Walking in memphis

Touching down in the land of the delta blues, it is hard to believe that such an unremarkable city has spawned such remarkable history...

Every corner in this ugly concrete jungle has been baked hard by the heat and grittiness lingers from the days of the civil rights riots.

There remains a strong racial divide in Memphis and the rundown housing projects dotting the outskirts of the city are a world apart from the downtown area which is swarming with tourists.

Downtown Memphis stretches along the bluff overlooking the cocoa-coloured Mississippi. The largest city in Tennessee, it has a pace of life akin to the locals' deep, slow drawl.

A week in Memphis is not a holiday: it's a pilgrimage. From a thriving minority neighbourhood in the 1930s, the city was transformed into a juke joint hotbed in the 1940s and 1950s, a site of civil unrest in the 1960s, a virtual ghost town in the 1970s, and then into the multi-million dollar tourist industry that it is today.

The historic Sun Studios is in a run-down neighbourhood a few miles east of downtown Memphis. You can stand in the very room where Muddy Waters, Ike Turner and Howlin' Wolf recorded their blues recordings, and where a young electrical worker, Elvis Aaron Presley, recorded his first hit, That's All Right.

Another site worth seeing is The Memphis Music Hall of Fame, which has artifacts and memorabilia from famous blues and rock 'n' roll performers, including Elvis himself, who made Memphis the starting point for the many explosions of American music this century.

Six hundred thousand visitors flock to his mansion, Graceland, every year, making it the most visited tourist attraction in the confederate states of the US.

Graceland lies on Elvis Presley Boulevard, which was an exclusive neighbourhood in Elvis's day, but nowadays, like much of the city, is lined with stripmalls and industrial sites.

Its Jungle room sings of Elvis's 1960s tastes in decor, with the original pea green shagpile carpets, wood-panelled walls and copious cacti. The audio-guided tour takes visitors past his eclectic melee of costumes, awards and cars.

Beale Street, running through the heart of Memphis, is known as the birthplace of the blues. In 1900, Beale was bustling with music from the clubs and the churches filling the air. Night-time mixed a dangerous cocktail of seedy characters, easy money and hard liquor.

Derelict after the 1960s riots, Beale Street was saved by visitors coming on pilgrimages to Elvis's hometown. Today, it is clogged with tourists drawn by its rich musical heritage.

This is the true heart of the Deep South, and its culture, people and history are all reflected in the music. Indeed, blues legend WC Handy said: ‘‘I would rather be here than any place I know."

To take a break from the high notes, visit the National Civil Rights Museum. The old Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King was assassinated, has been restored and dedicated to the history of the civil rights movement.

If you have sea legs, the Memphis Queen Riverboats depart from a pier on the riverfront just south of Mud Island, and offer sightseeing and pleasure cruises on the Mississippi. ‘Memphis in May' runs a series of events promoting the city's heritage, and the Botanic Gardens on Cherry Road are also well worth a look.

Avoid south Memphis, home to the many ghettos and housing projects, unless visiting established attractions, and stay between downtown and Germantown, which are considered safer areas.

To really appreciate the city, venture away from tempting air-conditioned shopping extravaganzas, and soak up the history on every street corner. Without Memphis, there arguably would have been no Chicago blues, no Motown, and no rock 'n' roll.

By clinging onto its glorious past, the indefinable spirit of this ugly little city almost makes it beautiful. 

Picture by Rochelle.el.al