Xanadu Music & Books

I love Xanadu. I mainly head over there to browse their books, of which they have many. What you first notice is the picturesque-​ness of the place. I felt like I had entered Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore in Paris with the way the shelves and books are literally overflowing with books, both new and old.
As much as I love my Kindle, there’s something neat about used books. as Virginia Woolf said, «Second-​hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack. Besides, in this random miscellaneous company we may rub against some complete stranger who will, with luck, turn into the best friend we have in the world.»
Head in there and say «hello» to the owners and grab a couple of books you’ve always wanted to read. But remember, they only accept CASH.

This is the friendliest bookstore I have ever had the pleasure of setting foot in, bar none. It is tucked away on the fringe of the Cooper-​Young neighborhood so unobtrusively that a person could drive by it every day and be forgiven for not noticing its location. I no longer live in Memphis, but when I pass by, I always make it a point to stop in for a classic book or atypical music item.
This is one of those special places that every metropolis has, where a living oral history of the city can be gleaned through overheard conversations carried on in hushed and reverential tones by the lifelong residents who are regulars here. If you would like to strike a blow against big-​box retailers, you can do so when you browse for your book selection on the internet and call or visit Xanadu to have them place an order for most anything that you would like.
Music lessons are available here, as is a fine selection of Orange™ brand valve (tube) amplifiers, and there is a luthier on premises who will assemble electric and acoustic stringed instruments to a certain eclectic standard. If you are something of a sustainable energy enthusiast, you will find a willing audience for your ideas in the proprietors, John and Beverly. Peace.

Great alternative bookstore and music store.
Certainly counterculture.
John loaned me a lowebow guitar for a photoshoot. Nice guy. A lowebow is a cigar box guitar.
Lots of great guitars and basses.
Highly recommended.

Sorry, nothing to do with Olivia Newton-​John or Kublai Khan.
Ever wonder about what Johnny Cash was singing about when mentions a ‘Tennessee flat top box’? Well, they have them here. Stringed instruments hand made from cigar boxes.
Large selection of used books and music.
Johnny Cash: Tennessee Flat-​Top Box
In a little cabaret in a South Texas border town,
Sat a boy and his guitar, and the people came from all around.
And all the girls from there to Austin,
Were slippin’ away from home and puttin’ jewelery in hock.
To take the trip, to go and listen,
To the little dark-​haired boy who played the Tennessee flat top box.
And he would play: (Instrumental.)
Well, he couldn’t ride or wrangle, and he never cared to make a dime.
But give him his guitar, and he’d be happy all the time.
And all the girls from nine to ninety,
Were snapping fingers, tapping toes, and begging him: «Don’t stop.»
And hypnotized and fascinated,
By the little dark-​haired boy who played the Tennessee flat top box.
And he would play: (Instrumental.)
Then one day he was gone, and no one ever saw him ’round,
He’d vanished like the breeze, they forgot him in the little town.
But all the girls still dreamed about him.
And hung around the cabaret until the doors were locked.
And then one day on the Hit Parade,
Was a little dark-​haired boy who played the Tennessee flat top box.
And he would play: (Instrumental.)
*bonus points if you can guess who this song is about.