Thunderstruck

Leaving Memphis

By Steve Beard and Troy Meier

Entry 4. Saturday, October 16, 2004

Click on photos to enlarge

We hate to leave Memphis for two reasons: 1) It is such a great city, 2) I only slept 3 hours last night. When that phone rang this morning, I would have liked to have smashed it with a sledgehammer. With bloodshot eyes, I stumbled in to shave, shower, and gather our gear and head for Louisiana.

Memphis has so much for the American music fan. It is also a city filled with so much pain. Elvis and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died here. It is filled with churches, liquor stores, and hospitals representing every single Christian denomination. We sucked this place down like an oyster.

Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to do everything that friends emailed to us in recommendations. Peter Edman from Metaphilm gave a plug for "Graceland Too" found in Holly Springs, Mississippi. We never got there, but here is the website. Shaylon from Birmingham, Alabama, suggested that we hit Coletta's Restaurant--the place that Elvis fell in love with BBQ pizza. We are definately hitting that place next time.

Sean Mullikin told us about Blues City Cafe (I have eaten there before and loved it, but we couldn't swing it this time) and Gus' Fried Chicken. This was also the recommendation of Matt Lyles (he called it the "best chicken in the Southeast!"). I believe him and I am headed there the next time we are in town.

We also heard about the American Dream Safari tour around town in a 1955 Cadillac after we were in Memphis. We are doing it next time.

We were in the lobby of the Peabody bleary eyed and staggering and who did we see? Lansky. Mr. Lansky himself was there at 7:30 am on a Saturday morning. He was as chipper as I was dead. This man is a machine. He almost sold Troy a new coat before we even had our first cup of coffee. This guy loves life and loves selling. Interestingly enough, Bernard Lansky is famous for working with so many rock luminaries and yet his business card simply says "salesman."

There is a great quote from Bono on Lansky's front window: "You can't over-hype [Sun Records founder] Sam Phillips...Think of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King: If you were associated with just one of those names you'd be immortal."

Lansky is the man!

Speaking of Bono, he arrived in town after we left. He was in Memphis to receive the Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum for his work on AIDS in Africa. “Growing up in Memphis must be amazing,” he observed, “like living in a history book except the history is alive, walking right among you, living in your neighborhood, sharing your pew at the church, maybe asking for a bite of your sandwich. Amazing!

“When I came to Memphis, I spent a lot time thinking about what’s happening here and what people from here have made happen. But you’re the ones who are going to write the next chapter in Memphis’ history and in American history, and that’s why I want to talk to you today.

“I would love to visit Sun Studios, I want to visit Stax, Graceland—but more than that, I want to talk to you today because Memphis, to me, it’s like the city of three Kings. Everybody talks about Elvis Presley, the king of rock. Everyone talks about BB King, the most extraordinary, royal person I’ve ever met. But when I think of Memphis, I think of another King: Martin Luther King. And not because he died here, but because the civil rights movement that cradled him and his ideas seem to feel like Memphis to me. So it’s a bit of a pilgrimage for me.”

I love the way Bono puts it.

We have driven more than 500 miles today. We are ready to get out of the car. Of course, we are stopping a lot -- we are, after all, two men turning 40 and once we break the seal, we are going a lot more frequently then when we were kids.

It is interesting to see all the cotton fields in Mississippi and Louisiana. In Kentucky, I am used to seeing tobacco. This was a nice change of pace.

There was not as many political bumperstickers as I had thought there would be. A group of bikers drove by and on the back of one of their shirts read: "F U Dixie Chicks, Hail Toby Keith." For those who don't follow the country music wars, the cuties in the Dixie Chicks don't like President Bush and were vocal about it while they were touring Europe. Toby Keith countered with a few choice words about the Chicks. Merle Haggard, bless his heart, has been trying to mediate ever since.

We stopped in Vicksburg, Mississippi, for lunch. While it would have been nice to have author Shelby Foote show us around this Civil War landmark, we settled for eating at Goldie’s Trail BBQ. They have been serving Texas-style BBQ since 1960. Troy ate here back in 1992 as he was touring the South in search of BBQ. I had the sausage platter and Troy tried a little of everything. Troy went back to the kitchen and got his picture taken with the staff. I am sure they love this kind of thing.

For those of you who enjoy stuff like this, here is the soundtrack for the trip to Louisiana: Bobby Rush's Folk Funk; Rosco Gordon's Rosco's Rhythm; Top of the Stax: Twenty Greatest Hits from the Stax Recording Artists; Sun Rockabillies, Vol. 1; Johnny Cash's Unearthed (Who's Gonna Cry); Cajun & Zydeco Classics; Los Lonely Boys; Nick Curran's Fixin' Your Head; and The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughn.

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