A Guide To Historic Downtown Memphis

Thanks to Attorney and business owner Bill Patton, you won't miss a thing when you visit downtown Memphis, Tennessee with this guide. Need a practical, useful guide to downtown Memphis's historic streets, buildings and neighborhoods? Look no further than A Guide to Historic Downtown Memphis. From Beale Street to the Bluffs, this guidebook covers all the essentials that no explorer of the River City should be without. Each chapter provides a map for a different section of downtown Memphis, guiding readers on a journey to the historic reaches of this modern city. The destinations may vary from classic theatres to barbeque joints, from churches to saloons, but the road always leads to another fascinating Memphis discovery. Perfect for out-of-town visitors or Memphians who need a helpful guide to showcase the attractions that make their hometown one of a kind.

This tour of Memphis goes well beyond the traditional guidebook to offer a historical journey through the Home of the Blues. Explore the city's African American heritage from Church Park to beautiful Mason Temple, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final, prophetic speech. Visit Court Square, where a young Thomas Edison delighted children and adults with his popular invention: the cockroach shocker. Discover hidden gems like the nineteenth-century dueling grounds on the banks of the Mississippi and a charming Depression-era country store. From Beale Street to the bluffs, author Bill Patton traces the incomparable history of Memphis.

Weaving the story of the King's personal and public life with detailed descriptions of the locations in Memphis that served as the setting for his musical education and evolution, this pop culture guide offers a refreshingly even-handed account of Elvis Presley's life. Elvis came to Memphis as a 13-year-old boy, and within a few years, he was shocking and seducing the world with a mixture of moves and sounds he had first seen and heard in the city's streets, churches, and bars. This comprehensive tour of places on which Elvis left his mark includes the Peabody Hotel, where he had his senior prom; Ellis Auditorium, where he played his first show; the Sun Studio, where he recorded his first singles; Lansky Brothers Clothiers, where he bought his suits; and Graceland, where he lived with his wife Priscilla and died in 1977. Anecdotes about each of the locations and how they shaped Elvis's personal and musical identity enhance the travel information, while street maps and a handy size make this book an invaluable companion to Memphis visitors and lovers of rock and roll.

This tour of Memphis goes well beyond the traditional guidebook to offer a historical journey through the Home of the Blues. Explore the city's African American heritage from Church Park to beautiful Mason Temple, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final, prophetic speech. Visit Court Square, where a young Thomas Edison delighted children and adults with his popular invention: the cockroach shocker. Discover hidden gems like the nineteenth-century dueling grounds on the banks of the Mississippi and a charming Depression-era country store. From Beale Street to the bluffs, author Bill Patton traces the incomparable history of Memphis.

Alexis Kandilis is an international conductor at the height of his profession. He receives standing ovations at every concert and wildly enthusiastic reviews from the media. Yet, on a personal level he is deeply unfulfilled. Mahler’s haunting "Song on the Death of Children" plays over and over in his mind, bringing back ugly childhood memories he can’t erase. A strange collection of not-quite-true friends and not really beloved family surrounds him: his mother, Clio, who forced him to abandon his dreams of composing for a more prestigious career as a conductor; his wife, Charlotte, whom he despises and frequently betrays; his bisexual friends Pavlina and Tatiana; Sacha, a young and talented Russian flutist; and Ted, his agent, who has booked—or overbooked—him for the next three seasons. They all provide some measure of reassurance, but it is easy to predict that Kandilis’s glorious world will soon shatter. The media takes advantage of an altercation between Kandilis and a percussionist during a rehearsal to attack him, condemning not only his action but also his unorthodox methods. After a panic attack before a concert, he makes an unforgivable mistake during a performance, and as a result, he is denied the direction of the most prestigious performance of the decade. In his private life, things are also falling apart. Sacha introduces him to an exclusive poker club made up of multimillionaires, but his new rich friends begin to distance themselves from him as he becomes increasingly difficult, until even his manager recommends that he take some time off. Used to being a winner, Kandilis starts gambling — and losing — heavily. His disintegration accelerates, and at last he enters a psychiatric hospital. He still has some friends he can count on, but even the most loyal among them can’t protect him against himself. On his descent into hell, he discovers but cannot avoid the darkness that is in all hearts, including his own.

Prohibition, with all its crime, corruption, and cultural upheaval, ran its course after thirteen years in most of the rest of the country—but not in Memphis, where it lasted thirty years. Patrick O’Daniel takes a fresh look at those responsible for the rise and fall of Prohibition, its effect on Memphis, and the impact events in the city made on the rest of the state and country. Prohibition remains perhaps the most important issue to affect Memphis after the Civil War. It affected politics, religion, crime, the economy, and health, along with race and class. In Memphis, bootlegging bore a particular character shaped by its urban environment and the rural background of the city’s inhabitants. Religious fundamentalists and the Ku Klux Klan supported Prohibition, while the rebellious youth of the Jazz Age fought against it. Poor and working-class people took the brunt of Prohibition, while the wealthy skirted the law. Like the War on Drugs today, African Americans, immigrants, and poor whites made easy targets for law enforcement due to their lack of resources and effective legal counsel. Based on news reports and documents, O’Daniel’s lively account distills long-forgotten gangsters, criminal organizations, and crusaders whose actions shaped the character of Memphis well into the twentieth century.

This innovative guide will lead you through the birthplace of the blues, covering the world-famous attractions, historic sites, funky shops, and gold record legacies of Memphis and the surrounding Mississippi Delta. With a strong focus on modern-day arts and music enclaves, as well as the storied sites where the blues got their start; hundreds of top-notch dining, lodging, and recreational recommendations; over one hundred illuminating photos and maps; and travel logistics, this is the most comprehensive guide to the region to-date.

Is Memphis on your list of possible places to relocate or visit? You'll find this practical guide an essential resource for comprehensive information about this fast-growing city. Local author Rebecca Finlayson offers an unbiased perspective of Memphis and the area around it. Four maps and 30 black-and-white photographs complete the coverage.