“I was at my home in Memphis one evening and heard a car pass by blasting Al Green’s ‘Love and Happiness,’ which was recorded just a couple miles away,” says singer-songwriter John Paul Keith. “I was struck by how Howard Grimes’ drumming just seems to embody something about the feel and the pace of life for me here. I thought to myself, ‘Howard Grimes is the rhythm of the city.’ My next thought was, ‘That sounds like a title track.’”
Keith’s fifth solo album – and his first self-produced effort – The Rhythm of the City finds him expanding his approach on a horn-heavy 10-song collection that’s in thrall to the classic sounds of Bluff City soul and rock and roll.
Conjuring up his own unique musical mélange –a sweet spot where the sound of Sun blues, Stax soul, and Hi R&B all meet – it’s a record steeped in the geography and culture of Memphis, which Keith has called home for the last 15 years.“The vibe came about organically from playing Beale Street and Graceland and working with horn sections more frequently the last few years,” says Keith.
For Keith the album also represents the culmination of a long creative journey. A Knoxville native, Keith was an Americana prodigy of sorts, earning a pair of record deals (once as a founding member of the Viceroys, then later leading the Nevers) before turning 23. He then slogged it out for a decade, bouncing between bands in New York City, Nashville and Birmingham.
Moving to Memphis in the middle-00s – and steeping himself both in the city’s rich tradition and thriving contemporary scene — heralded a rebirth for Keith. He would go onto launch a solo career, releasing a series of exquisite and widely acclaimed records on the Mississippi label Big Legal Mess: 2009’s Spills and Thrills, 2011’s The Man That Time Forgot, 2013’s Memphis Circa 3AM — as well as a live record plus an EP and LP as Motel Mirrors, a collaboration with fellow Memphis artist Amy LaVere and Texas guitar legend Will Sexton.
After having Sexton produce his 2018 album Heart Shaped Shadow – which began to explore more ornate soul-styledarrangements – Keith built his latest album on a newly strengthened musical foundation.
The Rhythm of the City was recorded to tape at Electraphonic Recording, and engineered by Keith’s frequent collaborator,Scott Bomar (bandleader of the Bo-Keys, Don Bryant producer, film composer for Dolemite Is My Name).
The quicksilver recording approach was aided by a talented crew of Keith’s Memphis compatriots. The album features Tierinii and Tikyra Jackson of Grammy-nominated combo Southern Avenue on background vocals, Al Gamble of St. Paul and the Broken Bones on keyboards, Danny Banks (Nicole Atkins band) on drums, and Matthew Wilson of John Németh and the Blue Dreamers on bass. Trumpeter Marc Franklin, along with tenor and baritone saxmen Art Edmaiston and Kirk Smothers, comprise a hard-hitting horn section.
Rhythm confidently stakes its claim as Keith’s best album, with a mix of stinging love songs (“How Can You Walk Away”) halting heartbreakers (“I Don’t Wanna Know”), bluesy rambles (“If I Had Money”) and deep soul explorations (“How Do I Say No) that feel like instant classics.
“I wrote a song with Scott Bomar for [Hi Records veteran] Don Bryant’s album a few years ago. Some of the songs on this album started out as possible ideas for Don, like ‘The Sun’s Gonna Shine Again,’ which I wrote with Scott,” recalls Keith.
“We put an electric sitar on it in homage to another great Memphis studio musician, the late Reggie Young. There are tons of Memphis references embedded throughout the record,” he says.
“‘Love Love Love’ was inspired by Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio. Even the airplane sound on the title track is a reference to the Box Tops’ ‘The Letter,’” adds Keith. “I hired Archie ‘Hubbie’ Turner to play clavinet because, at the time, I was constantly listening to his work with Syl Johnson. It blows my mind that I was just able to call him up to come play on my record.”
As Keith notes, “Most cities have one sound, but there are many Memphis sounds. I tried to make a record that honors that.”