Cohn went to Memphis to try to find inspiration, he had writer's block. The trip transformed him, first by his visit to the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church to hear the Reverend Al Green preach. He said he sat there crying in the church, Al Green's service was one of the great experiences of his life. The other was Muriel Davis Wilkins who played at the Hollywood Cafe. He said he felt an immediate connection to her voice, her spirit, her face, and her smile and was totally transfixed by her music. They talked during breaks and he told her how his mother's death when he was very young left him feeling stuck, he could not get over it. He said the last song he and Muriel sang together was Amazing Grace and when they were done Muriel leaned over and whispered in his ear: 'Child, you can let go now.' He said it was almost as if his mother was there speaking to him. He went back the next year to play Walking in Memphis for Muriel, but she died before the finished song was released.
Love this tune, great reaction. Something that's very deep, but very easy to miss, is the line where Muriel at the Hollywood asks, "Tell me are you a Christian, child?" and he says, "Ma'am i am tonight!" This especially meaningful, because Marc Cohn is Jewish, and typically Jewish folks are very reluctant to talk about Jesus on any level, much less claiming in any way to be a Christian, even briefly. Very beautiful of him to go there. 👍
Some other awesome blue eyed soul artists that are relatively unknown are Curtis Stigers "You're all that matters to me" "I wonder why" "Sleeping with the lights on" Grayson Hugh "Talk it over" "Bring it all back" Henry lee Summer "I wish i had a girl" "I've got everything"
I’ve always thought so too! And then…I find out that he’s Jewish, but he was so immersed in Memphis and everything going on around him, so that’s why he said “I am tonight” and I loved that line even more!!!!
Me, too - cause it’s a state of mind where you feel that peace, that oneness with humankind, and yes, that spirit of love. It could happen anytime anywhere. (listening to A Bridge Over Troubled Water.”) And this ‘time’ was magic for Cohen. Muriel and he created their own spiritual bubble, and she was with him. So, yes, that is an incredible lyric. . . ✨🧚🏾🧚🏻♂️🧝🏼♀️👩🏻🍼 “You can let go now. . . “
It was a great tribute song to the City of Memphis Tennessee. The city that was instrumental in bringing two genres of music to the world. And the artist who helped make it a worldwide phenomenon. Artist like WC Handly the father of the Delta Blues. Elvis Presley the King of Rock & Roll. And Al Green who later became a preacher after his Rythm and Blues and Soul singing career had ended. Brilliant!
Thank you for your reaction to this. Reminds me of my visit to Graceland where Elvis is buried. That was emotional seeing his grave and monument. This song is sung in a very heartfelt way. Love it.🥰
True Companion should be next - beautiful song from the same album as Walking in Memphis. Love your reactions - I look forward to hearing what you are going to be listening to next. Take care!
Love Marc Cohn. Some of his other songs are True Companion, Dig Down Deep and Perfect Love. These are some of my faves. He is a great piano player. Great reaction.
My son is a blues musician. We spent a lot of time in Memphis...its a musically magical place. The people, the food, the history..Graceland... this song makes cry every time. The R&B singer Reverend Al Green has a Church in Memphis it's definitely something you want to experience
“Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles is another great tribute song about Elvis. She and her boyfriend were on a bus, going to Memphis, for an anniversary vigil at Graceland. The bus was filled with fellow Elvis fans and the trip’s experience inspired her to write the song. Elvis used hair dye called “black velvet” which is where she got the name for the song. If you’ve never been to Graceland it’s truly an amazing experience!!
Cher did a version of this song also, it was a great video and a pretty big hit at the time. She did a wonderful job of singing "Walking in Memphis" including dressing up like Elvis in her video.
This song is tribute to Memphis and it’s rich musical history and Elvis is mentioned, of course, but so is W.C. Handy, father of the blues! He also mentioned great historical places like Beale Street , Graceland, the Hollywood! I’ve been to Memphis and visited Graceland, Beale Street, and the riverboats, it’s amazing! The Lorraine motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot is also in Memphis and it’s a great historical landmark to visit!❤️❤️
Love this song. Nice to hear the original by Marc Cohn from 1991. I read somewhere that he said this song is 100 % autobiographical of his life. Many people have done covers of it including Cher in 1995 & Lonestar in 2003.
