In the afternoon I drive into Memphis to see Sun Records, where Elvis got his start. Many will argue that this humble studio gave birth to Rock-n-roll. Sam Philips started the company in 1952 and tried both R&B and Country. He was unsatisfied with either as he was looking for something that was a combination of black blues and country music. When Elvis came around in July 1954, Sam found in him just what he was looking for. Elvis recorded five singles here before he was bought out by RCA for $35,000. RCA, with their marketing power, translated Elvis' potential into pop sales - and the result is all history now.
Sun Records also gave many other great music names their start -- BB King, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Carl Mann, Conway Twitty, Bill Justis -- to name a few.
This is not a bad
tour for $9.50. The original Sun Records is only three rooms - an office in
front of a 30 x 30 studio with a small control room behind that. That's the squat building on the left. Today, the building next door, the
two-story on the right, has been converted to a museum upstairs and a soda
fountain with all the Sun Records CDs you could want on the ground floor.
They run tours during the day and still record in the evenings -- $75 an
hour. The customer list includes such luminaries as Def Leppard, Matchbox
20, Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty, Beck, U2, Def Leppard,
and-on-and-on. . . It's said that some knelt and kissed the place on the
studio floor where Elvis used to stand when he was recording. After that it was a wander up and down Beale Street to take in the sights and finally into "BB King's Blues Club" for a little jazz and a few beers!
Beale street is under construction so rather than a few pics of the orange plastic snow fence and concrete Jersey barriers keeping the crowds and traffic from the ditches in the street -- here's a few "neon" shots.
First, the sign for the Blues City Cafe - an interesting shot as the "forks" alternate and only one is on at a time. I had to expose so the shutter was open for all three of 'em. BB King's is right across the street. All of the neon shots were taken hand-held and naturally, no flash.
More of the neon on the street. (I think the one on the top is a Monica joke.)
The scene inside BB King's was interesting. The crowd was mixed - all age groups and a lot of 'em seemed to be locals, not tourists - which is a good sign. Here's a shot of the lead guitar -- this guy is introduced as 82 years old. Although he looks it, he plays the guitar and jumps around like a 40 year old. I'll have to admit, the music was pretty good.
A shot of the whole band from behind the sound board -- (all the inside shots were hand-held, no flash!) Notice the drummer. He's behind a Plexiglas screen. I was told that was to block the loud noise of the drums from the other band members because they're so close. Hmmmm. A tomato shield perhaps?
Another travel day - Memphis TN to Checotah OK - 383 miles. Checotah is on I40 about 90 miles into OK and about 100 miles from Okalahoma City. The drive is uneventful, mostly on interstate - which is good since I had a beer or two too many last night. That could have been because of the two chicks (real beauties) flanking me at the bar - together they could have made a great Sumo Wrestling Tag-Team.
Checotah sits on the Eufaula Lake - a good size recreation area in OK. Maybe on another trip I'll stop for a longer visit.