15. Memphis, Tennessee

Jackie and Jon decide to take a walk.  Well, not a literal walk- a virtual exploration through Memphis, Tennessee.  They listen to the music, discuss civil rights, and learn about the “Piggly Wiggly”.  Drama ensues when they attempt to have a conversation about WiFi in a stadium and only one member of the show finds the subject interesting. 

Jackie Reilly: Host
Jon Schaller: Host
Charles: Producer

Instagram: @cozynookexplorers
Email: cozynookexplorers@gmail.com

Community Shoutout:
National Civil Rights Museum  
MLK POV Talks with Ryan Jones and Dr. Noelle Trent
Small But Mighty Storytime Series
Tour of the National Civil Rights Museum

Mentioned in this episode:
WC Handy on the Ed Sullivan Show
Walkin' In Memphis by Marc Cohn
Barbecue Contest Quote
Memphis Travel

** 1 Disneyland = 500 acres ** 

Transcript

JACKIE: I’m Jackie 

JON: And I’m Jon 

JACKIE: And we are the cozy nook explorers!

JON: Welcome to our show where we explore the world from our cozy nook here in QUARANTINE using the power of the internet!

Jackie: Yes and it’s Wednesday which means it’s time for another exploration! AND WE ARE STILL IN QUARANTINE IN CALIFORNIA! In case you missed it last week, we recently flew across the country because we are moving, so we’ve been in quarantine making sure that we are a-ok after the flight. I think this is the final episode we will be recording in quarantine, but it’s been quite the experience!

Jon: Yes, agreed. Oh, also we have an instagram now! You can follow us @cozynookexplorers! We will be posting updates there and it’s another great way to reach out to us.

Jackie: So, Jon, I am pumped because today we are traveling to Memphis, Tennessee! I’m going to be honest, after living in New York City for the better part of a decade I am generally more interested in National Parks and nature, BUT Memphis has quickly become a city I need to visit once the pandemic has calmed down.

Jon: Memphis is overflowing with history and culture. There is so much to dive into. I’m so excited to get started.

Jackie: I am too, but before we can put on our blue suede shoes-

Jon: Oh no she’s begun!

Jackie: and board the plane we need to talk about what’s keeping us cozy! Jon- what’s keeping you cozy this week?

WHAT’S KEEPING YOU COZY

Jon: Peanut Butter and Bananas

• I can’t remember a time when both of those items weren’t available.  My mother must have replaced them so quickly that I believed that they were self replicating.
  • Which do you prefer on it’s own Bananas or Peanut butter
  • Do you prefer sliced bananas or my personal favorite- mashing the bananas up to spread them evenly over the bread for a perfect sandwich bite distribution?

Jackie: Walkin’ In Memphis by Marc Cohn. I have loved this classic song for ages, but I’ve found a new appreciation for it while researching for this episode. It also just gets me super jazzed and pumped up. 

• Where did you first hear Walkin’ in Memphis?
  • A piano bar on a cruise ship. 2 places I don’t imagine I’ll be going again for a while since it’s 2020.
• What’s something you learned in your research that is mentioned in the song?
  • So, in the song he mentions W.C. Handy and I didn’t know who that was. During my exploration I found out that he’s considered the father of blues. He was an amazing trumpet player. I’ll put a link to his amazing performance on the Ed Sullivan show in the show notes!

Let’s Get Into It

Jackie: Look, I know this is very specific, but I really want to start off by talking about how awesome Ryan Jones is.

Jon: Ok, I feel the same way about Sun Records. Wait- who is Ryan Jones?

Jackie: Ryan Jones is an educator and the lead tour guide at the National Civil Rights Museum and is in many a youtube video about the museum. He is so very good at his job and I learned so much from him while preparing from this episode! 

Jon: Interesting what did you learn.

