Memphis Music

Home of the Blues ... Stroll down the second most visited street in America! Memphis Music Beale Street beale street music festival

Memphis is royalty when it comes to our name in song title or in songs themselves.. we have surpassed over 1,000 and counting! Memphis Music Beale Street beale street music festival

Levitt Shell

The Levitt Shell (formerly Overton Park Shell and Shell Theater) is an open-air amphitheater located in Overton Park, Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis Presley gave his first paid concert there on July 30, 1954.

The Overton Park Shell was built in 1936 by the City of Memphis and the Works Progress Administration for $11,935, as part of the New Deal. Designed by architect Max Furbringer, it was modeled after similar shells in Chicago, New York, and St. Louis. The WPA built 27 band shells, the Overton Park Shell is one of only a few that still remain.

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Shell was the site of Memphis Open Air Theater orchestral shows, along with various light opera and musicals. However, on July 30, 1954, Elvis Presley opened for headliner Slim Whitman, and performed what music historians call the first-ever rock and roll show. Memphis Music Beale Street beale street music festival