Beale Street Totally Explained

Everything about Beale Street totally explained

Beale Street is a street in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately 1.8 miles. It is a significant location in African-American history and the history of the blues. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are major tourist attractions in Memphis. Festivals and outdoor concerts periodically bring large crowds to the street and its surrounding areas. As of August 2007, local media reports point to an increase in violent crime on the part of nightclub security guards and clientele at this tourist destination. Panhandling is also seen as a problem at this time. Though given an exemption by the state of Tennessee to keep clubs open until 5 am, there's now an effort to scale back the hours of operation to reflect a 3 am closing time.

History

Beale Street was created in 1841 by entrepreneur and developer Robertson Topp (1807-1876), who named it for a forgotten military hero. The original name was Beale Avenue. Its western end primarily housed shops of trade merchants, who traded goods with ships along the Mississippi River, while the eastern part developed as an affluent suburb. In the 1860s, many black traveling musicians began performing on Beale. The first of these to call Beale Street home were the Young Men's Brass Band, Some of the famous speakers in the Church Park Auditorium were Woodrow Wilson, Booker T. Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. On December 15, 1977, Beale Street was officially declared as the "Home of the Blues" by an act of Congress. Despite this national recognition of its historic significance, it wasn't until the the 1980s that Beale Street received attention from local lawmakers, which led to an economic revitalization, with many new clubs and attractions opening. The street is now home to a chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
During the first weekend of May (sometimes including late April), the Beale Street Music Festival brings major music acts from a variety of musical genres to Tom Lee Park at the end of Beale Street on the Mississippi River. The festival is the kickoff event of a month of festivities citywide known as Memphis in May.

Attractions

Blues City Cafe & Band Box (138-142 Beale)
B. B. Kings Blues Club (143 Beale)
Memphis Music (149 Beale)
Club 152 (152 Beale)
Tater Red’s (153 Beale)
Psychics of Beale Street (154 Beale)
Alley Cats (156 Beale)
Willis Gallery (156 Beale)
Superior Bar
King’s Palace Cafe (162 Beale)
A. Schwab's (163 Beale St)
The Pig (167 Beale)
Beale St. Tap Room (168 Beale)
The Black Diamond (153 Beale)
Strange Cargo (172 Beale)
Rum Boogie Cafe (182 Beale)
Silky O Sullivan’s (183 Beale)
Memphis Rock N Soul Museum (191 Beale)
Alfred's On Beale (197 Beale)
Beale Street Visitors Center (200 Beale)
Beale Street Corporate Offices (202, 203 Beale)
Dyer’s Famous Hamburgers (205 Beale)
Wet Willies (209 Beale)
Pat O'Brien's (310 Beale)
Hard Rock Cafe (315 Beale)
People’s Billiard Club (323 Beale)
Coyote Ugly (326 Beale)
Historic Daisy Theater (329 Beale)
New Daisy Theater (330 Beale)
Mr. Handy’s Blues Hall
Beale Street Tattoo (333 Beale)
Eel Etc. Fashions (333 Beale)
Performa Entertainment Real Estate
Blues Hall Coffee Shop
Double Deuce Downtown

Musical References

The songs "My Jesus" and "On a Corner in Memphis" by Todd Agnew contains references to Beale Street.

The body of singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley was found at the foot of Beale Street after he drowned in the nearby Wolf River Harbor.

Clutch (a rock band from Maryland) has an album titled From Beale Street to Oblivion. A song on that album, "The Devil & Me", contains a reference to Beale Street.

The song "Walking in Memphis" by Mark Cohn contains the line "walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale," in a reference to Beale Street.

Joni Mitchell's song, "Furry Sings The Blues", is a lamentation of the redevelopment of Beale Street in the late 1960s. It references W.C. Handy and both the Old and the New Daisy theaters, among others.

The Depression era Memphis band known as The Beale Street Sheiks, the most notable member being Frank Stokes, recorded a song called "Beale Town Bound", which is an obvious reference to Memphis itself.Further Information

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