Much of a blues experience is determined by the scene for performing and listening: outside festivals with the state of the art sound systems or venues with music coming from store fronts, sidewalks or alleys. The venue itself often determines what kind of experience is shared by the performer and the listener reflecting with the interactions of the music. I love the juke joint experience. For me musical highs come within these small vibrating dens of joy.

Red, Photo by Ken Murphy, State of Blues

Red’s, run by Red, is my favorite juke which I try to go to every time I make a trip to Clarksdale. Big Jack Johnson is a regular here. One night at Red’s, Jack’s electric blues was joined with a thunderstorm moving through the Delta.

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Thunder boomed as rain soaked through the plastic ceiling, while Jack kept playing, dodging the rain while everybody else got soaked, too. The pool table became a pond and the slick floor was wild with dancing. Lightning flashed as Big Jack’s blues kept coming on the banks of the Sunflower river.

Willie King at Betty's, Photo by Bill Steber

My juke favorite was a very special evening out in the woods. With pals, we journeyed to our beloved Willie King’s Sunday night gig at Betty’s place. Outside Macon, down dirt roads we landed on Betty’s parking ground. Finding our loving pal, Willie James King’s fine longtime drummer, we were immediately accepted as a part of King’s gang. Betty’s is a converted Jim Walter-like-home bar. Everything is at a slant and bathrooms go to the ground. This memorable experience was like no other, partying hard with a down-home bunch. After Willie’s funeral, we went to Betty’s to share cold beer in his honor, my last trip.

Blues joints are so cool that now they are being used to market neat product brands. Cathead vodka chose Betonia’s Blue Front Cafe with its leader Jimmy Duck Holmes to stage photographic scenes for their web presence.

Please relay your favorite juke joint and your stories.

I need new fun places to go.

Thursday night is Blues Night at Lemuria with Scott Barretta and Ken Murphy signing Mississippi: State of Blues. Catch the live music at our Dot Com building starting at 4:00 with a book signing and a talk to follow from Scott and Ken.

Later on, join us at Underground 119 for a book opening party with blues man Jesse Robinson. Click here for more details.

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As I travel to musical events in the Delta, I enjoy visiting the graves of blues players. It’s my homage and my way to show appreciation and care for the psyche of the makers of this music that I admire and enjoy.

A couple of years ago, along with my music buddy and girlfriend Jeanie, we ventured to find the grave of Mississippi John Hurt, who died on November 2, 1966. We left Greenwood on our way to Avalon, close to where Hurt lived. We followed the guidebook taking us down a gravel road and up a dirt road which we drove back and forth multiple times. Finally, through the woods we find the entrance to his family plot. All the way in the back Hurt rests, one of the gentlest of blues musicians. High up on the Yocona Ridge, overlooking the Delta lay the bones of this musical specialist. A tree canopy shelters his grave, covering what feels like holy ground as you approach and meander about. Words don’t do this special spot justice; Ken’s photo helps.

Over the years, we visited many blues graves of which Sonny Boy II is another favorite. It’s no telling what adornment tokens you will find left with respect. It’s not uncommon to find half a pint of whiskey left, placed after toasting, waiting for a spirit to return and imbibe.

Share your favorite blues resting spots you’ve experienced and the most unusual tokens observed. I would like to visit what’s meaningful to you and step into your story, especially with a toast for a by-gone blues singer.

Click here to see all of our blogs on Mississippi State of Blues.

Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta will be signing at Lemuria on Thursday, November 11th.

Reserve your copy online or call the bookstore 601/800.366.7619.

For a view of the beautiful photos, please visit the official State of Blues website.

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Photographed by Bill Ferris in Leland, MS, 1968. From the William R. Ferris Collection. Click on the above image for an amazing trip through the Southern Folklife Collection.

Around 40 years ago, I learned about Son Thomas from Bill Ferris’s research and work. Soon there after, at Patti Black’s Capitol Folk Series, I heard Son live in the restored senate chamber. These two folks have done so much to preserve and guide our education about Mississippi blues.

