Delta Blues Odyssey . . . Oddments and Miscellaneous, Part 3

We did not intentionally seek out the sites on this post. However, as we travelled the backroads of the Delta, we kept running across places pertaining to Emmett Till. I feel it is important not to shield the young from such realities. They need to know that evil is out there. So, Little Jailhouse Gumbo got a lesson about the depravities people can commit on one another. I won't go into the specifics. Follow the links posted if you want to learn more. It is not a story that gives one faith in our fellow man.

Emmett Till Museum
Emmett Till Wikipedia entry
American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till

Hubert Sumlin . . . RIP

Just found out that Hubert Sumlin died this past Sunday (December 4). He was 80 years old.

Notice at the Hubert Sumlin website.
Article in the NY Times.

Delta Blues Odyssey . . . Oddments and Miscellaneous, Part 2

Margaret's Grocery and Market (just north of Vicksburg on old US Hwy 61) . . . "Home of the Double Headed Eagle." Unfortunately, the Reverend is now in a nursing home, Margaret has passed, and the Double Headed Eagle looks to be soon following. Perfect mix of crazy and religion.

Delta Blues Odyssey . . . Oddments and Miscellaneous, Part 1

Cozy Corner Cafe in Indianola, Mississippi.

Two cotton headed ninny mugginses . . .

Mrs. Crump’s house in Nitta Yuma, Mississippi.

It was here in Tutwiler that W.C. Handy heard:

A lean, loose-jointed Negro [who] had commenced plunking a guitar beside me while I slept. His clothes were rags; his feet peeped out of his shoes. His face had on it some of the sadness of the ages. As he played, he pressed a knife on the strings of a guitar in a manner popularized by Hawaiian guitarists who used steel bars. The effect was unforgettable. His song, too, struck me instantly. ‘Goin’ where the Southern cross’ the Dog.’ The singer repeated the line three times, accompanying himself on the guitar with the weirdest music I ever heard.

I guess the rest is history.

Happy Faces Only! . . . Helena, Arkansas.

Where the Southern crosses the Yellow Dog . . . Moorhead, Mississippi.

Abandoned mill in Hollandale, Mississippi. I think Sam Chatmon worked here.


The Jigger & Jug (Greenville, Mississippi), the first legal liquor store in Mississippi following prohibition . . . it opened in 1966!!!

Yuck's Food Market in Indianola.

Along the road to B.B. King's birthplace near Blue Lake.

Delta Blues Odyssey . . . Grave Concerns

Big Joe Williams . . . buried outside of Crawford, Mississippi.

Joe Lee "Big Joe" Williams
1903-1982
"King of the Nine-String Guitar"
Big Joe sustained the longest recording career of any Mississippi bluesman, spanning seven decades (1929-1982). He was a true American Original.


Elmore James . . . buried outside of Ebenezer, Mississippi.


Elmore James
"King of the Slide Guitar"
January 27, 1918 May 24, 1963
reverse
Born in Holmes County, Mississippi Elmore James electrified the rural delta blues with his unique slide guitar style creating a powerful legacy that will remain forever in American music. THE SKY IS CRYING. . . . LOOK AT THE TEARS ROLL DOWN THE STREET


Lonnie Pitchford . . . buried in the same cemetery as Elmore James. A most fitting gravestone, for there is a diddley bow on the side of it (you probably can not make it out, but in the pictures above and below we are plucking at the string). And if you don't understand why it is a fitting tribute, click on the links.


Lonnie Pitchford
1955-1998
"The Delta is my school and the blues is my teacher. It's still God's music. It's just telling the truth."



James "Son" Thomas . . . buried outside of Leland, Mississippi.

James "Son" Thomas
Oct.14, 1926 - June 26, 1993
World renowned Sculptor and Recording Artist, beloved father, grandfather and friend.
Reverse
"Give me beefsteak when I'm hungry, whiskey when I'm dry, pretty women when I'm living, heaven when I die."


Willie Foster . . . buried in Holly Ridge, Mississippi (near the grave of Charley Patton).

Willie James Foster
Harmonica Parader
With Soul
Sept. 19, 1921
May 20, 2001



Mississippi John Hurt . . . buried outside of Avalon, Mississippi.

John S Hurt
Born Mar 8 1892
Died Nov 2 1966


The grave of Mississippi John Hurt is located in one of the more isolated cemeteries we visited . . . and his grave is in the back of that. Apparently, not so long ago, the road to the cemetery was fairly rutted, but it has been graded recently. So, no problems of access now.


Memphis Minnie . . . buried outside of Walls, Mississippi.

Lizzie "Kid" Douglas Lawlers
AKA
Memphis Minnie
June 3, 1897
Aug. 6, 1973


Gus Cannon . . . buried outside of Hernando, Mississippi.

Gus Cannon
September, 1875
Oct. 15, 1779
May he rest in peace.

