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).