Jackie: He is extremely knowledgeable about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s life and death along with the civil rights movement.  I watched a couple of different videos where he takes us through Dr. King’s final moments at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.  There are so many pieces of that history that I did not know like that one of the owners of the Lorraine Motel, Loree Bailey was so shocked by the death of Dr. King that she fell into a coma and died 5 days later which is so terrible.  You can tell that Mr. Jones is so passionate about making sure people understand what happened on April 4th, 1968. Also, there are a lot of things we don’t know for sure about that day.  The King family has reason to believe that James Earl Ray did not assassinate Dr. King and that he was framed. They have been pursuing this for years and I was not aware of this. Mr. Jones does such a great job of explaining everything in a clear, concise way. I’ll be sure to include links to the videos in the show notes so you can watch them yourself. 

Jon:  Speaking of Civil Rights  I think everyone needs to drop what they are doing and look of the life of Robert R. Church Sr.  I had unfortunately never heard of this guy.  But this guy is such a force of nature he was born in 1837 his mother was a slave he survives a steam boat sinking a race riot and being shot and left for dead and then goes on to be the first Afican American Millionaire and starts Solvent Bank in Memphis that lent money to black people so they could own homes.  So take that housing discrimnation.  Someone needs to do a movie of this guy’s life.

Jackie:  What were you going to say about Sun Records?

Jon:  On February 3, 1950 at the address of 706 Union Avenue in Memphis.  A studio was born from the work of a man named Sam Cornelius Phillips.  He knew that this would be a difficult enterprise to undertake, how he would be perceived and what his mission ways.  In his own words “everyone knew that I was just a struggling cat down here trying to develop new and different artists, and get some freedom in music, and tap some resources and people that weren't being tapped”  Why did he want to do this because when he was a child he worked on a farm picking cotton and he heard the songs of black labors and later in life went to Beale street in Memphis and he wanted share his experience with the world.  His creation of Sun Records was where Rock and Roll was born.

Jackie:  I saw that this was where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis all got their start.

Jon:  Not only that it is where the first Rock and Roll song was recorded in 1951.  The name of the song is called Rocket 88 and it was written by Ike Turner.

Jackie:  This is where I have to offer a counter argument.

Jon:  Offer away hehehe

Jackie:  We're Gonna Rock by Wild Bill Moore was written and recorded in 1948.

Jon:  I have heard that song.

Jackie:  In that song the lyrics are “we’re gonna rock, We’re gonna roll.”  And I have seen a number of people who believe that is the first Rock and Roll song. And that song is well before Sun Records or Rocket 88.

Jon:  I have seen all of these things as well and in my opinion even with those lyrics I would say that We’re gonna Rock is closer to a Jazz song and Rocket 88 is definitively Rock and Roll.

Jackie:  But you admit this is debatable.

Jon:  I do.  But I will say Sun Records fostered some of the largest collections of musical talent in American history.  And the astonishing amount of people who grew up within a 100 mile radius of that place is wondrous.

Jackie:  So does the music revolve around the sun?

Jon:  Boo

Jackie:  You can still visit Sun Studio! That is on my list of things to do when the  pandemic ends.  They have so many pictures of famous musicians when they were super young.  

Jon:  You can still record there

Jackie:  What? Really?!

Jon:  Yes

Jackie:  Now I want to go even more and bring my Ukulele!

Jon:  It costs $200 an hour and you have to book a 5 hour block.

Jackie: I think I will just take the tour.

Jon:  I need to take that tour and I have to go to the Stax Museum which is the American Soul Museum.

Jackie:  That is the museum with Issac Hayes’ gold plated cadillac!

Jon:  Yes along with a crazy amount of memorabilia and pictures and information about the genre of music.  Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, the Staple Singers.

Jackie:  That car is so cool! It even has a TV inside.

Jon:  As a passenger you can view your phone in any car.

Jackie: Will the cars be made of Gold.

Jon: Touche.

Jackie: Let’s talk about how Memphis became Memphis.

Jon: The beginning of Memphis’ history is terrible to say the least.  Before the city was established, the area was settled by members of the Mississippian Culture. 

