W.C. Handy Home and Museum - Beale St. Memphis

According to the sign:
The Memphis Home of W.C. Handy. Musician - Composer - Publisher. 1873-1958. Father of the Blues
In this house was born Memphis Blues, St. Louis Blues, Beale Street Blues and other great songs.
The house was moved here from 659 Janette Street in 1983 and restored by the Blues Foundation.
Museum operated by Heritage Tours.

The home and museum isn't directly on Beale St. Instead there is a sign and a gate on Beale inviting people back to see it.

Would you like to see more photos from Beale street? Check out the Beale Street gallery

Happy Birthday Ringo Starr (plaque)

In celebration of Ringo Starr on his 72nd birthday, held in Nashville, TN on July 7, 2012. This star magnolia tree was planted in his honor by Hard Rock International. Peace & Love

This plaque is at Walk of Fame park in downtown Nashville. Today, he turns 80.

Childhood School of Tina Turner

The Flagg Grove School was the childhood School of Tina Turner. The school has been preserved and relocated to be a Tina Turner Museum, and it's free to visit. Inside the school museum are several of Turner's performance outfits, gold records and photos. A portion of the inside is recreated to look like the school would have appeared when she was a student.



This is one of the exhibits at the conveniently located West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center. It is just off Interstate 40 at exit 56. The free museum has several exhibits of West Tennessee including: Tina Turner's School, Sleepy John Estes home, West TN Music, Cotton, Hatchie River and Lincoln exhibits.
westtnheritage.com/

Musica Statue Nashville

Musica is a statue sculpted by local artist Alan LeQuire which was unveiled in 2003. It is located in a traffic roundabout at Music Row (known as Buddy Killen Circle). It features nine nude figures dancing in a circle, while the top one holds a tambourine. Each figure is about 15 feet tall and the entire statue is 38 feet.

Upon its unveiling, it was controversial as some people didn't want nude statues in the Bible Belt. It was the scene of a famous prank on St. Patrick's Day 2010 when some locals dressed the statues in Irish garb. Other similar pranks over the years include Nashville Predator jerseys during their Stanley Cup playoff appearance and facemasks during the 2020 pandemic.

Isaac Hayes Burial Site - Memphis

Isaac Hayes is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis. It's across from the entrance to the Crystal Shrine Grotto, so it's easy to find. A lot of detail went into this and I like it.

Music City Walk of Fame slideshow

The Music City Walk of Fame in downtown Nashville honors significant contributors to Nashville's musical heritage and significant achievements in the music industry.

Each honoree is commemorated with a large stainless steel and terrazzo star embedded in the sidewalk in Walk of Fame Park between the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bridgestone Arena, and Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

The Colonel's Mandolin Band LP

Favorite Old Church Hymns recorded by The Colonel's Mandolin Band for the glorification of Christ.

This vintage record album was seen at the mini-museum inside of the first KFC, otherwise known as Sanders Cafe, in Corbin, KY. Personally, I prefer the beauty of the human voice, but I bet I would find this album quite interesting. More than anything, just seeing this reminds me how the times have changed. Today, is there any well-known fast food chain other than Chik-Fil-A that would attempt such a recording?

B.B. King Statue - Memphis

This 1996 statue of B.B. King, as well as a statue of Elvis are located inside a visitors information center in downtown Memphis.

W.C. Handy Statue - Beale Street

Honoring the Father of the Blues, the W.C. Handy Statue is at Handy Park along Beale St. in Memphis.

Would you like to see more photos from Beale street? Check out the Beale Street gallery

Music City's Microphone Bike Rack

Located along Nashville's Music Row, this public street art microphone doubles as a bicycle rack. “Microphone Rack” by Franne Lee, Keith Harmon and Mac Hill of Nashville, is located at the northeast corner of Demonbreun Street and Music Row. The rack, made of stainless steel in 2010, represents Nashville’s history as a communications, broadcasting and music center. My favorite detail is the audio jack that plugs into the ground.

B.T. Faith Pianos neon sign - downtown Nashville

This is perhaps the single rustiest and crustiest neon sign in downtown Nashville. It is located at 911 Church St.

In the News: Elvis Landmark - Col. Tom Parker's House on 2015 Nashville Nine

Col. Tom Parker's House has been added to the Historic Nashville Inc. yearly list of endangered historic sites, the Nashville Nine.

See the entire list here.

From the press release:

1215 Gallatin Pike South – Madison, built c.1935
Located on Gallatin Road in Madison, this 80-year-old stone building is the former home and office of Colonel Tom Parker, legendary manager for music stars such as Elvis Presley, Hank Snow and Eddy Arnold. Thomas A. “Tom” Parker (1909-1997) was a Dutch-born, American talent agent who lived in Florida before moving to Nashville in the early 1950s. Parker lived here with his wife Marie (1908-1986) and owned this property from 1953-1992. “I don't think I’d have ever been very big if it wasn't for him,” said Elvis. “He's a very smart man.” The historic landmark is extremely important to Nashville’s music history and one of the few remaining buildings in Tennessee directly related to Elvis Presley, who often stayed here when he was in Nashville recording some 250 songs at RCA Victor Studio B on Music Row. The building also housed the Elvis Presley Fan Club and publicity department of the Elvis Empire. Built around 1935, the two-story, three-bedroom house retains original features, including a concrete shingle roof, knotty pine walls, a basement entertainment bar and bathrooms with pink, aqua and black tiles. The property also features an original guest house where Elvis stayed and a patio with a stone fire pit. Attorney Steve North and his wife Jo Ann North, a former Metro Councilwoman, purchased the building in 1996 and used it for the offices of his law firm. They are currently seeking a preservation-friendly buyer. The building is threatened by development pressure.

