The Birthplace of Rock & Roll

After several months of deliberation, Tim and I have decided to sell our bus.  Although we've enjoyed our two and a half years of full-time RV life, we miss the sense of being part of a community with friends, neighbors and a church family nearby.

Our buyer Ron

Tim found a buyer from Florida who was interested enough to meet us halfway in Memphis, Tennessee.  Low and behold, Ron brought cashier checks with him, sufficient to meet our asking price.  So, in one fell swoop, we've gone from being--in Tim's words--trailer trash to being homeless.

This decision doesn't mean we never plan to travel again.  We're committed to helping Habitat for Humanity at builds across the country.  Plus, there are still so many places we'd like to see in the U.S. and Canada, but we're downsizing from a motorhome to possibly a van camper while we look for a place in Florida or South Carolina.  Towards that end, we plan to work our way up to the Winnebago factory in Forest City, Iowa, for a closer look at the Travoto.  But first, there's Memphis to see, the birthplace of rock and roll.

Of course, the mecca here is Graceland, the 13.8-acre estate of the legendary Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock and Roll."  Fans from around the world line up to see where "The King" lived and so did we.   Caught in a time warp of the 1960s-1970s, Graceland recalls what was truly state-of-the-art technology for luxury homes of that time period.

Peacock stained glass windows in the living room, green shag carpet on the ceiling of the "Jungle Room," more than 350 yards of fabric covering the billiard room and three televisions tuned to the three major networks in the man cave downstairs wowed us.  The home is not huge, but the surrounding acreage included a swimming pool, the corral for Elvis' palomino horse named the Rising Sun and enough garages to shelter his pink Cadillac and the rest of his fleet of cars.

Gladys, Elvis and Vernon Presley

However, what impressed me most about Graceland was the sense of family.  Elvis was very close to his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley, perhaps because he was their only child made so by the stillborn death of his identical twin brother, Jesse Garon.  Elvis always swore that he would build a house for his poverty-stricken parents, if he had the chance.  When he moved to Graceland, his parents moved in with him along with his paternal grandmother, Minnie Mae.  Minnie Mae outlived them all, remaining at Graceland until her death at age 89 on May 8, 1980.  Lisa Marie, Elvis' only child, still returns to Graceland on occasion, moving into the upper story that is sealed off from the viewing public.

Tim and I didn't pay the extra bucks so we could behold all those sequined and fringed jumpsuits Elvis wore.  Nor did we drop a dime to peek at his favorite automobiles.  However, it was only a $5.00 upgrade to climb aboard his two private jets so what the heck!  We splurged.  The cabins of both were custom-designed to fit the preferences of Elvis.

What caught my eye were the gold-plated seat belts.  Can you imagine buckling yourself into such splendor?

After our tour of Graceland, we visited the Sun Studio, formerly the Memphis Recording Studio, to see the sound booth where Elvis made his first recording.

On July 18, 1953 nineteen-year-old Elvis walked into the studio and paid $3.98 to cut a personal record for his mother.

The 45RPM record was a double-sided recording of "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin."

Sam Phillips, the studio owner, was looking for a fresh talent that would bridge the gap between the African-American soulfulness of the blues and white gospel songs.

His assistant, Marion Keisler, recalled, "Over and over I heard Sam say, 'If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars!"  And he would always laugh, Marion said, as if to underscore that money was never the point--it was the vision.

But even Phillips could not foresee the passionate fanbase that grew into a cult surrounding Elvis.  Otherwise, Phillips probably would have asked for more than $30,000 when he sold Elvis' contract to RCA.  Still, there were other unknowns that Phillips made into stars: B.B. King, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, to name just a few.

Those last three musicians along with Elvis Presley were called the Million Dollar Quartet because of a spontaneous photo opportunity that occurred on December 4, 1956.  Carl Perkins was in the middle of a recording session with Jerry Lee Lewis sitting in as the piano player when Presley and Cash stopped by to observe.  Sensing that this gathering was epic, Phillips called a local news photographer who took a snapshot of the four musicians gathered around the piano.

My own epic photo of my favorite singer Tim

After listening to this story plus many more from our very entertaining tour guide at Sun Studio, Tim and I took his advice and made our way to Beale Street just as dusk was beginning to fall.

Beale Street with its honky-tonks, bars and restaurants is the place to soak up the blues and R&R sounds that Memphis made famous.

As luck would have it, we were there on a Wednesday night, Bike Night on Beale, when motorcyclists converge to park on the most iconic street in town.

At B.B. King's Blues Club, we listened to a blues band while we dug into some barbecued ribs.  After supper we wandered down the street to see motorcycles of every size, shape and color.  It was a fun way to end a day in the birthplace of rock and roll.