I picked up “Kreature Comforts Low-Life Guide to Memphis” at the counter at Shangri-La Records, and started to walk out the door. Um, that’ll be $5, please….  It’s on newsprint, stapled, pages about a fourth the size of a standard newspaper page. I assumed it was free. But there it was on the cover: “Still only! 5.00 Cheap!”

If your time is worth money, and you’ve got visitors who want the behind-the-scenes goods on Memphis music, this is cash well spent, although you may still need to invest in a Handymap, because there are some obscure streets in this guide. There’s Aretha Franklin’s birthplace at 406 Lucy, for instance, and 4908 Eastshore, where Jerry Lee Lewis lived with his 13-year-old cousin Myra and her parents, before he married the girl and they moved down the street to 5042 Eastshore. There’s Alex Chilton’s parents’ one-time house at 145 Montgomery. There’s an empty spot at 811 Mosby where Furry Lewis once lived; the house burned down. Someone’s done the research for you, here; you’ve just got to locate the streets.

This is a guide with opinions. On Beale Street: “If good times for you means ‘Mustang Sally’ covers ad nauseam and drinking til 5 a.m. at theme bars (legally), this is your place.” The Low-Life Guide recommends the Blue Worm and the Executive Inn, both on Airways, and Wild Bill’s on Vollintine for fun accompanied by live music. And here’s a traveler’s advisory you won’t get just anywhere: “If you’re an aspiring musician, please don’t ’sit-in’ at Wild Bill’s or anywhere else for that matter. While you may think it fun, it is so only for you. Playing at certain juke joints, blues clubs or wherever may be your holy grail, but with the exception of very few musicians out there (yourself not included) the kindness of the locals should not be taken advantage of.”

There’s also a section on dining out (”Memphis is a great grub town!”), with some interesting suggestions like the Gay Hawk on Danny Thomas, Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken on Millbranch, Melanie’s on North Watkins. 

To find copies, go to Shangri-La Records is at 1916 Madison. Or order online from Shangrilaprojects.com