Jack White's Third Man Records store

Third Man Records is the record label, record store, and concert venue operated by Jack White. The location is near downtown in one of the not-so-good parts of town, but this was done intentionally. Third Man Records specializes in Vinyl records, which I am glad to see return to some prominence.

One of the features inside the store in the Third Man Novelties Lounge which features interesting vintage equipment. On hand is a Scopitone video jukebox, a Mold-a-rama machine which makes White's Airline guitar, and a Voice-O-Graph machine.

On the day I took this picture, I really wanted to go inside, but I had no money. The temptation would have been to great to spend money set aside for the electric bill or somesuch.

W.C. Handy Home and Museum - Florence, AL

Here is the description of the log home which later became a museum on the Florence website:

"Where the Tennessee River, like a silver snake, winds her way through the red clay hills of Alabama, sits high on these hills my hometown, Florence." William Christopher Handy begins his autobiography, Father of the Blues, with these words.

W.C. Handy was born in a small log cabin in Florence on November 16, 1873. Handy became famous for his blues compositions such as "Memphis Blues" & "St. Louis Blues". He was also a musician, band conductor, and author.

The museum houses a collection of memorabilia, musical instruments, personal papers and original sheet music. Handy's famous trumpet and his personal piano are just a few of the items on display.

W.C. Handy died in New York in 1958. His hometown of Florence honors the legacy of the "Father of the Blues" with a birthday party at the museum each November 16th and with the week-long W.C. Handy Music Festival during the summer.

Unknown Performer, Smithville Fiddler's Jamboree 2009

The Smithville Jamboree takes place every year near July 4th on Smithville's town square.

Boyhood Home of Carl Perkins

The legendary Carl Perkins was the King of Rockabilly and author of the song "Blue Suede Shoes."

His boyhood home is located along highway TN78 on the south side of Tiptonville, TN. Over the last decade, the area has been transformed into the city's visitor center with the addition of an old Illinois Central Caboose and a replica train station. TN78 has been renamed the Carl Perkins Highway. Perkins was born in Tiptonville on April 9, 1932.

Jackson, TN Rock-a-Billy Stage

Since Jackson is home to the International Rock-a-Billy Hall of Fame, this small park has a stage and the Rock-a-Billy Mural. The backdrop of the stage includes an oversized Sun Records 45 and the message "Happy Birthday Carl (Perkins)! Also there's a note: "Help support the construction of Jackson's Largest Outdoor dance floor."

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

This statue is located in downtown Memphis along Beale Street along the block between the Orpheum Theater and the toruisty district.

This statue is also noticeably free from graffiti or other kinds of desecration. This statue has a better security system than my house.

Rock City's Gnome Valley Musician

Gnome Valley is a newer feature at Rock City, seen early along the Enchanted Trail where the white fallow deer used to be. According to their sign, "Rock City Gnomes have long inhabited Lookout Mountain. A number of these rare creatures have recently been spotted migrating into this tiny valley."

Rock City has long had a history with gnomes, dating back to when founder Frieda Carter imported many of the gnomes from Germany and had them placed around the grounds of the attraction, some of which are seen in Fairyland Cavern. However, The gnomes seen here populating Gnome Valley are new. In 2011, artist and Rock City Employee Matthew Dutton sculpted them so that they would be on display for the yearly Garden of Lights. Each whimsical creation is unique and hand-crafted with a durable resin so that they will be enjoyed for generations. For further reading, check the article on page 10 of this issue of Pulse Magazine: issuu.com/brewermediagroup/docs/pulse_8_24a

On my website, I have created a gallery entitled "A Tour of Rock City" where I not only have tried to find all of the gnomes, but all the other wondrous scenes at the beloved tourist attraction.
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=chattanooga%2Frock-city

Here's a bonus gardener gnome:

Rutledge House - Blountville, TN

Along the main street in historic downtown Blountville are several historic properties in a row. This one is next door to the Deery Inn, the most famous building in town.

On the left is a black metal gate. There is a marker on that gate that it was designed by Adolph Cluss, and displayed at the Smithsonian from 1879-1910 and then brought here in the 1940s by Virginia Caldwell. On the right there's a historic marker for hall-of-fame long bow fiddler Ralph Blizard. The Traditional Appalachian Musical Heritage Association which was founded by Ralph Blizzard plans on converting this house into the Ralph Blizard Bluegrass Museum.