Memphis Style barbecue - beale street blues music history
Memphis is famous and known for it’s Southern Barbecue, Blues Music and Beale Street. Memphis is where Blues Music got it’s start. Beale Street in Memphis was created in the early 1840’s. It’s original name was Beale Avenue and later changed. Its western end primarily housed shops of trade merchants, who traded goods along the Mississippi River. The eastern part of Beale Street developed as an affluent suburb. In the 1860s, many traveling musicians began performing on Beale. The first musicians to call Beale Street home was a band formed by Sam Thomas in 1867 who called themselves the Young Men’s Brass Band.
In 1890, Beale Street underwent renovation to include the addition of the Grand Opera House which was later known as the Orpheum. In 1899, Church Park was created at the corner of 4th and Beale. It later became a recreational and cultural center where blues musicians would gather and play. Church Park Auditorium seats 2,000 and has hosted speakers such as Franklin Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Booker Washington.
Beale Street Baptist Church is Tennessee’s oldest surviving church originally built in 1864.
By the early 1900’s Beale Street was filled with many clubs, restaurants and shops. Memphis became the home to many musicians from the 1920’s to the 1940’s who called Memphis home. Musicians such as the likes of Louis Armstrong, Memphis Minnie, Albert King as well as the world famous B.B. King and many other blues and jazz legends played on Beale Street and helped develop the musical style known as “The Memphis Blues.”
In the 1940’s one of the first Memphis barbecue joints opened in Downtown Memphis. Barbecue became viable and small restaurants known as “joints” or “holes in the wall” opened and started serving their slow-cooked meat. Many small neighborhood joints or holes in the wall got their start in neighborhoods such as Payne’s, Leonard’s, Prospect Park and Interstate and have all gained notoriety as they reflect the roots of Memphis style southern barbecue. Since the beginning of Memphis barbecue a number of regional chains have also developed from Memphis. As Memphis-style barbecue became more popular across the country, many Memphis restaurants began shipping their barbecue orders overnight to customers throughout the United States.
By the 1960s, Beale Street had fallen on hard times and unfortunately it forced the closure of many businesses despite a portion of Beale Street, (the area of the street from Main to 4th) being declared a National Historic Landmark on May 23, 1966. It late 1977, Beale Street was officially declared the “Home of the Blues” through an Act of Congress. Despite national recognition of its historic significance, Beale Street was a virtual ghost town and many neighborhoods surrounding Beale Street as well as a number of buildings on Beale Street were torn down.
The Beale Street Development Corporation was formed in 1973 in a cooperative effort for the redevelopment of Beale Street. The corporation was selected by the City of Memphis to participate in the redevelopment of the blocks on Beale Street between Second and Fourth streets. The corporation secured grants to preserve the history and culture of Beale Street and the renovation and rejuvenation began.
The City of Memphis hired of a management company to develop the street and attract new businesses to occupy the historic Beale Street.
In early May, the Beale Street Music Festival kicks off a month-long event with festivities throughout Memphis which is known as Memphis in May.
Restaurants and clubs are prevalent on Beale Street. When you visit Memphis you will definitely want to indulge in the authentic world-famous Memphis style southern barbecue, Southern fare and exceptional entertainment. While you’re in Memphis, you will definitely want to visit the original B.B. King’s Blues Club, the home of American blues legendary musicians and historic landmarks. Many local eateries offer your favorites with a Memphis Style Southern twist.
Memphis is where Barbecue and Blues go hand in hand, so grab a bib, grab a napkin, pour on the Memphis Style Southern Barbecue Sauce and enjoy the Memphis Style Southern Barbecue and the finest Memphis has to offer!
Click for great printable barbecue recipes.
Barbecue Pork Ribs smothered with Doc Sauce, baked beans and coleslaw. Click for great recipes.
Barbecue Pulled Chicken Nachos with jalapenos, corn tortilla chips smothered in Doc Sauce. Click for great recipes.
Barbecue Beef Ribs smothered with Doc Sauce, baked beans and coleslaw. Click for great recipes.
There are barbecue cooking contests held every year in May aired on national television networks which draws a large crowd to Memphis every year.
Shops on Beale Street offer an eclectic and unique assortment of all things Memphis including novelty items, guitars, clothing, art, Memphis barbecue and much more.
Memphis style southern barbecue is one of four well known regional styles of barbecue in the United States. The others are Texas, Kansas City and the Carolinas. Many barbecue style varieties including the Memphis style barbecue are made primarily of pork, generally ribs and shoulders. Memphis style BBQ sauce is quite different from Kansas City style barbecue sauce. It isn’t as sweet as Kansas City style barbecue and it’s spicier. Memphis style barbecue sauce is a touch thinner and has a bit of a southern kick! Restaurants will still serve chicken as well as beef. Memphis style southern barbecue is slow cooked and the ribs will be prepared either wet or dry. Dry ribs are covered with a dry rub seasoning that consists of salt and other assorted spices before cooking and are served without sauce. On the other hand, wet ribs are brushed with barbecue sauce before, during and after cooking. So grab a bib, grab a napkin and enjoy some Memphis Style southern barbecue with Doc Sauce!
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Doc Sauce is and always will be made in the great State of Tennessee in the Beautiful U.S. of A!
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World Famous Dr. Barbecue was the Grand Prize Winner of the Memphis Underground Barbecue Challenge as seen on the Travel Channel Network!
Historically, Memphis barbecue sauce has its own distinctive flavor… Though specific ingredients vary from cook to cook, Memphis Barbecue sauce is usually made with any countless combination of spices and is generally tangy with a touch of sweet! Beale Street has long been as synonymous with Memphis as barbecue and the blues.
I’m Ray Nolan, World Famous Dr. Barbecue from Memphis, Tennessee. I have created the best PREMIUM barbecue sauce on the planet!
This sauce is so good you can put it on ham, spam, or lamb, chicken, fish or steak….and if you are really adventurous, you can even put it on a rattlesnake.
– World Famous Dr. Barbecue
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