Memphis TN
2016

Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately 1.8 miles. It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music.

http://www.bealestreet.com/history

Beale Street was built on memories – good and bad.

Beale Street’s heyday was in the roaring 20′s, when it took on a carnival atmosphere. The booming nightclubs, theaters, restaurants, stores, pawnshops and hot music thrived alongside gambling, drinking, prostitution, murder and voodoo.

In the early evenings, boxback suits and Stetson hats mingled with overalls.

Young ladies sashayed down Beale Street and inside the bars, gamblers waited for an easy mark to stroll in. If the mark escaped from the dice or the cards, maybe he would fall victim to Little Ora – always ready to prove her reputation as the best pickpocket between New Orleans and St. Louis. Maybe he’d just stop over at PeeWee’s and visit with the musicians, play a little pool, or secure the voodoo protection of Mary the Wonder.