Part 8 - Tupelo to Memphis - “May you live as long as you want to, and want to as long as you live"

Cruising thru the northern part of Alabamie, sweet sweet Alabamie! I check the GPS and head towards Memphis, that place just has a soulful pull that left Nashville wallowing in it’s own commercial juices.

​I didn’t really think about it, but my path now takes me through Tupelo… and to the unseasoned, its just another small town, I drive in late at night, and book a cheap comfortable motel. Next morning have a bit of a drive around the “historic old” town area and find the coolest coffee place Crave, run by Dixie and Megan, two sassy young chicks who know how to make a good coffee.

Have a regular coffee, but as I end up there chatting for a while, get talked into a complimentary Vanilla Burbon coffee from their latest experimental roast. It was strange but delicious, had great conversations with the gals, about Tupelo, and what it is and not. And of course the thing that Tupelo is most famous for is it’s where Elvis was born… I’m not really on an Elvis pilgrimage, but its seems the universe is pushing me that way.. ha ha. They tell me a few other things that are happening around, and eventually I head off to another Elvis land.

It’s actually a fairly small place, but like Graceland seems to have had a budget injected into it. There is a goodly sized conference style building that holds the gift shop, small museum of early imagery and stories, a theatrette (that shows a pretty dreadful introduction movie with re-enactments), and other amenities.  But of course the main show is the house where Elvis was born (pictured here —>) a tiny 1 bedroom house with kitchen/dining room.  They have also moved the church where he learned to sing from around the corner (some dutch guy lived in it for like 30 years, until Elvis Corp bought the simple church hall and moved it onto the grounds here). The Church has it’s owns stories and AV screening presentation.

It’s all very Elvis Corp. but the one thing that strikes me most is this little statue a the very top of the grounds in a viewing area that overlooks the whole place (that apparently Elvis liked to come and sit), of young Elvis with the very first guitar his mum bought him for $7. (Elvis wanted a BB-Gun or a bike, but she didn’t want him with a violent gun, or falling off a bike) The rest of the monument is a bit gaudy too, but this one I liked.

It reminded me of my story, and that all of us come from somewhere, and often our beginnings are humble, and that  creativity can move to you places in this world that you would have never thought possible.  I bagged potatoes $4-8 wk until I bought my own first bass guitar for $170… so I got one up on you Elvis, you got given your first guitar. ha!

So end up back in Memphis, I have done all the touristy stuff so it’s time to capitalise on the music. It’s Monday, I check what’s on, not much, so head to a venue on my list The Lafayettes, which I find is in Overton Square (and area that also kept coming up on my list from people)

Lafayette’s seems to be one of those places that has a big reputation, and it’s a great venue with a big stage, and an nice restaurant/bar and a mezzanine level that overlooks the stage.  But as with a lot of the more prestigious places, the music can be a bit bland. This monday is no exception, a great duo, and their bio on the net was a great write up of promises and session playing prowess.  But the pudding was an overproduced sounding version of a lot of typical covers, with little heart in it. The small crowd also thought so too, and loved it, but sat mostly talking and eating in the furthest away seats… I was disheartened. So had one beer and left to the experimental music night I had also seen advertised at Hi-Tone dive bar.

Now this is not really my style either, but at least I see passionate people about their own music. Also on a monday night in a smaller music venue doing experimental music, the crowd is small but also dedicated music lovers.  This is definitely a niche market, the first act is live played electronica with vocal samples and glitch editing, second act is totally analogue setup using synth modules, analogue samplers and a million leads to plug it all together, and the third act from (Baltimore I think) are 2 guys one with a guitar and effects pedals and his partner in crime on electronics and moog synths.  It’s definitely crazy noise most of the night, but watching people pour their hearts into something specific is always amazing to watch.  The small crowd loves it too.

I chat with the bar staff in the front room and some other band locals, during the night and get some great tips for my list of things to do and see.  They are also impressed with what I already had, which was a lot of places they would’ve suggested.

