In 1983, San Francisco Bay-area rhythm-and-rock outfit Huey Lewis & the News had a big hit with “Heart of Rock-and-Roll,” a song that attempted to enumerate all the American cities where the music’s heart was still beatin’ (Tulsa?), yet managed to overlook Memphis.

Huey Lewis and The News

Friday night, before a sold-out crowd of 6,400 at the Memphis Botanic Garden, Lewis attempted to correct the oversight. Kicking off a Live At The Garden series event with the song, Lewis shoehorned his host city into the outro, giving it special emphasis. The move augured well for what turned out to be a cool, relaxing, and hit-filled evening of old school style R&B-infused rock-and-roll.

In the first half of their compact 90-minute set, Huey & the News packed in a surprising number of their biggest songs, including “I Want A New Drug,” “If This Is It,” and “Power of Love.” At one point, as they segued into newer stuff -- like their theme song to the recent stoner comedy "Pineapple Express" -- it seemed as if they had played themselves out of their best material before 9 p.m.

But HL&N are one of those bands that surprise you with their deep bag of familiar, even beloved, songs. Just when you thought they had run out, they would dig a little deeper and pull out something like “Step By Step,” which showcased Lewis's otherwise criminally-neglected gifts on the harmonica.

(Disappointingly, though, they did not manage to squeeze in “Hip To Be Square,” a song that is practically the theme song of the band and the fans of their unapologetically crowd-pleasing soul-rock sound.)

In the middle of the show, the entire group stepped away from their instruments, while the core members delivered some fine five-piece harmony on a pair of songs, including their doo-wop cover of Curtis Mayfield’s “It’s All Right.”

Back on their instruments, the group had still a few more surprises in store. For a rendition of the Smokey Robinson number “Cruisin’,” which he sang as a duet with actress Gwyneth Paltrow in the 2000 film "Duets," Lewis brought out local singer Gina Fugitt, who proved herself more than up to the task of matching her partner’s velvety vocals.

Later another attractive blonde brought out a glockenspiel for Lewis to play the signature riff on the old soul favorite “But It’s All Right.”

After closing their main set with “We're Not Here for a Long Time (We're Here for a Good Time)” from their most recent studio album, 2001’s Plan B, the group returned for a three-song encore that included a dramatically slowed down (“Memphis style”) version of “Do You Believe In Love” and the blue collar anthem “Workin’ For A Livin’.”