April 8th: Chattanooga

A campsite is a campsite, but some are a bit nicer than others, so here’s one of our pitch at Raccoon Mountain, Chattanooga. We’re four miles from Chattanooga itself, the very one in the Choo Choo song.

Nice trail up Raccoon Mountain starting just behind the campsite. We walked it several times. We didn’t see any raccoons or any other animals apart from eastern grey squirrels. These we have found in abundance in all campsites and areas we’ve visited. This is the same species introduced into the UK in 1876 and is now blamed for the virtual elimination of our native red squirrels. The grey does not attack the red squirrel but is a more vigorous breeder and feeder, so infiltrates and then takes over the red’s patches.

And here’s another endangered species crossing a stream on the forest path who’s definitely not letting anyone share her red patches.

 

Chattanooga was founded in 1816, originally called Ross’ Landing, as a trading post on the Tennessee River. Today it’s a modern city that incorporates some stylish 1920’s architecture and elegant public buildings. Here’s a selection of photos.

The fountain discharges into the Tennessee River, a wide but originally difficult waterway to navigate, long since dredged and canalised.  Walnut Street Bridge is visible through an arch of the road bridge: the longest pedestrian bridge in the world and over 100 years old. We walked it and got some lovely views of the river. Here’s a better photo, at night, borrowed from the tourist info. website.

The bridge walk gives a birds-eye view of the riverside parks and the inevitable paddle boat. All southern rivers offer tourist trips in stern-wheeler paddleboats.

The Maclellan building. Built in 1924 as the HQ of the Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company.

 

Next, the Dome Building dating from 1892 and at that time the tallest in the city. Originally housed the local newspaper.

 

The whole area was part of the Cherokee tribal lands that they had won, many years before the white man’s appearance, from the Creek Indians. Yes, “won” is the correct term, and it’s all explained on this plaque in a commemorative space by the river.

So maybe we should propose a game of stickball with Argentina to sort out the Falklands dispute.

To sum up: Chattanooga City provided us with a pleasant and interesting afternoon out, and would probably merit further investigation. 

 ps not sure you can read the Cherokee plaque, so here's a transcript:

"Stickball, also known as "Little Brother to War", is an ancient game played by native nations throughout eastern North America. Playing fields often covered several miles and participants were occasionally killed or severely injured. Cherokee stickball was used to settle disputes between towns and other tribes. Long ago the Cherokee obtained land in present day Georgia when they defeated the Creeks in a momumental Stickball Game. Stickball is still a part of religious ceremonies and used to settle certain issues. It is an honour to play and survive!"

National Civil Rights Museum

Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis in April 1968 so it is an appropriate location for this museum. It is a housed in a collection of buildings incorporating the Lorraine Motel, where MLK was gunned down, and also the boarding house across the street from where the assassin shot him.

Chillingly, this is a photo of the actual aiming point that James Earl Ray used when he pulled the trigger. MLK was on the balcony opposite, where the white wreath is above the right-hand white car.

Many of the exhibits related to MLK’s murder. The perpetrator was a burglar and armed robber, James Earl Ray, who had escaped from prison the year before. People love conspiracy theories: who really killed JFK or Princess Diana; did they really land on the moon; flying saucer government cover-up etc. Here we have another one.

James Earl Ray had no known accomplices, appeared to be spending money he didn’t have quite freely before the murder and until he was apprehended two months after at Heathrow Airport, London. He had no particular motive for the killing and he wasn’t especially anti-black. He wasn’t known to be a rifle marksman. There was no apparent financial gain, the one thing that does motivate a robber. So, who knows? One sure thing- somebody does!

The museum does go through a summary of civil rights history in a continuous-loop film and a series of well-presented panels, an example of which is below.

There was a wall of fame, those who had contributed to the civil rights cause. It was impressive even if we didn’t know some of the people, and those we had heard of, what exactly did they do?

With it being on the actual site of MLK’s murder, you felt you were walking in the footsteps of history and the museum uses this emotive springboard very effectively. However, this is the National Civil Rights Museum and I felt that some areas of civil rights were under-represented, for instance Native Americans, who suffered injustices as least as great as African Americans.

Sun Studios: 5th April

 We’re at Sun Studios in Memphis, a small recording studio with a big history. It was founded in 1950 by a dj called Sam Phillips who wanted to record original blues artists while they were still around. He started with portable equipment and a basic disc master cutting machine- the one below. It’s called a lathe recorder and looks like you could also turn a set of wooden stool legs with it. The master copy was then sent away to be pressed for however many record copies you wanted. Then, 78’s of course

He recorded then unknown negro blues singers like Howlin’ Wolf. Never heard of him? Try  this You Tube link for an example of his music, recorded on the Chess label. It’s an acquired taste. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP34u6rdscs 

Sam also sold recording time at $3.98 for a double sided disc. In July 1953 a young truck driver stopped outside the studio during his lunch break and recorded two songs for his mum. That man was Elvis Presley. He was back again in Jan 1954 for another $3.98’s worth, and it wasn’t until July of that year that Sam Phillips decided to give him a shot at one of his studio songs. Sam didn’t like the recording, but afterwards in jamming around with the session band Elvis sang “It’s All Right Mama”, which Sam recognised had hit potential. Elvis never looked back. 18 months later he went to big-time record label RCA Victor. In the meantime Sun had come up with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Here they all are having a spontaneous session. Not so spontaneous that a photographer wasn't on hand.