Tues finally have to submit to doing some house keeping and where else would you do your smalls in Memphis but the Elvis Presley Bvld Coin-up Laundry. Turns out I’m in a totally rough area ha ha, but have a great chat with my one armed laundry host Cecil. He’s surprised to see a white person in his laundry I think, let alone an Australian.  But we have a great chat about music, and Memphis and the state of politics at the moment.

I pop across the road to get some food, at the local quickie mart, and the various clientele are quite colourful in demeanour.

The food in America is something to be deisred, deep fried fish cake on a white bread roll, with can coleslaw, soggy chips with packet ketchup.  While it’s cooking, I decide if it’s culturally appropriate to buy a stocking do-rag… (I don’t buy one). All of the cities I have been in there seems to be this crumbling infrastructure, areas of the American dream that have been left to disintegrate, to wither back into the plains they were stolen from.  I am not sure how long the USA can stand tall, when it’s own root system is weakened and rotting.

I head to the Mississippi, as I haven’t seen the foreshore in Memphis yet, but travel through Soulville to get there, and it is an area that sounds great on a map, but is run down, garbage everywhere and crumbling down.  The foreshore by contrast (literally 5mins drive away) has been taken over reworked and made into a glorious public park water front with restaurant with a grass growing over it in a modern mound at one end of the park.  Excercise tracks and great views. All with the areas overlooking the park taken over by expensive houses, and apartment blocks. The difference is not lost on me.

I lie in the park for a while, my body needs a rest. Various fitness people, tourists and locals canter and bike by.  From various positions in Memphis I have seen the glass pyramid (in the picture), so decide to travel the foreshore to see what its about. It turns out to be an Outdoor Fishing, Camping and Shooting complex taken over I presume from whoever was crazy enough to build a pyramid.  The indoor area is the craziest mall I have ever seen, including many outdoors shops in a swamp, bayou, stuffed animals, live fish tanks place with shops in around the area, and checkouts dotted here and there.

Full embrasure of the hunting culture, camping yeah… but mostly hunting. There a lots of huge catfish in display ponds and stuffed animals (bears, deers, turkeys, ducks, goats, antlers etc) in every nook of this display/mall.

There are plenty of camping things, touristy T-shirts, camouflage-ware, canoes/kayaks, boat shop, fishing lines, bow and crossbows complete with a firing range, and of course the gun shop… no stop in ‘Murica would be complete without a stop at a gun shop for an Aussie.  It is a sight to behold, I have never seen so many guns in one place in my life.

It’s pretty nuts to think I could have walked out of the place with a pistol in my pocket for about $189… if you wanted something more powerful, about $350, and top of the line about $800 for handguns.  If I wanted a semi-automatic machine gun it was about $1800-3500. Sobering… but I later look at the Beretta Compact Carry, and think Hmmm maybe I should… ha ha

Anyway I forget about American paranoia and head out to some music again, the tues jam that Jack ran was not on this week, so I find The Catfish Blues Jam in Hernando, out on the edge of Memphis.  It’s a pretty local-ish jam but I find a couple of players that I know there.  It’s funny the effect of just one or two people saying hello to you in the crowd that effects the entire blues crowd (esp if those people are players). It’s an ok jam session, with a few interesting typical jams, but also a british couple get up and do a few songs which is a bit different, and then I get a few songs too. Fun night, and definitely a down home crew to hang out with for a night. Chat with a few of the local musos and the state of things.

Lunch Wed I head to Central BBQ which is on my list, and get the Nachos (recommended from Austin). I stupidly order the regular size which in USA means —> it’s a ridiculous amount of food, it’s awesome and spicy! and yes that is covered in jalepenos, so AWESOME! with a selection of hot sauces to make it even hotter.

I check out the South Main St area again, it has some cool cafes, and venues, the Blues museum and the Civil Rights Museum @ the Lorraine Motel. Some of the local graffiti art, and also have a first look at Ernestine & Hazels (venue/Bar) one of the most haunted place apparently. A little accoustic act on Wednesday.