Delta Blues Odyssey . . . B.B. King

Riley B. King . . . still playing the blues at the age of 86 . . . 15,000 plus performances over a 60 year span.

The home B.B. King was born in was located near this spot on Bear Creek just outside of Berclair. Nothing remains of the house. If you visit the B.B. King Museum you can view a film of him revisiting the area.

I am not sure why, but the historical marker for the B.B. King birthplace is about 1/2 mile from the actual site.

The B.B. King Museum in Indianola (unfortunately no photography was allowed in the exhibit area). This place is a state-of-the-art facility. A buttload of money went into preserving all that is B.B. King. Now don't get me wrong . . . I like B.B. King just fine, but spread the wealth a little. With all of the major players that had something to do with this region of Mississippi (Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Jimmy Reed, etc.), surely some of the space could have been allotted to them with still enough room to tell the story of local boy made good.

The museum structure incorporates this part of an old cotton gin where B.B. King once worked. As this space is available for rentals and such, it is the one photo I could take within the walls of the museum.

Touching greatness . . . Rolling Stone lists B.B. King as number 6 on their 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list.

This is the corner in Indianola where B.B. King cut his musical teeth.

A who's who of musicians travelling the “chitlin circuit” passed through the doors of Club Ebony (Ray Charles, Count Basie, B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Albert King, James Brown, Ike Turner, Clarence Carter, Howlin’ Wolf, etc.). B.B. King now owns the establishment, which is located in Indianola.

Delta Blues Odyssey . . . The Mississippi Sheiks

The Mississippi Sheiks were one of the most popular string bands in the south during the 1930's. Walter Vison and the Chatmon brothers Lonnie, Sam and Bo (with Lonnie and Walter being the constant core of the group) first recorded as the Mississippi Sheiks in 1930. They were responsible for one of the greatest songs of all time . . . "Sitting on Top of the World."

Worked all the summer, and all the fall,
Just trying to find my little all in all.
But now she's gone, I don't worry,
I'm sitting on top of the world.

Bo Carter (Armenter Chatmon) was said to have played on the steps of this storefront (plantation office?) in Nitta Yuma. He is supposedly buried in a nearby cemetery, but we could not find it . . . not that it really mattered, because I don't think he has a headstone. For better or worse, Bo Carter is now mostly remembered for his double-entendre songs.

Was in the spring, one summer day,
Just when she left me, she's gone to stay.
But now she's gone, I don't worry,
I'm sitting on top of the world.

The historical marker for Sam Chatmon is located in the "Blue Front" area of Hollandale, which was once "famed for blues, liquor, and gambling."

Don't you come here runnin', holdin' up your hand,
Can't get me a woman, quick as you get a man.
But now she's gone, I don't worry,
I'm sitting on top of the world.

Apparently Bonnie Raitt and John Fogerty contributed to this memorial headstone for Sam Chatmon.

It have been days, I didn't know your name,
Why should I worry and pray in vain.
But now she's gone, I don't worry,
I'm sitting on top of the world.

In his later years, during the 1960's and 70's, Chatmon was "re-discovered" and was able to record again and play the festivals. Take a gander at this short interview with Chatmon . . . pretty cool stuff.

Went to the station, down in the yard,
Gonna get me a freight train, work done got hard.
But now she's gone, I don't worry,
I'm sitting on top of the world.

"Sitting On Top Of The Wolrd . . . World"

The lonesome days, they have gone by,
Why should you beg me and say goodbye.
But now she's gone, I don't worry,
I'm sitting on top of the world.

Delta Blues Odyssey . . . Robert Nighthawk

While maybe not as famous as some of the other entries on our blues odyssey, Robert Lee McCollum, the Prowling Night-Hawk, was a very influential slide guitarist. A representative story to illustrate his badassitude was when he played at Muddy Waters first wedding (as if that isn't cool enough), the crowd got so worked up that the floor caved-in.

Little Jailhouse Gumbo standing outside the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale (there will be a future blog entry on our stay there) holding a suitcase left at the establishment by Robert Nighthawk not long before he died. "Rat" (the proprietor of Riverside who can be seen in the background standing at the door conversing with Screamin' Killer Davis) related the story of how his mother threw away the contents, but kept the suitcase after Nighthawk's death.

Historical marker along the Mississippi Blues Trail for Robert Nighthawk in Friars Point. He was a man constantly on the move, but he called Friars Point his home more than a couple of times.

Robert Nighthawk's guitar and amplifier exhibited at the Delta Culture Center in Helena, Arkansas.

The gravestone for Robert Nighthawk (on the right) and the gravestone for Frank Frost of the Jelly Roll Kings (on the left) in Helena, Arkansas. Robert Nighthawk's son Sam Carr was also in the Jelly Roll Kings.

Even though Nighthawk only died in 1967, the grave was unmarked and the location within the cemetery is unknown, so his monument was placed next to fellow bluesman Frost.