With the avalanche of people that migrated to the US in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from Europe especially English, Scottish and Irish to Massachusetts, Pennsylvanian and New York State, they brought with them their songs and music. These migrants moved down to the Appalachian region, which encroaches on 13 US states. The songs were ballads, telling stories of wars and struggles or of missing home and families. When the country and western music came into being the lyrics now extended to poverty, bereft lovers, tragedies and cowboys singing to their horses while strumming their guitars, a typical artist was Gene Autry, humming “Home on the Range” or Loretta Lynn singing “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. Country music tells so many stories of the Wild-West, of young men risking their lives over a woman or a card game. 

Musical halls opened up broadcasting shows on radio, “The Grand Ole Opry” in Nashville, Tennessee was by far to become the most popular. If you were to be invited to perform there, then you have been recognized as a talented artist in the country music world. Rhythm and Blues has its origin in African American music. Bluegrass is intertwined with country, as is Honky-tonk. The Country Music Hall of Fame is a museum with fascinating information on artists, musicians, songwriters and individuals of the music world.

The steel guitar was invented by a teenager Joseph Kekuku from Hawaii in the 1890s. When touring America, his audiences became captivated by the tropical rhythm and beat. His ingenuity resulted in a transformation of country music, making it acceptable to Rock ‘n’ Roll and Blues. 

Wonderful performers like Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, Bill Monroe, Patsy Cline, June Carter Cash, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Pride, John Prime and hundreds more, came on the scene after WWII and their repertoires are still in demand today. Johnny Cash who seems to have been there forever was very popular in the 1960s, then he seemed to have gone off the boil in the early 70s, having had some great hits. A younger guy who was making a name for himself in music and film was Kris Kristofferson. For various reasons he was looking for something different, he and Cash joined up with Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. People on the music circuit would have classed the latter three as the elder statesmen of American music. As individuals, their music and performances differed greatly, getting together as a group they were outstanding. Trials and tribulations in their former years have been well documented. With a reference to their vintage and naming themselves “The Highwaymen”, they released four albums as a group and proved to be unique. Cash and Jennings died over twenty years ago, Willie Nelson is still preforming and has appeared with stars like Bono, Dolly Parton, Lee Ann Womack, and Julio Iglesias, with a phenomenal rendition of ‘To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before’. Kris Kristofferson has appeared in several movies and has spent three decades performing concerts all over the world. He’s won three Grammy awards. In interviews done by TV talk show hosts with the Highwaymen’s families and friends, it has been agreed that the four men were more friends and colleagues than workers eking out a living. The respect they had for each other and the chemistry that bonded them, was evident in their success.
 
Memphis Tennessee, what can we think when we hear this city’s name mentioned, it’s home to The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. He was born in Mississippi in 1935, the family moved to Memphis when he was 13 years old. He revolutionized music with his electrifying performances, remember the Film he starred ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and the song of the same name in 1957. After military training he served in Germany from October 1958 to March 1960. Brylcreem was a hair styling product that came on the market in the 1930s, it started a fashion that men couldn’t get enough of and continued until the 1970s. It created that high shine sleek look, that a hurricane wouldn’t move. Elvis mastered it to perfection, and afterwards men would ask the barber for ‘the Elvis cut’ including the long wide side locks. It was fine asking for this if the guy cutting the hair was capable of doing that cut. Elvis purchased Graceland and 14 acres of land in 1957, he expanded the house to a mansion with 23 rooms. After his military service the construction was completed. It was his own home for over 20 years. Since his death in 1977, Graceland has become the Mecca of Memphis for Elvis fans. Worldwide a half a million visitors are welcomed each year. 

The beneficiaries were his father Vernon Presley, his grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley and his only child Lisa Marie. A stipulation in the will granted Vernon to provide funds to other members of the family as he deemed necessary. After the death of Vernon and Minnie, Lisa was the sole heir but the will had a clause that her inheritance was to be held in trust until her twenty-fifth birthday. The trustees were the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis, Priscilla Presley, his former wife who had divorced Elvis in 1973 and was Lisa’s legal guardian. When Lisa’s inheritance became legal she continued to expand the Elvis Presley Trust. With the opening of Graceland in 1982 the facility has grown into the financial icon that it is today. Memphis would have been another city on the USA road map, but for the Elvis Trust. It has become a major employer. The tourism attraction has developed a Museum of American Soul Music, the National Civil Rights Museum, the Beale Street entertainment district, the Presley Automobile and Aircraft Museum, combining these attractions with the International airport, banks, insurance and financial services, transportation, hotels, bars, restaurants, memorabilia stores etc, it’s estimated that the total spend in the Memphis area is $150 million dollars. Taking into consideration that most of the visitors are from out of state or overseas these are new dollars for the area. The employment rate here is such that anyone that wants to work has an opportunity. The educational facilities in the greater Memphis area has 18 public schools over 100 private schools with more than 250,000 students. 

