News

The wizened soul presiding over the door at Wild Bill's, a steamy urban juke joint in Memphis, has the distinct appearance of a man who has seen it all. As proprietor of his namesake club -- where a rootsy blues band and a sardine-packed dance floor signal its status as a local institution -- chances are he has.

In his starched shirt, knife-creased pants and slicked hair, he collects the modest $5 cover from guests as they file in, sizing up the men and checking out the ladies. In a few hours, after a token sleep and a change of clothes, many of these folk will be paying penance at church. But for now, this is Saturday night, a time to strut and swagger and shake off their cares.

Like its country counterparts housed in crumbling sheds and rusting garages throughout the Mississippi Delta, Wild Bill's is a place where hard-working men and women slick up and get down almost every weekend. As the seventysomething guitarist wails a hot electric slide, dancers shimmy in a slow hypnotic accord that is part dance, part sex, part memory of the days when their grandparents were part of the cool crowd on Beale Street in the Thirties and Forties.

In that bygone era, when blacks and whites inhabited separate worlds, Beale Street was the heartbeat of the region's African-American life, and was known as both the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock 'n' roll.

That was a time when anything could happen on Beale Street.

Weapons were common enough, and the brothels down the road were as rough as they come. But for plantation workers who spent six days a week in sweltering cotton fields, Beale Street was their Saturday-night playpen.

Today, Beale Street presents a distinctly different face, radiating neon like a blues-infused version of the Las Vegas Strip. At B.B. King's and the Blues City Café, which face off on opposite corners of Beale and Second Streets, the music is as rich in soul as the food is in pork fat. At B.B. King's, the band boasts the legendary blues man's trademark heavy horns and a singer who wails like a latter-day Big Mama Thornton.

The three pulsing neon forks outside Blues City Café are homage to the area in Mississippi where legendary guitarist Robert Johnson met his untimely end, allegedly by poisoning. Inside this restaurant cum modern juke, the atmosphere sticks close to its country roots with a skeletal room that's long and thin and dark. Frequent Blues City headliners, the Dempseys, play rockabilly, tossing around the double bass like it was grandpa's hickory switch.

Today's musicians honour the traditions that were born in Memphis when recording engineer Sam Phillips, who left his day job in 1950 to set up Sun Studio, discovered bone-chilling talent in young labourers such as Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins. Memphis is also the place where rock 'n' roll was reputedly born after a broken amp was "fixed" with newspaper stuffing, producing a rough, raunchy sound, and the primal 1951 tune Rocket 88 -- with Ike Turner on the piano keys -- emerged as the bastard son of the blues.

Another of rock's particularly proud papas is gospel, which can be heard resonating within the walls of almost any Memphis Baptist church, and at Full Gospel Tabernacle, led by pop star turned pastor Reverend Al Green.

Best known for his 1972 hit Let's Stay Together, Green now "sings for the Lord" every Sunday morning, accompanied by an electrified four-piece band, heavy on the drums. In what may seem closer to a rhythm and blues concert than morning worship, a congregation composed of roughly half parishioners and half tourists shakes the floorboards for two to three hours.

All that music and preaching can whip up an appetite, and a popular Sunday-afternoon stop is Ellen's Soul Food, a modest storefront with patchwork linoleum, Formica tables and a kitchen that pumps out rich editions of country favourites such as chitterlings, baked turkey wings, fried corn and purple-hulled peas.

Some of the best fried chicken in Memphis is found at Gus's, a country shack on a barren mid-city block, with a green tin ceiling. The only dish served is burnished brown chicken, cracker crisp on the outside and juicy sweet within.

And there's no coming to Memphis without indulging in the slow-cooked, deeply spiced pork that typifies this town. With more than 100 specialty restaurants, Memphis is a leading contender for the title of barbecue capital of the world. In the eyes of many locals, the most evolved barbecue is found at Payne's, with its sublimely messy sandwich -- hunks of tender pork on a soft, white bun -- and the questionable local specialty known as "barbecued bologna."

