Pleasure Island Troubadour Greg Memphis Marks 40 Years Under Stage Name, Eyes Return to the Stage

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — For four decades, Greg Memphis was part of the soundtrack of Pleasure Island, strumming his way through Sunday afternoons by the pool, late nights at beach bars and summers on the waterfront. Now the Mobile native is marking 40 years under his stage name and, after a long break from performing, says he is itching to get back in front of a crowd.

Memphis returned to the stage recently at O’Chopper’s in Orange Beach at the invitation of longtime friend and fellow musician Wes Loper. The show was billed as a celebration of the 40th anniversary of being Greg Memphis, which, he jokes, means he gets two birthdays every year.

“I get to celebrate two birthdays,” Memphis said.

How Greg Smith became Greg Memphis

Memphis was born Greg Smith in Mobile and graduated from Davidson High School. Early in his career, he decided that a performer needed a name with a little more flair.

“I decided I wanted a stage name – just like Bo Diddley and Bob Dylan. Something that was more catchy than Smith and would look good on a marquee,” Memphis said. “I asked my parents and they said they would not be upset because it was for showbiz.

“Once they were OK with it, I settled on Memphis because that is where The King is from, and it has a nice ring to it. From ’74 to ’86 I was Smith and from ’86 to ’26 I’ve been Memphis.”

Brent Burns, a patriarch of the local music scene who played his first Pleasure Island gig in 1972, remembers the switch.

“I’ve known him a long time and I remember when he changed his name. I’m sure I gave him a hard time about that,” Burns said.

Burns said he had not seen his old friend in years before the O’Chopper’s show.

“It was great to see him and see that he still has that same mellow personality,” Burns said. “He sounds good. I would love to see him back on stage.”

Music in his bones

Memphis’ ties to the island go back to his childhood. His family bought a lot at Bear Point in 1970 and built a house there in 1972. He later lived in a family home in Burkhart Estates, a neighborhood that backed up to the famed Gulfgate Lodge.

“I always knew I wanted to play music,” he said. “I guess it was in my bones. My parents bought me a Sears Silvertone and I took it from there.

“My first band was Threshold, and our first gig was at a skating rink. It’s a little fuzzy, but pretty early I started playing solo. I was always learning new songs and already listening to Buffett.”

Before music became a full-time job, Memphis worked a very different one.

“I was 24 years old and had a job operating computers for IBM in Mobile. After a few years and more gigs, I realized that it might be possible to play music for a living,” he said. “Playing solo seemed an easier way to do that and not have to deal with band issues. It was also economics. I could just throw my Bose speakers in the car and go to work.”

He moved to Orange Beach in 1980 and made his home there for the next 40 years. His first steady regular gig on Pleasure Island came in 1982 at Cotton Bayou Marina.

A Pleasure Island circuit

Living near Gulfgate Lodge had its perks. Memphis could walk through the woods from his house to the lodge and either plug in and play or sit back with a Heineken to hear acts such as Joni & Clarke or Shine Powell and Carl Gates Sr.

Over the years he became a fixture of the island’s Sunday circuit, which included the Seagull Lounge, the Flora-Bama, Sam & Shine’s and Margaritaville. Later came Cadillac Jack’s, Jimmy Surface’s Blues Cafe, The Best Little Warehouse in L.A. and LA Getaway.

Eventually he settled into what became must-attend Sunday socials, playing in a duo with George Eberlein at the Gulf Shores Holiday Inn pool bar.

“Yeah, my name was on the signs in front of all of the buildings,” he said. “But it’s kind of like children when it comes to a favorite. I played with George Eberlein for a little more than 10 years. We were great friends and we sounded really good together. So, those Sundays at the Holiday Inn were a lot of fun.”

He also has fond memories of gigs at Judge Roy Bean’s and the Flora-Bama, upstairs at The Barefoot Bar and at The Pink Pony, as well as summer residencies at Hemingway’s at Orange Beach Marina.

Birthday gigs to remember

Like most songwriters, Memphis said his favorite songs are the ones he wrote himself. But asked about his favorite shows, he pointed to his birthdays.

