First stop was the Johnny Cash Museum which, while small, was really interesting.
Did you know that Johnny Cash had no first or middle name? His "given" name was "J. R." and when he enlisted in the Air Force in 1950 the recruiting sergeant told him he had to have a first name, so he picked "John." Later, when he was recording with Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Studios in Memphis, Phillips told him that his name wasn't "John", it was "Johnny." Interesting tidbit, I thought.
The museum had a lot of information about JR Cash, of course, but also a lot about the other artists who recorded at Sun Studios. In one section they were playing clips from live performances by some of the artists, including Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and others. Here is Jerry Lee Lewis doing "Great Balls of Fire":
This is Johnny Cash doing "I Walk the Line":
And this is Elvis doing "It's All Right":
Somehow I didn't get a picture of Carl Perkins doing "Blue Suede Shoes" or Roy Orbison doing "Pretty Woman", but the film clips were really interesting.
Here's a shot of his "Wall of Fame":
I thought the JC Museum was well worth the cost of admission.
About a block away is the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. It is a lot more grand than Johnny Cash's place, as you can see:
There was a lot to take in and if you're a huge CM fan, it would be very interesting. The museum was well-done and tasteful, but unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of good shots. Here are a couple from inside the museum:
It was nicely done and well worth the visit (one time!).
After viewing all that downtown Nashville had to offer, I headed east on I-40 toward Knoxville, arriving around 3:30 pm. I spent Sunday at my brother Rick's house and we had a very nice visit.
Miles today: 245
Total: 8,353