Memphis
Beyond Graceland


Technically, we were in town for a wedding.

When my pal Hans announced that he was marrying his lady Sara, I would have gone wherever the ceremony was. But when they announced that the wedding was going to be at Graceland, well, wild horses couldn't have kept me away.

It was a pilgrimage I'd always wanted to make. Instead of circumambulating the Ka'aba in Mecca or kneeling at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, I wanted to worship at Sun Studio, the Stax Museum and Graceland. So I hooked up with a guy named Sherman Willmott—who is a great guy to hook up with if you're on a musical pilgrimage to Memphis. Willmott runs a company called Shangri-La Projects, which offers music tours of the area.

Willmott is well versed in Memphis music history. He started a record store called Shangri-La in 1989. He ran the store (and an accompanying record label) for 10 years. In 1999, he went to work as curator on the Stax Museum for three years in 1999

"That was just a self-imposed title. There were just two people there and we just did everything," Willmott said, including running a Web site, talking to politicians about money, drafting marketing plans and trying to get pieces for the museum's collection from musicians.

"That's what got me into the whole tour business," Willmott said. "I did all that research in the neighborhood. That showed me a whole other world of the south Memphis/ Soulsville side, That's what inspired me to connect a lot of the attractions that had sprung up in the last few years."

Of course, Willmott was already a Memphis expert after a zine he published put out a guide to Memphis very much aimed at visiting music fans who came through the record store.

"People were coming to town, and there weren't as many things to do in Memphis in terms of attractions as there are today," Willmott said. "People were coming to town and they'd go to Graceland and say 'There isn't anything else to do here.' We'd say 'No, you haven't look under the right rocks.'"

So he would draw maps for people to tell them about the sights. "After a while, I got sick of drawing maps," he said.

So Willmott's zine, Kreature Comforts, put out a travel issue (the Low-Life Guide to Memphis) which has since gone into five printings and has become the definitive tour guidebook for the city (and has been ripped off liberally by other, higher-priced books).

With all this research into the history of Memphis music, Willmott launched his tour company in March.

"The tour itself is great. It's more of a story than a tour. There's a Memphis music story here that I've had to write and work into what people's interest might be," Willmott said.

Part of that storyline involves showing people how close the important elements of Elvis' life were. The public housing where the Presley family lived, record stores, radio stations and the churches where Elvis was exposed to the music that influenced him were all clustered together within a matter of blocks. "It helps to explain a lot," Willmott said.

The greatest reaction, Willmott said, comes when people see the humble beginnings of some of rock's greatest icons. The Lauderdale Court public housing Elvis' family lived in and the small house Aretha Franklin's family lived in are two favorites.

"It shows that these people didn't start with silver spoons or anything," he said.

Some of the European visitors to Memphis ask Willmott why aren't there historical markers on many of those sites. His reply? Most people—including many Memphians —aren't even aware that these places exist.

"Certainly at this point people are seeing stuff in the framework of that story that I'm telling. This isn't a big tour bus tour thing. This is something that I've created," he said.

Part of his goal is to promote historical preservation (or at least acknowledgment of where historical sites used to be).

"The very fact that they didn't tear down Lauderdale courts is a sign that Memphis has turned the corner on tearing down its music history," Willmott said.

But great music in Memphis isn't a relic from the past. Even though many of the small record labels that once dotted the landscape have long been gobbled up by big conglomerates (or have simply disappeared), there are many contemporary musicians who are taking inspiration from the city and creating new sounds.

"That's what's exciting about the next wave," Willmott said, citing bands like the Oblivians and the Reigning Sound.

And, taking Willmott's advice, we hit a jook called Wild Bill's. And over quart beers and live soul, we discovered that, while the sites are great to visit, the thing to worship is the music.