Masters of Memphis Blues/ Various - Masters of Memphis Blues / Various

Beale Street was the street. Black man's street. More slickers come off Beale Street than come out of New York. So many slick people came from down that way, learnt how to gamble, learnt how to con, how to cheat, from down in that part of the country. And Beale Street was the main line. Muddy Waters If ever there was a good time, so help me God, there was good times on Beale Street. People from everywhere was coming to find out about that place. People you see there you ain't ever seen before in your life. You know, Beale Street was a joint street, it was a drag street, it was a drawing street. Booker White In the old days on Beale, you could say it was never night-time. They just stayed open from dawn to dawn. Everything was lively. You go to playing at five o'clock, play until five-thirty in the morning. There was all kinds of different places on Beale. To tell the truth, some of them was just real scalawag joints. John 'Piano Red' WilliamsThat's the street. The music - in the hands of masters like Robert Wilkins, Buddy Doyle, Frank Stokes, Allen Shaw, Banjo Joe and Furry Lewis is just as exciting.