African-American musicians because Phillips loved rhythm and blues and wanted to bring it to a white audience.
Carl Lee Perkins was an American singer-songwriter who recorded most notably at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, beginning in 1954. Amongst his best-known songs are "Blue Suede Shoes", "Matchbox" and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby".
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.
King Biscuit Time is the longest-running daily American radio broadcast in history. The program is broadcast each weekday from KFFA in Helena, Arkansas, United States, and has won the George Foster Peabody Award for broadcasting excellence. In 2018, certain selections of King Biscuit Time from 1965 were selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."
John Marty Stuart is a multiple Grammy Award-winning, American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky-tonk, and traditional country music. In the early 1990s, he had a string of country hits.
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Reputedly the first rock and roll single, Jackie Brenton and his Delta Cats' "Rocket 88" was recorded there in 1951 with song composer Ike Turner on keyboards, leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll. Blues and R&B artists like Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Little Milton, B.B. King, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, and Rosco Gordon recorded there in the early 1950s.
Class of '55 is a 1986 album by rock and roll pioneers Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins.
Jack Henderson Clement was an American singer, songwriter, and record and film producer.
The Sun Records Collection is a 1994 compilation album.
Reggie Grimes Young Jr. was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, Merrilee Rush, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, Herbie Mann, J.J. Cale, Dionne Warwick, Roy Hamilton, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, the Box Tops, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Merle Haggard, Joey Tempest, George Strait, and The Highwaymen. Young was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019.
KFFA is an American radio station licensed by the FCC to serve the community of Helena, Arkansas. The station is owned by Monte Spearman and Gentry Todd Spearman, through licensee High Plains Radio Network, LLC.
The Johnny Cash Show was an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show reached No. 17 in the Nielsen ratings in 1970.
This is a detailed discography for American rock and roll, country, and gospel singer-songwriter Jerry Lee Lewis. One of the pioneers of rockabilly, Lewis has recorded over 40 albums in a career spanning seven decades. Lewis is a versatile artist, and has recorded songs in multiple genres. Lewis, in 1986, was one of the very first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and, as of 2020, is the last surviving rock and roll pioneer of Sun Records Some of his best known songs are "Great Balls of Fire", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", and "High School Confidential". His album, Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, is widely considered one of the greatest live concert albums ever. In his lengthy career in music, Lewis has had 30 songs reach the top ten on the "Billboard Country-and-Western" chart. Lewis is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential pianists of the rock and roll era, and was ranked number 24 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session was a televised concert that was taped live at Limehouse Studios in London, England on 21 October 1985. The show featured rock n' roll pioneer Carl Perkins along with friends as guest stars, including Eric Clapton, former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as well as Dave Edmunds who acted as musical director for the show. Most of the repertoire performed in the concert consisted of Perkins' classic rockabilly songs from the 1950s. It was directed by Tom Gutteridge. The concert special was originally broadcast in 1985 on Channel 4 in the UK and on Cinemax in 1986 with introductory comments by Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The show was shown on Channel 4 on 1 January 1986. Perkins performed 16 songs, with two encores, in an extraordinary performance. Perkins and his friends ended the session by singing his most famous song, 30 years after its writing, which brought Perkins to tears. The concert is a memorable highlight of Carl Perkins' later career and has been highly praised by fans for the spirited performances delivered by Perkins and his famous guests. It was the first public performance by George Harrison in more than ten years An edited version of the program is available for viewing on YouTube.
KWEM Radio was set up by the KLXR-Razorback Network in 1946, in West Memphis, Arkansas. Efforts were made to get the radio station on air before the end of 1946, but equipment problems delayed the opening. Tests were made during the second week of January 1947, and the station's formal opening was held on February 23, 1947.
The Mojo Triangle, a geographical and cultural area located within a triangular connection between New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis, is the birthplace of country, blues, jazz, and rock 'n' roll. The Mojo Triangle has presented the world with an astonishing array of creative artists, not just in music, but also in literature and films.
"Birth of Rock and Roll" is a 1986 song written by Carl Perkins and Greg Perkins. The song was featured on the Class of '55 album which included performances with Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis. "Birth of Rock and Roll" was released as a 7" single with a picture sleeve, 885 760-7, on the Smash/America label copyrighted by PolyGram Records produced by Chips Moman. The single reached no. 31 on the Billboard country chart and no. 44 on the Canadian country chart in 1986. The B side was "Rock and Roll (Fais-Do-Do)" which featured Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison. The theme of the song “Birth of Rock and Roll" is about how "Memphis gave birth to rock and roll" in the 1950s at Sun Records. A video of the song was also made featuring Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones as they drove to the historic Sun studios in Memphis, Tennessee in a white Cadillac convertible.
The Memphis Music Hall of Fame, located in Memphis, Tennessee, honors Memphis musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The induction ceremony and concert is held each year in Memphis. Since its establishment in 2012, the Hall of Fame has inducted more than 48 individuals or groups. It is administered by the non-profit Memphis Rock N' Soul Museum. In July 2015, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame opened a 'brick and mortar' museum and exhibit hall, which features memorabilia, video interviews, and interactive exhibits.