Wed, doesn’t turn much up except the usual Beale St fare, but Tommy who plays in Jack’s band sometimes has his own band which is playing so I head out to see them, take my bass and get an invite up to play a bit with them.

It’s a great mixture of more rocky blues, and they play to the crowd @ the Split Creek Bar & Grill. I also get cracked onto by one of the local cougars, we teach each other to pronounce local words in our accents, but she is gradually dragged away by one of her usuals.. ha ha

Thurs I get up late, and sign off for no room housekeeping, and just take it easy for the morning, I cafe at The Edge, and do some social media, hang around and have a lighter day. Thurs is full jam night and 2 jams and definitely a later night so try to conserve my energy.  I head to Stage Stop Blues Jam, one of the longest running music venues and jams in Memphis. The place is adorned with 40 years worth of signed cymbals, articles, memorabilia… so much history.  The owners have been supporting live music for a long time.

I play with a couple of lineups, and seem to have worked my way into the scene nicely, and get to stay up a bit longer. Play with one new drummer I hadn’t seen before, and we work up some great tweaks in some songs, we messed around a lot up the back.  He chatted later and loved having a responsive bassplayer.

There’s some other great sessions that night, and one of them is Chick ( <— pictured singing here) he’s a great charismatic old schooler, and keeps the band on their toes. Fun Jam night.  I am also getting a good reputation here as a jammer ha ha.

I stay for most of the night, but then ditch over to Jack Rowell Jnr’s Invitational @ Neil’s Bar & Grill.  It’s a top quality night and the players are phenomenal.  There’s a couple of players from other nights, and guests on vocals.

​They pull out some great solid, spicy songs and jams, and the player swap around here and there. I have a great night there.  The Blues is alive and well in Memphis, all sorts from the traditional to the rockin’ electric, there is lots of depth in the characters and players in the scene.

Friday, another late start and nice easy brunch, then into the day, I head back to the Museum Of Civil Rights down on South Main St, The Lorraine Motel, I think its strange that the museum is at a motel (it looks like an old school edge of town sort of motel), but then I realise it IS the motel where Dr Martin Luther King was assasinated...

In the picture, the wreath on the balcony was where he was standing when he was struck down by the bullet. The town cars in the foreground are ones that were there. The motel after that fact eventually went out of business, from bad publicity, but then was restored and the whole motel has been turned into the civil rights museum.

It’s momentus to be standing in such places, and it brings all the details of dividing things I have seen on this trip, into focus. America is indeed a strange place, with a lot of issues and history that affect everyday life today. Luckily I get distracted from the heavy topic of the racial divide here, and I see a stage being prepped at the little park in front of the museum.  Tracey is talking to people, then goes and sits on the grass, she looks friendly, so a walk over and asked her about the music, and then sit with her for a while chatting about music, and issues etc.  It turns out this is last concert in a series every friday for all this month for Civil Rights activation. People gradually roll in with their lawn chairs, and setup in the park, all up the sides and the concert starts at 6pm with speeches and some spoken word poetry.

The music starts and it’s Karen Brown with an all-star lineup of RnB/soul band. They are funky and play a lot of song the crowd knows (and sings along to), but I have never heard before.  It’s pretty amazing to be sitting in front of the Lorraine Motel and hearing a celebration of Civil Rights concert surrounded by people just enjoying themselves.

Strangely like a lot of things I have come across, I am but one of about 50 non-black people in the entire crowd. It is unnerving what the details of daily living in America are doing to my opinions of racial issues. I catch a set of music but as they break I head off to a swing dance lesson just half a block away, as that was my reason for coming to the South Main area.

​I get to the lesson, but even though it looked really good online, and very promoted by a local dance crew Red Hot Swing, it is very sad… one old male teacher, and 2 couples that have walked in off the street. I stay, order 2for1 margaritas as it’s happy hour, to get me through this.  Another guy from the local crew shows up, a steps in as a follow.  I am used to this, as most dance circles have same sex couples here and there, and usually if its it a rotating class you end up dancing with the the guys too. But it is funny in this situation where the tourist guys find themselves not dancing with their girl but with this other guy ha ha.

