Dickinson worked with stars like Aretha Franklin and Ry Cooder and produced Big Star’s third album, “Third/Sister Lovers”.

Bob Dylan even acknowledged him as a “brother” while accepting a Grammy.

“Jim was cool,” Mary Lindsay Dickinson said of her late husband at the tribute event. She discussed his legacy and read excerpts from his memoirs, which are soon to be compiled and published.

Though Jim Dickinson was born into a world of Jim Crow segregation, his wife said he made an effort to bridge racial divides and connect with black musicians.

“The races were yearning for creative interplay,” Mary Lindsay Dickinson said. “Jim brought the races together through music.”

Jim Dickinson’s work in the Memphis music scene eventually gave him the opportunity to play keyboard in The Rolling Stones’ ballad “Wild Horses”.

“When you give your life to music you never quite know what might happen,” he said in his memoirs.

Tuesday’s event also included a Skype interview between musician and record producer Chris Stamey and Big Star members.

“The music of Memphis, as exemplified in Jim Dickinson and Big Star’s work, is a wonderful focal point,” said Steve Weiss, director of the Southern Folklife Collection.

The collection joined Friends of the Library, the Center for the Study of the American South, the Department of American Studies and the Folklore Program to sponsor the event.