Music Influence On Memphis

Throughout the last fifty years of music influence in Memphis, blues has been through many different stages of repose in our ever-changing society. With the growth of social media and streaming, the reach of blues is no longer as exceptional regarding Memphis. In this city, it has become a trend to host music festivals in and around our famous downtown area: Beale Street. Beale Street is well known to musicians around the country and is founded on Blues and Jazz music. But the question is, how has blues shaped Memphis throughout history? To establish the impact of blues on Memphis, we need to first look at the history of music in Memphis and the best place to start is Beale Street. Beale Street was once the center of music in Memphis. In the

Even though we can see it is apparent through Memphis that Blues has a big influence, how is it influential? Well, we can for example look at the Artists that have come from music and see how it has affected their music. Let’s start with ‘The Beale Street Blues Boy’ himself, B.B. King. He was born in 1925 on a plantation in Mississippi. Throughout his youth he would perform on street corners for dimes and would even sometimes perform in several towns per night. In 1947, he made his way to Memphis, TN, in order to further his music. Memphis was the music capital of the south and where every important musician of the South ended up coming to. B.B. stayed with his cousin Bukka White, who was one of the biggest Blues players of his time, who further developed B.B. King’s blues playing. He got his big break eventually on a radio show in West Memphis which led to the creation of “The King’s Spot”. After expansion of the radio show he hosted it became “Sepia’s Swing Club”. With this expansion he wanted a new catchy name for the radio, and the title of the Beale Street Blues Boy was shortened to Blues Boy King, aka B.B. King. B.B. King’s music was influenced heavily by Memphis and the Blues, it shaped one of the greatest artists of the

He began performing less and less throughout the next twenty years. With age his health began to worsen along with his behavior. He never recorded again, even though his mid-1950s performances are highly respected for his lyrical abilities and smooth beats. His life was influenced by the soul of Memphis as well as Blues. He knew many Blues artists who had great impacts in Blues. We can continue to talk about many blues artists that have a deep history in Memphis, and we know how it has influenced them, but what about Memphis? How else has Memphis grown because of