The King Of Rock And Roll Tribute

TUPELO, Miss.(WCBI) – Elvis Presley is just one of the 15 Lee County musical legends documented in a new display at the Oren Dunn Museum in Tupelo.

There is a studio that looks like it came right out the 1960’s. There is a vintage Juke box. The new display is called Lee County Originals which chronically the rich history of music in Tupelo and Lee County.

Curator Rae Mathis says it’s not just about Elvis.

“Elvis Presley is the mainstay of Tupelo bringing tourism dollars to Tupelo and he has made even after his death an economic impact that will forever effect Tupelo but we also want to make sure that we highlight some of these other artists who actually influenced Elvis Presley himself. And so there is no other place in Tupelo where one and come and learn this history except the Oren Dunn City Museum,”said Mathis.

Publisher Jim Clark of Tupelo spearheaded the effort to bring the exhibit to Oren Dunn. He says it’s also about Elvis’ daughter.

“In his elder stage of his career when he’d come to town she’d stay with Janelle McComb and so there was a lot of history there and Janelle used to bring by pictures all the time of Lisa Marie eating hot dogs and just casual shots like that,”said Clark.

Clark says there is something else most people don’t know about Elvis.

“Well the part of the display we did for Elvis I was trying to come up with something different and most people don’t know it but he actually had a hand in writing seven songs. The All Shook Up came to him in a dream one night and granted that’s all he did. That was the only three lyrics he gave but he gave that to his song writing partner and he took it from there but I mean that made the song so that’s why Elvis has credit on it on the 45 that’s on display in there,”said Clark.

Clark says the rich music history of Lee County can be traced to the Mississippi agrarian past.

“Well a lot of them like the Chambers Brothers they started sharecropping and they’d sing for the farm people after they picked cotton all day they sing for them at night mostly gospel songs and they just paid them an apple for all four boys,”said Clark.

The Music display will be at the Museum through October 31st