Mark Twain once wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
I got into Memphis as the sun was going down. The weather was strangely perfect (seems like every other visit to Memphis it’s been HOT, and HUMID). I’m staying in the neighborhood near the Overton Park Shell amphitheater, so I decided to take a little walk as the sun was going down.
It was a perfect night. Families were out strolling and kids were playing and running around. I walked through some of the ritzy neighborhoods and marveled at the rich folks’ houses (that sell for less than a stucco two-bedroom box in California, huh) with their carriage houses and big porches.
Overton Park is a lovely city park, lush and green and expansive. There’s the Zoo, the Park itself (two hundred acres of trails through a lush, vegetated woodsy area), the art museum, and the Overton Park Shell.
Built in 1936, the Overton Park Shell is well known to fans of Memphis music. Virtually everybody has played there at some point. It’s a fairly unassuming band shell amphitheater, common to almost every city in America. But how many other band shells can lay claim to Elvis Presley’s first professional performance (billed as “Ellis Presley,” opening for Slim Whitman on July 30, 1954)? Not to mention every other Presley-influenced rockabilly of the 1950s generation, countless soul and R&B and garage bands (I love the photo of Booker T and the MGs set up on stage, no more pomp and fuss than if they were playing in your living room), 1970s and 1980s rockers and alternative rockers, up to this evening, when the venerable Overton Park Shell was host to a children’s ballet and dance recital.
Families were strewn about the lawn and the vibe was relaxed. Everybody was in a good mood and having a good time. I walked around and soaked it all in. I stood back from the crowd and played the radio jingle heard on the Bear Family box set Sun Rock ’n’ Roll, CD 1, track 5: (“Blue Suede Shoes” plays to start the radio commercial):
“That’s CARL PERKINS, Mr. Blue Suede Shoes, in person, and he’s coming to Memphis, Tennessee, direct from the Perry Como TV show. Carl Perkins will rock in the Overton Park Shell for a great show, Friday night, the first of June, 8 pm. Hear him sing ‘Blue Suede Shoes,’ ‘Honey Don’t,’ and his sensational new ‘Boppin’ the Blues’! There’ll be Johnny Cash and his Tennessee Two, with ‘Cry, Cry, Cry’ and ‘Folsom Prison Blues,’ ‘Rock ’n’ Roll Ruby’ with Warren Smith, a new sensation, Roy Orbison and his Teen Kings with the ‘Ooby Dooby’! And the Rockin’ Daddy, Eddie Bond and the Stompers. It’s a great country rock ’n’ roll show starring the new sensation, Mr. Blue Suede Shoes, Carl Perkins, in person! Buy your tickets for Johnny Cash, Warren Smith, Roy Orbison, Eddie Bond, and Mr. Blue Suede Shoes, Carl Perkins, in person, Friday night, the first of June, 8 pm at Overton Park Shell in Memphis!”
Wow. All those heroes, up on that little stage. I sat and marveled at the scene before my eyes, and once again, I longed for a time machine.
Memphis is a place where you’re always, constantly surrounded by ghosts. Some good, some bad, some wildly entertaining and some terrifying. But if the sun is going down behind the trees, and you squint your eyes just right, you can see Carl Perkins, Mr. Blue Suede Shoes himself, up there on the stage of the Overton Park Shell that night in 1956. After all, the past isn’t really even the past. We’re surrounded by ghosts, if we know where to look.
I’m just so happy to be back in Memphis, one of my favorite towns in the United States of America.
See many more photos and a few videos at Deke’s original Facebook post!
