Memphis

The last two days were spent in Memphis, birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll. When we arrived we went straight to Gracelands. Our first impressions of Elvis’ home were of how different it was as a tourist attraction compared to his birthplace. It’s highly commercialised compared to his first home in Tupelo and with it coincidentally being Elvis week 2010 the place was swarming with sightseers, many of them doing their best to impersonate the King with far too much hair spray and ridiculous sideburns.  

There’s plenty to do around the area with many museums, gift shops and restaurants all set up across the street from his home. For an Elvis fan it is like Dinseyland. We just took the standard mansion tour which takes you in a shuttle bus up Graceland’s drive and drops you off outside to explore the house and grounds with a guided audio tour. The house has been kept in excellent condition and all the furnishings are original and used by Elvis and his family. Take a look at the photos and you’ll see how each room has a distinctive theme and crazy 70’s decor. The tour lasts roughly an hour and you get to see the ground and basement floors of the house, including a piano he sat and played on the morning of his death, and all the gardens and outbuildings; which have been converted into exhibition halls.

Just as we were concluding the tour a huge thunderstorm broke out and we had to finish up in the gardens in torrential rain (see photo of Jenny looking like a drowned rat). But it did make standing over Elvis’ grave very atmospheric as the rain battered the reefs and lightning lit up the sky. As I mentioned previously neither of us were Elvis fans before this trip and to be honest the name just conjured up images of fat look-a-likes and heart attacks on toilets. However, after the last few days of walking in his shoes we have started to appreciate what he achieved and recognise him for the young gifted performer he once was rather than the caricature figure fashioned from rumours and look-a-likes since his death.

Our second day in Memphis we visited Sun Studio. This studio is recognised as being the birthplace of Rock N Roll and also the first place that Elvis ever recorded music. It was also home to such legends as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. In recent years it has been used by Paul McCartney and U2 and the microphone that you see us posing with in the photos is one of the original five the studio had and was used by all those greats and more. Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Studio and the record label, said before his death that he didn’t want anything put into a museum; it was his wish that people could stand on the same spot as Elvis and rock out into the same mic. We didn’t quite rock out, but where we are standing is the same place that Elvis recorded his first hit, “That’s All Right (Mama)”.

Both nights in Memphis we spent enjoying the famous Beale Street. Our favourite place was B.B. Kings Blues Club, where we ate both nights and watched the bands performing on stage. One such band was fronted by a 16 year old called Will Tucker, we spoke to someone who was a friend of his family and he told us that he had been recording for Randy Jackson (American Idol judge). He was pretty good for 16 so watch this space! The whole street is full of other bars and clubs that all feature live music, including Ground Zero which is owned by actor Morgan Freeman. In an age where so many bands are manufactured and having talent isn’t the number one requirement anymore it was refreshing to be somewhere where music still felt real and there is a definite buzz in the air.

We usually took the free shuttle to and from our hotel but on the last night we took a 30 minute tour in a horse drawn carriage that showed us a few of the sights in Memphis before returning to our hotel. It was a perfect way to end what has been a very different couple of days but extremely cool at the same time, even if the fairy lights and Cinderella carriage Jenny insisted we ride in were a tad gaudy for my liking!