Hello again everyone.  I hope that all are enjoying the week.  I'm writing to you from Memphis, where I've spent the last three days based out of the home of Marc and Jan Hanover, the parents of a friend of mine from DC.  It has been an unbelievable stay, and I cannot thank them enough for their hospitality and kindness.  If you're reading--thank you again!

In the past three days I've seen a lot of Memphis and took a quick trip out to Little Rock, AR.  I'll give you a quick glimpse of what I've seen along the way, but would like to do so in a more thematic nature than just listing and describing...mostly because the latter style bores me, so it MUST bore you.

My previous post focused on the musical nature of Nashville and my undying love for country music. Memphis, too, is a hotbed of music activity.  This was obvious from the Welcome Center along the mighty Mississippi River (not the first time I've seen it, but still pretty cool), where giant statues of Memphis's kings -- Elvis and B.B. -- welcomed you to the city.  This fact became even more apparent as I strolled the streets of downtown, from the blues bars on Beale Street to the Rock and Soul Musem and Gibson Guitar factory.  The feel was decidedly different, though, from the "produced" feel of much of Nashville.

What makes Memphis different, I believe, is the historic blending of genres that took place half a century ago to form the foundation of much of modern music and the broader social and political implications of this cultural shift.

As you know, Memphis has historically been a center of racial tension and change in the U.S.  It was here that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in 1968 while helping to organize a group of black sanitation workers who were being discriminated against.  The National Civil Rights Museum, on the site of the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was shot, provided an unbelievably powerful look into this epochal period in American history.  Detailing the march towards equal rights from the very beginnings of slavery on through the modern era, the exhibits tied together a complex string of events that stretched across the north and south of the United States.  

View of balcony at Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
was shot and killed in April 1968.  

Nothing was more moving than actually standing outside the spot where Dr. King was killed.  This man's charisma and deft political skills helped to shape a movement that truly transformed American history, and his influence remains palpable more than 40 years after his death.  Standing just a few feet from where he fell, looking into the encased hotel room that has been left largely as it was at the time of his death, was nothing short of chilling.

Just steps from where MLK was shot and killed.  

While this in and of itself has little to do directly with music, it speaks to the broader social backdrop against which the social change I highlight below was happening.  Many of the exhibits highlighted the tension and frustrations that resulted from hundreds of years of oppression.  The specifics of the clash -- and at least part of the way forward -- were made apparent through a number of other attractions.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, America underwent a profound cultural transformation (or so I've read...was not actually alive at that time, so knows...conspiracy theory anyone??? just kidding...).  The move from the more obedient and polished side of culture to the more defiant and rambunctious side of culture was in many ways was reflected in the musical tastes of the day-- think Eisenhower 1950s compared to Jerry Lee Lewis banging on a piano and throwing his head back and forth.  The more polished sound of Nashville country soon collided with the more raw and spiritual sound of southern gospel and blues, with the latter largely drawing its roots from the black community.  Nowhere was this more apparent, it seems, than in Memphis.

While country and western music, mostly from Nashville, ruled the airwaves throughout the south, there were other genres that held sway in many areas off the air.  With its roots in the slaves' songs, black gospel, soul and early rock and roll music was popular throughout black communities.  According to historical recordings, the recording community in Memphis was looking for a way to bring this up-and-coming blues/gospel sound to the white--and more mainstream--community.  To do so, they "needed a white boy who could sing black music" (quoted from Rock & Soul Museum--not sure who said it).

That "white boy" was Elvis Presley.  His unique ability to meld the more polished, white country music with the more raucous rock, blues and black gospel music -- and deliver it in a package that was friendly to white audiences (at least he was white) was a major turning point in the movement.

He was soon followed by a whole host of other acts who, in their own ways, successfully blended country, western, blues, and gospel into a new "rockabilly" style that launched otherwise underground cultures into the mainstream.  The movement was spurred on by a group of recording studios, namely Sun Records and Stax Records, and soon included a number of white AND black acts, including Carl Perkins ("Blue Suede Shoes"), B.B. King (numerous), Jerry Lee Lewis ("Great Balls of Fire"), Isaac Hayes ("Soul Man") and so many more.

It was this launch of black culture and black musicians into mainstream America that in many ways helped to galvanize support for the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s.  While leaders such as Dr. King, James Meredith (first black student at Ole Miss), Malcolm X and others stoked the political flames necessary to bring about civil rights, musicians and recording artists helped to transform popular culture in a way which would facilitate change.

Various exhibits hammered this point home, and it rang through loud and clear.  The blending of musical cultures was readily apparent across Beale Street, where up-and-coming artists played from an expansive catalog that included hits from white and black artists, as well as later-period music that reflected the evolutionary end result of the blending of the two.

And, as it always does in Memphis, it all comes back to Elvis.  My visit to Graceland -- what visit to Memphis would not be complete with a visit to the King's home? -- highlighted just how big a star he was.  I was admittedly surprised by the long line at 10am on a random Tuesday.  At that point, I was even more shocked by the scores of people holding vigil at the site of his grave on the grounds.

Standing vigil for the King.  

However, when viewed through the light of his profound impact on American music -- and American popular culture and yes, even politics -- it is no surprise that he still elicits this type of response.  After just a few days in this city, working through the aforementioned Memphis history and culture, the magnitude of his impact and stardom was that much more apparent.

So yea...that's a bit crude in a "stream of consciousness" sort of way, but I'd say that pretty much captures what I took away from the experience.  All in all, a really great visit.

A few other side notes...

--the ribs--dry rub--and pork bbq at Corky's in East Memphis--were unbelievable.  I'm NOT looking forward to the many, many workouts it will require for me to burn this lunch off...but totally worth it.

Yea...that's enough calories for a couple of days...

 --you're probably wondering what I did in Little Rock--it's only two hours from Memphis, so I jetted down there earlier today to check out President Clinton's Library and Museum, which was really well done.  I won't delve into details, but I think it did a nice job of tastefully covering his years in the Oval Office, even the Lewinsky and Whitewater stuff.  While I was there, I grabbed a quick bite at the Flyin' Fish (had the catfish and shrimp with a side of spinach)--delicious.

Hitting the road early Thursday AM to head south through Mississippi to New Orleans.  Will likely make some stops along the way (Oxford, Jackson, Vicksburg), but general goal of the day is to make it to New Orleans in one piece.

Signing off for now...more later.  As always, thanks for indulging me...

DRB