sun-studios

There are articles coming, but for now, the pictures from our trip to Memphis are up. See the gallery here.

Home from Memphis. The trip home was pretty good — we made it in less than 8 hours, including a leisurly stop fo r brunch at Brooks Shaw’s Old Country Store at Casey Jones Village (the best whistlestop between Memphis & Nashville, if their website is to be believed) in Jackson Tennessee (we were listening to a Johnny Cash CD and it happened to play “Jackon” just as we were pulling into town!).

While everyone else ordered brunch items, I took advantage of the buffet. The buffet was huge. It was really, really big. I enjoyed sampling their Beef Tips n’ Mushrooms, Chicken n’ Dumplins’, Meat Loaf, Collard Greens, Turnip Greens, Green Beans, Mac n’ Cheese, Mashed Potatoes n’ Gravy, Banana Pudding.

Once we got home, Wendy & I ordered in for dinner — LaRosa’s for dinner — sausage & cheese pizza for me, Deli Cibatta for Wendy and set to unpacking and relaxing.

This article was submitted by fellow traveller, Ron (who selected “Ronnie Lee” as his Memphis name). Thanks for submitting it, Ronnie!

The tour took us all through the house (with the exception of the upstairs). I was tempted to sneak up the steps when no one was looking but I decided against it when I considered the fact that security would probably kick me out. The tour ended, after taking us through numerous rooms and additions to the house, at the Mediation Garden where the King, his parents, and grandmother are buried. We then moved to the front of the line when we heard “All VIPs come this way” to the VIP shuttle. Before getting on the shuttle we posed for a picture in front of the mansion.

We then explored Elvis’ private jets, one of which is called the Lisa Marie, and checked out his extensive car collection before enjoying some fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. And man oh man, they were tasty. We then explored, and made many purchases, at the gift shops. There were only seven (7) shops to choose from so we were somewhat limited in the memorabilia department.

From there we headed to Sun Recording Studios, the “birthplace of Rock-n-Roll”. This was my favorite part of the trip. I mean, this little recording studio is literally where it all began.

It was in this little studio that Sam Phillips, with a meager budget and a staff that consisted of one person (a secretary named Marion), produced the most influential records in history. Mr. Phillips encouraged local talent to come record in his studio and encouraged their innovative and novel approaches to music.

The studio itself was built by Mr. Phillips in an effort to attain the best acoustics. The room is filled with musical instruments, some used by the original Sun artists. There are also black X’s on the floor marking the spots where a young Elvis and his band stood while recording. In fact, our tour guide informed us that Bob Dylan, while visiting the Studio, kissed the spot where Elvis stood. This prompted Drew to do the same.

It is simply astounding to think that, for whatever reason, the confluence of country, blues, jazz and gospel created a new sound, a uniquely American sound, within these four walls.

Wendy & I both took the day off and we spent it taking the dogs to Wendy’s hospital for boarding, getting packed, and preparing for our trip.

Oh. Didn’t I tell you about our trip? As loyal readers know, we’ve been part of a supper club since 2002. From time to time, the club takes road trips and Wendy planned just such a trip for us. Our destination? Memphis Tennessee, the home of great barbecue, Graceland, Sun Records, and music, music, music.

Jay picked us up in his mother’s car (thanks to Mrs. B for lending it to us for the trip!), a lovely late-model Lexus, and then we picked up Ron at his house. Our 8-hour journey was in luxurious comfort, and we made it down to Memphis with no trouble.

We got checked into our hotel right across the street from The Peabody Hotel, one of Memphis’ famous landmarks. Most of the rest of the gang — Ted, Tracy, and Angel — arrived just a little a bit later. We were expecting Dave and Robin even later, but they told us to go on the evening’s events without them.

After a brief consultation with the desk clerk about what we wanted to eat (”Memphis food,” we answered), how we liked our barbecue (”dry,” we said, knowing that dry is typical Memphis-style), Ted, Tracy, Angel, Ron, Jay, Wendy, and I went to sample Rendezvous restaurant in the alley alongside our hotel. For three generations, the Rendezvous has been in the alley, downstairs, behind 52 South Second in downtown Memphis. They specialize in dry barbecue, and it was delicious, as were the Sausage & Cheese plate and the Chicken Barbecue Nachos, all washed down with plenty of beer.
After dinner, we walked along Beale Street and sampled the nightlife before retiring rather early because we have a big day scheduled for Saturday!