A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo - (American Heritage) by Tony Kail (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Author Tony Kail traces Memphis's colorful Hoodoo heritage from the arrival of Africans in Shelby County to the growth of conjure culture in juke joints and Spiritual Churches.

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.

Review Quotes

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

Tony Kail has stepped away from the hysteria and fear associated with hoodoo and written an accessible primer for one of the world's richest, oldest, and most influential global traditions. Black Atlantic culture is everywhere in the 21st century and Memphis is the Motherload. - Judith McWillie Judith McWillie, Author of No Space Hidden: The Spirit of African-American Yard Work