Oxford American # 115, Winter 2021

Editor’s Letter: A Rhythm Nation by Danielle A. Jackson

POINTS SOUTH

I Love the Way it Sounds, by Lynell George

In Search of Vigon, by Miles Marshall Lewis

Music from the Magic Box, by Alice Randall

Our Us (Three Syllables), a story by Ed Pavlić

Alvin Ailey Finds His Voice, by Mark Burford

I Am Bound for de Kingdom, a poem by Marlanda Dekine

Lowell George in Eight and a Half Songs, by Elizabeth Nelson

Ode to Coca-Cola, Helium, Carbon, a poem by Cal Freeman

In Montana, by Jessica Lynne

Buddy Guy Walks into a Bar, by Ben Greenman

Where Is Jimmy Bishop?, by Alex Lewis

Overnight Scenario, by Karen Good Marable

FEATURES

Can't You See That I'm Lonely?
“Rescue Me,” on repeat
by David Ramsey

Slow Time
Southern resonance in Daniel Lanois’s Sling Blade score
by Tim Greiving

Country Boy Gone City
A ballad of Johnny Bristol, Al Green, and Battle Creek’s Bloody Corner
by Rebecca Bengal

Toward the Sun
Jazz and soul bloom Up South at midcentury
Photographs by Kwame Brathwaite
Accompanying essay by Jasmine Sanders

Manhattan in East St. Louis
Ike & Tina Turner and the scene that formed their art
by Maureen Mahon

SONGBOOK

Notes on the sound of the South in the city

The Watts Miracle
Zandria F. Robinson on Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace

More Bridges Than Walls
Jim Beaugez on Chicano Soul

Fye-Veaux
Joi Gilliam on Turning Fifty

Houston Meets Broolyn in UGK's "Big Pimpin"
Dan Gentile on Jay-Z and UGK’s Big Collaboration

The Dollar Done Fell at the Checkerboard Lounge
Jay Jennings on Buddy Guy’s Checkerboard Lounge

A Brief History of Bounce
by Big Freedia

The Southern Roots of Q
Terence Blanchard on Quincy Jones

Spring Break Soundtrack
by Leon Bridges

Sculpting the Epic Hero in Sound
Harmony Holiday on Mary Lou Williams

Carolyn's Alchemy
Tarisai Ngangura on Carolyn Franklin

Up South Music Credits

Vocal Visionaries
by Simon Marotte



Art by: Ethan D’Ercole, Malick Sidibé, Carla Jay Harris, Ida Kohlmeyer, Lynell George, Derrick Adams, Zhou Yilun, Irwin Gooen, Jack Mitchell, Edgar Bryan, Jessica Lynne, Omar Velázquez, Gordon Parks, Angela Davis Johnson, Bryan Graf, Kwame Brathwaite, Jim O’Neal, Carter/Reddy, Joi Gilliam, Daniel Hastings, Jonas Dovydenas, Brad Hebert, William P. Gottlieb

Cover 1: Tina Turner in concert at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, 1969 © Walter Iooss Jr./Getty Images
Cover 2: Aretha Franklin, c. 1967 © Induna Entec Media/Alamy