Memphis

Memphis

Easily accessible from the Mississippi Delta and Hills, and from the black communities in south western Tennessee (Brownsville, etc) Memphis became a magnet for black musicians seeking to escape rural conditions or to visit to make money playing on the streets or in Handy Park. 

The list of those who remained in Memphis includes: Frank Stokes, 'Furry' Lewis, Gus Cannon, The Memphis Jug Band,... those who visited include: Sleepy John Estes RA, Memphis Minnie RA, Roosevelt Sykes, Howling Wolf, 'Bukka' White, Sonny Boy Williamson#1.... Robert Johnson was a regular visitor to family members who lived in Memphis and was often seen 'busking' on 'white' Main Street.

The 'Memphis sound'

                    Frank Stokes RA                     Furry Lewis RA

         Gus Cannon Jug Stompers RA    Memphis Jug Band RA

Beale Street

The short section of Beale Street preserved from urban decay hardly does justice to its importance for the southern black community between 1880 and 1960. It was the black 'Main Street' for a huge surrounding area and drew crowds of urban and rural blacks to its stores by day and 'fast' life at night. 

"After dark the attention of the crowd moved to the theatres, dance halls and restaurants. Slick hustlers moved in and out of gambling joints like The Hole in the Wall, Midway and Panama. Shadowy bordellos on Third and Fourth Streets switched on their porch lights (white patrons had theirs a block away). Music filled the air, from blues musicians and jug bands in Handy Park and street corners or jazz combos and pianists in one of the clubs or gambling dens." Extract from 'Beale Street Talks  R Raichelson'

 the 1940's                  the 1950's

 Beale Street today

Memphis became popularly associated with blues partly due to W C Handy writing Memphis Blues (1909) and St Louis Blues (1914) in Pee Wee's saloon, a musicians hang-out, on Beale Street (now there is a Hard Rock cafe on the site). The house he lived in has been preserved as The W C Handy museum and moved to Beale Street

Memphis also launched the career of Beale Street Blues Boy King, Rufus Thomas, Howlin' Wolf.......

Memphis was the centre for the surrounding white population, with 'black' Beale Street being often visited by a young E Presley obsessed with black music and clothes - follow Beale and you come direct to Sun Studio - but that's another story.