Birth of the Blues

In this post, I pay a visit to Beale Street in Memphis where much of Blues and Soul music recording got its start. I also resolve the cliffhanger about what happened to the RV plumbing when I carelessly let it freeze.

Let’s start with the plumbing story. When I arrived in Omaha the night before Thanksgiving, temperatures dropped into the teens and I - snug and warm in my sister’s house - didn’t think to leave heat on in the RV. Sure enough, by the next morning, no water was flowing anywhere in the motorhome. I turned off the water pump and decided to solve the problem when I’d gotten back to weather dependably above freezing. After a week on the road without running water, I decided in Memphis it was time to get it fixed. In the meantime, I’d used water from a gallon jug to wash dishes, and the toilet is a self-contained system that seemed to be working fine. Also, I’d satisfied myself that none of the pipes had burst: I could hook up to outside water, pressurize the system, disconnect, and it would hold the pressure overnight. But the fresh water pump was eerily silent and produced no pressure on its own.

I called around and decided a place thirty minutes south of Memphis in Missisippi was my best choice. After just twenty minutes in their waiting room, they came in and proudly announced I’d gotten lucky. A fuse right next to the fresh water pump - not in the main fuse panel - had blown, they replaced it, and the water pump was running fine. Total charge: $25 for a quarter hour of labor. I’m naturally suspicious of answers that are too easy. When I got to the van, before driving away, I flipped the switch to the water pump. It ran and ran and ran. I didn’t like that; it’s supposed to turn off once the system is pressurized. Sure enough, I opened a faucet and no water came out, not a drop. Hard for me to imagine doing a water system repair and not even check for running water.

I went back in and told them I wasn’t as lucky as they thought. This time, I was an hour and a half in the waiting room. The mechanic came into confer with his boss. I overheard: he’d replaced the water pump but there was still no pressure. The boss just shrugged and the mechanic trudged back out to the garage. A mere five minutes later, he was back again, all smiles. He’d “twisted a little black doo-hickey near the pump” and all systems were go. There’s nothing like working with trained professionals. This time, the bill was $150 including labor and the new pump. I considered that to be a very small price to pay for the very important lesson of never letting the plumbing freeze again.

But wait… you say. Before he “twisted the little black doo-hickey”, wasn’t the brand new pump behaving just like the one he’d replaced? Implying… if he’d twisted first… Yeah, who knows? They did put in an hour and half of labor and I did have a brand new pump, not an old one that might have been weakened by freezing, so I was glad to call it a square deal and head back to Memphis.

This repair excursion took place on a Monday and I’d planned to visit Elvis’ Graceland on Tuesday, then drive to Nashville on Wednesday. One small problem that I didn’t become aware of until Monday evening: Graceland is closed all day every Tuesday. I didn’t feel I could leave Memphis without seeing Graceland, so I’d stay over until Wednesday for that, but what to do on Tuesday? I was dimly aware of Beale Street in Memphis, but didn’t have an inkling of its significance and hadn’t planned to visit. But, with an extra day in town, why not? Boy am I glad I did! Thank you, Graceland, for being closed.

Beale Street is on the southwest side of downtown Memphis. The neighborhood looks a little seedy, but I never felt unsafe. Finding street parking just a couple blocks away was no problem. I started at the east end of the street, where the Beale Street Baptist Church is an imposing structure:

It’s famous not just for its proximity to the music scene, but also as a focal point for a lot of civil rights activity. A sign out front gives a brief history:

 The historic section of Beale Street itself is only about three blocks long. Here’s a shot that takes in most of it:

Along those three blocks, almost every storefront is associated with a famous musician, or is a famous club in its own right. If you have trouble reading the sign below, this one is for Jerry Lee Lewis:

The club on the left below is Wet Willie’s:

With Christmas approaching (this was mid-December) there was a Christmas tree set up in one of the side streets:

Behind it you can see the Fed-Ex sponsored basketball coliseum, which dominates an adjacent area.  A few doors down, I also got a kick out of this Santa Claus:

Some of the storefronts aren’t holding up that well, as you can see from the bracing on the left:

I stopped to have lunch at Silky O’Sullivans:

Near the west end of the street, you come to B.B. King’s and the Hard Rock Cafe:

The photo below is turned back, facing the other direction:

I wanted proof I was there:

The questionable composition of this shot comes from forgetting my pocket tripod and resting the camera on an outdoor food counter.

Back by the Fed-Ex coliseum you can find the mothership of Gibson Guitar stores:

and across the street from it is the rather unassuming entrance to the Rock and Soul Museum.

Don’t let appearances fool you, though. Inside is a real treasure trove of music memorabilia. Below are just a few items that stood out for me.

A dress from Minnie Pearl

This brought back childhood memories of TV shows. A suit worn by Hank Williams:

An old Wurlitzer jukebox:

There are jukeboxes from different eras throughout the museum, and each comes with a list of numbers you can punch into your audio guide to listen to top tunes from that time. Really a great way of presenting musical history. The signs that go along with other displays are very educational as well. Here is Isaac Hayes’ diamond-encrusted wristwatch:

One of B.B.King’s “Lucille” guitars:

A suit worn by Johnny Cash:

A photo of the Beatles intermingled with some group you never heard of again:

and a pair of Elton John’s glasses:

I think you can tell from the examples above that the museum covers a broad range of times and musical genres. For an additional charge, the museum also offers an audio guide you can listen to as you tour up and down Beale Street. I didn’t feel I had time for that. The basic admission ticket also gives you access to a shuttle bus that will take you to Graceland and Sun Studio. Graceland was on my agenda for tomorrow, and Sun Studios was just a few blocks away, so I drove it in my RV.

Many famous artists recorded at Sun Studio, perhaps most notably Elvis Presley. It’s not that impressive outside:

but inside you begin to get an idea of all the artists and gold records that have come out of there:

To tour the actual studio facilities, you have to pay. It was getting late so I put that on my list for the next visit. Oddly, in the entry to the studio is an ice cream shop, but you can have a cone while you’re waiting for the next tour to start, so it all seems to work.

I’d learned a lot about rock, soul, and blues music this day, and felt that I was much better prepared to appreciate my tour of Graceland on the next.