Searching for Furry

Search, originally uploaded by mister anchovy.

We stepped off the beaten track in Memphis to visit Furry Lewis' grave. For anyone unfamiliar with Mr. Lewis, he was a bluesman Memphis who achieved a good deal of popularity in the city after his 'rediscovery' by a young white audience. He played with people like Lee Baker, and even appeared on national talk shows during the peak of his popularity. Furry died in 1981 and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in South Memphis. After some driving around, we found the cemetery....in disrepair. The office was locked up, and it looked like attempts had been made to pry open the door. It was quite grown over. The road through it was barely a road. Quite a few headstones had been knocked over. Many of the headstones were crudely carved. A few were well kept up. It was an strangely beautiful place. We walked around for a long time, but failed to find Furry's grave. Who knows, another time we might find it right away. We know only it was located toward the back of the cemetery somewhere.

Sometimes I think Memphis is a city of memories - of the blues, of Sun records, of Stax, of Beale St. back in the day, of the Civil Rights movement, of Furry Lewis, and all those unknown people lying with him in the overgrown Hollywood Cemetery.