Memphis memories...

I don't know why but I got into a reflective mood this afternoon. I started thinking about my hometown and that it has been nearly 13 years since I moved away. Started thinking about growing up there and discovering music and shopping at certain places that are no longer there. It kind of made me wonder if there are any other Memphians, past or present, on this board that have any interesting stories to share or music related memories.

When I think back on it, some of my earliest memories of growing up involve the radio and going here and there with my mom in the car. I'm a bicentennial baby, so most of my 'history' started in the early to mid 1980's. I remember the first time I shopped at Pop Tunes on Summer Avenue. I shopped there very frequently in my youth. It was a great feeling to save up a bit of money and get a new tape.

My first concert was the Beach Boys, at Mud Island, in 1986 (or there about). I've often wondered if I was in the presense of Brian Wilson and didn't know, have no idea if B.W. was there or not. But I have since come to idolize the man.

My father was a studio photographer that worked in Whitehaven, right down the road from Graceland. One of my fondest memories of my childhood, the time I got be closest to him, was going to work with him over a Christmas holiday or spring break. Hanging out in the studio or dark room and watching my dad work, listening to local sports talk about Memphis State basketball. Heady times.

I remember spending quite a bit of time in my adolescence at the Raliegh Springs Mall and the Mall of Memphis, shopping at Camelot's, etc. Oogling at laser discs, wishing I had the money to buy a player (something I eventually saved up for).

There was a Coconuts Records store over in Raliegh that I used to frequent in my early teenage years. They had an excellent selection of 3" maxi CD singles back then. For Christmas 1991, I remember asking for (and getting!!) the Phil Spector "Back To Mono" box set. That was a big deal for me, I can't imagine many 15 year olds in 1991 (or anytime for that matter) asking for that item for Christmas, or any other time. But I played it constantly for years and years.

There was also a gigantic store on Poplar Ave called Sound Warehouse. I remember just going in that place and walking around in awe. This would have been in the early 1990's. They had tapes, CD's, records, 45's and some equipment too. This place was huge, compared to the normal whole in the wall joint. I distinctly remember chatting with a guy who would, later on be my manager at another record store (more on that in a minute)

Sometime around this period, I began shopping some of the various Cat's music stores around town. They were a local competitor of Pop Tunes, among others. I bought my first indie music there (Red House Painters and Pavement, go figure). I would chat with the clerks who seemingly were always about 3-5 years older than me and they always seemed impressed with my music knowledge. I was the kind of kid that read Joel Whitburn books, for fun.

Around that time, I dropped out of high school. I was a silly, snotty young man who didn't yet appreciate the sacrifice my mom had made through the years after my dad had died (in 1987). Sensing her disappointment, I tried to re-enroll in some sort of summer school to get up to snuff. Couldn't stick it out. Got my first of two not so fun jobs. Stocking shelves over night at Mega Market on Covington Pike and then later McDonald's, right across the street.

At the time I was around 19 years old I guess, I decided to go into Cat's one day and really pitch the fact that I wanted to work there and, to my surprise, they actually hired me. For me, it was my dream job. I was working in the same cavernous building that Sound Warehouse used to be located.

Within 6-9 months or so, I was working between that location and the location out in Cordova. I used to love to go out into the 'burbs. Summertime and all the hotties would come in. I was still a fairly shy fellow but I did okay. To my amazement, I was given the responsibility of opening and closing the location on Poplar Ave. What a head rush for a 20 year old. I totally felt overwhelmed about 99.9% of the time. Totally didn't feel like I had earned that responsibility. But, it was head rush.

During that time I met all sorts of odd figures, especially when I would occasionally go to the Union Ave store and work a shift. Aside from the local 'oddballs' that would roam in, I met some true pillars of Memphis music. The likes of Rufus Thomas, Isaac Hayes, Alex Chilton (and others) would just stroll in and look around. Talk about gobsmacked. I once told Alex Chilton that I was a big fan (after referring to Big Star and Box Tops) and he said "you'll get over it". Talk about a buzz kill.