Jackie: According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Mississippian Culture was the last major prehistoric cultural development in North America before the european settlers arrived.  These people were spread over a large area in the south east and were eventually taken over by colonization.  I was having a little trouble finding this for sure, but I think it was the Chickasaw Native American tribe who specifically was living where Memphis is today. 

Jon: The city of Memphis as we know it today was established in 1819. The city was established as a trading hub. Cotton was one of the largest commodities of the area along with the domestic slave trade.

Jackie: Cotton was harvested and picked through the forced labor of African-American slaves. 

Jon: The city of Memphis was built by taking the land of the Mississippian Culture and by building their economy through slavery. There’s no way around the fact that this is awful.

Jackie: Yes- and very important to understand. 

Jon: There’s so much more to the backstory of Memphis like the yellow fever epidemic of the 1870’s, but should we jump ahead to the civil rights movement?

Jackie: Sounds good.

Jon: Memphis was at the center of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. 

Jackie: An extremely important part of this history was the Memphis Sanitation strike of 1968 where sanitation workers went on strike to fight for living wages and safer working conditions.

Jon: The reason that Dr. King was in Memphis on April 4th, 1968 was because he was supporting the sanitation workers. 

Jackie: The evening before his assination, Dr. King gave his famous ‘I’ve Been To The Mountaintop’ speech at Mason Temple which is just a little over a mile from the Lorraine Motel. I’ll put some links in the show notes to Ryan Jones talking about all of this.

Jon: Should we talk about Memphis today?

Jackie:  Yes we should get to that right after our break.

Ad 1 - Walking In Memphis 

Jackie: Hey there Cozy Nook Explorers~ This podcast is sponsored by taking a walk in Memphis! Look- I know what you’re thinking- Jackie- there’s a pandemic- I can’t go to Memphis right now. Or maybe you’re thinking- Jackie- I live in Memphis and I go walking there everyday. I don’t need an ad about this. I hear both points and they are very valid points. All I’m trying to say is that Memphis is amazing and we should all go walking there whenever it is safe to do so. 

Jon: Jackie- I don’t remember seeing this as a sponsor. Are you pretending this is a sponsor because you really want to go to Memphis?

Jackie: Ummmm... let’s get back to the show!

Lets Get Into it

Jackie: So. Today, Memphis is the largest city on the Mississippi River and the second largest city in Tennessee. The city is about 207,360 acres which is about 415 Disneylands!

Jon: Did you see that the city was named after the ancient city of Memphis Egypt?!

Jackie: I did! I wrote that down as a future exploration idea. I love ancient cities! They are so ancient! 

Jon: And being so near the Mississippi River it has a really cool feature and that feature is the largest pedestrian crossing on the Mississippi.

Jackie:  I saw that you can walk to Arkansas from Memphis using the Harahan bridge.

Jon:  The amount of Live music one could hear every single night is almost beyond comprehension.  

Jackie:  According to the memphis travel website it is the Home of Blues, Soul, and Rock and Roll.

Jon:  That same website said Where is there live music in Memphis? Answer Everywhere

Jackie:  The Beale Street Entertainment District, Young Avenue Deli, Hi-Tone, Lafayette's Music Room, Minglewood Hall, B.B. King’s Blues Club,Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education, Germantown Performing Arts Center, 

Jon: Levitt Shell which is like a mini Hollywood Bowl 

Jackie: Memphis Symphony Orchestra- when they say everywhere they mean everywhere.  Music is everything in Memphis.

Jon:  Memphis I would say is also important to music.  According to Billboard Magazine Memphis is mentioned in more songs than any other city in the world - more than 400 songs mention it.

Jackie:  I really want to visit the city and see it in person.

Jon:  Even over the internet there is a whimsical weirdness that was so fun to experience virtually.  As an example there is a Hotel called the Peabody that has….

Jackie: (Said adorably) Ducks! So Many Ducks!

Jon:  Yes.  But that is my point: there are ducks hanging out in an in-door fountain inside a hotel that has a Whimsical weirdness.

