For our last long trip in our great adventure, we went to Nashville, Memphis and Little Rock. We started and ended the trip in Nashville, which we will cover in another blog (spoiler alert- we both loved the Grand Ole Opry a lot more than we thought we would!) and spent the middle part of the trip in Memphis. Little Rock is only two hours outside of Memphis (Memphis borders both Arkansas and Mississippi) so we spent one day driving to and from and visiting the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock, which we will also talk about in another post.
Memphis is music. It's the cradle of rock and roll; the home of Sun Records, of Stax Records, of great blues musicians, including BB King (the first King), of Gibson Guitars (at least hollow bodies like BB King's Lucille), and of Graceland, the home of the second King- Elvis.
Memphis is history, both local and National. It's named after the ancient capital of Egypt, and indeed, has the great pyramid as a landmark in the City. Although a cabbie told us that the Memphis Pyramid is infamous as the arena where Mike Tyson bit off his opponent's ear, our friend Wiki tells us that the cabbie is wrong- the ear biting incident was in Vegas. Tyson did fight in the Pyramid in 2002 after he was banned in Nevada and several other states, and after he was released from jail after being convicted of rape, but he lost his big Pyramid bout. What a guy. We promise we won't mention Tyson again in this blog.
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| The arena has been vacant for years and appears to have been sold to Bass Pro for a retail store. |
Memphis' location on the Mississippi made it an ideal center of commerce for the cotton industry, and for the slave trade; in fact before the Civil War a quarter of the population of Memphis were slaves. During the Civil War, Memphis was briefly a Confederate stronghold, but was quickly captured by the Union and remained a Federal supply base throughout the War. Neither of us had seen the Mississippi before our Excellent Adventure; now we have seen it from Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas. We think our views of it from our hotel in Memphis were the best.
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| Views of the Mississippi from our Hotel |
Memphis is deeply steeped in Southern Tradition and Hospitality. In fact the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis, one of the grand hotels of the South, is a Southern landmark.
As our friend Wiki says:
The storied Peabody Hotel opened in 1923 and became a symbol of upper-class Southern elegance. In 1935, a Mississippi author wrote, "The Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg. The Peabody is the Paris Ritz, the Cairo Shepheard's, the London Savoy of this section. If you stand near its fountain in the middle of the lobby, where ducks waddle and turtles drowse, ultimately you will see everybody who is anybody in the Delta.
Yes, you read that right, if you read it at all. During the 30s, the general manager of the Peabody came back from a hunting trip after generously sampling the Tennessee whisky and decided it would be funny to put his live duck decoys in the fountain in the center of the hotel. A bellman at the hotel, formerly an animal trainer with Ringling Brothers, said he could train the ducks to walk from the fountain to the lobby elevator and that would attract guests. A tradition was born; the ducks come down from their penthouse at 11 each morning and return to their penthouse at 5 in the afternoon, led both ways by the hotel's "Duckmaster". Well worth spending an hour in the lobby having a refreshment and watching the show.
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| They spend the day swimming around the fountain |
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| The Duckmaster brings out the red steps and lays down the red carpet around 4:45. |
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| Elevator reserved for the ducks twice a day. |
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| Appointment of an Assistant Duckmaster for the day |
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| There they go |
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Duckmasters prompting the ducks out of the fountain
The Ducks sleep in a quarter million dollar, air conditioned penthouse on the roof of the hotel.
Memphis is also the home of a number of racial struggles, and the home of any number of great African-American musicians including W.C. Handy, the Father of the Blues, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Booker T. Jones, Otis Redding, and Memphis Slim. A local photographer, Ernest Withers, documented much of African-American life during the 40s, 50s and 60s, and there is a museum of his work right on Beale Street:
and Memphis is the place where Dr. Martin Luther King came to support sanitation workers and died while he stood on the balcony of a cheap motel.