Everything Marc sings about here is based on his real-life experience as follows: “Walking in Memphis” was a top 20 hit in 1991 for Marc Cohn, and the first song of his ever released as a single. It made the top 40 in eight countries - with its best performance being in Canada where it peaked at #3 in the summer of 1991. It received a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year, and it helped Cohn win the Grammy for Best New Artist. The tune was drawn from a real-life experience for Cohn - and all the characters he mentions were based on people he met in Memphis. Cohn has said the song is 100 percent autobiographical. He described it as being about "a Jewish gospel-music-lover.” Adding it was more about going to a place - but receiving a spiritual awakening. One of those trips where you know you are a different soul when you leave and go back home. Even during the return trip, you’re feeling like a new creation. You’ve gone somewhere just to get away for a while - maybe to get some inspiration and a fresher perspective - never knowing what is about to happen is going to change you as a human for the rest of your life. It’s the essence of existence, he said. In 1985, Marc took a trip to Memphis. At the time, he was working as a session singer in New York City, pursuing a record contract. In a 2014 interview with Keyboard Magazine, he said “One night while listening to all my demos, I came to the realization I shouldn't be signed, because I didn't have any great songs yet. I was 28 years old and not in love with my songs. James Taylor had written 'Fire and Rain' when he was 18, and Jackson Browne wrote 'These Days' at age 17. I thought: 'I'm already 10 years older than these geniuses. It is never going to happen for me. It was a desperate time, and I went to Memphis with this struggle at the forefront of my mind.” After reading Taylor finally overcame writer's block by going to a place he had never been before, Cohn visited Memphis upon the recommendation of a friend. Who had told Marc there were two things he had to do there. Places to see and things to do to receive insight and inspiration. Marc continued in his interview, “The first thing was going to the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church on a Sunday morning to hear the Reverend Al Green preach. I did - and I had chills running up and down my spine from beginning to end of his message. The service was so moving I found myself with sweat running down my face and tears in my eyes, totally enveloped by everything I was seeing and hearing. There was something incredibly powerful about Green's voice in that context. Even after two hours of continuous speaking, his voice only got stronger and his band only got better. I sat there crying in the church, aware of the irony of how I used to cry in a synagogue in Cleveland as a kid - but back then I had tears of impatience because I just wanted to get the heck out of there! Al Green's service was one of the great experiences of my life.” The second piece of advice was to visit the Hollywood Café in Robinsonville, Mississippi (35 miles south of Memphis), to see Muriel Davis Wilkins, a retired schoolteacher who performed at the cafe on Friday nights. Cohn recalled, “When I arrived, Muriel, who ... was in her 60s, was on stage playing a beat-up old upright piano and singing gospel standards. I felt an immediate connection to her voice, her spirit, her face, and her smile. I was totally transfixed by her music. While many of the patrons were busy eating and not paying close attention to Muriel, I couldn't take my eyes off her and her smiling face. During her breaks, the two of us would talk. Muriel asked me why I was there, and I told her I was a songwriter trying to find inspiration. I also told her a little bit about my childhood - how when I was two and a half years old, my mom had passed away very unexpectedly, and about ten years later, my dad had passed away and I'd been raised by a stepmother. My mother's death was a central event in my life, and I'd been writing a lot about it over the years, both in songs and in journals. I think a part of me felt stuck in time like I'd never quite been able to work through that loss and was desperate to move beyond it.” By midnight, the Hollywood was still packed, and Muriel asked me to join her onstage. We soon realized there wasn't a song in the universe that both of us knew in common. A quick thinker, Muriel started feeding me lyrics to gospel songs so I could catch up in time to sing somewhat in rhythm with her and make up my own version of the melody. Some songs I was vaguely familiar with, and some I didn't know at all. The very last song we sang together that night was 'Amazing Grace'. After we finished and people were applauding, Muriel leaned over and whispered in my ear: 'Child, you’re ready - you can let go now.' It was an incredibly maternal thing for her to say to me. As in Reverend Al Green's church, I'd again been transformed. It was almost as if my late mother was whispering in my ear “You’re free now Marc - go write from your heart. You can move on now. It’s okay.” From the time I left Memphis and went back home to New York City, I knew I had a song in me about my experience there.” Soon after returning, Cohn began constructing the melody for “Walking in Memphis.” About the composition, he said, “Except for the bridge, it is just the same thing over and over again. It's an attempt to keep things simple so that the narrative is what the listener focuses on. The story keeps changing; it goes from one scenario to another, all following the thread of my elation, described in the lyric 'Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale'. What's being expressed is my love of music and the spiritual transformation I've always felt through it.” I knew both Reverend Green and Muriel would be the two central figures and I then built the rest of the song about my time in Memphis around them.” Marc finished the song in late 1985, but it would be four years before he would get his first record contract. However, in early 1986, Cohn returned to the Hollywood Café to play "Walking in Memphis" and the other songs from an album he hoped some label would want Specifically for Muriel Wilkins. After he finished, she said to him, "'You know the one where you mention me at the end? That's the best one you got!' Sadly, Wilkins died before "Walking in Memphis" was released. The song is now considered a classic and the chart performance of it being performed by other artists should testify to its staying power over the years. In 1995, Cher released her rendition. Although not as successful as Cohn’s original, it reached the top 40 in seven countries, with the best performance being a #7 hit in Scotland. In 2003, the popular country group Lonestar release their rendition and it went all the way up to #8 on the Billboard Country Charts. The group’s lead vocalist Richie McDonald told NYS Music about the song’s impact on them: “During our two years of being a bar band, ‘Walking in Memphis’ was a staple of our setlist from the beginning. After we got our record deal, we stopped doing cover songs. But a few years later we were in Memphis ready to do a benefit for St. Jude's Hospital down on Beale Street and we thought this would be a good time to play it because we were right there on Beale. One of our label guys was there and said, "Y'all should record that." We started doing it live a lot, and it became something we wanted to put out.” Sources: Wikipedia, Songfacts, Billboard, AZ Lyrics, WMCA Action News, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Keyboard Magazine, The Morning Call, Discogs, Los Angeles Times, All Music, Music and Media
A couple more great Elvis tribute songs: Carl Perkins - Tribute to Elvis - Live in 1978 (3:59) and Singing With Angels...Suzi Quatro and The Jordanaires (3:57). Suzi Quatro was also great at performing Elvis songs.