On April 4th 1968 Dr Martin Luther King Jr, a Christian Minister and an American civil rights activist, promoting equal rights for African Americans through nonviolent protests. He was in Memphis in support of the Sanitation Workers Strike and spoke at the Mason Temple, giving his famous ‘Mountaintop’ address, which turned out to be his last, he was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel the following day. The convicted assassin was an escaped convict named James Earl Ray. He managed to get out of Memphis after the shooting, witnesses described a man driving a white Mustang. He drove this to Atlanta. Abandoning the car he took a bus to Detroit on April 6th, then he crossed into Canada by taxi. The FBI had found his rifle and other belongings in Memphis and his fingerprints that were matched to Earl Ray. He fled Canada for London, having gotten a passport in Toronto under the assumed name of Sneyd. His ultimate destination was Rhodesia now Zimbabwe, that had no extradition agreement with the US. The FBI made the connection between Sneyd and Ray. Through Interpol he was arrested in Brussels in June 1968 after being two months on the run. He pleaded guilty to the charges and avoided the death penalty in exchange for 99 years in prison. There have been numerous books written on the assassination of Martin Luther King, with countless conspiracy theories. Whether it was a contract killing or not will never be known from Ray who died in 1998.
 
Clarksdale, Mississippi the home of the Blues, with legends such as Muddy Waters and Sam Cooke. The Delta Blues Museum brings to life the guys that gave their souls to music, Robert Nighthawk, that fantastic blues guitarist, Charley Patton and Frank Frost musicians that were the embodiment of the Mississippi. Listen to the lyrics of Paul Simon’s song ‘Graceland’ when he describes the Mississippi Delta shining like a National Guitar, imagine the sun reflecting off the waters in the delta. One of the best known actors to have been born in Mississippi is Morgan Freeman he has starred in over 100 movies, remarkable performances that come to mind are ‘The Shawshank Redemption, Driving Miss Daisy, Unforgiven, Glory, and March of the Penguins’, although Freeman is only narrating about the mating rituals of Antarctic penguins, it’s his voice, mixed with humour and humanity that makes it worth watching.
 
Greenwood, the Cotton capital of Mississippi that served as the shipping point for New Orleans. The city was alive with cotton factories and all the supporting businesses that were associated with them. The Tallahatchie river joins the Yalobusha to form the Yahoo river, Bobbie Gentry sang “Ode to Billie Joe” in her debut single about Billie and his girlfriend throwing something off the Tallahatchie bridge. The B.B.King museum in Indianola, Mississippi tells the story of “The King of the Blues” and his influence on the blues for nearly a half a century to a worldwide audience. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. His legacy makes for great reading, from two marriages which ended in divorce he had no children, yet both wives had children with other partners afterwards. 15 women claimed to have 15 children fathered by King. A huge number of claims for child support were lodged by lawyers keeping the law courts busy and a lot of money being made in the process. Some books have claimed that King could not have fathered any children due to infertility issues. B.B.King died at the age of 87 and his final resting place is in the grounds of the Museum.
 
Natchez city, Mississippi named after the famous Southeastern Indian Nation Tribe. Their culture is reflected in their dwellings that were made of Clay and Wattles, built in precise rows around common ground, their religious beliefs were centred around the Sun, with fire being central to their existence. As a result of various wars with the French the tribe was decimated and survivors had to move Westwards. While the Civil War had a huge impact in most parts of Mississippi, Natchez was largely undamaged. The Delta Music Museum has a history of Conway Twitty, Gerry Lee Lewis and the other famous legendary artists from the region. 
 
Lafayette, Louisiana is in the southern part of the state, this is where you can experience Cajun and Creole music with Zydeco added to the mix. When you add a blend of Cajun, Creole, European and Native American to the mix, you have the accordions and washboards giving the unique sound of Zydeco. The dancing is electric, energetic and is as much fun to watch as it is to take part in, it’s all in the footwork. The people in Louisiana originated from Canada, the Acadians were originally from France, Acadia is part of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. After the British and French wars ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763 the treaty terms allowed an eighteen months unrestrained emigration. Many Acadians moved to present-day Louisiana, that had been colonized by the French in 1682, others moved to the French Polynesian Islands. Read the book the Acadian Expulsion (the great Upheaval).
 
The city of New Orleans. The home of Jazz and they do it so well. When I hear of New Orleans, I’m immediately transported back to their celebrations of funerals. The deceased is taken from the church or funeral home. The master of ceremonies leads a slow procession of gallantly dressed band members in Tuxedos, swaying to the sound of a heavy and sad lament for the departed. Sympathizers lining the sidewalks wait in anticipation, the hearse and chief mourners remove themselves to the burial ground, the jazz band breaks out into a crescendo of music, everyone is invited to join in, singing, dancing and that person who brought along an instrument whether he can play it or not, he won’t be noticed in his miming movements, and just maybe he might get in the photographs.

The parades and festivals begin on the Twelfth night, that’s January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany in the Christian calendar, it’s believed that this is the day that the Three Wise Men came to visit the Christ child, who had been born in Bethlehem 12 days earlier, Christmas Day. In the French quarter a parade is held on January 6th to celebrate the patron Saint of France’s day ‘Joan of Ark’ a peasant girl who had led the French army to a momentous victory at Orleans over a British attempt to conquer France in 1429. 

Festivities and parades go on until Shrove, Pancake or Fat Tuesday, which is the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, marking the 40 days of fasting and penance before Good Friday and the Easter holiday. Mardi Gras is the French for Fat Tuesday. In New Orleans, for days prior to Lent, floats are driven through the streets. People parade with bunting, balloons and banners. All types of costumes and masks are acceptable. The amount of luxury cuisine on offer in cafes, bakeries, restaurants not to mention sweet shops is staggering. The famous music halls to go to in the city are, for Jazz The Preservation Hall, Street revelry of all sorts is Bourbon Street, entertainment The Mother-in-Law, Rock- N -Bowl, Frenchmen St, Toulouse Theatre, and a great music venue the Balcony Music Club.