MEMPHIS DOWNTOWNER MAGAZINE

April, 2007

De-touring Through Memphis
story and photos by Devin Greaney

TOC: Who better to reveal the city's treasures than those whose business is to know and show?

Memphis has long had its share of cultural and historical attractions — the riverfront and its beautiful view, Beale Street, Graceland, a rich music legacy. Overton Park turned 100 years old last year, and at least two of our museums — the Memphis Pink Palace and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art — predate most Memphians.

But 25 years ago, Memphis was generally a place people just passed through on the way to New Orleans, Nashville, St. Louis, or Dallas. Those times have changed for a variety of reasons, including a growing number of tour companies in the city whose business is to know and show — no matter what a visitor may ask.

On the Road to Shangri-la
"Memphis has come a long way in recognizing its past," says Sherman Willmott, tour operator of Shangri-la Projects Tours, which specializes in customized music and cultural tours. "They honored Rufus Thomas with a historical marker on Beale Street while he was still alive, and changed the name of part of Lauderdale Street to Willie Mitchell Boulevard while he was still alive. That would not have happened 15 years ago."

Sherman Willmott of Shangri-la Tours.

We board his air-conditioned van in Downtown Memphis and head off to an almost forgotten piece of Memphis music lore.

"The most common question I get is, 'Why aren't there historical markers on a lot of these places?'" says Willmott, as we drive north. "The answer is that a lot of these places I have researched on my own, and a lot of people don't know they exist. That's what makes my tours unique."

We park at Thomas and Chelsea. Behind a fence on the northwest corner is a vacant building. It looks older than its 15 years. "This is the former site of American Studios, which was torn down in 1990," says Willmott. "Herbie Mann, Memphis Underground, and Neil Diamond recorded here. When Dusty Springfield recorded her album <<Dusty in Memphis>>, this is where she was. American recorded 91 top 100 hits and 53 gold records out of that building from 1961 to 1971. This was the biggest hit factory in Memphis."

But learning all he can about, say, Isaac Hayes and Alex Chilton is just the beginning to operating his tour. "People ask about obscure record labels," Willmott explains. "There was Fernwood, which was owned by a truck driver named Slim Wallace. There have been more than 1,000 independent labels in Memphis. People ask about individuals who recorded maybe only one song that may not have been a hit!"

Despite his love for Memphis music history, Willmott does not live solely in the past. "It's a great time for Memphis music right now," he says. "Memphis has a very under-appreciated music scene. The unique cadence and beat of the crunk style of Memphis rap is something indigenous to Memphis, much the way the jug band music was in the '20s and '30s. People can see music's history during the day, then go out at night and experience some great current music!"

See-Saw Memphis
“I find that a lot of tourists don’t know what to expect when they come to Memphis,” says Mimmye Goode, owner of See Memphis Inc., which arranges specialty tours around Memphis themes. “They know about Elvis and Dr. King, and they think we may have had some part in the Civil War, but little else. Many are amazed at how much history is here and how beautiful the city is. By the end of the tour, they’re talking about moving here!”

See Memphis offers many customized tours, too. Last Halloween, they planned a ghost tour with a stop at the Fontaine House and an eerie recounting of the pink ghost at the Brinkley Female College, once a prestigious girls’ school. Other specialty tours include Graceland, Memphis music sites, cooking tours, and African-American history. “I love Memphis and I love to show off the city,” says Goode, who started in 1984 as a guide with Cottonland Tours and formed See Memphis in 1990.

Mimmy Goode of See Memphis.

This season, See Memphis is branching out to offer regional tours to Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and middle Tennessee — marketed primarily to local groups who might want to take a day or weekend trip.

But a good tour guide is not just knowledgeable — she has to be quick on her feet because unexpected things are likely to happen. “Once, we had a tour on its way to Victorian Village when a riot broke out at the city jail, and the bus was stopped at Second and Adams,” Goode remembers. “The guide had to improvise. She drew on her extensive knowledge of the city’s history and just kept talking about the courthouse and Calvary Episcopal Church until they could move again.”

And a good tour guide gives helpful advice on dealing with local culture. “We have to remind Northerners that it’s sometimes OK to eat with your fingers,” says Goode, laughing, “because a lot of them try to eat barbecue ribs with a knife and fork!”

