Photography – Elvis Statue on Beale Street – Memphis
Beale Street was where it all happened – Blues R&B and Rockabilly. It was the Black part of Town. Most of it has been pulled down and redone. It was a very dangerous area with prostitutes, gambling, dancing, gangsters, drugs and lots of knifings and shootings. Life was cheap. But it was the place to hang out where the music was hot, there was wild dancing and plenty of booze.
It’s a bit of a tourist trap now and has been cleaned up. But there is still a lot of loud music and booze and I’m sure you could get yourself shot if you tried.
This is the Elvis I love – the Hillbilly Cat.
I don’t go for that later period with the glitzy rhinestone. I think he rapidly became a parody of himself.


