Overview

Widely known for its musical influence, Beale Street was also once a hub for Hoodoo culture. Many blues icons, such as Big Memphis Ma Rainey and Sonny Boy Williamson, dabbled in the mysterious tradition. Its popularity in some African American communities throughout the past two centuries fueled racial tension--practitioners faced social stigma and blame for anything from natural disasters to violent crimes. However, necessity sometimes outweighed prejudice, and even those with the highest social status turned to Hoodoo for prosperity, love or retribution. Author Tony Kail traces this colorful Memphis heritage, from the arrival of Africans in Shelby County to the growth of conjure culture in juke joints and Spiritual Churches.

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9781467137393

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Reviews

With A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo Tony Kail offers an accessible primer for the casual reader with detailed historical accounts of a global tradition manifesting in a local setting - Memphis and the surrounding countryside of West Tennessee and the north Mississippi Delta. Kail's research is richly layered and timely, a welcome challenge to prejudice and disinformation in a rapidly changing world. - Judith McWillie, Professor Emerita, the Lamar Dodd School of Art, the University of Georgia

With A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo Tony Kail offers an accessible primer for the casual reader with detailed historical accounts of a global tradition manifesting in a local setting - Memphis and the surrounding countryside of West Tennessee and the north Mississippi Delta. Kail's research is richly layered and timely, a welcome challenge to prejudice and disinformation in a rapidly changing world. - Judith McWIllie, Professor Emerita, the Lamar Dodd School of Art, the University of Georgia. Judith McWIllie, Professor Emerita, the Lamar Dodd School of Art, the University of Georgia Anthropologist Tony Kail has been writing for years about cultural beliefs and practices that do not rely on establishment-defined, respectable reality. In The Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo: Rootworkers, Conjurers & Spirituals, his research focuses on the way Memphis became a center of a flourishing folk culture. Loosely known as Hoodoo, this culture had roots in Africa, slavery, and the Bible, as well as ties to the blues and other aspects of the religious and commercial life of Memphis. Chapter16.org 'A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo: Rootworkers, Conjurers and Spirituals' reveals the stories and legends of conjurers and healers from the arrival of African slaves on Memphis plantations to blues musicians on Beale Street. You will never see Memphis the same after reading this book! -Preston Lauterbach Preston Lauterbach Author of Beale Street Dynasty

A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo: Rootworkers, Conjurers and Spirituals reveals the stories and legends of conjurers and healers from the arrival of African slaves on Memphis plantations to blues musicians on Beale Street. You will never see Memphis the same after reading this book! -Preston Lauterbach <i> <b>Preston Lauterbach Author of Beale Street Dynasty</b></i> With A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo Tony Kail offers an accessible primer for the casual reader with detailed historical accounts of a global tradition manifesting in a local setting - Memphis and the surrounding countryside of West Tennessee and the north Mississippi Delta. Kail's research is richly layered and timely, a welcome challenge to prejudice and disinformation in a rapidly changing world. Judith McWIllie, Professor Emerita, the Lamar Dodd School of Art, the University of Georgia. <i> <b>Judith McWIllie, Professor Emerita, the Lamar Dodd School of Art, the University of Georgia</i></b>

A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo: Rootworkers, Conjurers and Spirituals reveals the stories and legends of conjurers and healers from the arrival of African slaves on Memphis plantations to blues musicians on Beale Street. You will never see Memphis the same after reading this book! -Preston Lauterbach <i> <b>Preston Lauterbach Author of Beale Street Dynasty</b></i>

Author Information

Tony Kail is an ethnographer and writer. He holds a degree in cultural anthropology and has researched magico-religious cultures for more than twenty-five years. His work has taken him from Voodoo ceremonies in New Orleans to Haitian Botanicas in Harlem and Spiritual Churches in East Africa. He has lectured at more than one hundred universities, hospitals and public safety agencies. Kail has been featured on CNN Online, the History Channel and numerous radio, television and print outlets. A resident of Humboldt, Tennessee, Kail was raised in Memphis and calls it his second home.

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