Bill Small's Blog

My whole life I’ve heard about Memphis. The rich fertile musical soil there has produced too many of my influences and heros to mention. Over the years, I drove through Memphis a lot on my way back and forth to Nashville and played a couple of shows there in the first 2 years of the Mystiqueros. Actually, the first time I played Memphis I heard Jimmy Davis. He freaked me out. Amazing voice, great songs and even though there were about 6 people in the club he was bringing it up from his toes. His energy was infectious. Fast forward a bit and now Jimmy is pretty much a Mystiquero. He’s joined us on stage for many shows and will be touring with us the whole month of July this year. So, this past weekend as we traveled and worked in Alabama and Tennessee, Jimmy came along for the ride. He also got us another show in is home town of Memphis, TN.

I was really excited to spend some time in Memphis with Jimmy. Get some of the real stuff. So after a stop at Jimmy’s house, which was wild because he’s like a real person and not just a traveling gypsy sleeping outside and playing shows with no shoes on, we headed out into town. WW suggested a stop at Sun Studios. Yes! A must see. But first, BBQ.

JD took us to Central BBQ. We might have hit the Rendezvous, but it was Sunday and they’re closed, and Central BBQ was no slouch. Love the signage in the front window. Now here’s where I usually take a picture of my food, but I was so hungry and my plate of slow roasted pork with slaw and green beens went so fast that I couldn’t get the camera out in time. You’ll just have to picture it for yourself. Nothing fancy here. A paper lined plastic basket full of pulled and chopped pork that was cooked seemingly forever and topped with a vinegar based spicy ass BBQ sauce. A cup of cole slaw and another of green beans side by side. Fantastic!

Ok, now I’m really full and can’t get enough iced tea in   me as we make our way through the fairly oppressive heat and swampiness to Sun Studios. We took the tour and were treated to a fun time by our tour guide Cora. It was just cool to stand in that space. The cutting room itself hasn’t been changed in 60 years. To think that I was standing in the room where Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters both began their careers. Not to mention Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee and oh yeah….. Elvis. Too freaking cool! After t-shirts and chachkies were purchased we headed to our next stop.

Off to see a band that Jimmy knows and sings with sometimes, The Hookers. I can’t remember the name of the bar right now, but it was, well…. a bar. Dark and cool on a sweltering afternoon. The one thing that really stood out, besides the musicianship of the band which was terrific, was the guy cooking on stage. Yes, “Chef” was cooking up some venison quesadillas for the crown right there in front of the bass rig! Only in Memphis. I was too full to sample the fine cuisine. Maybe next time. The Hookers were solid and Jimmy sat in on a mind blowing version of “Helter Skelter” and off we went to our show.

Murphy’s Bar. I can’t say I walked in to the place and thought, “Wow what a great place to play a show”. It’s a bar, plain and simple. A dive really, but I like dive bars in general and I liked the feel of this one. Jimmy’s old band, The River Bluff Clan, played many a Sunday here and he assured us that people would show and a good time had. He was right. G had flown home for his first Father’s Day so we did a WW, JD, BS song swap with Ray on the drums and Eric Lewis on Steel. Jimmy brought Eric in and WOW, great player. He really made the night. So indeed a good time was had. From WW’s first song to our closing rave up rendition of JD’s “Sanctuary”, the crowd was hoopin, hollering, clapping and happy. I don’t know how they did it since I was having trouble just breathing the heavy air, as was WW, but I guess they’re used to it. It was a blast. As I sat behind the wheel of the van and headed us towards Little rock and then home, I felt like I finally got some real Memphis on me and I’m ready for more.