The Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum is a music museum located at 191 Beale Street in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. The museum tells the critical story of the musical pioneers who overcame racial and socio-economic obstacles to create the music that changed the cultural complexion of the world.

Collection and facilities

The museum offers a comprehensive Memphis music experience beginning with the rural field hollers and porch music of the sharecroppers in the 30s highlighting the urban influences of

Beale Street Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, ...

in the 1940s, radio,

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

and

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American disc jockey, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, R ...

in the 1950s, the heyday of

Stax Stax can refer to: * StAX, (Computer Programming) Streaming API for reading and writing XML in Java * Stax Ltd, a Japanese brand of electrostatic headphones * Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, ...

Hi Records Hi Records is an American soul music and rhythm & blues label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for Sun Records), and three silent ...

and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

in the 1960s and 1970s, the impact of the civil rights movement, and the music's influence and inspiration that continues today. The museum's MP3 audio guide is packed with over 300 minutes of information as well as over 100 songs recorded in and around Memphis from the 1930-70s. The Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum also features three audio-visual programs, more than 30 instruments and 40 costumes in seven galleries.

History

The museum began as a research project of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

to celebrate its 150th anniversary. The Smithsonian's first permanent exhibition outside Washington and New York, the museum opened on April 29, 2000, in the Gibson building. The museum moved to the

FedExForum FedExForum is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the NCAA Division I Memphis Tigers men's ba ...

in autumn 2004.

References

External links

Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum
Museums established in 2000 Music museums in Memphis, Tennessee Smithsonian Institution museums Music halls of fame Rock and roll Soul music 2000 establishments in Tennessee {{Smithsonian-stub

Collection and facilities

History

See also

References

External links