Making a Splash
Claire Sewell is the general manager of Ride the Ducks, the nation's largest amphibious tour operator and one of the newest and most conspicuous tour companies in town. Not all the questions she receives on tours are about Memphis. She gets a lot of questions about the vehicles, themselves, called "ducks."

"People don't actually believe they drive into the water," Sewell says. "Or they ask if the wheels fold under the ducks when the vehicle enters the water, a la James Bond — they don't. Someone the other day wondered if it was a submarine!"

Claire Sewell is the general manager of Ride the Ducks

Although Ride the Ducks offers amphibious tours in several cities, the Memphis tour brings its own opportunities for the unique. "When the river starts to get low, we have fish that jump into the duck," says Sewell. "We once had a fish jump into a lady's purse, in fact. Our record is nine fish in one duck! We do warn people when the river gets low, but it ends up being one of the highlights of the trip! Some people think we've trained the fish to do this."

But there's no need to fear the splash-down into the Wolf River Harbor at Mud Island. Duck captains have a U.S. Coast Guard Masters license and conduct frequent safety drills. They also learn the company's in-depth script of Memphis sights and history.

"Everything is factual," says Sewell. "We did a lot of work and a lot of research. We talked with historians and professors and read a lot of books. We started working on the script in September 2004 for an April 2005 opening. Memphis is not just about music, it's not just about the Civil War, and it's not just about being a river town. It's everything."

One thing riders learn is that the largest letter of the alphabet in the nation is here. Which letter and where is it? Hint: Head west on Monroe Avenue, and when you make it to the Mighty Mississippi, continue looking west towards Marion, Arkansas, at the "M" bridge that connects the two states.

Home of the Blues
Former Graceland tour guide and "people person" Melvin Bledsoe watches his latest group of tourists show up to purchase tickets. Today would have been Elvis Presley's 72nd birthday, a fact no one needs to remind this group headed to Graceland. Two are from the Netherlands, four from England, three from Orange County, CA, and one from New York.

Bledsoe opened Blues City Tours in 1987, which offers a variety of tours, including casinos, Memphis sights, riverboats, National Civil Rights Museum, music, and others. "One thing many people forget about Elvis is his generosity," Bledsoe says from the ticket counter. "He gave back to local people, donated to charites and single mothers. He bought houses and Cadillacs for strangers, and was a free-hearted man."

Melvin Bledsoe of Blues City Tours

Sam King is the tour guide taking our group to Graceland. In his five years of transporting tourists, King has experienced his share of interesting stories.

"One time I mentioned Forest Hill Cemetery — where Elvis was interred before Graceland — and a woman from Great Britain asked, 'Is there any way I can find out where he was originally laid to rest?' She wanted to get a handful of dirt from the site and take it home!"

"Another time, when the tour bus returned to pick up a group after a Graceland tour, one man said, 'I've had enough of Elvis Presley!' A lady snapped back, 'Then you're on the wrong bus, in the wrong city!' The man didn't say a word after that!"

Bledsoe remembers one request from a special celebrity. "He wanted to go to Graceland. We ordered a special limousine — the VIP star treatment type of tour. When we got to Graceland, the first thing he wanted to do was to go to the restroom. And that's all he wanted to do — then he was ready to go! That's Eddie Murphy!"

Drawn to Memphis
Downtown Memphis was quite a different place in 1980. Civil disturbances in the late '60s had scared most people away, and urban renewal had razed hundreds of buildings. The Peabody Hotel would not reopen for another year, Beale Street was under construction, most businesses had moved East, and scant few people called Downtown home.

But Jake Schorr wanted to keep Downtown alive. "My granddad and dad had taken me Downtown when I was younger," he recalls. "I wanted to see what I could do to salvage what was left. Things were tough during the first few years. By 1985 and 1986, it was still a challenge but less of a challenge."

Dianne Peters and Bob get ready for an evening ride.

Schorr, who today owns The Carriage Company, eventually sold his Carriage Tours of Memphis to two former employees, Darcy Locke and Chrissy Saylor. "Ten to fifteen years ago, Downtown was scary, and it was hard to get people from Cordova, Germantown, or Collierville down here," says Saylor, who notes that dogs riding on the carriages — now a tradition — were originally used for protection. "Now there's a lot more to do and a lot more drivers."

