Dixie Homes

Since Nashville didn't live up to our expectations, we decided to make one more stop in Tennessee before crossing the Mississippi River into Arkansas: Memphis. Home of the Blues.
We went straight to the Memphis Recording Service or Sun Records Studio as it was later called. The place was opened in the early fifties by Sam Phillips, who wanted to give all the black musicians he had heard on Beale Street a chance to record their songs for little money. Many artists jumped at the chance to record a two-sided demo with one song on each side for $4. For some, it was the first step to national and even international fame, such as Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner and Jackie Branston.
Word got around and white artists began recording at the Sun Studio, including Johnny Cash, who recorded his first three LPs there. One day, an 18-year-old kid walked in with $4 his family had been saving for three months. He wanted to demo a ballad he had written. He was very nervous, but sang well and made a great impression on Marion Keisker, the secretary, who then got him a spot in a Sun Records band that was supposed to play background for other artists or do sound checks for them and so on. But they turned out to be so good that the band soon became a group in its own right, named after the 18-year-old boy: Elvis Presley.
The Sun Records tour was great. We heard a lot of funny and interesting stories, listened to some great music, and at the end we stood in the recording room where all the above mentioned artists had performed and recorded. In the room was even the original microphone used for all the lead vocals on over 700 LPs and many more demos, including Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash and the first recorded track by Elvis Presley!

After the tour, we drove downtown, parked our car at the footbridge to Mud Island Park and walked across. Mud Island Park was out of this world. It seemed like a beautiful park and venue, but something was wrong. No one was there except maybe 5 tourists. Everything was closed...and had probably been closed for 10 years. Someone had stopped time. The place was insane: an amazing amphitheater-like stage overlooking the downtown skyline, a mile-long walk along a miniature copy of the Mississippi River, a museum, a swimming pool, several cafes. All closed. And for some magical reason with almost no vandalism at all, though you could get into the park and most of the buildings! Maybe one day there will be life again in this phenomenal island park. Hopefully.Read more