The Coming to Memphis

Each of the necessary musical components began to merge together among the streets and juke joints of the River City.  For some displaced sharecroppers, Memphis held the promise of jobs, in construction, on the riverfront, and in the mills and warehouses of King Cotton.  Although the city was segregated through the 1950s, black Memphians found the services of doctors, bankers, and merchants along Beale Street - the same thoroughfare which was alive with their music at night. The music of Memphis crossed the color line.  While Memphis was socially segregated, airwaves, recordings, and live performances brought the city’s music to its people - black and white.