Daddy's Dogma

At the back of 333 Beale Street is the photo studio of Dr. Ernest Withers (an honorary degree from Memphis State University). He's an ex-Memphis cop, one of nine who were the first black cops in town, circa 1946. The studio consists of two rooms; each piled high with stacks and stacks of photos, in no particular order. There wasn't a camera in sight. My “tour guide,” Denise Tapp, introduced me to him and I told him that we had a mutual "acquaintance" in Steve LaVere. (LaVere got hold of some Withers negatives years ago and the beef eventually ended up in court.) He told me to take my time and look around. I did. There were pictures of MLK, et al, the whole Memphis civil rights thing, old shots of Beale (like the Review that used to play the Palace Theatre in the Twenties and Thirties), street shots of Beale from 1919, pictures of Johnny Ace driving his "touring car" and shots of every musician of note in Memphis. On the wall over Dr. Withers' desk stood the following legend:
 
Daddy's Dogma
I'll appeal to your intellect
Then I'll appeal to your pride,
If that don't get it,
I'll get to your hide.

Alfred Earl Withers
1889 - 1969

I stayed two hours.