Last week I was in Memphis for a wedding, which is also the reason why there was no newsletter. But between the bachelorette party and the actual wedding day, I had a few days to explore the city. In addition to indulging in some of the best fried chicken and BBQ I’ve ever had in my life, I knew I had to explore the musical side of Memphis.
I had toyed around with the idea of going to Graceland. In fact, before I landed in the city, I was pretty certain I’d spend one of my free days making pilgrimage. But once I learned about the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, I knew I had a much harder decision to make.
The truth is I’m not a diehard Elvis fan. I’m a fan of the song Graceland by Paul Simon. And of course, I can appreciate who Elvis was and his impact on music and culture in general. I envisioned an Instagram post with a photo of Graceland, with the caption, “I've reason to believe we all will be received in Graceland.”
But the reality is that I’m much more interested in and regularly listen to soul music. I know many of the artists and songs that came from Stax Records. So, instead of paying $50 to walk the hallowed halls of Graceland, I paid $15 to dive deeper into the history of American soul music.
Stax Records was founded in 1957 in Memphis, Tennessee. The museum is located at the original location of the recording studio, although the studio itself was torn down in 1989. Stax was pivotal in creating the Memphis soul sound. The house band for the recording studio was Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Some of the artists who recorded with Stax include Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, The Staple Singers, and probably their biggest star Isaac Hayes. One of my favorite facts about Isaac Hayes was that he joined Stax because they were looking for a temporary replacement for Booker T Jones while he was at college.
I also learned that Stax artist Rufus Thomas has a park named after him in Porretta, Italy, where they host the Porretta Soul Festival every year.
Stax records ultimately went bankrupt in the mid-70s and everything in the building was sold off. A piece of wood from the original piano hangs in the recreated recording studio space. The piano had been signed by all the artists who had made their way through the studio, and that small bit had been salvaged and saved, now left to decorate the walls.
After making my way through the exhibits, which included Isaac Hayes’ Oscar for Shaft as well as his gold-plated Cadillac, I knew I had made the right choice to skip out on Graceland.
But don’t worry. I still got my dose of Elvis on my trip. Immediately following my trek through Stax, I made my way to Sun Studio.
Sun Studio was opened by Sam Phillips in 1950 in Memphis, Tennessee. Sun Studio is perhaps best known for being the studio that discovered Elvis. It is also the location where Rocket 88, which is considered the first rock and roll song, was recorded—a fact that was repeated to me several times during my stay in the city.
Sun Studio is a decidedly smaller museum experience, with only 2 rooms to explore. After learning about the history of the studio and record label, we got to go down to the recording studio, which is set up the way that Phillips had designed and is still used as a recording studio today. A woman in an Elvis dress pushed her way to the front of the so she could touch some door handles that we were told Elvis himself would have used.
Aside from Elvis, blues artists like Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King recorded at Sun Studio, as well as artists like Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash.
Apparently before Elvis, Phillips was actually most interested in making blues records. He initially wasn’t that impressed with Elvis. It wasn’t until about a year after Elvis first recorded at the studio that Phillips took an interest in him and only after Elvis started singing That’s All Right—a blues song—during a recording session.
Music still fills the modern city of Memphis. If you stroll down Beale Street, you’ll have your pick of blues halls and juke joints that continue to host live music every night, the sounds of Memphis overflowing onto the sidewalks.
In honor of the musical legacy of Memphis, I’ve put together a playlist inspired by the city. These are songs both about the city and from the city itself.