Thoughts from the Road, Volume 4

The Peabody, Memphis, TN

Feels only fitting to be here after listening to Peter Guralnick’s Last Train to Memphis off and on during this road trip.  I even bought a jacket at Lansky’s - a replica of the one Elvis wore at his wedding.  Believe me, I will wear it every chance I get.

I’ve always loved it here, even if Beale Street is a tourist spot now instead of the row of juke joints and clubs it once was.  Places played by some of the greatest black artists in history and witnessed by some of the greatest white ones brave enough to risk being seen down here.  I saw a post earlier on social media about the Oasis shows - the guy was talking about how there were no political statements, no chants calling for the death of anyone, just a lot of people, in the moment together, singing.  That’s what’s great about music on a cultural level.  It has the ability to connect people who are willing to let it happen.  

Make no mistake, Elvis wasn’t “ripping off” black music to be rich, he loved that music.  No different than Jerry Lee did, or Chuck Berry’s love of the Opry.  Because our culture of the time needed a white kid to break down the barrier to allow white people to like black music, that’s not Elvis’ fault.  You can say that’s not fair, but that’s how it is sometimes.  It was our fault as a society, not the fault of a nineteen year old hillbilly from Tupelo, Mississippi.  Certain people like to be outraged retroactively, when there’s no cost to their outrage, and try to knock others off pedestals who were responsible for knocking down walls and busting glass ceilings.  Be grateful for Elvis and be educated on the time and place from which he came.  They are not mutually exclusive ideas.

I think that’s why I’ve always loved it here, it’s a music town - not an industry town like Nashville or Los Angeles.  I feel connected to my fellow musicians and those musicians who came before.  Music is inside us, and it’s what’s inside that counts more than what’s on the outside.  I feel that in my bones, whether it’s blues, jazz, country, rock, whatever, if you’re being real, I’ll connect to that.  

Lots of musical history tomorrow… til then.