I’ve never had a thing for Elvis, but many years ago I was in Memphis and the place touched me. The music, the history, the people, it was an amazing place. I really like this song. 😊
I walk on Beale St. everyday without fail. Lucky to live in this beautiful city some say nasty things about it but they can say what they live i don't love the hater's i just pray for them Memphis and my friend Elvis are in my blood heart and soul. Awesome reaction love to you both from the one and only Memphis Tn.
When this song was released in 1991 I and my son took our first trip to Graceland. It was magical. We stayed at the Days Inn right across the street from Graceland. I was in heaven!!!
Absolutely loved this. 2010 me and my husband took a music trip to New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville. All unique and very special. Would love to go back someday. 🙂💕
I had a dream I meant Elvis Presley it was not impersonator it was the real Elvis Presley I cannot believe I meant the real Elvis Presley the King rock and roll in my dream r.i.p Elvis
Bob Dylan showing another side. Give him a chance. "If Dogs Run Free" will please you. Be sure to get the official studio version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UH6V1XvQC3c.html
Many people think it was a tribute to Elvis. Actually, Marc was experiencing writers block as well as other things going on in his life. So, he went down to Memphis and found inspiration through his experiences there and that included WC Handy (blues legend) as well as Elvis and others like Muriel who inspired him when he came in and played and sang many hymns with her. Lots of great inspiration for this song. It actually made him a legendary music star after writing this.
I lived in Memphis for a long time. There are references to more than Elvis in this song (Al Green recorded many hits at Stax Studios), but it is a fitting tribute.
Memphis the most important city in the bringing together of races in the world, thank god for Elvis and the other rock and blues pioneers for getting rid of racism and segregation
I've never been to Memphis, but I remember being in Portland, Oregon where they had a coin operated window called "Church of Elvis". You drop a quarter or two and you get a pre-recorded imitation of Elvis giving life advice.
On American idol there was a guy Eli that sang this while playing keyboard. I was in love w how he sang this and he was even offered a chance to sing by his fav band bc their singer passed away. I believe he turned it down (if I rem right) but then idk what happened to him after that. It was amazing tho. This one was awesome too
Why do you continuously reach for the mouse early when you know that RU-vid is going to throw up their advertisements when the song is coming to an end?
Awesome reaction guys if you ever get the chance to come visit Graceland you will not be disappointed. Elvis was a dear friend i will always love and miss him :( we met 10 yrs before his death i won a radio show contest. he never asked anything of me and i never asked anything of him we both needed a friend and we were that for each other i was just a kid from Memphis with a huge chip on my shoulder if not for Elvis and his care and friendship i don't know where i would be today. The best part is he never judged me or treated me like a stupid little teenage girl he was very caring like a big brother. And i never judged him ever God is the only judge not any human being on this planet has the right to judge anyone's choices right or wrong simple as that. Love to you both from the one and only Memphis Tn.
It’s an amazing tribute. Elvis was the first artiste I truly loved. TOP TIP ⬇️ Another amazing tribute to Elvis is “Advertising Space” by Robbie Williams”.
I love you guys but I feel like you are never actually feeling anything. Like you are just being nice to supporters. I really like you guys, but you have the same reactions to everything.
I remember hearing this and running to the record shop... Bought the cassette album. Still works too Love this. Great reaction. What a moving song right.....
