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- Ghosts Behind the Sun: Splendor, Enigma & Death
Ghosts Behind the Sun: Splendor, Enigma & Death
by Tav Falco
"A wonderfully dense, ceaselessly entertaining trawl through the history of Memphis' cultural underground and criminal demi-monde. A book populated by hipsters, grifters, and dreamers, that vividly brings every moment of magic, inspiration, and madness to life." ―Bob Mehr, Memphis Commercial Appeal
"Back in the alley when the games gets fast, ain't no piece of paper gonna save your ass." ―Lee Baker
Tav Falco's sprawling study of Memphis begins with the Civil War massacre at Fort Pillow, the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878, and the grisly murders of the Harp Brothers.
Falco traces these legends of Reconstruction-era Memphis to an equally brutal twentieth century underworld―Beale Street kingpin Jim Canaan, Edward Crump's political machine, the Dixie Mafia, and others.
Also included are revelatory dialogues concerning the city's many music legends, from rockabilly icons Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Charlie Feathers to more underground figures such as Jim Dickinson and country blues wailer Jessie Mae Hemphill.
Interwoven with these accounts is an autobiographical history of Falco's own time in Memphis, including his involvement with performance art ensemble Insect Trust, working with pop/rock maverick Alex Chilton, and the formation of his seminal rock and roll band, Panther Burns.
The book also contains over 80 illuminating photographs, mostly previously unseen originals by Falco.
Tav Falco is an American musician, performance artist, filmmaker, actor, author, photographer, and dancer. He has worked with Charlie Feathers, Cordell Jackson, and Mike Watt, among many, many others. He appears in Great Balls of Fire!, Highway 61, and Downtown 81. He wrote, directed, and starred in the feature film Urania Descending.
Creation
paperback
English
November 15, 2011
First Edition
312 pages
7 x 0.75 x 10 inches