I was in Memphis back in 1993 working as a sales rep for a large educational book publisher out of California. We were at a trade show that weekend, and we were all staying at The Peabody, which is a famous hotel in Memphis.
The hotel is super famous for the Duck parade that occurs a few times a day as the ducks, that live on the roof, take the elevator down to the lobby, and walk the red carpet to the large fountain in the middle of the lobby for their morning or afternoon feedings.
So, we’re there for a few days, we got in early in the week to prep for the trade show and by Wednesday, I noticed a whole bunch of activity in and around the hotel. Apparently, there was a big music festival going on at the same time in town. I actually lived in Memphis as a child for about 5 years and knew all about the rich musical history, however at this moment in my life, I was focused on making a living outside of music and was not even aware of what was going on in town.
Anyway, come to find out that B.B. King was playing in town that weekend and he was staying at the Peabody. So, we’re sitting around The Lobby waiting for the ducks to come the elevator and I look up and see this older gentleman in a nice 3 piece suit just walking across the floor. I knew immediately who it was, B.B. King! I turned to my coworkers and told them all to look over and they really had no idea who he was. I was blown away of course being a musician myself. I never approached him or anything, I basically chickened out but he did give a few picks to my coworkers kids who were staying on the same floor with him. There were multiple sightings of him that weekend. Very cool!
The other cool thing was, Carl Perkins was also playing at that same festival apparently. I found out because one afternoon as I stepped into the elevator to go down to the lobby from my room on the 3rd or 4th floor. There was a tall gentleman standing next to me talking with another person, just the 3 of us in the elevator. The guy was super tall, and I’m a tall guy myself at 6′ 2″ and this guy had to be 6′ 5″ or so, he had a nice suit on and curly hair that was kind of grayed, it looked like a wig of some kind actually, but anyway, I started to focus in on his face and recognized him as Carl Perkins, yeah, I was sure of it, and just to confirm my sighting, I glanced down at his shoes and sure enough, he had his blue suede shoes on, clean as could be. He was busy chatting with his friend, so I didn’t interrupt him but that was probably one of the coolest sightings I’ve ever had. He died about 3 years later but I got to see the man up close.