From the early 1950s Memphis had become a "hot spot" for Black Music.  There was the all-black WDIA radio station and new studios which recorded black musicians. Plus there was talk of a "new kind of music".  Talented black musicians began moving into the city, and famous black entertainers were eager to perform or record here.  With segregation in force, there were few places where they could perform, and even fewer hotels where they could stay.  This opened the door to new clubs in the city, several of which became historically important on the "Chitlin' Circuit".   *   

The Hippodrome was an old skating rink run by Mary and "Big Foot" Johnson.  It was located at the east end of Beale, between the Hunt-Phelan home and First Baptist Church.  When the skating rink began to decline, the owners turned the space into a one-night stand facility - open for blacks only.  The capacity was 5,000 to 6,000.. and it was always packed.  And the history began...  although it seems that the performers at the theatre were photographed but everyone forgot to take a photo of the building?

500 Beale Street

Johnny Ace Poster

By 1952 Memphis was established as a black music hotspot and Black musicians were recording major hits here.  The Hippodrome, originally a roller skating rink, had begun having rhythm and blues shows in the late 1940s.  Famous artists were eager to visit Memphis and perform.  Among those who performed at the Hippodrome were Johnny Ace, Billie Eckstine, Ruth Brown, Count Bassie, B. B. King, Louis Jordan, Lionel Hampton, Fats Domino, Howlin' Wolfe, Lionel Hampton,  and the Ink Spots.  The Hippodrome figures prominently into The Chitlin' Circuit tours * and was the launch pad for Rock 'n' Roll. 

Johnny Ace

Lionel Hampton

In 1955, the Hippodrome was purchased by Andrew "Sunbeam" Mitchell and he changed the name to Club Ebony.    Later, under new owners it became the "Hippodrome" again, and around 1961 Johnnie Currie ran the club for several years.  The demise of this club is not recorded.  It just seems to have faded away.   The building has now been demolished.

King - Mitchell

For those who don't know, chitlins (chitterlings) are the innards—the intestines—of pigs; distinguishable from tripe, which is the stomach lining of pigs or cows. During the ante-bellum period the leftovers of slaughtered pigs, including the intestines, were given to slaves on plantations throughout the American South. It was, in part, a survival mechanism and pure improvisational genius, that centuries later chitlins are the epitome of Soul Food, appearing on the menus of highbrow gastro-pubs and available in grocery stores, cleaned and de-odorized.

In 1944 Andrew "Sunbeam" Mitchell opened the Mitchell Hotel in a famous building on the corner of Beale and Hernando.  Originally built in 1896, it had been the Battier's Drug building and for many years afterward the Pantaze Drug building.  Mitchell's hotel became known as the "Leading Colored Hotel of Memphis".  The hotel was located on the 3rd floor.  The 2nd floor was occupied by the Domino Club with an entrance at 195 Hernando.  In the late 1940s, Mitchell changed that name to Club Handy and it became the last club on Beale to book headline acts. 

1906 Battier Drugs

Many Blues Musicians called the Mitchell "Home".  Sunbeam and Ernestine's place on Beale became the place for musicians to hone their skills.  The club was on the 2nd floor of their restaurant-hotel at 195 Hernando.  They named it Club Handy and it became a major stop on the "Chitlin' Circuit" and attracted big names.  It's no secret that a lot of musicians who were not well off, would entertain the crowds here for their room and board.

1970 Pantaze - Mitchell

The big names that played Club Handy were Nat "King" Cole, Count Basie, Muddy Waters, Little Richard, B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Johnny Ace.  Even Elvis Presley performed here during his early years.  Today the Pantaze-Mitchell building on Beale has been renovated and was the home of the Center for Southern Folklore, but is now the home of "Wet Willie's".   A story continues to circulate that Abe Phough who owned the Pantaze Drug Store on the first floor of the building, had backed Sunbeam Mitchell in the Club Handy, Mitchell Hotel, and later, Club Paradise.

Pantaze - Mitchell today

Another well known story involves Little Richard staying at the Mitchell hotel for weeks when he didn't have any money.  Sunbeam and his wife Ernestine, were famous for sustaining starving artists on their chili.   It appears that artists everywhere knew they could come to Memphis and be taken care of at the Handy.

The house band for Club Handy was led by Bill Harvey - an accomplished musician with a passion for teaching.  So the club became a kind of Academy of Rhythm and Blues as Harvey schooled them in basic musicianship .

Club Paradise was opened by Sunbeam Mitchell in 1962, after he was forced out when the bulldozers hit historic Beale Street.  He relocated to Georgia Avenue and built the largest nightclub in Memphis.  Along with Detroit, this is where soul music got its start.  Some of the biggest names in soul music performed here including Ike and Tina Turner, B. B. King, and Aretha Franklin.  When the club was really "happening" folks would come here for a night of "greatness".   Essentially, if you played the Paradise, that was like Carnegie Hall.  You had "made it".  This was the ultimate club for African Americans at the time.

Paul Jordan bought the club from Mitchell in 1985.  Club Paradise closed in 1999. 

In 2016 the building reopened as the Paradise Event Center, an entertainment and educational community center.

The Tropicana brick building dates from 1951 although an earlier frame building held the club prior to that.  Johnnie Currie owned the club from 1946 to the 1970s, with the exception of those five years when he ran the Hippodrome on Beale.  The Tropicana building still exists, but is not currently in use.

Tropicana

Ttropicana

Poster

Interior