Built in 1936 by the Federal Works Progress Administration and the city of Memphis, the Overton Park Shell became a staple of the city's entertainment life and an important venue for blues and other music. It initially featured symphony concerts, theater, chamber music, and light opera, and blues songs were likely first performed there during the segregation era by white jazz groups. Elvis Presley played his first professional Memphis concert there in 1954, featuring his debut single, a cover of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's 1946 recording "That's All Right." The All Memphis Folk Festival in August 1963 included James Luther Dickinson and Sid Selvidge, who were active in Memphis' blues revival scene, and the annual Memphis Country Blues Festivals from 1966 to 1970 followed civil rights protests by thirteen African American students in 1960 that led to court-ordered desegregation of all public facilities in Memphis. Those festivals were the first to explicitly focus on acoustic country blues styles from the pre-World War One era, while also expanding to include soul, jazz, gospel, and blues-rock performers. Artists who played there included Mississippi Fred McDowell, Bukka White, Furry Lewis, Rev. Robert Wilkins, Rufus Thomas, Albert King, R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, the North Mississippi Allstars, Johnny Winter, Booker T. and the MGs, Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Brothers Unlimited, and the Willie Mitchell band with Dan Bryant. In the early 1970s, the venue also hosted national acts including the Allman Brothers, ZZ Top, Bonnie Raitt, and Leon Russell touring with Freddie King, while later decades featured more local artists. After facing threats of closure over the years, it aligned in 2005 with the Levitt Foundation, began hosting broad concert series at the Levitt Shell, and in 2022 returned to the name Overton Park Shell with a continuing commitment to eclectic live music and a long role in advancing the visibility of Mississippi musicians.
