Sun Records

[DanvillRob]

Has anyone ever been there?

 

I was working in Memphis and was headed back from BB King's nightclub when I passed Sun Records. Too bad it was closed, so I didn't get a chance to go in.

 

Took this photo with my cell phone...it was all I had with me!

 

[L5Larry]

Yes, I did the Sun Records tour a few years ago (along with the Gibson Memphis plant, and the Stax/Volt museum). Very interesting place and they give a very good and informational tour. Standing in the actual studio room where all that early R&R history was made is a very moving experience. They have set up most of the second floor as a museum with displays and old recording equipment, and the main floor seems virtually untouched since it's heyday. Of course 99% of the tour is about Elvis, but the others do get some due. You pretty much get to see the entire building, but you do not get to go into the control room for it is still a working studio. Well worth the time and money.

 

Of even more interest to me was the Stax/Volt Museum. My musical tastes ran much more toward what was coming out of Stax Records than what Sam Phillips was doing at Sun. The original Stax building was torn down, but they have now rebuilt a museum on the site to resemble the original building and studio. It is a little more "touristy" than Sun, but also worth the time and money to see.

 

For anyone within a reasonable drive from Memphis, it's a great place to spend a weekend. Between the musical sites like the Gibson plant, Sun Records, Stax Records, the Blues Museum, WC Handy's house, Elvis' house, and the Beale Street live music scene, there's is a ton of stuff to do and a lot of musical history.

 

The most moving experience I had during our weekend getaway was the Civil Rights Museum. The Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed has been turned into an incredible tribute to the civil right struggles of the 60's.

[DanvillRob]

 

For anyone within a reasonable drive from Memphis' date=' it's a great place to spend a weekend. Between the musical sites like the Gibson plant, Sun Records, Stax Records, the Blues Museum, WC Handy's house, Elvis' house, and the Beale Street live music scene, there's is a ton of stuff to do and a lot of musical history.

 

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Shoot...now I can't wait to go back!

 

Thanx

[milod]

I was in Memphis 80-88. Most of what you're talking about didn't exist per se back then.

 

At least, not so one would really notice.

 

Beale Street hadn't been redeveloped and for all intents, it was a place with a cheap store or two.

 

The only "music tourism" spot really was Graceland as it was getting developed.

 

Ain't been back since a business trip in '89.

 

m

[brundaddy]

DO NOT miss STAX.

 

I recorded at Sun, it's a cool place too. My Marshall was so loud, Carl Perkins's picture fell off the wall. Scotty Moore's gold 295 is sitting on a guitar stand out in the middle of the room, waiting to be kicked over or stolen.

 

Don't miss Interstate BBQ either, order the "Sampler Platter." Oh and the daiquiri bar on Beale St. has 2 way mirrirs over the urinals so you can look out onto the dance floor while you take a pizz. Classy.