It’s a lame lesson, but the guy who took up following mentions there is a rock n roll/rockabilly band playing down on Beale st that could be good and might get some dancers there.  I take down the details and say I have a look later. I bail on the lesson straight after and head back to the Civil Rights Concert.  Watch it until the end. Great groovy concert.

I head out to Beal St to find this gig, but can’t.  I end up in loose Handy Park in the middle of Beale St, where wild bands and locals and tourists mix.

Just as it’s starting to get a little hairy, Someone calls my name! I look around and it’s Chick from the Stage Stop Jam, he says he used to own this park and street… but he talks him AND me onto the park stage from the band there, so I guess he must have… we jam up a storm in Handy Park. Chick also mentions he has a late night gig @ Ernestine & Hazels Sat Night and invites me to come. Crazy night!  I end up at the taco window on the edge of the park, chatting to Roland from Ghana.  I get 2 Tacos from him and we chat about music and travel, he likes that I am a straight shooter from Australia.  I still haven’t found this Rockabilly band, so I send msg to Red Hot Swing, to see if I can get more details.

I wander up and down the strip and finally hear the band, The Highjivers in The Blues City Cafe.  I get in and they are great! some rock n roll-y stuff, some rockabilly but lots of songs that are danceable. Not many dancers by the looks but by the time I get a beer and squeeze up to the front I find the guy from the lesson, with a few dancers.

I end up having a great dance with one of the gals, they are all very RocknRoll/Swing chicks, then I get up with one of the larger girls, she is a great dancer, but then the song is super slow. But we just flow with it, and have a super sexy blues-style dance that lights the dancefloor up. I can see lots of the sitting crowd admiring, and wanting to be able to dance ha ha. I think the Leo in me got plenty of kudos that night. I really loved that dance with her.

The Highjivers are also a great band, playing in Memphis, but they are mostly from Nashville (just 3hours up the road), the singer has an amazing husky whiskey soaked voice, and she knows how to work the stage, very vivacious. The band is solid too, and the guitarist is one of the most electrifying rockabilly guitarists I have ever seen. What a crazy great night! I dance later with some other ladies who are not swing dancers, but really enjoy movement and dancing with someone who can actually lead. fun fUN FUN!  Later I head back to Handy Park for another Taco.

I hang while I eat, and chat, people and clients come and go, Roland intimates to me that he doesn’t like a lot of the American black people, especially the lazy ones that hang around Handy Park. It’s a slap for me, but it’s a reality, Roland is a black guy from Ghana, has travelled all over the world to escape things and create opportunity, he speaks Ghanian, English and Italian (as he lived in Italy for 8 years), he is supporting 5 kids, and they are in or heading to University.  He is doesn’t like a lot of the attitude of black American’s who hang around. He’s seen a lot, and has worked his job here for years, so I believe him. We have great chats about travel and music and things in general. I thank him for his hospitality!

Saturday I get cultured and find a play that sounds very interesting, at Hatiloo, the only Black repertory Theatre in the Surrounding 5 states. I see “Fetch Clay, Make Man” a play based upon the meeting of Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) and Stepin Fetchit (the first hollywood black actor to become millionaire).  "Inspired by their actual friendship, the play explores how each dealt with the pressure of being a Black public figure trying to shape his identity in the face of outside forces.  This intriguing play, about the meeting between two men who achieved renown during different eras in the thorny history of race in America has more rounds of combat than an epic prize fight. - New York Times"

It’s really great to see some theatre whilst overseas, and this small but powerful play has some really great moments. The acting from all the actors is a great standard, and the writing is strong, but also not overly forced, and is a very balanced entertaining piece that delves into the political without being overly preachy. There’s a couple of moments that really hit me.

