From the TRAVEL section of the Corpus Christi, Texas, CALLER-TIMES, Sunday, July 7, 2002

by Tom Uhlenbrock of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

 

Tillman Franks was waiting on the steps of Shreveport's Municipal Auditorium when the Louisiana Music Trail bus pulled up.  He had a smile on his face and a story, or two, to tell.

 

"I'm 81 and loving it," said Franks, a charter member in the state's lengthy lineup of music legends.

 

Franks was playing stand-up bass when Hank Williams first sang "Lovesick Blues" on "Louisiana Hayride," a radio show that aired in the auditorium from 1948 to 1960.  He lent Williams the white sportscoat he's wearing in his most famous publicity still.

 

Leading the way through the art deco building, Franks pointed out the modest dressing room used by Elvis Presley and the duct tape that marked the spot where "the Memphis flash" stood on stage when playing the Hayride in 1954.  It was Presley's professional debut, and he made union scale of $18 a night.

 

Franks managed Presley at the beginning of Presley's career and several other up-and-coming performers.

 

The music trail was a state-sponsored writers' tour of Louisiana with a goal of showing off some of the lesser-known spots that tourists can visit on their own.  We went top to bottom, starting at Shreveport-Bossier City in the northwest corner, heading south to Natchitoches for a meat pie stop, pausing to watch alligators in the marshes along Lake Charles and listening to bands from Africa in the Cajun capital of Lafayette. 

 

The five-day bus ride ended with a pot of gold, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where youngsters such as Lenny Kravitz and India.Arie shared billing with elder statesmen such as Dr. John and the Mighty Chariots of Fire.

 

Along the way we witnessed firsthand why Louisiana can boast of being the nation's No. 1 state in terms of cultural wealth, especially when measured in food, music and characters.

As the tour guide in New Orleans put it: "In politics and government, we're still a Third World country.  But we know how to throw a party."  As far as many residents are concerned, dancing and drinking and having fun are a God-given right in this state.  Only in Louisiana does the local preacher open the music festival in Lafayette by thanking the Lord "for the opportunity to boogie."

 

FIRST STOP: Shreveport

 

Strawn's Eat Shop and Pies was a fine place to refuel after the flight to Shreveport.  Seated in the restaurant under a mural that somehow put together Gandi and the Three Stooges, we gorged on chicken-fried steak and sampled the strawberry, chocolate and coconut cream pies.

 

At the Meadows Museum of Art, we listened to the Ever Ready Gospel Singers and saw the debut of 45 never-printed before pictures take by local newspaper photographers Jack Barham and Langston McEachern, who were there on Dec. 15, 1956, when Elvis did his last show for "Louisiana Hayride."  One of the photos that was published at the time shows the 20-year-old Presley swiveling at the microphone, and it earned McEachern a spot on the Associated Press compilation of the 100 top photos of the century.

 

"I took my wife, and Elvis was there with his pink coat on and the ladies around him," said McEachern, now 84.  "I told my wife, 'That guy is gonna make good.'"  The girls were still squealing when the concert ended with the now famous phrase "Elvis has left the building."

 

That night, I sat at a table in James Burton's Rock 'n Roll Cafe and talked with the author of one of the most famous guitar intros in the history of American music.  "I was 14 or 15 years old and had written this funky little blues lick," said Burton, a slight man with thinning, sandy hair and a black sequined shirt on.  "I played it for Dale Hawkins, and he wrote some lyrics and we recorded 'Suzie Q.'  It was a hit for Dale, and of course Creedence Clearwater Revival had a big hit with it in the '70's."  Burton, now 62, was hired by Ozzie Nelson to tutor his son Ricky and put together the band that backed Elvis for more than a thousand concerts.

 

Burton still performs session work and sits in with his son Jeff's band at the nightclub in Shreveport.  He was among the featured performers at the Jazz-fest in New Orleans.  "Age has nothing to do with good music," he said.  "I'm going to play until the strings fall off this guitar."