Soulsville

The original Stax Records building, an old movie theater, was demolished in 1989, and "Soulsville" is the name given to two distinct entities, a museum and a music academy. In a time when too many people think that Memphis music began and ended with Elvis Presley, this museum is long overdue.

"Soulsville" was never the official name of this neighborhood, but a term coined to put Memphis on the map when music was identified with cities: the Philly sound for Philadelphia and Motown for Detroit.

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music (926 E. McLemore Ave., 901/942-7685, www.soulsvilleusa.com, Mar.-Oct. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-4 p.m. Sun.; Nov.-Feb. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-4 p.m. Sun.; $9 adults, $8 seniors, $6 kids 6-12) offers a look at the studio from which so many Memphis musical blessings flowed. Among the 2,000 exhibits here are Isaac Hayes's 1972 "Superfly" Cadillac, Otis Redding's favorite suede jacket, Booker T. Jones's organ, a replica of the old Studio A containing the original equipment, and a 100-year-old church from Mississippi.

Stax Music Academy, at the same location, offers music lessons to Memphis's children. The Performing Arts Center hosts concerts, lectures, and other events.

Soulsville is less than three miles from Beale Street. To get there from downtown, go east on Union Avenue toward South 4th Street, turn right onto South Danny Thomas Boulevard, then make a slight left onto Mississippi Boulevard, then turn left onto East McLemore.