Walkin' in Mamephis

Next stop was Memphis, named after the original Egyptian capital (which we’ve also been to). To be honest, Memphis was a bit grubby and the first city we’d really experienced any pan-handling. Added to the fact that we had to walk 2 miles to the closest launderette, then back again, all took our moods down a bit. However the reason to come to Memphis is for the music. I can’t think of any place on earth where so many different kinds of music have been born or refined.

Unfortunately we were a day too late to find the church where Reverend Green would be glad to see us, so first stop was the Sun Studios on Union Avenue. The birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll and launchpad of the careers of Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others, it was actually a lot smaller than I imagined. Yet still cool to think that without the foresight of owner Sam Phillips, modern music now would sound totally different. One cool story we heard was about a recording session with Carl Perkins & Jerry Lee Lewis. Halfway through Elvis dropped in to say hello, they called up Johnny Cash and then the four of them jammed away. This then became the Million Dollar Quartet recordings.

We then took in a couple more music venues, starting with the Rock 'n' Soul Museum, which took us through the history of Memphis being the country/gospel/blues melting pot that gave us rock ‘n’ roll, soul and rhythm ‘n’ blues. Some of the items on display were amazing, including an Ike Turner acetate that was over 55 years old! Then we journeyed into a local neighbourhood to the old Stax studios, to listen to more about this illustrious label. Stax was a far rawer version of soul, when compared to the polished sounds of Motown, but some of the recordings by Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas and Booker T & the MGs are awesome. Equally impressive were some of Isaac Hayes’s ridiculous stage outfits – most of which consisted of a cape, stacked heels and a codpiece.

We also took a stroll along Beale Street (unfortunately our feet weren’t “10ft off of Beale” which is still the social hub of Memphis and dropped into a blues bar for some authentic catfish and creole BBQ dinners. I didn’t drag Tash or Joe around the Gibson factory, and it might have even been too much for me as I’m just an appreciator of guitars rather than a player, however the instrument shop of the factory was too cool for words. Rob & Stephen take note - they even had a Jimmy Page style two necked SG!

Then it was time for a bit of social history, so we headed for the Lorraine Motel. Not that well known back in Blighty but this was the site of the shooting of Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. The National Civil Rights Museum was a whole lot more than this and made you realise how long the fight for equality has lasted. Plus there was a whole exhibit dedicated to the conspiracy theories surrounding the FBI being behind MLK’s assassination.

One of the major suburbs of Memphis is a little place called Bartlett, they even have their own bank – but I didn’t think they’d give me a few spare thousand just for having the same name.

For those of you wondering why there is a picture of a sandwich on our flickr, this was from the first night we arrived. We found a small convenience store and grabbed some snacks, whilst Joe got a sandwich. The guy behind the deli asked several questions regarding what Joe wanted and spent several minutes preparing this snack. When Joe opened it up however, the guy had simply put 2 pieces of bread, a few slices of turkey and a sachet of mayo into a bag, rather than actually making the bloody thing.