Memphis: Harmony and Dissension in the Capital of Soul

>>This is an excerpt from the latest issue of Rolling Stone, on stands until July 27th.

When the Southern kids returned home, they discovered the psychedelic haze that was sweeping the nation was slowly drifting into Memphis, swelling the number of hippies who congregated around the art academy and sandal shop off Beale Street. Drawn by bands like the Insect Trust or Funky Down Home and the Electric Blue Watermelon, the newcomers transformed what was a quiet freak scene into something colorful enough to attract the attention of local police.

"The Insect Trust brought in a bunch of full-blown hippies, and I thought, 'Here comes trouble,'" says producer Jim Dickinson. "Before then, the underground was small - the cops didn't know who we were yet. But the 'outside agitators,' as they used to say, didn't know how to act in Memphis so as not to draw the heat. With the first drug arrest, it felt like the lid was coming off."

But the newly arrived hippies also helped shine a spotlight on the city's musical history. Many of the genuine Delta-blues players were still alive and living in Memphis--Furry Lewis, Bukka White, Fred McDowell, Nathan Beauregard. Locally, they were almost invisible; Lewis was working as a street sweeper. Now, though, people from around the world were discovering these treasures and being drawn to the city by its music. When the second Memphis Country and Blues Festival was held in 1967, the legends found themselves playing to a wider audience for the first time.

"These men lived within the community, but there was no way to access them before the hippies came in and blew the doors off," says Dickinson. "Suddenly, there was this interaction between the old guys, the out-of-town hippies and the local arts community. It looked for a moment like there might be a possibility of brotherhood - if there ever was that possibility, it was then."

>>This is an excerpt from the latest issue of Rolling Stone, on stands until July 27th.