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Swapping Hank Williams Sr. for B.B. King, we hit Interstate 40 and head west towards Memphis, home of the blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and an epicenter for soul music. We arrive around 2 pm, and most of the historical music destinations close by 5 or 6 pm. Time to boogie.
We had no time to waste – first on our list of music attractions was the Stax Museum of American Soul, which is located at the original location of the label and its recording studio. If you’re not familiar with this pioneering soul record label, we’re sure you’ve heard of a few of their artists: Issac Hayes, Albert King, and Booker T. & the M.G.s, just to name a few. The museum isn’t located in the best area of town – but part of its mission is to rejuvenate its surrounding neighborhood and provide a music academy program for young adults from underprivileged parts of Memphis. With soul music piped into the parking lot through hanging speakers, we jive on over to the huge Stax marquee and step back into time to the beginning of soul music.
The museum starts with displays which describe the birth of soul and funk from its gospel roots. Memorabilia, photos, videos, and stories weave their way through the museum (see above and below). The gallery is engaging, and it is complete with a small room with a dance floor – encouraging all visitors to groove with live concert videos projected on an adjacent wall – and a walk-through of Stax’s actual recording studio.
Towards the museum’s end, there are displays of LPs from the entire Stax catalog (see below), a wall of 45s (see below), and a collection of gold records from the label’s best sellers. We chill out to some Otis Redding at a listening station while we attempt to take the sheer volume of soul history in all at once.
Oh yeah, they have Isaac Hayes’ pimped out Cadillac on display too (see below). Can ya dig it?
The clock is ticking, and we still have much to see before the evening rolls around. We jump back in the Scion, and jet over to the edge of downtown to the Gibson Factory, which is located across the street from the FedExForum. Lucky for us, some of the guitar-makers have agreed to show us around and answer all of our nosy questions about instrument craftsmanship. Gibson has a few locations around the United States where their guitars are made, and this facility specializes in a few models – specifically, the semi-acoustic electric 335 (made particularly famous by Memphis star B.B. King).
We start at the final stage (see above), where the pickups and other electronics are placed into the frame and tested. However, each guitar body had a long journey to get to this point. We walk with our host to the back of the huge interior of the workspace to where it all begins: a humidifier controlled room with different types of wooden sheets. Seeing each step in the many-step process, we watch as sheets are pressed together and molded into the correct shapes (not the same guitar, mind you – a single guitar takes weeks to create!).
Countless hours of care are put into each guitar. We’re shown how the neck is attached to the body, and properly calibrated to make sure the strings will have the proper action above the fretboard (see below).
Trim is added, and is sanded down to create a seamless feel (see above). Next, we duck into a side room where the guitars are painted. The smell of chemicals are in the air, as artisans apply the multitude of vibrant color choices and sunbursts (see below).
We finally return to our starting point near the electronics installation section, and watch as the recently painted guitars are buffed on large, spinning fabric wheels (see below).
And the finished products looks greats (see below), and are ready for a new home. With the conclusion of our tour, we thank our hosts and plot our course to Graceland, which is our next destination. It doesn’t help that it closes in an hour, either.
Graceland, which was Elvis’ mansion just south of Memphis, is a whole complex devoted to the legacy of The King (see below). Besides a tour of his home (which is full of memorabilia, gold records, and the story of his life and career), there’s a whole other set of buildings with his automobile collection, his private full-sized passenger airplane, and other touristy attractions.
Bordering the Graceland mansion is a wall with thousands of signatures from visitors paying their respects to one of popular music’s most important stars. We board a shuttle bus from the visitor’s center to the actual mansion, and we are easily the youngest people on our specific tour by a few decades.
Much of Graceland’s interior is kept in its original fashion, showing off some pretty crazy 50s, 60s, and 70s fashion. Specifically, the jungle room – complete with a waterfall, trees, and almost grass-like shag carpet – and Elvis’ TV room in the basement (with three TVs side by side) are very retro. The audio-guide on our headsets informs us of the significance of each part of the house, and with some imagination, a looking glass into Graceland’s past. However, we’re still on the clock, and need to get to Sun Studio across town before it closes. Sure to find more Elvis stories there, we wrap up our visit to Graceland and jump back in the car.