Much more on the Lorraine Motel, the National Civil Rights Museum, and Dr. King in our next blog |
With such a rich history, there was a lot to see and do in Memphis, and we did a lot. We toured the Gibson Guitar Factory, where hollow body Gibsons like the SGs are made. There is very tight security on the tour and no photos are allowed, but we took a couple of pictures in the adjacent retail store and the outer lobby:
We visited Sun Studios, the recording studio started by Sam Phillips in the early 50s; to make money Sam advertised that he would record anything, and so when a young truck driver wanted to cut a record for his mama, he came to Sam's studio. Sam wasn't there that day, but his secretary handled the recording, and remembered the young man a year later when Sam was looking for a vocalist for a song Sam had acquired. During a break in the recording, the singer fooled around with a version of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right Mama" and Sam liked it enough to hawk it to a local Memphis DJ, who played it over and over, and more or less "broke" Elvis Presley. As an aside, that local Memphis DJ, Dewey Phillips (no relation to Sam) was the DJ on whom the Broadway play "Memphis" was loosely based (see how all of our trips relate to each other?).
The Sun Studio tour was full of history and it was awe inspiring to stand in the same room, basically preserved as was, as such great performers as Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison recorded in.
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| this is where you wait for the tour to start; luckily there are refreshments, souvenirs, and tchatchkas for sale to while the time away |
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| original one track recorder used by Sam |
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| The recording studio itself is actually small and modest but just emanates the spirit of Rockabilly |
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| Place where Elvis stood while singing "That's All Right". Bob Dylan walked in unannounced right in the middle of a tour, knelt down and kissed the X and walked out without saying a word. The tour guide ran after him and said "Mr. Dylan, I'm a huge fan"; Dylan's only reply was "Well son, we all have our heros" and he walked away. |
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| This is the mike Elvis used; it's now been used by him, me, and probably half of the population in this country. A very close connection. |
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| Desk used by Sam's secretary. Elvis would sweet talk her into getting him a gig. |
Now that we had seen where Elvis got his start, it was time to see where he lived as a big star; it was time to go to
As was the case with the Grand Canyon, we went there with many preconceived notions; we were sure it would be over the top, cheesy, and the Nation's number one tourist trap. And much as our preconceived notions were wrong at the Grand Canyon, they were wrong at Graceland (although we are not suggesting that Graceland could possibly be in the same category as the grandeur of the Grand Canyon). We found Graceland to be well done; the home itself could barely be characterized as a mansion, although it is very large, and the decorations are clearly preserved as they were in the mid 1970s. Is it decorated in an over the top fashion? Not if you compare it to any yearbook from anyone who graduated high school in the mid 70s- those of us who lived it don't care to think about the fashion sense of those particular years, but Graceland is not out of line with that "style". But judge for yourselves:
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| View to the left as you walk in- the dining room |
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| View to the right as you walk in- the living room/music room |
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| Table by living room- note his parents' picture. |
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| Stairway leading upstairs to the bedrooms- no admittance up there |
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| Father Vernon's Bedroom |
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| Kitchen |
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| View from Kitchen into Jungle Room |
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| Basement Television Room- the Tvs are playing shows from the early 70s |
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| Stereo and part of his record collection |
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| Bar in the Television Room |
That left only one room left to see- the famous "Jungle Room." We climbed back upstairs to the first floor, and there it was:
We left the home, and walked around outside.
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| Lisa Marie's Swingset |
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| Area for riding horses |
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| Back of the Mansion |
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| Swimming Pool with Meditation Garden in Back |
There are several other buildings on the property, including a building that he and his cronies used to use to race go carts, little tractors, and other "toys" around; it is now filled with his trophies, awards, and artifacts.
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| Gold Records from Sun Studios Years |
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| Elvis Memorabilia |
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| Says it all |
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| We'd never seen real Grammy Awards before |
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| Black Leathers from his 68 Comeback TV Show |
They have also converted his Raquetball Court into a museum of sorts:
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| Area outside of the court where his friends would goof around before and after games |
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| Thinking about the King |
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| Las Vegas Elvis |
The time had come to pay respects, so we headed to the Meditation Garden- an area designed by Elvis for quiet contemplation; it became the final resting place for his parents, grandmother, brother, and Elvis himself.
Oh, Elvis! But we weren't done yet! Right across the street are two separate shopping/museum complexes for further thought, contemplation, and reflection (and the museums were included in the ticket price, so what the heck).