Sun had other unique performers, like the Prisonaires. This was a negro singing group from the state penitentiary in Nashville. They were all long servers, including two murderers. They so impressed the Tennessee State governor that they were let out on day passes to perform all over the State. But in shackles! This was a time when colour segregation was rigidly enforced so these concessions were most unusual. You Tube link of one of their performances, then pic.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DOdqOkYjtA

 

Sam Phillips moved out in 1959 to better premises, and the building was let out or empty until 1987 when a new purchaser realised its commercial value as a tourist attraction because it was completely in original condition. Recording sessions also restarted and continue to the present, but at night, leaving the day for the tourists. Here’s an up-and-coming new performer using the actual microphone (it is) that Elvis used. Yesterday, the Prisonaires, now the Pensionaires.

Just down the road is a guitar factory, Saint Blues Guitar Workshop. We went in to look at the instruments on sale. All nice kit, traditional solid electric guitars plus a quirky new design made out of a cigar box. They do tours, but not at that hour. I chatted to one of the salesmen about the guitars and was sorry we’d missed the workshop tour. “No problem”, he said, I’ll be pleased to take you round”. A most interesting half hour. Americans are very generous. Saint Blues operates  from this 1920’s building.

We walked back from Saint Blues and sat outside Sun Studios waiting for the bus. It just shows that great things start from humble beginnings because, apart from the guitar on the front, the Sun building could easily be, say, a modest greengrocer’s shop. Jane’s the modest greengrocer’s assistant on the bench.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memphis: Wed 3rd April

Memphis: we are booked in at Graceland RV Campground, on the Elvis complex. The campsite sectors are all named after Elvis songs. We’re in Hound Dog Street. We approached the campsite along Lonely Street, past Heartbreak Hotel, which is a real hotel.

We start with Elvis’ house, Graceland. It was built in 1939 and bought by Elvis in 1957. This is it, an impressive 23 room posh house, but it’s not the fabulous vast mansion you’d anticipate from possibly the world’s most successful singer (i.e. one billion record sales). He stayed on there because he liked it.

The décor in the rooms was all chosen by Elvis. A selection of photos tells the story. This is the lounge & music room.

Billiard room next. Walls & ceiling are covered in pleated material.

The Jungle Room, another lounge. Waterfall running down opposite wall, off camera.  Shagpile carpet on floor and ceiling.

TV room, in cellar, next to billiard room. On being told that President Johnson watched three tv’s at once, so he didn’t miss anything important, Elvis did the same, hence the 3 sets, all on.

There are many more rooms, all done out in similar top-of-the-range 70’s style bling. Other commentators have been less than kind to Elvis’ furnishing taste and said it was typical rags-to-riches white trash glitzy tat. Depends on whether you’re an Elvis fan, I suppose!

But there can be no argument about his success: a billion records sold. This is just one side of his gold disc gallery, for the USA.

But back to the glitz. There were numerous (say, 30) white jumpsuits on display from his Las Vegas years, 1969-1976. It’s always these that Elvis impersonators wear, which usually turn him into more of a comic caricature than the charismatic professional that he had become by that time.

More glitz! The pink Cadillac. The car museum held about 20 of Elvis’ vehicles, mostly OTT cars like the one in the photo, but also included buggy types and even a digger that he loved to use on the estate.

Planes goes with the lifestyle, and Elvis had two: a Convair 880 converted passenger jet and a Lockheed Jetstar executive jet. Both were part of the exhibits. Here’s the bigger one, the Convair.

More glitz. Inside were real gold trimmed fittings, like taps and sinks, and seat belt clasps. This is the dining room with Jane taking the part of honoured guest.

This blog's been rather lengthy, but it’s a big exhibition and very visual. It was all very well presented and  enjoyable. We finish with the Musical Gates through which you enter Graceland.

Jane & I wouldn’t have said we were great Elvis fans before this visit, but he emerged as a much more talented artiste than we thought. We saw videos of performances throughout his career demonstrating a greater range of material and ability than we had given him credit for. His films excepted. These were pretty dire, but then Elvis himself thought so too. So we now we’ll close the (musical) gates on Elvis, and move on.

Laura Slave Plantation

The house was built in 1804 by slaves. These were no ordinary slaves. They came from French Senegal/Gambia and were highly prized for their construction skills. Their West African customs had a strong influence in shaping Creole culture. Even their folk tales filtered into our civilisation, for example some of these noted down from the Laura Plantation where eventually published as the Br’er Rabbit stories.