Sun Studio – arguably the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll when Elvis recorded a cover of “That’s All Right” here in 1954 – is located on an unassuming corner just east of downtown. The giant Gibson ES 295 marks the spot, and we park on the commemorative Sam Phillips – the owner and founder of Sun Studio – avenue.
We walk upstairs for a quick tour, which runs us through the story of Sun Studio -which played a big part in the story of rock ‘n’ roll and the blues as well. Besides Elvis, Sun Studio worked with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
The top story of the building is a mini-museum, full of old recording equipment and antiques from Sun’s past. Our tour guide tells us the story of Sam Phillips and his dream of recording blues music, while we try to imagine the social climate during the early days of rock. We find Elvis’ high school diploma (see below), which we’re told was the accomplishment he was most proud of.
The tour ends in the actual recording room where much of Sun’s hits were made, and “X’s” mark where Elvis and his bandmates stood during the recording of “That’s All Right.” After striking our best Elvis pose with an old microphone, we race back downtown to catch a few minutes at the Rock n Soul Museum before it closes (see below).
We find yet more vintage items from the past, and some awesome jukeboxes (see below). But alas, we’re thrown out as it’s 7 pm, and the museum staff wants to go home.
The Rock n Soul Museum is located in the same plaza as the FedExForum, which is now buzzing with activity from rambunctious fans waiting for a Bon Jovi concert to start (see below). Not wanting a $100 (just a guess on the price) Bon Jovi commemorative tour shirt, we get the hell out of there.
The sun is setting over the Mississippi River (see below), which is a good sign that it’s time to get dinner – Memphis style BBQ, to be exact.
Cozy Corner has all the makings of a great BBQ joint (see below): family owned for multiple generations, located in a quasi-sketchy area of town, low prices, and excellent hot sauce. The food lived up to its rep – Memphis BBQ mission accomplished. Time to head over to our next destination.
We heard Of Montreal is playing a show at Minglewood Hall tonight, and not ones to miss out on the band’s wild performances, we hightail it over to the venue. The Minglewood is a huge room, and it’s only about a fifth filled, giving the space a weird dynamic. However, that didn’t stop Kevin Barnes and company from rocking the place (see below) – and being genuine wierdos the entire time. The band brought along costumed actors, who ranged from luchadores to pigs to protesters to anything else Of Montreal could find to make them wear.
In what felt like a cross between a play and a concert, we try to figure out the storyline of the each song being acted out before us. Also notable: each member of the band has a “solo song” during Kevin Barnes’ frequent wardrobe changes (which progressively get stranger), ranging from rap music to Sinatra-esque ballads.
The show concludes, and we walk out through a smaller venue area where a post-show band – The Incredible Hook – begins to play. And yes, Boba Fett is their bass player (see below) – the bounty hunting industry ain’t what it used to be.
Midnight is approaching, and we still have a few hours left before the bars close. Like a magnet, the allure of the infamous Beale Street leads us back downtown. Neon lit marquees greet us at the onset of Beale, which is blocked off to create a year-round pedestrian mall for blues fans and drunk college kids alike. Unfortunately, most of the bar bands were playing greatest hits cover songs, and not wailing over a 12-bar riff. Maybe it had to do with the Bon Jovi concert next door.
It’s legal to walk around with a cup of beer in the Beale Street zone, so many “take out” windows line the block for easy alcohol access (see below).
Bar after honky-tonk bar, trinket shops, comfort food restaurants, and live music hangouts line the street, with a growing crowd of tourists and locals alike wandering up and down block. We end up at B.B. King’s Blues Club, and arrive in-between the house band’s – The B.B. King All-Stars – sets.
While we’re waiting, we strike up a conversation with some of the other patrons hanging out by the bar. Surprise – one of them is the drummer for Motorhead, Mikkey Dee, who is opening for the Foo Fighters tomorrow night. Looking back on it, we should have been able to guess by his metal haircut which he probably had since the early 80s. At least we aren’t fooled when he says he is a professional lawyer. Nice try.
The band finally returns, and the dance floor begins to fill up (see above). Mikkey wants to play drums with them, but the All-Stars aren’t as keen on that idea. We hang around for a few more songs, and leave before last call. It’s a good thing, too, because we still have a five hour drive home to St. Louis ahead of us. Later, Tennessee – it’s been fun!
