Memphis Music Records Tapes & Souvenirs

This is a pretty cool shop on Beale. My boyfriend primarily looked through the music, while I browsed both music and souvenir stuff. There’s a good amount to rifle through, so you may find yourself spending a little longer than you’d expect. Dig a little deeper here because there are some cool finds for sure if you look.

Just some background: I love 50’s music. Doo-​Wop, Rock-​n-​roll, Elvis, The Charts, I love it all. Naturally, my trip to Memphis was nothing less than amazing. I went into this store imagining some the same stuff I find in San Diego where I live. I was absolutely wrong. Well I guess I should’ve expected it because I was in Memphis. Anyway, the store had music posters, CDs, souvenirs, and the best Vinyls. All of the 33 1/3’s were classic rockabilly and Sun Artists with the obvious Motown and 80’s rock thrown throughout the store. The thing that mesmerized me the most were the 45s. In San Diego, the 45s are very scarce and the ones you do find are either overpriced or not at all what you’re looking for (if you’re looking for 50’s music like me). The had boxes of 45’s that I spent about and hour going through. They have a whole box of 45s dedicated to Elvis and his Sun Companions such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins. The other boxes were not as interesting, I did find a few gems like a Santo & Johnny Sleepwalk and There’s a Moon Out Tonight by The Capris. I obviously bought numerous Elvis records. All in all, it was a great store with amazing stuff.

Wow you can still buy records here. And they are new vinyl records too. There’s lots of records here and I never seen so many. I didn’t think they still made them but must because I saw recent releases here. I saw Metallica“s new album here on a vinyl record. You must check this place out.

Wandering along Beale Street, my friend and I happened upon this great CD shop. What a treat for a blues fan like me. The chap in there went out of his way to play music from CDs about which customers were curious, and he seemed to love his job, turning people on to the blues and selling them the stuff. If I ever return to Memphis, this will be my first stop.

A few rinky dink souvenir stores exist on Beale and this one is probably the best. If you want to get your Memphis and/​or Blues memorabilia, then this is the place to hit.

This is the best store on Beale street! Not only do the have great souvenirs they sell local memphis music there. Ask for smokie, he is amazing!

Ask for Smokie and let him offer some music suggestions, he has never given me a bad CD

After a day of great Memphis music and barbeque, my last stop was two doors down from BB King’s at the Memphis Music Records Tapes & Souvenirs Store. This funky little eclectic joint is packed to the rafters with Soul, Blues, and Rock n Roll music. They specialize in the Memphis sound, and hard-​to-​find recordings, and the staff is incredibly knowledgeable and friendly.
I told the guy that I was looking for some CD’s of Albert King, BB King, the Memphis Horns, and some hits from Stax Records, and he wove me through the bins, stopping to pull out some CD’s and tell me a little bit about each one. Then he marched me up to the front of the store, unwrapped the CD’s and let me listen to the recordings before I made my final selections. I mentioned an old Stevie Ray Vaughn CD which was lost years ago, and darned if he didn’t have a replacement copy sitting in the stacks.
I poked through their posters, old sheet music, t-​shirts, and souvenirs before lugging everything up to the counter. It’s a very good thing that I don’t live closer to this store or I would go broke!!!
Fabulous place for music groupies!

My favorite souvenir shop on Beale Street. The prices are reasonable-​ish; they have a plethora of Elvis, Memphis, and Beale Street paraphernalia; and there are gifts for all ages.

Brought my moms in here looking for some local jazz and blues posters. The only person I know who has as big of a love of all things music as myself is my mama. She is redecorating her office to include some framed and matted prints of music and fabulous artists, and believe it or not, we had a hard time finding any till we dropped in here (and Tater Reds of course). This is the place to go if you are looking for jazz, blues or gospel music. Word to the wise– it is quite loud in here and you probably will not be able to hold a convo within their 4 walls, so refrain from trying till you get out the doors.
They have quite a selection of music, posters, souvenirs and gifts– and it is very reasonably priced. As an added bonus, they sell some off the wall toilet seats. Can I ask who doesn’t need or want a glittered, saxophone playing frog bedazzled toilet seat? And, if you love music so much that you cannot bear to be away from it, even while dropping a number two on the pooper, you can purchase a guitar toilet seat to adorn your music loving bum. Excellent.

I stopped in here on a whim. If you’re into alternative tunes, this isn’t the place for you — this store has a great selection of blues music. Some gospel tunes, too. T-​shirts, magnets, and other touristy gifts fill the store. If blues and gospel are your thing, this is the place to go. It’s right on Beale Street, and if you’re feeling the music filling the streets, this is a good place to pop in and pick up some tunes to bring home.