Roy Hughes is a flashy man, even by nightclub-owner standards. He rolls around town in a Mercedes with the vanity license plate “KINGROY.” Not exactly a guy who’s NOT trying to draw attention to himself. His penchant for flash attracted some unwanted attention, however, from the Memphis Police Department that’s left his club in limbo. "They said I incited the riot by grabbing the microphone [during a police raid] and telling everybody, 'Don't let them fuck with y'all.' I
told them to wish the officers and the fire marshal a Merry Christmas
on the way out," Roy explains.
When the club’s on it is ON. The stage is big and bright, and the acoustics are flawless. The Club Hughes Band — which occasionally travels in style to gig in other spots — features the great guitarist Lawrence Long.
Since Hughes’ trouble with the law, though, he’s had to tone things down a bit, and clean his image up. If you think that sounds like death to fun, you’re damn right. The police forcibly closed Club Hughes for 3 months in 2006, and shut the doors and windows with boards labeled, charmingly, “Property of Memphis Police Organized Crime Unit.” 
Naturally, the closure had a negative effect on Hughes’ business. He promised us, though, that a new club would “rise from the ashes.” So, we introduce Hughes Uptown: the Restaurant Nightclub. The over-flow crowds that got him into trouble at the old Club Hughes (while also buying him a Benz along the way) haven’t shown up yet, but it’s only a matter of time before he gets it going again.
The club building dates to 1936, and had been a neighborhood grocery back when that sort of thing was possible. Hughes owns the adjacent building, and had plans to expand the club when, as Vonnegut says, the excrement hit the air conditioning. Stop by when you’re cruising the “real Beale” and hopefully King Roy will have straightened things out.
We’re going to keep a close eye on this thing. Hughes has already made the outside of his club over, and it looks like he’s working on the addition. You can’t keep a good man down for long, or Roy, either. Just kidding, he’s a businessman and he’s been up against it before in life, so we know he’ll restore the place to its previous glory, if not surpass it. Just remember the chant: “We at Hughes, we at Hughes…”
March 2008 Update: It's back in all its brassy glory for Thursday night live with the Club
Hughes band, led by none other than King Roy himself who jaws his way
through R&B standards. He's rebranding the establishment once again, now calling it Hughes: The Remix.