BB King Statue

This is the statue of blues legend BB King in the Memphis Visitors' Welcome Center on Riverside Drive in Downtown Memphis. I love the detail in this statue and think that it's a wonderful likeness of Mr. King. He has a blues club here in Memphis on Beale Street, which I shared here last month.

I have to admit that I had never visited our Visitors' Center before today (typical city "native", right? :), and it is quite nice. The Center has wonderful views of the Mississippi River, Mud Island, the M Bridge, and lots of information about fun and interesting places to visit in Memphis and throughout Tennessee.

W. C. Handy Statue, Beale Street

W. C. Handy is often called "The Father of the Blues", and he and his band moved to Memphis in 1909 to establish their musical presence on Beale Street. His famous song, "Memphis Blues", was originally titled "Mr. Crump", as it was written for then-Mayoral candidate Edward H. "Boss" Crump. It was so popular that he later rewrote it and changed the name to "Memphis Blues". It is considered by some to be the first blues song. You can read more about W. C. Handy here.

This is one of my favorite statues, not only on Beale Street, but in all of Memphis. (All colored bold script should provide a clickable link for more information. Please click on the photo(s) to see an enlarged version.)

edited to add: Annie asked this question: "I've always wondered if B. B. King named his guitar after W. C. Handy's first child. Do you know?"

Per Wikipedia: "One of his trademarks is "Lucille", the name he has given to his guitars since the 1950s after he escaped a fire at a juke joint he was playing in. The fire was started by two men who were fighting over a woman named "Lucille". During their fight, they knocked over the bucket of burning kerosene used for heat. When King escaped the building, he realized that he had left his guitar in the burning building. He ran back inside to get it and after learning of what happened, he named his guitar "Lucille" to remind himself not to do it again." You can read the entire entry here.

Sun Studio

Sun Studio is the studio complex (just off Union Avenue near downtown Memphis) that is known the world over for being the recording studio that gave Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison their start.

Sun is considered a "must-see" by those interested in music history. It is popular with tourists from all over the world year-round, and in spring and summer you have to be extra careful driving by so that you don't hit the visitors stepping back into the street to get that perfect photo. It is especially busy during the annual "Elvis Week" in August, and it is a fun stop full of interesting history. If you visit, do allow yourself enough time to soak up the atmosphere and history at Sun Studio.

Jana of Susanville Daily Photo also gave me the "You Make My Day Award" the other day and I had missed her comment during our busy weekend. Jana, I apologize for missing it before, and thank you very much! You made this dreary, cold day brighter for me. Jana has a lovely and very interesting blog, and I always enjoy visiting her...please stop by and pay her a visit!