JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE SINGS FOR THE OBAMAS

President Barack Obama said he'd been looking forward to a White House celebration of Memphis soul music for one reason.

"Let's face it, who does not love this music?" he asked Tuesday, opening the night's concert in an East Room bathed in amber light and transformed by the addition of a stage and backup musicians.

"These songs get us on the dance floor," Obama said. "They get stuck in our heads. We go back over them again and again. And they've played an important part in our history."

Memphis, Tenn., was segregated in the 1960s, but blacks and whites came together despite the institutional racism to create a soulful blend of gospel and rhythmic blues music that sought to "bridge those divides, to create a little harmony with harmony," Obama said.

He noted that two of the night's guests, Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper, helped form one of the city's first integrated bands.

"They weren't allowed to go to school together. They weren't always allowed to travel or eat together," the president said. "But no one could stop them from playing music together."

"And that was the spirit of their music - the sound of Soulsville, U.S.A., a music that, at its core, is about the pain of being alone, the power of human connection, and the importance of treating each other right," Obama said. "After all, this is the music that asked us to try a little tenderness. It's the music that put Mr. Big Stuff in his place. And it's the music that challenged us to accept new ways of thinking with four timeless words: `Can you dig it?'"

And with that, Obama took his seat and the show opened with Sam Moore, half of the duo Sam & Dave, and "American Idol" finalist and gospel singer Joshua Ledet belting out Moore's "Soul Man," followed minutes later by Justin Timberlake and Cropper's rendition of Otis Redding's (Sittin' on) "The Dock of the Bay."

Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, sat in the front row. The president and first lady at times clapped their hands and bobbed and weaved their heads to the pulsating rhythms.

The concert was the 10th in the "In Performance at the White House" series since Obama took office. Other performers included Alabama Shakes, Ben Harper, Cyndi Lauper, Charlie Musselwhite, Mavis Staples , Queen Latifah and William Bell. Latifah also was the host and Jones led the band.

Earlier in the day, Bell said the concert reaffirmed years of hard work that began in the 1960s when Stax Records was created in Memphis, and the label cranked out one soul and R&B hit after another for more than a decade.

Redding, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Bell and Sam & Dave were among the company's artists.

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