Jackie:  The Ducks are not weird- they are ADORABLE.  Every morning at 11Am they have a Duck Parade where they walk over to the Fountain.  Then at 5pm they are brought back to their little homes on the roof of the hotel.

Jon:  And that is not weird and whimsical.

Jackie:  It is whimsical but not weird.  It is adorable to watch ducks live their best lives.

Jon:  There is a weirdness though

Jackie:  I didn’t see any weirdness.

Jon:  What about Piggy Idol?

Jackie:  Ok that was weird and that requires some explanation.

Jon:  Ok to explain what Piggy Idol is you first have to know that Memphis is the Pork Barbeque Capital of the World.

Jackie:  It got that distinction by hosting the Memphis in May's Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.

Jon:  It is a barbecue contest with over 100 applicants  

Jackie:  The smell must be amazing

Jon:  I have a quote about the experience “ multi-level “tents”, tantalizing smells, hilarious entertainment, and honestly, some of the wildest partying I’ve ever seen”

Jackie:  And in this frenzy of grilled deliciousness there’s a pig theme talent show

Jon:  And this talent show is known as Piggy Idol.

Jackie:  Oh- Talk about the Piggly Wiggly.

Jon:  Alright so for those of us that do not live in the South Piggly Wiggly is a store.

Jackie:  It might sound weird to us but to those who have grown up with it Piggly Wiggly is a very normal thing.

Jon:  If I talk to my friends from the South they describe this as a normal grocery store with a fun name.

Jackie:  Except it was the first grocery store.

Jon:  Well the first self-serve grocery store.  Before the Piggly Wiggly you would have to give a list to a grocery store clerk who would measure out the ingredients from bulk storage.

Jackie:  So if you wanted 2 lbs of oatmeal they would go over to the oatmeal barrel and measure out 2lbs of oatmeal, put it in a sack, do some math, and charge you for it.

Jon:  You would never have to move once you spoke to a clerk 

Jackie:  And this is how it was in every grocery store in America until the Piggly Wiggly changed that in 1916.

Jon:  It was marketed as a cleaner alternative to clerks touching your food.

Jackie:  But it is pretty clear they were just trying to save money by needing less labor.

Jon:  Well it was visionary because now that is how we shop for food.

Jackie:  Well that and we shake our phones and internet brings the groceries to us.

Jon:  Well it was the next step in evolution of food shopping was the Piggly Wiggly

Jackie:  Do you know how it got the name Piggly Wiggly?

Jon:  I saw two different stories one was the owner Clarence Saunders saw a number of little pigs trying to squeeze under a gate and thought up the rhyme in his head.

Jackie:  The other story is that he came up with the name purely so people would ask about it.

Jon:  It is hard to forget and fun. Piggly Wiggly

Jackie:  And while we are talking about businesses that were started in Memphis.  We should mention FedEx.

Jon:  Yes Fedex was started in 1971 in Memphis Tennessee

Jackie:  Greyhound and Continental Trailways bus lines were also started in Memphis

Jon:  Holiday Inn began in Memphis.  It is where the Grizzlies play at the FedexForum which I now understand the name. Incidentally that place is supposed to have incredible wifi.

Jackie: What?

Jon:  It does one of the very few if not the only stadium to have decent wifi.

Jackie:  How do you know that?

Jon:  Well the guy who owns Ubiquiti which is a company that makes Wifi also owns the Grizzlies.  His name is Robert Pera.

Jackie: Huh

Jon:  It is a really cool design that they can give 18,000 people wifi they was base stations projecting a 5 ghz signal from the roof at a dpi of

Jackie: (Snoring noise)

Jon:  No but this is actually really cool that they can do this because human being block wifi because we are mostly water

Jackie:  (Snoring Noise)

Jon:  Justin Timberlake is a part owner of the Memphis Grizzlies

Jackie: (wake up sounds)  Oh he’s a great songwriter!

Jon:  Oh you.

Jackie:  Do you have anything else?

Jon:  Graceland

Jackie:  Oh right

Jon:  The Mansion Elvis owned, the most visited House in the United States other than the White House.  Title of the Paul Simon Album that helped end Apartied.  Does this jog any memories for you?

