Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum, Memphis (must see)

The Memphis Rock ’n’ Soul Museum is one of the best places in the city to understand how Memphis became a world capital of popular music. The museum opened in 2000 and grew out of a Smithsonian Institution research project.

Across seven galleries, the exhibition traces the story from music sung in the fields to gospel, blues, country, rhythm and blues, and rock ’n’ roll. Visitors follow the journey from rural field hollers, sharecropper songs, and porch music of the 1930s to the urban influence of Beale Street, the rise of radio, and the recording studios and labels that helped define the Memphis sound. Videos, recordings, photographs, instruments, stage costumes, film clips, and listening stations bring the displays to life, with figures such as Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Otis Redding, and Isaac Hayes standing out as key protagonists.

Start the exploration of the very root of this musical timeline by continuing straight ahead from the main ticket desk into the opening gallery space to find the centre of the "Rural Music" Exhibit. Here, the museum presents a life-sized recreation of a 1930s sharecropper cabin. The exhibit captures the humble, anonymous origins of Delta musicians who played homemade instruments on porches and sang field hollers, showing the stark, real-life conditions of their families.

The natural progression was for those sounds to reach the wider public. To find a visual link to that transition, exit the rural history rooms and walk around the central partition walls into the mid-century galleries detailing the rise of radio. Set into a prominent viewing alcove is the historic Wurlitzer jukebox. It shows a beautifully preserved, neon-lit 1950s music machine, an artifact that represents the exact moment rhythm and blues crossed over to mainstream youth culture. The jukebox is surrounded by rare vintage record covers and early broadcasting microphones, while the museum's digital audio-guide system lets you play the exact tracks that once spun on its turntables.

Several other sections are also worth noting. The Bravo Gallery, in particular, honors artists who made an impact on world music. Follow the main pathway toward the end of the museum and look to your right to find the Bravo Gallery Costume Display. This high-ceilinged glass vault was designed to honor the larger-than-life icons of the 1960s and ’70s. Here, you can stand face-to-face with spectacular original stage outfits worn by soul legends, including the glittering custom wardrobe of composer Isaac Hayes.