About five years ago, I heard Pat Thomas performing with his ever-slanted head gear in Clarksdale. Pat looks remarkably like his dad and patterns his musical style from his father, performing many of the same songs as he carries forth his dad’s legacy. Pat, like his father, molds out of clay–“heads” also patterned after his father’s art style. Pat loves to draw cats which he enjoys labeling with “Love Dad” as part of signing his artwork.

Around the same time I heard Pat, I bought from Roger Stolle’s fine Cathead Delta Blues and Art Store a very cool head done by Pat for my son Austin’s birthday present. He placed Pat’s fine head on his mantle in Charleston, South Carolina.

Over the years as my son churned his idea for a vodka distillery with his roommate Richard, it seems that Roger’s Cathead store and Pat’s Cathead sculpture weaved through their consciousness. As their vodka distillery–Mississippi’s first legal distillery–came about, Cathead was chosen for its name and a Pat Thomas cat influences their logo design.

It’s so strange the influence of Mississippi blues on our lives. Sometimes, it’s just hard to explain. However, thanks to Roger and Pat, Cathead Vodka is now launched.

It’s not really necessary to understand why things happen, it’s just fun to go for the ride and let the blues vibe work within your soul.

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Click here to see all of our blogs on Mississippi State of Blues.

Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta will be signing at Lemuria on Thursday, November 11th.

Reserve your copy online or call the bookstore 601/800.366.7619.

For a view of the beautiful photos, please visit the official State of Blues website.

jjj

Hopson Plantation is the home of the annual Pinetop Perkins Birthday Celebration–taking place this Sunday.

Pinetop was the piano player for Muddy Waters’ legendary blues band from Belzoni and drove a tractor on Hopson in the 1940s. With a vibrant and legendary career at the age of 97, Pinetop has recently been honored with a 2011 Governor’s Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The Sunday after Helena (Arkansas Blues Fest– the Biscuit) is a fine gathering all around the acclaimed Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale. Lawn chairs, constant music, flowing beverage with BBQ are part of this very cool scene. This special Sunday is usually visited by some of the best Biscuit blues players jamming together impromptu. I’ve seen marvelous performances by Michael Burks and of course the maestro Pinetop on keyboards is always a special treat.

Pinetop Perkins with Jeanie Clinton at the Pinetop Birthday Celebration in Clarksdale 2008

One year I was given a gift, a piece of unique artwork by Chris Kruse signed by Pinetop, who if he’s up to it will autograph and be chariot-ed around Shack Up, visiting with all from a golf cart.

This Sunday in Clarksdale will also be alive with music sponsored by the incomparable Cathead Music Store (where you can buy Kruse’s art). Managed by pal Roger Stolle, the festivities will take over Delta Drive with the live music of the Cat Head Mini Fest. Big Red takes care of the BBQ.

Spend the evening time at Red’s Juke Joint with the Post-Biscuit blues jam featuring the Corn Lickers and guests. This scene is a blast for those with any energy left or no Monday AM obligations.

This weekend is a major Delta-time event with four full days of blues fun embellishing all aspects of musical comradeship.

Click here to see all of our blogs on Mississippi State of Blues.

Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta will be signing at Lemuria on Thursday, November 11th.

Reserve your copy online or call the bookstore 601/800.366.7619.

jjj

I was looking through some old records and found the first one I ever bought by B. B. King, Sweet Sixteen. I can’t remember which year, but it was a long time ago. My first live baptism from B.B. was probably in the late sixties at the Jackson Colosseum. Also, I can remember an early Medger Evers’s Homecoming in Jackson. However, my favorite memory was at a 70s New Orleans Jazz Fest on stage between the Wild Magnolias and the great Jazz Mack-Truck drummer Art Blakey, a special night of music.