One of those carriage drivers is Elizabeth Gladney, who has worked with horses since childhood. She partners with her horse Marley, who lives at the stables on North Main. "It is not a job for everyone," she says. "There is a lot of hard work even before you sell a ride. In a car, you don't see your surroundings. In a carriage, you see the details."

Being informed about the sights and restaurants Downtown makes for a good carriage driver, but there are times when their obscure knowledge is not needed — on marriage engagement rides, for instance — and they don't mind.

Every engagement ride Locke has given has resulted in a "yes." At that point, is the couple really interested that the city's tallest building is 430 feet tall and opened in 1965?

Off the Beaten Path
Talking to Backbeat Tours owner Bill Patton and listening to his passion and knowledge of the city, you almost take it for granted that he is a 7th generation Memphian. But this Pittsburgh native, who formerly practiced law in Washington, D.C., has only lived in Memphis since 2006.

"This is far and away the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done," he says of his tour company. "It calls for organization talents, creativity in designing the tours, and a good deal of music and historic knowledge. I love to be able to show people a good time and show them what Memphis is all about. We have so many treasures here. To see our passengers getting off the bus smiling and laughing and thanking us — saying this was the best time they had in Memphis — that’s rewarding like nothing else!"

If you see a 1959 maroon and yellow bus, it's not the Memphis Area Transit Authority. It's Miss Clawdy, a bus Patton found on the Internet and realized he just had to have for the tours. “It’s not just a bus, it’s a time machine,” he says. “What better way is there to get back to the roots of Memphis music than with live entertainment on a vintage bus? We wanted it to be a rich experience for both tourists and locals.”

Recently, Patton has added a slate of walking tours to Backbeat’s offerings, with a tour of Historic Beale Street in the daytime and a Ghost Tour and Haunted Pub Crawl at night. He plans to add more guides with a passion for local history — and either a guitar or a great pair of hiking boots.

"Memphis is a cauldron of artistic talent," Patton says. "There is something about the city — I haven't figured out exactly what it is, or I can't express it. I don't know if it's the energy, freedom, or optimism. You feel like you are unleashed here. B.B. King, Elvis, Otis Redding — I think they all felt that to some extent. Memphis is a city of possibilities. We try to convey that feeling on all our tours.”

The tours are led by musicians who bring the music of the city aboard the bus, playing everything from Sam and Dave to Johnny Cash to the Box Tops.

Memphis Jones is our tour guide on a Saturday afternoon aboard Miss Clawdy. He remembers a brother and sister from Upstate New York who said they were psychics. "She stops me in the middle of a song and says, 'Elvis is on the bus with us, and he needs to say something,'" Jones recalls. "She then said, 'Elvis said there were a lot of difficult things in his life but that you understand. He handpicked you for the tour.' How do you respond to that? I told her to thank Elvis for me, and continued on with the tour."


Tour guides are the professionals who show off Memphis’s history, culture, and beauty to tourists whose home towns range from Little Rock to Lithuania, from Bolivar to Bolivia. But do we Memphians <<really>> know our city? Perhaps even hometowners should book a tour and discover the treasures in Memphis. After all, as Memphis Jones likes to say, "Every other doorway in Memphis has a legend behind it."

Backbeat Tours
Musician-led Memphis tours
272-BEAT
866-392-BEAT
backbeattours.com

Blues City Tours
Specialty tours with Memphis themes
522-9229
bluescitytours.com

Carriage Rides of Rivercity
Horse-drawn carriage tours
524-1148
cinderellacarriagewedding.com

Carriage Tours of Memphis
Horse-drawn carriage tours
527-7542
888-267-9100
carriagetoursofmemphis.com

Memphis Riverboats
Mississippi River sightseeing cruises
527-BOAT
800-221-6197
memphisriverboats.net

Ride the Ducks
Nation's largest amphibious tour operator
543-RIDE (Box Office)
877-88-QUACK (Reservations)
memphisducks.com

See Memphis Inc.
Specialty tours with Memphis themes
525-4617
800-235-7311
seememphisinc.com

Shangri-La Projects Tours
Customized music and cultural tours
359-3102
memphisrocktour.com

Sweet Magnolia Tours
Full-service tour operator offering customized tours
525-2842
866-320-5295
sweetmagnoliatours.com

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