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Show The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, September 30, 1 1 1973 The Fun And Music Of Beale Street I i t t Are I Dying. Robert Henry, in front of his pool room on Beale Street, Memphis, recalls W. C. Handy. craig cassette t . . And Life Has the Blues in Memphis Has advanced automatic level recording, uses batteries or automatic shut-of- f; house current. Batteries recharge automatically. Microphone, carry case included. bell & howell slide cube projector 41.95 Now at the lowest price we've ever offered, the slide projector that takes the fuss and bother out of showing slides. And Compact 2x2" cube holds 40 slides. of you can store 16 cubes in the space one bulky tray. Easy to load, easy to operate. See it at our Camera Bar, all five stores. list 89.95, our reg. 74.50 59.95 cassette portable automatic battery recharging, automatic shut-of- f. Complete with AC Economical, adaptor. easy to operate. See it at our Camera Bar, all stores. With list 35.95 tcsco binoculars By Carl wide angle lens. and compact; deluxe Powerful, yet lightweight leather case included. The 'Traveler' Manning, Associated Press has an reg. 59.95 Writer Standing in once-handso- the enhance of his Daisy Theater, Joe I where midnight musical shows played are gone; the faded stucco shells are boarded, the dark intenors littered with of remnants tempestuous times now remembered by Once it was a conglomerate barbecue of right clubs, stands, saloons, bawdy houses e a shops , and pawn of enticing rhythm that istnp drew thousands nightly to sample its pleasures and venture its dangers. only a few. Most of the fellows who used to be part of the street are dead and gone, says Robert Henry, who at 83 has been part of Beale Street since 1911. It was W. C. Handy standing at the cigar counter in Pee Wees Saloon and writing the first of his immortal blues, which Memphis St. Louis Blues and numerous other works followed. Blues, Living, Dying It has been said there was more living and more dyng on Beale Street than on any other street in the world. about Now all on Beale that is Street is the street that is slowly dying, block by block. The ornate night clubs And it's d few remaining Beale Street. Blues" started him and the street to fame. Beale Street happening dying. The Henry sits near the cash register in his dimly lit poolroom, one of the white-naire- businesses on Place Crowded Fifteen or 20 years ago the place would be so crowded that it was hard to walk down even at 2 or 3 the morning, Henry said as he sat on a stool, leamng against the wall. Henry said that although some blacks now claim otherwise, Beale Street in its heyday was not exclusively black. We had Italians running the crap games, the Greeks running the restaurants and the blacks running the barber the street oclock in shops, he said. 34.95 Maceri, 84, ponders chance of his street to return to past glories. MEMPHIS, TENN. (AP) -Beale where the Street, mournful notes of the blues were born and wafted through the sultry night air, is now a lonesome echo. lVi-mil- 29.95 "Really it was a mixture of everybody." The blacks have no right to complain about the way it is now, he said. They never came in here, never owned nothing here. Theyre just talking about what theyve heard. Little Left About all that is left on Btale are rows of pawn shops, a few clothing and liquor stores and a movie thea- ter. The street has been declining for years. The reasons that are given include an exodus to the North after World War I; the city shutdown of the bordellos in the 1930s; and the passage of the civil rights laws, opening formerly entertainment whites-onl- y spots to blacks. There is agreement that the 1908 riots after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King five blocks from the street dealt a fatal blow. Many of the businesses on Beale were looted and burned Others simply moved to othec locations and never cane back. For years, officials have talked about how the sreet, like the legenday Phoemx, wall some day nse from Us ashes more beautiful than ever. craig cassetteradio Winning Race But despite promises and plans made over the years, deterioration has been winning the race over renovation. However, there is now a plan to restore the street to its former prominence by 1976. But it is shrouded m controversy, protested by blacks who claim the proposal is a to white mans approacl Beale. They rejuvenating argue that blacks wUl have e hand m the development. ht-tl- The firm of Beale Street, Ron headed by Barassi of Memphis, a white, won a contract in June to carry out a $50 million redevelopment of a block area, dubbed the Blue L'ghi District, that is designed to be a showcase of Beale Street heritage. see all the action lens Tasco's 'Bold Venture' has a sharp comes and former and is a great pet with leather case. Cameras, all stores. all-rou- nd reg. 49.95 29.95 Features include AMFM radio, built in condensor microphone, automatic shutoff and single control operation. A complete portable entertainment center. u.79.95 U.S.A., Barassi is confident that a renewed Beale Street will generate growth m the downtown area, vhic'i has been declining for years. deluxe photo albums Special magnetic design eliminates the need for corners and messy glue. Size llVix9V4" in burlap, leatherette, grass or floral fabirc covers. Camera Bar, all stores. hard-to-u- reg. $3 ea. se |