In high school, during a Hot Stax show, I caught Bobby Blue Bland as a first. I think the Bar-Kays backed up the opening act for Bobby for Sam and Dave and Otis Redding. I was an instant fan for all of these guys. Bobby’s two steps from The Blues is an all-time favorite Blues/Soul album. I saw Bobby last at the Biscuit (Arkansas Blues Festival) in Helena, Arkansas. A fine evening of music sitting on the Levee in the cool October air soaking in my favorites once again.

Ken’s photo of B. B. and Bobby B is priceless, a classic, perhaps my favorite in Ken and Scott’s new book. Love radiates off these old pros.

B. B. is something very special and will be at the Helena Blues Festival. He’s still touring, still King of the Blues. The thrill may not be what it was, but it’s definitely not gone.

Click here to see all of our blogs on Mississippi State of Blues.

Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta will be signing at Lemuria on Thursday, November 11th.

Reserve your copy online or call the bookstore 601/800.366.7619.

jjj

After cutting his teeth on the 60s Chicago blues scene, Bobby moved to Jackson in the early 80s. Rush is now Mississippi’s Blues Institution and Chitlin’ Circuit King. Few people seem to enjoy performing as much as Bobby–having a ball with his outrageous stage antics, singing, dancing all around like a young man while playing his harp and guitar.

A couple of years ago, Bobby Rush gave a fine performance at Lemuria. This evening of music was hosted by Scott Barretta, as he interviewed Bobby between sets. It was a lot of fun and just plain ole down home blues. Mixed in between his raw blues, Bobby told stories while Scott egged him on. My favorite was about Bobby playing in Chicago Playboy Club early on, being the first black blues man to work that scene.

Lemurians are fond of this priceless token of thanks Bobby left behind.

However, few musical memories are more fun to relive than the show put on by Rush’s remarkable girls–his sexy dancers, colorfully dressed, percolating and gyrating to the constant rhythm, always energized by the Nightfisher himself–Mr. Bobby Rush.

Nice. Nice nice.

Bobby Rush will be playing at the Harp & Juke Fest on Thursday, October 7th. Get all the details at Underground 119.

Click here to see all of our blogs on Mississippi State of Blues.

Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta will be signing at Lemuria on Thursday, November 11th.

Reserve your copy online or call the bookstore 601/800.366.7619.

jjj

In 1941, John Work and Alan Lomax made the first recordings of Muddy Waters (i.e., McKinley Morganfield) on Stovall Plantation outside of Clarksdale. The site of Muddy’s cabin is marked by a blues trail marker and a holy place to tip your glass and toast something very special.

Inside The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale rests the actual cabin of Muddy while he lived on Stovall. It’s decorated with Muddy (himself in wax) and cool Muddy-ana.

The Delta Blues Museum has accumulated a broad array of blues artifacts in a very comfortable setting. Music dress suits from performances, instruments, photos and blues history abound in this wonderful place to spend an afternoon. Our pal, Shelley, has done a fine job of making this museum alive and comfortable.

The Delta Blues Museum is not just about artifacts of the past but the home of the today’s blues. The well-designed music stage hosts music events and the Sunflower Music Festival in August as the blues of 2010 lives on.

Click here to read about the studies of John Work and his notes and photographs of Muddy Waters during the 1940s.

For the past four years around the first of June a question forms on many mouths: “Are you going to The Picnic?”

The most common answer: “Yep!”

We had all been listening to R.L Burnside, Junior Kimbrough and Othar Turner for years and then the rest of the world caught up with us.  These gentlemen have all passed away but they passed their talents on to the younger generation and even taught some friends a thing or two.  Lucky for us!  My husband, Steve,went to The Picnic the first year in 2006 and came home with some great tales of music and mayhem so I marked my calendar for 2007.  We have enjoyed ourselves ever since, and in fact, The Picnic at Kenny Brown’s farm was part of our honeymoon in 2009!  How many people do you know can say they honeymooned in Potts Camp, Mississippi?

Click here to see all of our blogs on Mississippi State of Blues.

Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta will be signing at Lemuria on Thursday, November 11th.

Reserve your copy online or call the bookstore 601/800.366.7619.

jjj