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The Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum is just steps from the historic 1940s and 1950s music scene on Memphis’ Beale Street. As the Museum puts it, they “tell the story of musical pioneers who, for the love of music, overcame racial and socio-economic barriers to create the music that shook the entire world.”
The history it tells is good to do early in a trip to Memphis, as it coordinates nicely with visits to Sun Studio, Graceland, and the National Civil Rights museum in town.
It starts with the “rural field hollers” of the 1930s sharecroppers and moves forward in time. The 1940s featured urban blues and jazz, moving to the “birth of rock n’ roll” at Sun Studio in the 1950s. Soul music was featured for the 1960s, tied to the Civil Rights Movement in a way previous decades were not.
The museum opened in 2000. It features lots of opportunities to hear music, and see costumes, instruments, and other artifacts throughout the periods covered. Of course there’s also some photo ops, such as the cover photo of Crooner Doug.
Though neither of us are especially fans of the music that was covered in the museum, we did both enjoy it, and were glad we’d done it when other stops in Memphis were tied together because of the museum.
Thanks to the museum, I also added three new songs to my playlist – all songs not previously on my radar but now have me ready to do some more exploring!
Elvis Presley, “That’s All Right”, 1954.
Ann Peebles, “I Can’t Stand the Rain”, 1974.
Elvis Presley, “Suspicious Minds”, 1969.
