R.I.P. Tina…one of the greatest
Even I Loved Her
For whatever reason, I have never listened to much music. So, it’s especially worth noting that the passing of Tina Turner meant a lot to me. I loved Tina Turner. The energy of her performances was second to none. She had a great life story. She did Thunderdome. And, “Proud Mary” with Ike has to be on the Mount Rushmore of songs. So, in honor of Tina, I thought I would republish a past post that I did in her honor. Rest in Peace Tina
Somewhere between Memphis and Nashville
Recently, I had the pleasure of being 1,300 miles from home while testing positive for COVID. Thankfully, the symptoms were fairly minor. However, I no longer felt that flying home from San Antonio was a responsible option. Therefore, we decided to isolate me in a rental car and drive 1,300 miles back home. As you would expect, if I have to road trip 1,300 miles, I am going to be on the look out for blog stops. Subsequently, somewhere between Memphis and Nashville, I stumbled upon this one room school house of a Rock Legend. I am not a big music person, but this Legend happens to be one of my favorites…
Queen of Rock ‘n” Roll
Tina Turner, Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, was born Anna Mae Bullock. She spent most of her early years living in the unincorporated village of Nutbush, Tennessee…somewhere between Memphis and Nashville. Most of her childhood schooling occurred in the Flagg Grove School, a one room school house for African Americans, grades 1-8. I will leave the other details of Tina’s struggles and successes up to your own research. For this post, we shall focus on the school building alone. In 2012, this deteriorating school house was rescued from destruction in Nutbush. The building was moved to current location in Brownsville, TN, where it was restored. Beyond restoration, the school reopened in 2014 as the Tina Turner Museum, part of the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center.
Tina Turner Museum
The museum itself was the perfect stop on our trek back to Ohio. First, the museum was free. Of course, being the quality guy that I am, I did make a contribution to the donation box. Second, as with fair amount of my stops, Carol and I were the only humans around. The museum stop did not expose anyone to my COVID. Beyond that, the museum was a small, but high quality salute to the career of Tina Turner. There was the usual collection of gold/platinum records, costumes, concert posters, and historic pictures.
But, as I am more of movie/TV guy, I tended to gravitate to the artifacts that meant the most to me…
Of course, Tina’s best theatrical role was as the infamous Auntie Entity in the classic, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. She also sang the highly awarded theme song to James Bonds’ Goldeneye movie. Sadly, the movie itself starred Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. In my humble and highly educated opinion, Pierce Brosnan represents the worst of the James Bond actors. But, I digress…
Beyond Tina
For the sake of completeness, I should mention the other aspects of the museum. In the back section of the Tina Turner museum, there was a section focusing on the school’s founder, Benjamin Brown Flagg. Benjamin Flagg was a former slave who became a Baptist preacher. Mr. Flagg provided the land for this school and dedicated his life to improving educational opportunity for African Americans. Furthermore, attached to Tina’s museum, there was a smaller building dedicated to Sleepy John Estes. Mr. Estes is reportedly a “Legendary Blues Pioneer” that I have never heard of.
Wrap it up
As I said, this was the perfect blog stop. It was free. We saw no other humans. The location is one minute off the highway. And, Tina Turner is a rock legend that even I appreciate. So, if you find yourself somewhere between Memphis and Nashville, consider a stop in Brownsville, TN, and bask in the glory of Tina Turner. Have a wonderful day. PT
I hope you have enjoyed “Somewhere between Memphis and Nashville” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.
If you liked that local legend, here’s another https://travelingwithpt.com/newcomerstown-birthplace-of-legends/
If you want to plan your own visit https://www.westtnheritage.com/tina-turner-museum
p.s. As a reward for you reading this far in the blog, I give you one of the greatest pieces of music ever made. Remember…“we never, ever do nothing nice and easy”…
