Birthplace of the blues, resting place for the King, and home of soul: Memphis, Tennessee, is the second stop on our summer rock road trip. While America was still struggling with segregation, race mixing was occurring in this Mississippi River town. Blues became rock, rock became soul, and all of it was colorblind.
Memphis is the place where rock was born and Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed. It's full of contradictions, abject poverty, and riches that only music can provide. The music made in Memphis sounds like no other. It beats with an analog heart filled with the pathos and possibility that is the DNA of our country. Many cities make music, but no city breathes music quite like Memphis. The songs and sounds that come from here are uniquely American. This is hallowed ground and a mandatory stop for any self-respecting music fan. Plus, they have some mean BBQ. Grab some Wetnaps and a harmonica, then make sure you make these stops on your trip.
Elvis Presley bought this 10,266-square-foot mansion in 1957. He died there in 1977. In the years between, the King married, had a daughter (Lisa Marie), and recorded his last two albums from his "Jungle Room" ("From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee" and "Moody Blue").
Graceland opened as a tourist destination in 1982 and is the second-most-visited private residence in the U.S. (first is the White House). But don't expect to see the King's bedroom. It's off-limits to everyone except Lisa Marie, who still visits every Christmas.
Record producer Sam Phillips opened Sun Studio on January 3, 1950. It's arguably the home of the first rock 'n' roll recording, Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats' "Rocket 88," written by Ike Turner (bad husband; great songwriter). Throughout the '50s, tons of unknown locals came through Sun to record their demos. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis all made their first recordings at the former Memphis Recording Service. It's now an inspiration for bands looking to channel the Great Rock 'n' Roll God. U2 famously came face-to-face with American blues and rock when they recorded at Sun for their "Rattle and Hum" album/film.
Originally created by a local land developer for merchants who traded goods along the Mississippi River, Beale Street became a spot for traveling black musicians by the late 1800s. B.B. King (the "B.B." stands for "Beale Street Boy") joined an army of blues musicians in the late 1940s who not only filled clubs but also laid the foundation for what would become rock 'n' roll a few years later. The Street fell into disrepair in the '60s and '70s but was brought back to prominence with the help of the U.S. Congress, which declared it "Home of the Blues" in 1977. It's also home to the annual Beale Street Music Festival held every May.
Brothers Bernard and Guy Lansky turned hillbilly musicians into arbiters of fashion. The store opened in 1946 and quickly became the clothier for B.B. King, Duke Ellington, and every other jazz and blues musician who wanted to look fly. A young Elvis Presley, then working at the Loews Theater, couldn't afford the $4.95 high-collared shirts, but he gawked at the clothes in the window nonetheless. Cut to 1956... Elvis has left his theater job and is about to go on "The Ed Sullivan Show." His first stop is Bernard Lansky, who put him in his first suit - along with that high-collared shirt. Lansky then became the "clothier to the King." No, he's not responsible for Elvis's jumpsuits. Bernard Lansky is now 82 and still works in the shop everyday. Go by and pick up one of those shirts. They cost $95 now.
White banker Jim Stewart loved country music. He loved it so much that he started a country music label called Satellite Records in 1957. Only two problems: there was another label called Satellite and Stewart's neighborhood was filled with black people. He and his sister, Estelle, quickly changed the name to Stax, moved into an old movie theater, and began recording some of the best soul music the world has ever known. Rufus Thomas (pictured), Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and Otis Redding are some of the acts that made Stax the Motown of the South. The label is gone, but the building is now home to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
Teenager John Fry built a recording studio in his parents' garage. He liked recording so much, he decided to ditch school and do it full time. When his parents sold the house, Fry moved into a proper building and quickly got overflow work from nearby Stax Records. Four decades later, Ardent has recorded more than 70 gold and platinum albums, but the studio is probably best known as home of power pop pioneers Big Star. The Memphis band recorded their holy grail "#1 Record" there in 1972. Ever since, generations of young bands have flocked to Ardent, hoping some of the magic will rub off. In fact, Big Star drummer Jody Stephens has found it hard to leave Ardent: he's now the studio manager.
In this unassuming brick building, Al Green and Willie Mitchell made the sexiest, sultriest, most soulful music the world had ever heard. There is only one way to visit this shrine: park your car, leave the engine running, and crank "Al Green's Greatest Hits" as loud as you can. Stare at the building until the album ends or the cops come. Then leave.
Al Green must have felt he needed to do some penance for spending the '70s half naked and seducing women with his songs. It could have also been the fact that his girlfriend poured a boiling pan of grits on him in 1974. Either way, Green decided he needed to get right with God, and he became an ordained pastor of the Full Tabernacle Church. He spent much of the next decade almost exclusively at the pulpit. Even though he's now returned to secular music, the Rev. Green still holds regular Sunday services. Wouldn't you rather confess your sins to Al Green than some creepy Catholic priest?
Our entire history as a country runs through the Mississippi River. It's the second-longest river in the U.S. (next to the Missouri). It runs through ten states. It's played a part in every battle on American soil, from the War of 1812 to the Civil War. It's at the center of Mark Twain literature and lore. Most importantly, though, the Mississippi River is inspiration for Johnny Cash's "Big River," Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927," and... Mountain's "Mississippi Queen." The great river also took Jeff Buckley's life in 1997. The singer drowned while in Memphis preparing to record an album. Sit on the banks of the Mississippi and feel the ghosts of 200 years of music.
Originally called the Windsor Hotel, the Lorraine received its name in part as an homage to the Nat "King" Cole's song "Sweet Lorraine" (and the owner's wife, Loree). Throughout the '50s and '60s, the motel was a clean, safe place to stay for touring black musicians who were barred from other hotels due to Jim Crow laws. Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Wilson Pickett slept and ate home-cooked meals at the Lorraine. So did Martin Luther King, Jr., who stayed there many times prior to his last visit on April 3, 1968. He was shot and killed the next morning in front of Room 306.
The Lorraine is now home to the national Civil Rights Museum. Walk into the Lorraine, and you'll instantly understand why musicians still come to Memphis to make music that begs to understand the complexities and contradictions of our troubled and beautiful nation. It's as stirring as the songs that were made in the neighborhoods in the shadow of the Lorraine.