Read about our music travels in Memphis with The Black Lillies & ducks
I am writing this article outside my motel room on the concrete path and under the stairwell leading to the second floor. As soon as I step into our room, the Wi-Fi tends to have to rely on the two rats and wheel in the lobby, chasing the piece of stale Jack cheese. Hopefully this will avoid the bloggus interruptus of yesterday.
After the brilliance of last night’s gig at Levitt Shell with The Black Lillies (here’s a bigger picture), there is a chance that today could be a little bit of a let-down.
Breakfast at the Vista Inn is pretty rudimentary (we have found that our complimentary early meals have been on a steady quality downhill slope) so we decided to walk past Autozone Park baseball field and have a bite at Denny’s. This turns out to be a sound choice as the food is pleasant and plentiful. (I was, however, concerned when Richard ordered something with “ultimate” in the title – and sure enough he had his work cut out for him).
Then over to the Peabody Hotel where we sauntered into Lasky Brothers’ clothing store, clothier to the rich and famous, including Elvis. Beautiful clothes, memorabilia, guitars everywhere. There was even a jacket on hold for Hugh Hefner pinned to the wall. As luck would have it, there was a rack of shirts that were 75% off so I was finally able to afford some of the beautiful gear.
Jenny had saved me a prime seat at the bar in the main lobby of the Peabody and we watched the Peabody ducks do what they do, and have done for decades, twice daily – come down from the roof top in the elevator to the main lobby and step into the central Italian-sculptured fountain.
When the ducks…er…dust had settled, we joined the others and ventured to Graceland – this would be my third visit there.
Graceland
E is for Elvis
E is for extensive
E is for exhaustive
E is for exhausting
E is for exits through endless gift shops
To me Graceland is a contradiction – a wonderful look at his home, the history and the music that changed the world. It keeps his music alive. But the plethora of gift shops, the variety of odds and ends that you can buy is somewhat overwhelming. As we discussed over lunch, what would Elvis make of all this? No matter the level of commerciality and tackiness, standing over Elvis’ grave and listening to his music through the headphones never fails to choke me up.
Where could we possibly go next? Sun Studios of course.
Great to go back there. But I have noticed that the CD collections at both Graceland and Sun Studios have diminished in scope and variety – a worrying trend.
Tonight we will be heading to Beale St – BB King’s Blues Club for a bite and some live music.
Read about our music travels in Memphis with The Black Lillies & ducks
Read about our music travels in Memphis with The Black Lillies & ducks
