Preston Shannon | pt

Preston Shannon (October 23, 1947 – January 22, 2018) was an American electric blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Among the songs he wrote are "Beale Street Boogaloo" and "Midnight in Memphis".

He was born in Olive Branch, Mississippi, United States. He relocated with his family to Memphis, Tennessee at the age of eight. Despite initial misgiving from his Pentecostal parents, Shannon developed an interest in the blues and played part-time with several local bands, whilst his daytime occupation was with a hardware firm. He began a full-time musical career when he secured a spot in Shirley Brown's backing ensemble.

In 1993, his own Preston Shannon Band played at the Long Beach Blues Festival in Long Beach, California. After being spotted leading his own band in Memphis' Beale Street clubs, he signed to Rounder Records subsidiary, Bullseye Blues, and released his debut solo effort, Break the Ice in 1994. Then followed the Willie Mitchell produced efforts, Midnight in Memphis (1996) and All in Time (1999). However, with no immediate follow-up available, Preston lost momentum.

After moving to Title Tunes, he released Be with Me Tonight (2006).

Shannon played at Memphis in May in both 2008 and 2011. In February 2012, Shannon appeared on season two of The Voice, singing "In the Midnight Hour".

He was a regular performer at B.B. King's Blues Club in Memphis. Shannon's most recent album release was Dust My Broom (2014).

Allmusic noted that "Shannon's speciality is a blend of Southern-fried soul and blues, and his albums and live shows - always with a horn section - are an eclectic mix of danceable, grooving tunes and slow, soulful ballads".

Discography

Albums
Year Title Record label
1994 Break the Ice Bullseye Blues
1996 Midnight in Memphis Bullseye Blues
1999 All in Time Bullseye Blues
2006 Be with Me Tonight Title Tunes
2011 Goin' Back to Memphis Continental Blue Heaven
2014 Dust My Broom Continental Blue Heaven


Singles
Year Title Record label
1999 "Tired of the Ghetto Bringing Me Down" Bullseye Blues




Preston Shannon has been called the King of Beale Street for his longtime tenure playing the clubs along that Memphis byway. Soulful vocals and stinging guitar work make for an incredible live performer, who has been described as a cross between Otis Redding and Bobby Womack. But perhaps a comparison to the late Little Milton may be the most apropos since his styling of blues drenched with soul and R&B are much more akin with Milton’s. Shannon has released four albums, his latest titled Goin’ Back to Memphis (actually a re-release of his 2006 disc Be With Me Tonight) are all outstanding and he received three Grammy nominations for his 1999 release All In Time .