Jackie:  Yes I would love to tour the Museum. Did you know there are 12 gift shops there?!

Jon:  I would love to get the Sing Heartbreak hotel over Elvis’s Grave and get the harmonies wrong.

Jackie:  That is very specific thing Jon.

Jon:  It is from a movie called This is Spinal Tap.

Jackie: I see. I know it’s a Christopher Guest movie, but I’ve never seen it. I’ll have to put it on the list.

Jon: Anything else?

Jackie: The world famous Beale Street! It’s the place to go for a night on the town of blues music and delicious food! If you are all about the nightlife you can stay at the Peabody Hotel with the ducks that we mentioned before because it is close by!  Anything else?

Jon: Memphis has one of the largest artesians fountains in the world. It contains 100 trillion gallons of water 

Jackie: Wow! That’s a lot of water! Anything else.

Jon:  The Lion from the MGM logo was from the Memphis Zoo

Jackie:  Ooo the one that goes rawrrrr?

Jon: Well all lions do that, yes.

Jackie: I mean in the circle on the movie screen.

Jon: Yes. Shall we take a quick break before our community shoutout?

Jackie: Sounds good! See you soon.

Ad 2  Peanut butter and Banana Society

Jon: Greetings I’m James from the peanut butter and banana society.

Jackie:  Greetings I am James from the peanut butter and banana society.

Jon: And this is my translator Cindy.

Jackie: And this is my translator Cindy. Hi- I’m cindy!

Jon:  We at the Peanut Butter and Banana Society believe we should all live deliciously

Jackie:  We at the Peanut Butter and Banana Society believe we should live deliciously

Jon:  And the best delicious things are the things that stick to the roof of your mouth.

Jackie:  And the best delicious things are the things that stick to the roof of your mouth.

Jon:  Because they are sustainable and stick with you

Jackie: Because they are sustainable and stick with you

Jon:  through good times and bad

Jackie: Through good times and bad

Jon:  It is an enduring, delectable experience

Jackie: (pause) ahhhh  I’m not sure what you just said

Jon:  Ah man!

Jackie: Ah man

Jon:  Peanut Butter and Bananas incomprehensibly good

COMMUNITY SHOUTOUT/ OUTRO (instagram/ email/ rate and review)

Jackie: Every episode we like to research and highlight something special in the community that we are exploring. 

Jon: Today’s community shoutout is the National Civil Rights museum.

Jackie: As it notes on their website, “Established in 1991, the National Civil Rights Museum is located at the former Lorraine Motel, where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Through interactive exhibits, historic collections, dynamic speakers and special events, the museum offers visitors a chance to walk through history and learn more about a tumultuous and inspiring period of change.”

Jon: This museum has so many amazing and powerful exhibits including the actual bus where Rosa Parks took a stand by sitting down.

Jackie: There are also exhibits about the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 and 56 and the freedom riders. These are some of the highlights, but there is so much to see.

Jon: They also have some great online content.

Jackie: Yes. I’ll include a link to the 12 part Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. point of view talks with- my favorite historian- Ryan Jones and the wonderful Dr. Noelle Trent.

Jon: They also have the Small But Mighty Storytime Series for young activists and families. I’ll include a link to that as well.

Jackie: You can also make a donation through their website. I really can’t wait to visit this museum in person.

Jon: Me too. Well, that’s the show. Thank you so much to our producer Charles.

Jackie: Thank you Charles. And thank you so much to our listeners! It means the world that you take the time to listen to our show.

Jon: If you’ve been enjoying this podcast it would mean the world to us if you took the time to rate us and write a review.

Jackie: And follow us on instagram @cozynookexplorers! Or send us an email at cozynookexplorers@gmail.com! Or- both! We’d love to hear from you!

Jon: We will be back Wednesday with our next exploration.

Jackie: Yes, on Wednesdays we explore!

Jon: Stay cozy, and we’ll see you soon.