I once narrowly missed meeting Beck, who was doing and instore. I did get to meet Jeff Buckley on an instore. I guess it would have been around the time he was recording and playing shows at Barrister's. Kind of blur really.

I used to frequent Shangri-La, over on Madison Ave during this period. I remember the guy that lived/worked there telling me Sonic Youth had recorded an album in town and it was due out soon. Craziness. And then Pavement did the same thing. I would have loved to have met any of them at that point in my life. Greg Dulli too, from Afghan Whigs. I did meet their drummer once, the one that played on "Black Love".

For a kid that grew up loving music, starting with listening to 'Solid Gold Sunday's in the car with my mom, on WRVR, this was like heaven on earth. Especially considering I had been a high school drop out, etc.

One of my last happy memories while working in a record store was summer of 1997. Lots of industry hype about the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds Sessions" box was happening. There were weekly ad's in Billboard and seeing as how only the summer before I had discovered what would become my favorite album, "Pet Sounds", I was salivating over the day that thing finally came out. When it finally DID come out, I seem to recall going over to another location of Cat's and showing up bright and early when some of my co-workers got there to open. I had to have that thing in my hands. It was magical to finally open and play that. My co-workers simply couldn't understand why I cared about this thing but, again, see further up. I wasn't a very normal young guy.

The good times had to come to an end though at some point for me. I guess at some point, I rubbed someone the wrong way. But, in 1998 I got unceremoniously fired (over the phone, no less). Found myself at age 22, no job and not really sure where to go in life.

As if almost appearing like an angel to me though, my wife came into my life. She was originally from Columbus and eventually wanted to move back here. So, in 1999 I found myself moving to a place I never could have imagined and settling down and getting married a year later.

Here I sit, reminiscing about times gone by that almost seem so real I can reach out and touch them. I miss trips to Back Yard Burgers, Panchos, Gridley's, Tops. I miss the muggy summer air. I miss the complex comedic nature of the white flight that happened the entire time I grew up there.

About once a year or so I go back to visit my mom who lives in the same house that I grew up in all those years ago. Somehow though, things seem different. Everytime I go back another place has closed or things don't seem like they do in my minds eye.

I'll always be grateful for the 23 years I spent there and will forever hold those memories dearly. I'm the type of fellow that can tend to be highly nostalgic. Nostalgic for things that came before me, even. So, hyper-nostalgic. Forgive me for this long rambling stream of consciousness.

Anyone else out there have memories of Memphis that are similar or go back even further? I'm sure someone out there hung out at Hi! records when Al Green was recording right? Or over at Stax? Or, knew Elvis' maid?

 

I lived in Memphis for nearly 11 years, and still miss it sometimes. It's an interesting city, that's for sure. I saw Bill Berry and Michael Stipe there sometime in the late '80s (in town recording for Green?). Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Paul Burlison, B.B. King, Rufus Thomas, and Al Green, are well known ones that come to mind. I went to Al Green's church a few times when I lived there...quite an experience! I didn't know any of them, just met them or bumped into them around town. I ran into Jerry Lee Lewis coming out of a bank in Midtown, and said, "Hey Killer!" He kind of glared at me and replied, "How you doin', son?"

Did you ever go into George Merrill's shop when you lived there? He showed me how to align a cartridge stylus. He makes very good and very expensive turntables now, in partnership with John Fry of Ardent Studios.

Lots of good memories. I saw Mose Allison at the Midtown Huey's when I lived there. Paul Westerberg signed an autograph for me...it read, "Kiss my ***. Paul"

 

I lived in Memphis/Germantown from 1970 to '78.

I was young, but remember a lot of the big events there during the timeframe.

