Got our Groove on in Memphis.

Good news, we finally found some of that peanut butter infused whiskey we had grown accustomed to after our stop in St. Augustine, FL. We found it in Arkansas of all places. Strange? I thought this stop was in Memphis, TN.  I’m so confused. When I booked this stop it was at a KOA campsite called Memphis KOA Journey. 

The problem is, I didn’t read the fine print.     

 

So we camped across the Mississippi River in Marion, Arkansas; and we spent our time crossing the river on Interstate 40 and getting off in Memphis, which sits right up against the Mississippi. By the way, there are some excellent views of Memphis from the Arkansas side of the river. But technically we weren’t in Memphis. Does that make a difference? When we fill out our map of the United States with a highlighter, which indicates which states we have visited and on what trips, do we get to highlight Arkansas as being a state we have visited? Once we discovered The Sultana Disaster Museum and the peanut butter infused whiskey, I say, hell yeah, we visited Arkansas!

If we’re talking about Memphis, TN, the place I was really aiming for when I made the campsite reservation, then, in my opinion, we need to visit and explore the beginnings of rock and roll music, as well as the record recording industry. More than that, Memphis is considered “the home of the blues and birthplace of rock 'n' roll”.  Memphis also had the first African American-formatted radio station, WDIA. Founded in 1947 by Bert Ferguson and John Pepper, this station first employed a young B.B. King. B.B. King worked there as a disc jockey. B.B. King's moniker was derived from his WDIA nickname, "Beale Street Blues Boy", a reference to Memphis' Beale Street on which many nightclubs and blues venues were located. Memphis has a lot to see, and a lot of music history to learn. Probably a really good introduction to our next stop in Nashville, Tennessee. We’re about to be educated in mid-20^th century music, and here it comes.

• Without really understanding the music scene timeline, our first museum / attraction was Sun Studio, opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Sun Studio is known worldwide as “The Birthplace of Rock’n’roll”. It is the discovery location of musical legends, from B.B. King and Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. We had the pleasure of listening to the music in the same room it was recorded in, amongst the pictures of early rock, blues, country, and gospel legends. It was awesome. The picture below is truly memorable and deserves an explanation.

Judy is pictured at the same piano used by Elvis Presley. And the picture behind Judy was taken in this very same studio. It is called “The Million Dollar Quartet”, with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. All right there at that piano.

• Later on in the week we visited another legendary recording label, on the other side of town called Stax Records. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961 as a conjunction of the two business partners, and siblings, Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. Stax was influential in the creation of Southern soul and Memphis soul music. But Blues really put the label on the map. Stax was color blind and employed both black and white musicians who played together. In an age and place of great segregation, Stax was an anomaly, which is what makes it so innovative for its time. The musical talent line up was a Who’s Who of rock and soul pioneers.  Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Otis Reading, Sam & Dave, Ike Turner, Isaac Hayes, Willson Picket, Al Green, and many more. There was a lot of music to listen to, and once again we lost track of time and ended up being asked, very nicely, to leave, as it was closing time. 

• And just to make sure we really got our education in the Memphis music and recording scene, we visited the Memphis Rock and Soul Museum. Inside we found displays of Memphis music pioneers like Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis. This museum used a broader brush to explain the Memphis music scene and added background to what was happening throughout the city. It also outlines the roles that both Stax and Sun Records played in attracting artists to collaborate in Memphis. So interesting.

• You can’t visit Memphis without a walk down historic Beale Street. It’s so similar to walking down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, but without all that jazz. Beale Street is home to countless live music venues and restaurants, and we had to stop there for lunch and a drink. We found great music and a barren bar that looked like it needed company at the Rum Boogie Café, which possesses an amazing collection of celebrity signed guitars hanging from the ceiling. It was a busy day of being the quintessential tourist.

Music is only one side of the Memphis experience. Memphis is also one of the places where the Civil Rights movement really played out. In the early 20^th century, Memphis was truly a segregated city. Music was one of those unique activities that crossed racial boundaries. And the music reflected this backdrop. Once again, Judy and I planned for an extended visit to a distinguished museum.

• We went to The National Civil Rights Museum, which is located next to the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was fatally shot on the second floor in front of room #306. First off, can I admit that standing in the memorial courtyard in front of this historic place, with a view towards the rooming house where the assailant fired the bullet that struck Dr. King in the neck, gave me goosebumps? (Much like my trip to the Western or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.) Just the enormity of what happened, and the effect it had on the rest of the 20^th century was something new for me, and I was hyper-cognizant of that fact. I kind of felt under-dressed, like I should have worn something more formal. That’s why the picture below is of only Judy.

• The National Civil Rights Museum, much like The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL, was a testament to Blacks’ struggle for civil rights. Established in 1991, the Museum is located at the former Lorraine Motel. One of the nation's premier heritage and cultural museums, with outstanding interactive presentations, and a historic collection of pictures and artifacts from the American Civil Rights Movement. In our opinion, The Lorraine Motel courtyard, in conjunction with The National Civil Rights Museum, is a must see and do in Memphis.

• In Arkansas, we walked on a pedestrian / railroad bridge that crosses the Mississippi River, which afforded us great views of Memphis. We also visited The Sultana Disaster Museum down the road from our campsite in Marion, AR. The Sultana was a side wheeled paddleboat that sailed the Mississippi and was hired by the US government after the Civil war to move Federal P.O.W.’s recently released from Confederate prisons up the Mississippi to Federal hospitals.  With the riverboat totally overloaded, there was a sudden explosion of the boilers, sinking the Sultana, and killing over 1,000 northern POW’s on their way home from the war. Imagine living through the horrors of the Civil War, being a Civil War prisoner, only to be killed on the way home.

However, if you’re keeping track, there’s obviously one activity / museum that is suspiciously absent from this post. Anybody want to take a guess? How about a small hint?  What if I said, “Elvis has left the building.”?  That’s correct, Memphis is home to Elvis Presley. He was not born in Memphis but moved with his family as a child. We Did Not visit Graceland. Yup.., I’ve said it. All that writing about “the birthplace of rock and roll music, blah, blah”, and yet we failed to visit the King’s house and compound, Graceland. And I’ll tell you why. Because it was very expensive and it honestly felt, after reading the website, more like a “money grab” by an estate that really doesn’t need the money. The only activity related to Elvis that Judy half-jokingly considered involved getting up really early and having a free walk through the Graceland grounds to Elvis’ burial plot. There, we could spend some time in silent contemplation, but then would have had to be out of the park before general admission was allowed onto the grounds. Look, I’m sure there are some fans of Elvis who would gladly pay the money to see Graceland, the grounds, the cars, the clothes. But that’s just not for us as we tell… the Rest of the Story.