Under the potIigbt,. bud
some BI c drummer on the
Blues Alley night club
out a rhythm line so pers ive
that the trumpet and piaao car
rying the melody let the beat
take over. The audience accep
the drummer' impertinence,
bur ting into laughter at hi
'tty . tapped ou on th
Cymbals. Por this i Memphis;
ere a m ician' forgiven
ysin so 10 e controls the
b1 .
Though
Tho has ed in . his
famed daughter Carla, thrilling
the celebrity hunters, a
Japanese telvevision ere in
Memphi to photograph the
city's musical greats presses for
ward to interne the drummer
inst d.
What' the is deal?
Well, the drummer domina -
iDg the e is five years old.
o s T bron, xno
omo, a ll-beh ved little boy
off tage, is to Memp . music
t the child Mozart to
Italian opera; a prodigy" whose
brilliance is blossoming exactly
en the sleeping art form his
genius needs' comiDg b ck to
�e. .
A motori zapping through
Memp . would hardly pick the
prosperous-looking and tree-
•
•
shady river city, the art and elas
. cal music center for the middle
outh's highbro , regularly
vo ed oog tbe cleane t in
America, the kind of place
that ould become world
famo for a music vaguely
associated with poor fo and
hard times.
evertheless, since 1909,
when W.C. Handy wrote the
Memphis Blues, Memphis has
I been the world center of the
blue , the fastest and farthest
. I
history. For instance; Handy's
t. Lo . B the bai-
tI hymn of Ethiopians fighting
o Italian in . OIl in the 1930 .
And, it still blare . from the
"loudspeakers of every so and
bazaar in Asia and Africa.
"During the Ocpr · on oand
World ar II� BI ck musicians
from the M' . . ppi Delta like
B.B. King congrcptcd Beale
Street, m.king it the . al of
Afro-American m ic.
ia 1954, white delivery
driver noodling around
• guitar betweeD record-
· in a seamy record-
t clio on Unio Avenue
cd t a n beat to a lit
tie number called Trhat's
AIJriabt M The great
player, Scotty oore of the Bill
Black Combo accompanying
the pit rut tells at hap-
peaed, �
I
o
1
'The studio owner Sam Phil- • Today, Davi Tillman of
lip came running and said, . Be le Street Management
I 'What the devil are you doing?' reports the restored buildings
We said didn't know: He are all occupied, mostly by
said, 'We fmd out real quick nightclub, restaurant shops
and don't lose it." and boutiques.
That the first electrifying At 352 Beal Street stands a
recognition of what came to be two-room shanty that is a blues
known as roc en' roll, and shrine and the powerhouse of
within the year the unknown the blues revival.
guitar pi yer had recorded five W.C. H ndy once lived in
golden records and become the that humble building. restored
world' most famou enter- and painted but still rcely
taiaer, EMs Presk;y. During e larger than a cotton torage
� . R c aa.
Haye t S ax Records gave I. Toda� it ho. The Blues
Presley' m . cane . t and F ouadatio dedicated to sus-
produced the rhythm and blues tainiog the city's original music
revolution. I traditio . The executive direc-
Memph' music rode high, tor Joe Savarin says, "Memphis
but after the deaths of Otis Red- is the home of the blues, which
ding and El 's fresley, the city pawned the birth of its many
ke up to realize that during hades - rock 'n' roll, rhythm and
Pre Icy's glory year , its blues, country, jazz and gospel."
mu icians had scattered, it " The foundation sponsor or
recordin studio had run support several festivals in-
downhill, and famed Be le eluding a N tional Blue
Street bad reason to ing the Am�teur Talent Contest and the
blues; for it had degenerated ational Blues Awards Show.
intoagll cityofrottin&cmpty An . i.nternatio��1 j�ry of
buil' . " mUSletans and" enucs gaves out
City father and leaders in Handys like 0 to the year's
the mti ic industry began top blu performers 0 then
rebuilding todays musical lure. spontaneously' on the best
In 1976, the run-do n blue. ho of the year
quarter named the Beale anywhere.
Street Historic District and the But Savarin feels that the true
city enlisted commer�ial and auWc prings from thc streets
voluetee help to p it b on before reaching concert
i feet. rength.
"Any afternoon from pri
" through fall you can he ... Momo
and his parents playing t e blue
from the front porch of this very
house. Another band la in
the gazebo cr the treet. I
Wander along Beale Street,
through Handy Park� on the
downtown pedestrian mall and
you'll find street mu ician
makinz the air lively."
The city holds 150 annual fes
tivals and special even m of
which feature Memphis music -
this wor out to some kind of
organized festivity with music
some ere in the lineup aim
every other day. Amo the big
ones are: I the Memphis w�
Festival 0 Labo D Y wee end,
September 4, en the Blue
Foundation holds i national.
amateur con
Besid live fare, the city of
fers shrine and museums to I
visiting music f. I
At the Mi i ippi River
Museum on Mud I I nd, the
city' $63 million entertainment
complex, recorded blue
resound in a -thro sec-
tion dedicat to e area Iy
blue singe Charley and Ber
th P ttoe; n House, Robert
Johnson, Sonny Boy Willi
and exhibit ho the crude
musical instrumen and aids -
primitive as the neck bro en off
a beer bottle - used by the
pioneers to wring music ou 0
their souls. The decor imitates a
funky Bla juke joint and the
Iphot?8f phs make a long dead
era �
I
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For ftuther in/omuJIion, �:
Memphis Convention and
.VlSiton Bureau; Morgan Keegan
Tower, 50 N. From Street, Suite
450, Memphis, Tennessee 38103.
(Phone 901-5264880).