The Daughter and I had neither one been to Sun Studio, so we recently decided to play tourist and go. We went on a weekday morning for the 10:30 tour. We weren't expecting much of a crowd. Death Week is over, after all. Wow, were we surprised! Our tour group was big, and the group scheduled to start as we were leaving looked even bigger.
We even had an Elvis impersonator on our tour, although he didn't show off. Can you spot him in this picture?
There were 2 sections of the tour. In the first part everything was in display cases, and flash photography wasn't permitted. In the second part, which is still used some for recording, there were no photo restrictions:
On the very spot marked with an "x" below, Elvis Presley stood. He used that very microphone, and we were encouraged to stand there and pose. The microphone was so much too tall for me it looked like I was going to have to stretch it out across the floor to get it low enough for the pose. But I did it!
Our tour guide was enthusiastic and fun. The Daughter and I were the only Memphians on the tour.
Youtube has several relevant videos. Here's a short overview:
and another:
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I understand that when my mother was little, you were in one of two camps: Tommy Steele or Elvis. She was definitely Elvis. I listened to the records a lot when I was little, and Swedish television would run his films, like "King Creole" and "Blue Hawaii". Looks like a must-see in Memphis!
ReplyDeletea definite must-see for music history buffs, members of performing bands, and elvis fans. king creole is my favorite elvis movie, but my loyalty switched to the beatles in early elementary school.
Deletei had to google tommy steele. i had never heard of him that i remember. he's still performing, so i think elvis could've learned a thing or 2 from him. like survival skills :(
I remember thinking that would be a great place to visit when I was in Memphis. But I only had three days, and you can only do so much while you are there. After all, it's a fabulous city, and a great place to visit. I suspect this would have been a fun part of my trip, if I'd only taken the time. Of course, I've never been much of an Elvis fan (I just remember him as an old fat guy), so maybe I wouldn't have had as much fun as I'm sure you did. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletei don't think i'd pick it if i had only 3 days (the zoo takes a full day all by itself), but we did enjoy the tour.
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