Elvis dying in August of '77, naturally was a huge deal and basically the entire front section of the Commerical Appeal.
http://www.elvispresleynews.com/ElvisFuneralService.html

I remember when the Rolling Stones played there July 4, 1975 at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. Hot as all get out, Furry Lewis an old time blues guy opened, Charlie Daniels Band, and The Meters, supported. Stones were exceptionally late, and due to the heat, a planned stunt to have elephants bring the Stones up on stage was scrapped.
http://gallery.pictopia.com/memphiscom/gallery/6245/photo/395334/?o=13

Also remember when The Sex Pistols came to town.
Although too young to go, there was a lot of concern by the authorities about what exactly the Pistols were going to do based on their reputations.
The late Jim Dickenson said musically it was the worst thing he had ever heard, but called it the greatest rock concert he had ever been to.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jan/05/the-night-memphis-met-the-sex-pistols/

http://guerrillamonster.com/memphis/sex-pistols/index.html

Personally, I was also at an age when MSU basketball was at a peak having made the NCAA finals before getting beat by UCLA and Jim Walton, and the whole city was just went crazy during that time.

Spent many a summer in the recreation program at the fields around Fox Meadows Elementary school, where the radio was always on playing Top 40, plenty of Al Green, and other soul music.
A man named Jim Terry, who was the band director at Hillcrest High School, use to take me and his son to school, Bethel Grove Elementary, back in '73, when desegregation had just come to Memphis. Mr. Terry was also a session player, who specialized in woodwind instruments and the flute. His flute playing is on the intro to Issac Hayes "Theme From Shaft".

Around '75, we moved on out to Germantown, one of the reasons being the lack of learning and the amount of fighting I was doing while getting bussed into the inner city.
While there, about 3 blocks down the street, and DJ on AM radio by the name of Rick Dees was on Memphis radio with his "cast of characters" (all the different voices) and he had his big hit, Disco Duck, and followup DiscoRilla. There was a big stink about it, and Dees got suspended for awhile, because the station owners didn't want him to promote it on the station.

Going to see the Tams, Pros, and Sounds of the ABA, and even caught a Memphis Grizzlies game, when Danny White was the QB, and Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield, had signed with them after winning a couple Super Bowls with the Dolphins.
And of course, pro wrestling w/ Jerry "The King" Lawler, w/ Lance Russell commentating, and Dave Brown the weatherguy as the time keeper for the TV matches.

I had a lot of fun living in Memphis, it was a simpler time, and a lot was going on in the city around the Overton Bandshell, Mid-South Coliseum, Ellis Auditorium, and the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, as well as the various studios like Sun, Stax and Advent.

 

My grandfather was friends with the people who owned what became Graceland prior to its purchase by Elvis.

I remember meeting Sam the Sham at his restaurant as a kid. He gave me an extra plate of spaghetti.

Used to go to that amusement park Elvis used to rent out. Can't remember what it was called.

 

Libertyland. I have fond memories of going there, myself.

 

I have long wanted to visit Memphis. Such a rich musical history.

 

Libertyland....wow, now theres something I haven't thought about, or even heard for over 35 years. My family will flip out if I bring that up the next time I talk to them.

 

Memphis was a key part of my early adulthood. I lived there for about two years in the early seventies. I saw Bob Dylan and The Band, The O-Jays, Frank Zappa and Weather Report in great concerts in those days. Otherwise, it was a time of struggle in my life and I left town after having my apartment burglarized. I worked on Sumner Avenue and spent a lot of time near the university as a good friend lived on Spottswood. Still, I can't imagine my early twenties without Memphis. I also briefly lived on Elvis Presley Blvd in an old house that was literally the only residence on the block; everything else was businesses.

 

On a related note about MSU, Legndary coach Gene Bartow died this week.(that was Bill Walton, instead of Jim)

You mentioned the Memphis football team. I had forgotten about them. They were a WFL team that only lasted a year. They were "officially" known as the SOUTHMEN. However, that name was hated, and they were unofficially know as the GRIZZLIES, since thier logo contained a large bear.

This was Danny White before he went to fame with the Dallas Cowboys, but, as you mentioned, those other guys were coming off championships with the Dolphins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Southmen

 

Interesting to read about all the memories. I drove through once and plan to go back and stay a few days after I retire.

