Sun Studios

Another musical site we saw in Memphis was Sun Studios. The studio is where Elvis, as an 18 year old machine shop worker in 1954, walked in and asked to record a song. The rest is history. Sam Phillips recorded blues and rock and roll pioneers like Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and BB King, and a whole lot of shakin' went on. The building is the original, but the Sun label closed in 1960. The building was re-opened as an historic site and working recording studio in the late 1980's after going through transformations as a barber shop (I could use a haircut, by the way, but I digress) and a scuba shop. Hard to believe a scuba shop would fail in Memphis, but luckily it did. You can still walk into Sun Studios and record a song for $30 or use the whole shop for $75/hour. U2 did in 1988 and recorded three songs for Rattle & Hum (bonus points for anyone who can name those three songs).

It was a cool tour, and a piece of American history that I was glad I could see. They show you the exact spot (so they say) where Elvis stood. The tour guide said that Bob Dylan came in one day, walked to the spot, knelt and kissed the floor, and walked out. I didn't kiss the floor, but I did get my picture with his microphone.

Is that the ghost of Elvis behind me?