Carla Thomas is the Queen of Memphis Soul. She inherited her royal status by being the daughter of legendary blues musician, Rufus Thomas. She was exposed to music early on as her father was the Master of Ceremonies for amateur shows at the Palace Theater on Beale Street. Th only competition she had came from hr own family, as sibling Vaneese.

Tonight the the two siblings, Carla and Vaneese were united in their performance, separating the show into different sections but coming together for the finale which was a tribute to their late father.

But first it was time for Vaneese to warm up the crowd as she took the stage in full diva mode, orchestrating 2 backing singers and Reverend Charles on organ. She sang tunes directly from Memphis, humming lyrics like “I got the blues” and a number she described as straight from the corner of “Heartache and Pain”.

Later,she took a moment to introduce the “Queen of Soul”, elder sister Carla Thomas who took the stage with all the swagger and charisma that comes from a half century in the music business. She immediately warmed to the audience, telling them about the early days of the industry before Stax records was known as Satellite Records. She also thanked the people at the Stax Museum for her cut a hit record with the track “No Time to Lose”.

Thomas also talked of her love from country music at the time, and her love for good friend Sam Cooke, whose songs inspired her. She did her own take on “Red Rooster’ which really got the crowd cooking. She then introduced a song about a man who was causing ruckus in a woman’s life in the song “B-A-B-Y”.

And at the end, both sisters united to do a tribute to their late father, a heartwarming stirring song that brought out the best in the band and the audience.