 

Doh! of course it was Bill Walton!
Ironic that Gene Bartow ended up coaching at UCLA, in fact when Wooden left I think. Sad to hear he passed away.

Still I was even sadder to learn that Larry Finch, MSU's All-American point guard on that team, as well as its coach later on, had passed away in April of 2011.
Class act the whole way, he even helped Walton to the bench after Walton injured himself late in the championship game.

Finch even skipped playing with the LA Lakers, who drafted him, to play for the local ABA franchise.

I can remember how instrumental he was getting that community, black and white, to come together following those years after the King assasination by making the Tigers a top contender. Thats how big basketball was, and how great Larry Finch was. Big loss for Memphis.

 

Wonderful post

 

Have been captivated by the music and stories found in these CDs and books, plus a few others.

 

I've been to Memphis 4 times (Graceland, too), and love the city. I hope I can get back soon.

It's quite a thrill to visit the old Sun Studios. Gives me chills every time I visit the place.

 

Been to Memphis once , fantastic place

here is a below a new book about Memphis from local cult hero Tav Falco




Tav Falco's sprawling study of Memphis begins with the Civil War massacre at Fort Pillow, the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878 and the grisly murders of the Harp Brothers. Falco traces these legends of Reconstruction-era Memphis to an equally brutal twentieth century underworld - Beale Street kingpin Jim Canaan, Edward Crump's political machine, the Dixie Mafia, and others. Also included are revelatory dialogues concerning the city's many music legends, from rockabilly icons Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Charlie Feathers to more underground figures such as Jim Dickinson and country blues wailer Jessie Mae Hemphill. Interwoven with these accounts is an autobiographical history of Falco's own time in Memphis, including his involvement with performance art ensemble Insect Trust, working with pop/rock maverick Alex Chilton, and the formation of his seminal rock and roll band, Panther Burns. The book also contains over 80 illuminating photographs, mostly previously unseen originals by Falco. GHOSTS BEHIND THE SUN is Volume One of MONDO MEMPHIS, a dual encyclopedic history of Memphis written by Tav Falco and cultural critic Erik Morse. Volume Two, Morse's roman noir, BLUFF CITY UNDERGROUND, will be published in 2012. MONDO MEMPHIS is both an original history of the gothic South and an intertext of the urban legends, rural fables and literary clichés that have made the Bluff City both a metropolis of dreams and a necropolis of terrors..

 

One of the other great things about Memphis, was its obvious proximity to north and central Mississippi.

You'd always read in the paper about these blues folks, real authentic blues players and singers, playing these small nightclubs close to the Tennessee border, and just over the border in Tennessee.

They didn't really go on tour, they'd just play every Friday and Saturday night within about 100 miles of where they lived.

When they played IN Memphis, it was considered a huge show for them, but most of them just played out in the sticks, in and around Memphis.

Kind of blows my mind thinking about it now.

 

How did I miss this great thread the first time around ?

 

I don't know but I'm glad you bumped it because I never saw it either! I never lived in Memphis but I visited around 8 or 9 years ago with a large group of people from another board. It was our first "Jolly Up" in the U.S. after many had been held in England where the board was rooted. Anyway we had a rear time visiting all the music landmarks and the incredible Civil Rights Museum. I can't believe no one mentioned it up thread. It is one of the most chilling and emotional moving museums I have ever been to. It was built out from the motel that MLK was murdered in, the Loraine I think but my memory is a little shaky. Anyway, one must visit the museum if they go to Memphis. We did the Abbey Road walk in front of Stax though the picture didn't look anything like the Booker T and the MGs cover. Beale Street is unfortunately not much to talk about these days but I'm sure it was great back in the day. Lots of good food and libations were had and we all had a great time.

That Mondo Memphis book by Panther Burns sounds very interesting. I need to look into testing a copy. When I think of it I try to find some of Panther's music but I never see any of it.

 

Panther Burns and The Hellcats ... two Memphis bands that raised the roof many times. Great stuff! Here's some info on Tav:

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3635#