The Car Museum:
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| We loved the color |
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| Doesn't everyone have matching black and white Bentlys? |
The Fashion Museum:
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| Elvis never wore jeans; he said he wore enough jeans when he was poor |
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| Part of his famous gun and badge collection |
A couple of other museums that we ran through and didn't take any pictures (including one completely dedicated to the 68 Comback- really they were gift shops with a few cases of artifacts attached)
and, finally,
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| The Lisa Marie- one of his two planes |
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| Yep- gold plated bathroom fixtures |
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| Some of his clothes left in the plane closet |
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| yep- 24K seat belts |
Well, what can you say? He is beloved the world over; people come from every corner every day there (although we must say that if you go during the workweek in December, as we did, it was not very crowded; the crowd control and parking lots were obviously set up for thousands and thousands, and we don't think there were 100 there while we were there).
So we finished our visit to Graceland; it was 3:30; we had had a very busy day, but there was still time for one more iconic visit- off we went to Stax Records. Stax was actually demolished after it closed by the Church that bought the property; a decade ago it was completely rebuilt to replicate the original Stax, which was a converted movie theater. Part was used as a record store and part as the recording studio.
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| The theater that was converted into the record store/studio |
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| The school that has become a part of the Stax complex; a high school for the performing arts. The people at Stax have made the school, the studio, and the surrounding campus a living memorial to Stax and sponsor the school and many community events and programs |
Motown bills itself as "Hitsville USA"; Stax bills itself as "Soulsville USA", in direct counterpoint to Motown. There is a Wilson Pickett hit of the same name [actually 6345-789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)]. What a rich history. Stax was home to Booker T (and his band mates Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn, all were also part of the Stax house band; kind of a southern "Funk Brothers"); Wilson Pickett, Albert King, Sam and Dave, Isaac Hayes, and Otis Redding, whose untimely death would eventually be one of the causes of the decline of Stax.
The Stax Museum is much more than the history of Stax; it is 17,000 square feet of exhibit space with over 2,000 artifacts and exhibits (including a real 100 year old Mississippi Delta church and the Soul Train Dance Floor- the Soul Train videos were a special treat both for the dancing and the outfits); and is beautifully done. It celebrates all soul music, not just the music put out by Stax.
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| Ike and Tina Costumes |
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| Replica of the recording studio |
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| Booker T's Hammond Organ |
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| The studio area; because it was part of a theater, it is a huge space compared to Sun. |
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| Steve Cropper's guitar- a special treat for Alan who is a big Steve Cropper fan (if you don't know him, think about the Blues Brothers films- he's the bearded sunglassed guitar player in the band- both Sam and Dave and John Belushi yell out "Play it Steve!) during their respective versions of "Soul Man". |
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| Part of the display area |
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| This is an area that has all of the singles released by Stax; this is a small part of the wall |
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| Isaac Haye's Ride; and they say Elvis was over the top |
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| several displays are dedicated to Motown including this showcase |
So after a day that started at Sun, wandered through Graceland, and ended at Stax, what to do? What else but experience the real music scene of Memphis- Beale Street! We hit Beale Street a couple of nights; here's some of our favorite memories:
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| Ir'a only couple of blocks long but full of activity |
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| More BBQ joints per square foot than any other area |
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| BB Kings Club |
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| Free Music at the W.C. Handy Outdoor Park |
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Elvis Las Vegas Belt at the Hard Rock; they have the largest collection of Elvis memorabilia outside of Graceland
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| A set at BB Kings; kind of bluesy top 40 (top 40 from the 70s) |
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| Our favorite Memphis find- Brad Birkedahl and the Burning Love Band |
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| Brad wooing Ruth |
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| Brad going nuts after Ruth said she preferred me |
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| Jam session at the Center for Southern Folklore, a non-profit association with all kinds of cool folk art and folk performers. They were ok until the banjo player left the other two in his tracks and really started playing; he was fantastic |
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| We saw this couple at Graceland and then again at a bar that night; he had the Elvis sideburns and pompadour going and they could dance like they had studied Arthur Murray their whole life |
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| James Govan and the Boogie Blues Band- they have been the house band for over a decade at the Rum Boogie Cafe |
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| Second trip to see Brad Birkedahl- that's his wife on acoustic guitar. |
The last thing of great significance that we did in Memphis was a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum; we'll blog about that in our next post which will include both the Clinton Presidential Museum and the National Civil Rights museum.
Memphis was a great stop on our "tour"- next post- The Clinton Museum and the National Civll Rights Museum!
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