The house is built on pillars, sunk eight feet below ground level because of the soft soil. The pillars raised it above the Mississippi flood level: in the early days there were no levees and the house stood on the banks of the river.

 The owners lived here only during the summer months, to conduct business such as meeting merchants and negotiating sales contracts. The day to day plantation and slave matters was the job of the plantation manager who was in residence 24/7 . For the rest of the year the owners lived in New Orleans.

The balcony doors and the avenue of trees are designed to funnel air through the premises during the sultry, stifling summer heat. I can’t imagine it, but everybody here says the humidity is totally debilitating particularly if you aren’t used to it. No air-con then either.

The slaves were required to work long hours in all weathers but weren’t badly treated here by comparison. The cabins they lived in were very overcrowded but not dissimilar to poor whites’ accommodation throughout the South then and for a very long time afterwards, well into my lifetime. The next photo shows two of the slave cabins. They were used as dwellings here until 1976.

This was a sugar cane plantation and this is one of the cauldrons used for processing the cane into sugar. We could have done with more detail on the tour on how the processes operated and what the slaves did, and less on the owners’ family hierarchy. The hierarchy was so detailed that I’m not sure which French family had the place built and then who ran it for many years before selling out to an equally forgotten German family. Less is more, in these potted histories. But I'm forgetting the cauldron…

After the Civil War ended in 1865 the slaves were declared free. But free to go- where, and do what? So they mostly stayed and carried on as before, becoming share croppers instead of slaves. In this system they work for a proportion of the crops they tend, and that translates into a meagre income. As slaves, their wherewithal was provided. They now didn’t suffer the indignity of being “owned”, and could leave if they wanted, but in practical terms not much changed. Here’s an atmospheric picture of one of their workers.

Verdict on visit: interesting, but could have been a better insight into how their sugar plantation operated through the years. They’re growing bananas there today!

New Orleans: The Garden District

The French sold Louisiana to the USA in 1803. The increasing American presence thereafter was resented by the culturally French original inhabitants, so the wealthy Americans decided to establish a new area two miles to the west of the French quarter. This has come to be known as the Garden District due to the extensive gardens and mansions built there in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Here are three photos just to give and idea of what they built.

 

 

The next one is unusual because it has two entrance stairs. This is down to 19^th century modesty where the men used one staircase and the ladies the other so that the men wouldn’t catch a glimpse of a bare ankle. However, ladies at that time wore low-cut dresses. Race you to the top of the stairs, chaps!

More modest in a different way is the next home. It’s called a shotgun house and these are found all over the south eastern States, ranging in size from quite large to very small. Why shotgun?   Well, if you fired a shotgun through the front door, the blast would go straight out of the back door without hitting anything- apart from the doors, that is. In other words there was a passage running from front to back in order to funnel air through the house during the humid, very hot summer months (May through October).

There were hundreds of magnificent houses, mostly beautifully manicured. This area also avoided the flooding that affected 80% of the city following Katrina: it's a few feet above sea level, just enough to matter.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dead Centre of New Orleans

St Louis Cemetery is the most famous New Orleans graveyard. None contain any conventional graves, only above-ground vaults of all shapes and sizes, because the city is below sea level and any hole immediately fills with water. It is a Catholic burial ground, the religion of its French heritage, with a non-Catholic area.
The Catholic part contains the tomb of New Orleans’ most celebrated voodoo queen, Marie Laveau. This is her tomb. Voodoo offerings are still being left in front of the tomb, with marks on the walls (XXX) to ensure favourable acceptance.

Voodoo originated from the Haitian slaves and applied charms and spells, also holy entities to grant wishes. Apparently many found they could accommodate Catholicism and Voodoo at the same time, as both creeds used rituals, sacred objects and holy men to influence events when petitioned in the appropriate way.
The vaults are placed higgledy-piggledy, no straight lines, and in parts are quite dilapidated. This gives a general idea.

Here is the magnificent mausoleum of the Italian Mutual Benevolent Association, built in 1857. It’s a group effort, ensuring costs and upkeep can be met. Jane in front gives an idea of its size.

Who can remember the Lonnie Donnegan hit, the Battle of New Orleans?  It’s the story of how the Americans won this final battle of the 1812 to 1815 war against the British. This tombstone records the death of one Oliver ***, who “died in the defence of the city of New Orleans in the battle with the British Army December 23^rd 1814”. I always thought that Lonnie was singing about the battle of New Orleans because we’d won it.

Film actor Brad Pitt had several houses in the city, some of which he needed to sell to pay taxes. He is increasingly involved in social issues and in particular has spearheaded reconstruction projects in the deprived Ninth Ward that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. We were told that he has reserved a space here in the cemetery, in the shape of this pyramid (indicated with a white arrow). It’s maybe his money stash- the last place the taxman would look.

So burials are still on-going. In this sort of arrangement you can keep going upwards. It was an interesting visit. There was also a musicians vault, and the first World Champion chess player is interred here: he finally got check-mated.

We must now hop on our hop-on hop-off bus tour and hop off at another destination.