As Willie sings...."On the Road Again"!
We left Las Cruces, New Mexico on June 7th in our '07 Tiffin Phaeton motorhome, after saying "Goodbye for Now..." to our friends at Sunny Acres RV Park and others in and around Cruces. Our "Home on Wheels" is 40 feet long, with four slideouts and all the comforts of, well.....HOME!
Towed behind us is our Jeep Liberty.
Captain of the Ship...or so he thinks...is our Pomeranian named Buddy.
Our plan this time around is: NO PLANS! We have no set schedule, no itinerary, and no predetermined route. We both love a variety of music, and we do plan on attending concerts and shows as we travel. Which brings us to our first stop.....
Midland, Texas!
A few days before we left Las Cruces, we saw an internet ad for the Midland Margarita and Salsa Festival. We pulled out the atlas, changed the travel route, and headed to Midland for a fun concert on a Saturday night. And although we didn't see or taste any salsa OR margaritas, we enjoyed some great music!
The evening started off with...
Leon RussellLeon is a honky-tonking rock 'n' roller whose songs include "Delta Lady", "This Masquerade", and "A Song for You". We parked our camp chairs front and center and the evening started off hot and sweaty in the 94 degree heat and humidity of Texas....perfect weather for some bluesy rocking.
The show continued with....
Jonny Lang
Over five hours of great music...and a fantastic, fun start to our journey!
Our next visit was to Memphis, Tennessee...home of the birth of rock 'n' roll, rhythm 'n' blues, tasty barbecue ribs, and...
The King of Rock 'n' Roll
Beale Street is where Memphis comes alive. Music pours out of the clubs day and night, and there are blues bands playing on the street corners and people dancing in the street.
The Orpheum Theater is a grand old downtown venue that continues to produce concerts and shows.
Memphis is home to Sun Studio, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison made their first records, along with the Stax Recording Studios, where much of rhythm 'n' blues began.
Memphis salutes its rich musical heritage with monuments and statues to many musicians who have left their mark...such as B.B. King.
But ultimately, there is one man whose impact dominates over all others...
Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, is located on....
To enter Graceland, you pass through the iron music gates...look closely, and you can see sheet music bordered by two guitarists...
and then you travel up a long drive to Graceland.
Graceland is fronted by a rock wall on which, with the approval of the Presley estate, visitors write their names or memories and tributes to Elvis.
The Graceland interior is a time capsule to the 1960s and 70s era, with lots of crushed velvet, shag carpet, an avocado refrigerator, and, of course, peacocks.
Graceland is a museum/monument to the life of Elvis, including his marriage to Priscilla...
and his daughter, Lisa Marie...
Remember those toy chests...?
Elvis sold over one BILLION records in his career, and the Gold Records and Grammys line the walls...
The "Sincerely Elvis" exhibit changes frequently.
On our visit to Graceland, the exhibit highlighted many of Elvis's concert costumes.
The Graceland compound also houses Elvis's automobile collection...
including his famous Pink Cadillac, which was the favorite of his mother, Gladys.
His private jets are also on the grounds, including the one named after Lisa Marie. Who is that superstar at the top of the boarding stairs waving back at her fans?
The King is buried at Graceland, along with his mother, father, and grandmother. There is also a marker for Elvis's twin brother, who died stillborn.
Elvis was only 42 years old when he died in August of 1977. Imagine...thirty years ago! Visiting Graceland left us even more impressed with the incredible career of the King, but it's impossible to walk through Graceland and not be saddened by a life that ended too soon.
After seeing all those gold records, all the awards, all the headlines of screaming fans and young girls fainting at his concerts, all the millions of sequins and rhinestones used in those costumes, the video footage of the Ed Sullivan appearances, you realize...
The show continued with....
Jonny LangWe first saw this amazing blues guitarist/singer perform some ten years ago, when he was only fifteen years old. Jonny got the crowd moving and sang with a deep, soulful voice...and can that boy play the guitar!
Closing the show was Texas legend Delbert McClinton, who started playing in Lone Star roadhouses back in the late 1950s. Delbert mixes country, blues, soul, and rock 'n' roll into a good-times sound, and the crowd couldn't get enough.
As a teenager, Delbert played harmonica in the house band at a local juke joint, playing behind blues legends like Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, and Bobby "Blue" Bland.
When Delbert toured England in 1962, he met a young Brit named John Lennon...and wound up teaching him some blues harp techniques! Delbert had a Top Ten hit in 1980 with "Givin' It Up for Your Love".
Closing the show was Texas legend Delbert McClinton, who started playing in Lone Star roadhouses back in the late 1950s. Delbert mixes country, blues, soul, and rock 'n' roll into a good-times sound, and the crowd couldn't get enough.
As a teenager, Delbert played harmonica in the house band at a local juke joint, playing behind blues legends like Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, and Bobby "Blue" Bland.
When Delbert toured England in 1962, he met a young Brit named John Lennon...and wound up teaching him some blues harp techniques! Delbert had a Top Ten hit in 1980 with "Givin' It Up for Your Love".
Over five hours of great music...and a fantastic, fun start to our journey!Our next visit was to Memphis, Tennessee...home of the birth of rock 'n' roll, rhythm 'n' blues, tasty barbecue ribs, and...
The King of Rock 'n' RollWe camped at the T.O. Fuller State Park campground, a gem of a park that is close to downtown Memphis, yet secluded, quiet, and pretty. Fuller S.P. has large campsites, and plenty of room for Buddy to romp around.
The Orpheum Theater is a grand old downtown venue that continues to produce concerts and shows.
Memphis is home to Sun Studio, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison made their first records, along with the Stax Recording Studios, where much of rhythm 'n' blues began.
Memphis salutes its rich musical heritage with monuments and statues to many musicians who have left their mark...such as B.B. King.
But ultimately, there is one man whose impact dominates over all others...
Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, is located on....
To enter Graceland, you pass through the iron music gates...look closely, and you can see sheet music bordered by two guitarists...
and then you travel up a long drive to Graceland.
Graceland is fronted by a rock wall on which, with the approval of the Presley estate, visitors write their names or memories and tributes to Elvis.
The Graceland interior is a time capsule to the 1960s and 70s era, with lots of crushed velvet, shag carpet, an avocado refrigerator, and, of course, peacocks.
Graceland is a museum/monument to the life of Elvis, including his marriage to Priscilla...
and his daughter, Lisa Marie...
Remember those toy chests...?
Elvis sold over one BILLION records in his career, and the Gold Records and Grammys line the walls...
The "Sincerely Elvis" exhibit changes frequently.
On our visit to Graceland, the exhibit highlighted many of Elvis's concert costumes.
The Graceland compound also houses Elvis's automobile collection...
including his famous Pink Cadillac, which was the favorite of his mother, Gladys.
His private jets are also on the grounds, including the one named after Lisa Marie. Who is that superstar at the top of the boarding stairs waving back at her fans?
The King is buried at Graceland, along with his mother, father, and grandmother. There is also a marker for Elvis's twin brother, who died stillborn.
Elvis was only 42 years old when he died in August of 1977. Imagine...thirty years ago! Visiting Graceland left us even more impressed with the incredible career of the King, but it's impossible to walk through Graceland and not be saddened by a life that ended too soon.
After seeing all those gold records, all the awards, all the headlines of screaming fans and young girls fainting at his concerts, all the millions of sequins and rhinestones used in those costumes, the video footage of the Ed Sullivan appearances, you realize...
There will never be another like Elvis!
The King of Rock 'n' Roll
(He's the one at the top of the picture)
The King of Rock 'n' Roll(He's the one at the top of the picture)
And the road goes on forever....
