Memphis Sight-seeing

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Geo: 35.1515, -90.0499

Visited Sam Phillips' Sun Studio, the Memphis Rock 'n Soul Museum and the outdoor store Bass Pro. A cold, overcast day, pity.

Early departure in the morning to Orlando via Atlanta.

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Photos

Sun Studio
Sam Phillips operated a recording studio in these premises from the early 1950s. He would charge $4 to record both sides of a disc. Sam was most interested in Rock and Roll music and he nurtured performers who were developing the new style. Singers like Ike Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and of course Elvis Presley recorded here in their early careers. After hearing Elvis nervously sing "It's All Right" in Jul 54, Sam coached a couple of backing players in the tune and recorded it that afternoon. An eccentric DJ friend played it over the radio and was flooded with calls from his audience. He played the song 14 times in the last two hours of his show.

Radio Station
This was DJ Dewey Phillips' radio desk that was relocated to Sun Studios in 2013 to round out the RnR story. If Dewey liked a song he would play it over and over, and sing over the top of the recording. If he didn't like it he would screech the needle off and smash the record over his microphone. He had a frantic, staccato style and his mostly black audience swelled with white listeners as the new sound became popular. The music played during our tour was from the original recordings and it sounded superb.

Recording Studio
This is the studio where many of those iconic songs were recorded. After being used for other purposes, it reverted to a studio in 1987 and is still used in the evenings for recording, sometimes by famous acts. The large photo on the left captures "The Million Dollar Quartet" - an impromptu Dec '56 gathering of Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins ('Blue Suede Shoes'), Jerry Lee Curtis ('Whole Lotta Shaking Going On' and 'Great Balls of Fire') and Elvis Presley. Without their knowledge, Sam Phillips recorded the group for over 4 hours while they jammed, talked and joked.

Shaw Microphone
This is one of the original microphones at the studio, kept here for the tourists. It's been used by all those famous people (and others).

Central BBQ
We had another BBQ ribs lunch at the highly rated Central BBQ Cafe. Although fine, to us it wasn't as good as the food we had the previous night at BB Kings. Robyn is freaking at the size of the share rack and four sides that cost USD 23 (+ tax and tip).

Memphis Faux Trolley
The rubber-tyred trolleys no longer run on the remaining tram tracks. But they circle the main parts of town and pass every 15min. There are designated stops but the driver picked up and dropped off people at any point. Several blocks of Main St are closed to other vehicles, and traveled just by trolleys and pedestrians.

Bass Pro Shop
This is Bass Pro's largest US store. It's built inside the world's sixth tallest pyramid, that was originally built to house College basketball games. (Giza is the tallest, Luxor Casino in Vegas is 3rd). The elevator takes you to the rooftop restaurant and bar, and lookout. The floor of the store includes several pools containing large fish (including an $80,000 pair of sturgeon fish) and some alligators up to 6ft.

Comments

[Morag]

Got the hand motion right. Ivan says - he thought Elvis had died

[Morag]

Swimming is not recommended

[Morag]

Ivan says - once a dentist , always a dentistComing from once a plumber, always a plumber