At the well-worn Hard Luck Café, the night is as much about shooting pool and slugging beer as listening to music, even when the electrifying newcomer Miss Nickki takes the stage to belt out her own brand of tuneful melancholy. The audience howls approval at her ample curves and throaty bay, then turns back to a shot glass or the latest round of gossip.

Because, as always, that's how they sing the blues in Memphis.

If you go

WHERE TO STAY

Talbot Heirs Guesthouse: 99 South Second St.; phone: (800) 955-3956; Web: http://www.talbothouse.com. Apartments have kitchens stocked with food and drinks.

Madison Hotel: 79 Madison Ave.; phone: (901) 333-1200 or (866) 446-3674; or visit the Web site at http://www.madisonmemphishotel.com. Once an old bank, the hotel has a décor of stylish deco.

WHERE TO EAT

Tsunami: 928 South Cooper; phone: (901) 274-2556; Web: http://www.tsunamimemphis.com. Menu is Pacific Rim fusion.

Beauty Shop: 966 South Cooper; phone: (901) 272-7111. Once a 1950s beauty parlour, now a hangout for the hipster crowd.

Automatic Slim's Tonga Club: 83 Second St.; phone: (901) 525-7948. Offers a menu of Southwest Caribbean fusion.

Boscos: 2120 Madison Ave.; phone: (901) 432-2222; Web: http://www.boscosbeer.com. A brewpub with distinctive Flaming Stone Beer and superb pizza.

Elvis Presley's Memphis: 126 Beale St.; phone: (901) 527-6900. Hot bands and contemporary Southern cuisine, including Elvis's favourite, steak and ribs.

Payne's: 1762 Lamar. The sublime sliced BBQ sandwich is cooked on a home range.

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken: 310 S. Front St.; phone: (901) 527-4877.

Ellen's Soul Food: 601 South Parkway E.; phone: (901) 942-4888. Specialties include fried chicken, baked turkey wings and oxtails.

MUSIC CLUBS AND JUKE JOINTS

Beale Street: Beale Street bars are open until 5 a.m. For more information, visit http://www.bealestreet.com.

B.B. King's Blues Club and Restaurant: 143 Beale St.; phone: (901) 524-5464; or visit the Web site at http://www.bbkingbluesclub.com.

Blues City Café: 138 Beale St.; phone: (901) 526-3637.

Wild Bill's: 1580 Vollintine; phone: (901) 725-5473.

Hard Luck Café: 216 East McLemore; phone: (901) 942-6092.

CHURCH

Full Gospel Tabernacle: 787 Hale Rd.; phone: (901) 396-9192; Web: http://www.algreen.com. With pastor Reverend Al Green.

TOURS

American Dream Safari: phone: (901) 527-8870; Web:

http://www.americandreamsafari.com. Music scene insider Tad Pierson offers several tours, including the Juke Joint tour, "Road Therapy," a sunset cruise along the back roads of the Mississippi River, and "Drive-By Shooting," a picture-taking safari along the banks of the Mississippi.

Gibson Guitar Factory Tour: 145 Lt. George W. Lee Ave.; phone: (901) 543-0800, ext. 101. Admission: $10 (all amounts in U.S. dollars).

A 25-minute, guided walking tour of the factory covers 16 stages of the guitar-making process.

MUSEUMS

Stax Museum: 926 East McLemore Ave.; phone: (901) 942-7685; Web: http://www.staxmuseum.com. Admission: $9. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

Rock 'n' Soul Museum: In the Gibson Guitar Building, 145 Lt. George W. Lee Ave.; phone: (901) 543-0800; or visit the Web site at http://www.memphisrocknsoul.org. Admission: $8.50, including interactive CD gallery guide with historical anecdotes and hours worth of Memphis's greatest music. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Sun Studio: 706 Union Ave.; phone: (800) 441-6249; Web:

http://www.sunstudio.com. Admission: $9.50. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Graceland: 3734 Elvis Presley Blvd.; phone: (800) 238-2000; or visit the Web site at http://www.elvis.com. Admission: $25.25. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.