​The Cast of Fetch Clay, Make Man —>

Last week when I was in Memphis, at DKDC lots of people were mentioning Goner Fest, so on this Saturday I make it to Goner Record’s Once a year International Invitational Music Festival.  It’s held over several venues and I get to Murphy’s Bar after the play finishes, and catch some wild indie jangle and sonic rock… what are the kids listening to these days?  What can I say Goner Fest is not really my style, but it’s certainly entertaining.  I watch bands from all over the place, the states and overseas (Australia even has a contingent at the fest) and it’s a mess of impassioned musics that are quite good to see.

A bunch of sweaty friends, in an indoor venue, and a larger outdoor stage with a backyard-feel party surrounded by a ring of merch tables of all independent bands, and a keg party all rolled into one.  It’s absolutely glorious! I think that Tim Ireland from one of my old bands would love this line up.  I stay at Goner fest all arvo/evening until I have to find some food.

I check my list and one of the other places that is on it and is nearby is "BBQ Shop", finally have some good ol’ Memphis BBQ!.. the diet of the American’s is piling on a few kilos, but hey I can adjust back when I am home.  I don’t think I have ever eaten so much meat in my life.  I remember that Chick’s gig is on at Ernestine And Hazels and head over the South Main and take my bass.

It’s fun to see E&H’s in it’s late night mode. It’s a rather ramshackled gig, and Chick is doing his thang, getting in amongst the crowd, singing to the ladies, getting people to dance, and surprising people left right and centre.

I get up later with another harmonica player, but it’s a chaotic and the rocky guitarist is not much of a jammer… it’s just blues! but we get through a few, and the drummer says to me that we should get onto some funkier stuff later, I think he senses where I am coming from.

I hang with the band in the break, and sit in the drummers car as he smokes a jay.  We hear gunshots, which sound around the corner and about a block or two away… nobody even flinches. ha ha Memphis how I love you!  Eventually I am too tired, and leave after the next set, the band still has one more to go. They play from 11.30pm - 3am in the morning…! so toughen up Australian musicians, in Memphis the gigs are gunned down and late…  ha ha.

Sunday, and another couple of weeks finally catches up with me.  I decide to have a day off, and just stay in the hotel, watch movies and documentaries from bed, and then order a delivered pizza. It was a great day!

Monday I had decided it was time to move on, to Chicago, but the Sun Studios recording hadn’t really happened. I went to The Edge for a good morning Coffee and brekky after checkout, and decide to just check my emails to make sure. Nothing. Ok its just up the road, so I head there in one last ditch effort to see what’s going on.  All my muso friends from before are there, and after chatting for a minute, in walks Ples the Head Sound Engineer, he has been away, and also working on several projects at once, and has a session tonight! so hasn’t been following up the little project leads.. ha ha but they are really cool, and he is still interested, just too swamped. 

No time tonight, and last night they did a really late night session with Ike “Ronnie" Turner Jnr, apparently a grammy award winner. ha so it’s pretty tumultuous place. They are recording a session with this rockabilly singer from England that night, but Ples asks me if I want to stay for the session. So I do. and we discuss recording on Tuesday night.  I book accommodation for 2 more nights. They record a few songs old school style, session musos, pretty much live in the studio and the session musos learn the songs there that night!  But they turn out great! I take a couple of photos, and the history of the place is getting hotted up.  They set it up very similar to how it was always set up for recording, & the singer stands literally on the x mark where Elvis, BB King, & Roy Orbison would have stood.

One of the gals, Tiffany, who works as a tour guide also runs an open mic down at P&H, which is a venue on my list, so I decide after a while to leave them to their session, and head down to her open mic.  It is is a really typical Mon open mic, in a classic dive bar with heaps of history.  The tables are scrawled with words of wisdom, and not… So I throw it out there that I am available to play with anyone.  I end up jamming with 3 people throughout the night including, Tiffany (she does a few in the middle of the night), Pigs In Space and St John. It’s a hillarious night, of weird and wonderful, but have at least one good jam song with each of these three.

