Tag Archives: Southern Music Research Center

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Historic Preservation, Research

If you love music…

If you love music, check out The Southern Music Research Center, founded by Burgin Mathews in 2022. It’s an extensive digital archive of Alabama musicians, preserving unique musical histories. Although our state has an astounding legacy of recorded musicians, you may not have heard many of them. Mathews intends to change that!

The Southern Music Research Center, and its signature radio show, The Lost Child, recently featured a recording by Smokey Reason, an Alabama native who performed at the Grand Old Opry, and with Ernest Tubb, among other great country stars. But his music may have been lost forever, were it not for the accidental find of his 1949 record at an estate sale. Relatives of Smokey Reason all tuned in when it was broadcast on The Lost Child and they finally heard it for the first time, despite having the lyric sheet to one of his songs.

Burgin is the author of Magic City: How the Birmingham Jazz Tradition Shaped the Sound of America (2023). Extensively researched, this book tells the story of Birmingham’s jazz heritage.

Random antique music scores

Title

Smokey Reason, “Stolen Kisses” Lyric Sheet & Statement of Authorship

Description

Original typewritten lyric sheet for “Stolen Kisses,” an original composition by Smokey Reason. Also included is a notarized letter documenting Reason’s authorship of the song. 

Reason’s original acetate disc recording of the song may be heard in Southern Music Research’s collection here.

Lyric sheet and letter courtesy Marrtha Casinger, Judy McCormick, Mandy Bahe, and the family of Smokey Reason. Special thanks to John Horton, whose searching unearthed the original record.

Date

04-07-1941

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Carver Theater, Music

Book Talk & Signing: Sunday, December 3rd, 4-6PM

Twelve years in the making, Burgin Mathews has recorded the history of Birmingham’s Jazz Tradition and will talk about it at BHS offices in Southside on December 3rd. While not covering every notable Birmingham musician, he focuses on the jazz traditions of the time, through the careers of such greats as Erskine Hawkins, whose greatest hit was “Tuxedo Junction”, and Sun Ra, who were both born in Birmingham. Weaving in Birmingham’s civil rights history, and the male dominance in jazz (despite break through favorites like Ethel Harper), this is the story of how our city’s music was a key to a better Birmingham, transcending its legacy of racial injustice and division.

Burgin Mathews, a writer, radio host at The Lost Child, and the founding director of the nonprofit Southern Music Research Center, will talk about the long process of recording this history of Birmingham’s jazz tradition and the jazz greats who made Birmingham their home.

Burgin Mathews’ deep dive in to the Magic City’s music history led him to the creation of the Southern Music Research Center which will be housed at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in the iconic Carver Theater. Music scores of Southern favorites are recorded and available through the generosity of donated collections, including that of longtime Birmingham Historical Society trustee, Patrick Cather.

Music lovers and Birmingham historians, don’t miss this book! It will be available at BHS and local retailers.