If Memphis is the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll, it certainly spent its adolescence along U.S. Highway 67. Known today as Rock ’n’ Roll Highway 67, it runs from Newport, Arkansas, to the Missouri border. It is here that the first rock ’n’ rollers honed their skills, playing the small towns along the two-lane road.
Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins—These were just a few of the young musicians who performed their music in the school gyms, honky-tonks, and clubs that dotted Highway 67 with such colorful names as Bloody Bucket, Silver Moon, Porky’s Rooftop, and the Skylark Drive In Theater.
Presley, Cash, Lewis and Perkins—Sun Records’ “Million Dollar Quartet”—toured together while nurturing such local talent as Sonny Burgess, Bobby Brown, Narvel Flats, and Charlie Rich.
In these pages, author Vicki Pasmore takes you on a guided tour of the Rock ’n’ Roll Highway to meet 20 of the entertainers who gave it its name.
Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins—These were just a few of the young musicians who performed their music in the school gyms, honky-tonks, and clubs that dotted Highway 67 with such colorful names as Bloody Bucket, Silver Moon, Porky’s Rooftop, and the Skylark Drive In Theater.
Presley, Cash, Lewis and Perkins—Sun Records’ “Million Dollar Quartet”—toured together while nurturing such local talent as Sonny Burgess, Bobby Brown, Narvel Flats, and Charlie Rich.
In these pages, author Vicki Pasmore takes you on a guided tour of the Rock ’n’ Roll Highway to meet 20 of the entertainers who gave it its name.
