Memphis in May will announce Thursday afternoon the full lineup for this year’s Beale Street Music Festival, and for now we have the names of a few top acts to go on.

Announced so far …

Aretha Franklin

Lou Reed

Sheryl Crow

My Chemical Romance

Buddy Guy

The Roots

Black Crowes

Charlie Musselwhite

Bettye LaVette

Cat Power

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

Also, Project Pat, Lord T. & Eloise, Pinetop Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Turkish band Duman and more.

Some thoughts …

* It’s great to see The Roots back on the Music Fest bill, after their well-received appearance a three years back. Let’s hope we can get drummer ?uestlove to do another after-show deejay appearance like he did back then.

* Will Chan ‘Cat Power’ Marshall reassemble for this show the Memphis Rhythm Band, which helped her record breakout album “The Greatest” and accompanying tour? (Check out this review of a show they played at Young Avenue Deli.)

* Aretha Franklin is quite a timely “get” for this festival. She a native of Memphis, of course, but she’s also back in the news after her performance at last month’s Grammys — and her subsequent upbraiding of Beyonce Knowles.

* Franklin’s Memphis roots and Cat Power’s Memphis collaborations aren’t the only local interest storylines (beyond the obvious connections like Jerry Lee Lewis). Recall that superstar Sheryl Crow is a native of the Missouri bootheel, very much in the Memphis center of gravity. And don’t forget that Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars is playing with the Black Crowes these days.

* As Bob Mehr points out in the story linked above, the festival is particularly strong with female artists. I predict Joan Jett will be one of the most popular acts this year.

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