I spend tues morning setting up some stuff for the recording on my laptop for transferring files, and just practicing the bits I want to do. It’s just a little bit exciting to be recording @ Sun Studios! Ples also offered on monday, seeing that I am hanging around longer than I was going to, to take me on a tour of Ardent Studios (which is the massive studio in Memphis, his dad worked there as an engineer for 40 years, and Ples grew up as a kid around the studio) Ardent started in the 50s but throughout the years recorded bands like: Led Zeppelin, James Taylor, Stax artists including Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave, the Staple Singers, the Bar-Kays and Booker T. and the MGs, later ZZ Top, Freddie King, Cheap Trick, Joe Cocker, and the new crop being the Replacements, R.E.M., the Georgia Satellites, the Gin Blossoms, the Afghan Whigs.  Finally the new school also entered into recording there: Three 6 Mafia, Juvenile, Al Kapone, Cat Power, the White Stripes, Bob Dylan.  We had a good look around and chatted to the current crop of producers and engineers. Great to see the place!

Then it’s my turn to lay something down in Sun Studios! too much fun. I arrive a bit early, and hang out with the tour crew, as they are always in the front cafe, great chats again, and the last tours are ending for the day.

I hear aussie accents, and low and behold a small group of band looking dudes are buying merch, and talking bout their tour.  They tell the staff they are the touring band with Paul Kelly…!!! ha ha the staff don’t flinch… they don’t even know who Paul Kelly is. ha ha  I say sideways from across the room in my most australian accent…”Err he’s kind of a award winning, living legend in Australia!” everyone laughs.

Anyway Ples and staff are a bit busy, but he says “Oh well do you want to see the control room?” (the control room area is not on the tour), he looks to me and goes “Tim you know the space do you want to show them the control room”… err yep! life can be pretty bizarre at times, but you know it IS when you are giving a guided tour of the off limits control room to Sun Studios in Memphis to Paul Kelly’s Band… truly a moment in my history. Anyway we invite them to stay for a while, while we are setting up for my recording session, and I give them the low down on my trip and this session. They have some time to kill before a flight late tonight, so there is talk of them laying down something on the track. Anyway here’s my bass, in Sun Studios, with all the history and U2’s Larry Mullen's drum kit from the Rattle & Hum album —>

We try a few different things for mic-ing, and eventually have a 4 track setup just for the bass, DI - Direct Injection box, New D112 bass mic, and an old larger ribbon mic, and then retro large diaphram condensor room mic which is set up in a far corner facing away, which gives us a tonal sound that is specific to Sun and its room.  The amount of variance this ends up giving me with sounds is pretty crazy for mix later. Sort out a few things, play a few practices, and then lay down a couple of version of the song and lines that are used in it. Great session. 

Ples loves the idea of my project and its completely different to most of the stuff they get to do as people usually come in trying to emulate the history (like the Rockabilly dude). Anyway it’s a great session, and I promise to send Ples a copy of the track once I have everything done and mixed. Some of Paul Kellys band need to sleep, but Ash (who turns out to be the dude from EVEN the band from the 90s) ends up playing drums for the assistant engineer from Sun who has a gig that night. After my session I head out to that gig @ Growlers which is also on my list.

I take a pic and some video of the gig, and chat with Ash, he’s normally a guitarist, but he also play drums (quite well I might add).  They do a heap of numbers, and then we have a few beers, eventually Ash has to go, and I do to so I give him a lift back to Memphis CBD where they are staying. We chat about a whole lot of other music-y things and the state of the industry and how we all fit into it, and the random-ness of this whole encounter, ha ha

I later email him this pic and the video of them playing, as he wants a copy.

Well and that finally brings to a close my Memphis adventure, WOW what a week, it was totally a great choice to spend less time in Nashville, and more time in Memphis as this place has way more soul. So next day I pack up my stuff, my new USB and backup of recordings from Sun Studios, and head on down the track to St Louis on my way to Chicago.

I don’t know what to expect, as it’s one of the only destinations that I haven’t been able to start a insider’s list for… I cross the Mississippi again into Arkansas, and then eventually into Missouri. I have now been to 6 American states.. and I will cross a few more before this is over.