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Explore the birth and growth of American Pop Music in the city where it all began! When the Smithsonian began to research the history of popular music in this country, they declared that “all roads led to Memphis.” Spend an afternoon in the Memphis Rock & Soul Museum, the Smithsonian collection that traces the music of Memphis, the Mississippi Delta and the mid-south in general. Right across the street is the Gibson Guitar Factory, where you can watch as skilled craftsmen hone the famous hand-made Gibson guitar. Then move on to Sun Studio, Birthplace of Rock & Roll, where not only Elvis, but Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Rufus Thomas, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty and numerous others got their start under legendary producer, Sam Phillips. The start of the “Memphis Sound” of the sixties is traced at Soulsville, the STAX Museum of American Soul Music. Here you’ll learn how the brother and sister team of Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton built the legendary STAX label and recorded the music of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Booker T. and the MGs, Issac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Rufus & Carla Thomas, David Porter, Wilson Pickett and many many others. You’ll also learn how the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lorraine Motel just a few blocks away, affected the entire organization and eventually contributed to its downfall.
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