On one, he did not even play. He was in the audience at the Mobile Civic Auditorium for Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” tour.

The other came in 1988, when he opened for John Prine at Margaritaville.

“He listened to my sound check, and when he found out it was my birthday, he invited me backstage after his set. We both opened up a Heineken. I was such a huge fan and he was just such a nice guy. J Hawkins and Ricky Whitley were also opening for him, and we all ended up going to the Flora-Bama. So, I guess I’ll have to go with that one,” Memphis said.

Stepping away, and coming back

A run of hardships pulled Memphis away from the island and the stage. The COVID-19 pandemic, Hurricane Sally, his own health problems and caring for his mother, who died in January 2025, led him to move first to Daphne and then to Mobile, where he lives today.

Hurricane Sally, which made landfall near Gulf Shores in September 2020, caused widespread damage across Pleasure Island and coastal Baldwin County during a year when the pandemic had already disrupted live music.

Playing a couple of shows with Loper reminded Memphis how much he misses performing, and the beach.

“I don’t know as many people as I did at the beach, and people at the beach are happy,” he said. “I don’t see that as much in Mobile. There is a different mindset in Mobile. There is just less tension and people worrying about jobs at the beach, and the cops would drive you home (if needed).”

The O’Chopper’s show, he said, was the most fun he has had in 10 years, and he can see himself working to get his vocal chops back.

“I could have talked to those people all night long,” he said. “It was a big hiatus. I don’t know about a comeback tour. But I look forward to playing another show.”

Friends from the Greg Memphis years

JR Owen, who still plays around town with his band JERI, has known Memphis for 40 years. The two played together at the Pleasure Island Restaurant Association’s Taste of the Tropics, and Memphis performed at The Best Little Warehouse in L.A., the music venue Owen owned with his wife, Dottie. Mostly, though, they traded nights at the same local venues.

“We all drank a little bit more back then, for sure,” Owen said. “I think I did something on one of his albums with Carl Gates at Shine Powell’s studio. Greg helped me out on one of my albums. As I remember it, Greg played a gig and they couldn’t pay him. So, he took some recording equipment as a trade. I guess we were producers and recording engineers, but we didn’t really know what we were doing. We didn’t name it, but we ended up making a cassette tape of original songs.”

Owen said he knows his friend has been through health struggles.

“The last time I saw him was a few years ago at Manci’s, and I think I hugged him ’til I thought I was going to choke him,” he said.

Passing it on

For Loper, the friendship goes back to his teenage years. A 1992 graduate of Theodore High School, Loper was still in high school in 1991 when he worked for his uncle renting beach chairs and water sports equipment in front of the Gulf Shores Holiday Inn.

“I was making good money sitting on the beach all day, doing sailboat rides and adjusting an umbrella once in a while. It was a pretty good gig,” he said.

But the sound of Memphis and Eberlein playing by the pool behind him looked like an even better job.

“I thought if you could make a living doing anything, that would be it,” Loper said. “I met them when I was 15 or 16, and I started sitting in with them when I got back from Navy Boot Camp when I was 18 or 19.

“Listening to them play definitely inspired me. The music soaked into me, and the fact that they let me get up and play with them encouraged me to keep doing it.

“That was fuel for my fire,” he said. “It’s something I try to pass along to younger kids coming up today. The best thing I can do is to be that way to somebody else, because I remember how much that meant to me.”

When Loper played the Waterville 40th anniversary party last year, he remembered watching Memphis perform at the 10th anniversary celebration decades earlier.

“It was like a full circle moment. I was thinking that I have some big shoes to fill,” Loper said. “I’ve been playing music here for 30 years and I know the business will wear you down but looking back and remembering how nice he was is a good thought, and he is still that nice today. He loves music. He is music.”

Still playing every day

Memphis says he still picks up his guitar every day, and he hopes there are more shows ahead.

“I want to start playing more. Being in front of people is something I’ve always loved,” he said. “Music will keep you young, if you don’t let it kill you.”