Teen-aged David “Honeyboy” Edwards met Charley Patton. Soon he left home with Big Joe Williams to hobo and ramble. He played with Robert Johnson and was with him the night he was poisoned. Big Walter, Sonny Boy and Little Walter all played harp with Honeyboy. He became pals with giants Son House and Roosevelt Sykes. Who knows? He might have played with everybody.

My live introduction to Honeyboy: 9:00 p.m. August 11,  2005.

Honeyboy, an acoustic set, front porch style, Robert Johnson-like stuff, in Clarksdale’s Ground Zero, 90-years-old giving it the old way, for real. First joined by Bobby Rush on harp in two straight back chairs rocking with shoes patting the floor in time together. Then joined by Pinetop Perkins, 92-years-old on piano, killing a packed house. Guitar man, Big Jack Johnson takes over the drums from Sam Carr, as the old guy tires. Bobby Rush harping hard, joined by Big George Brock at Bobby’s feet laying on his back giving the music his all. Honeyboy on the side as the whole bunch are jamming hard.

All this jive, a once in a lifetime “Big Blues Bright Moment.” Need I say more?

If you haven’t experienced the blues of “Honeyboy Edwards,” now you have a chance at the eccentric Ponderosa Stomp September 24th and 25th in New Orleans.

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

Ground Zero in Clarksdale is a blues person’s institution. A must for anyone forging a blues trail. Here music, beverage and joyful good times create special memories. Bill Luckett and Morgan Freeman shared this gift with Mississippians.

Not only is Zero a must for any blues fans, but it is  already an elite Mississippi institution. If you haven’t danced, drank, and relaxed here, you are past due.

Festival weekends on the couches, out front is a happening scene, creating moments of joyful bliss for blues lovers. Zero is a blues frat house, and all who want to pledge are welcome. Feel the mystical spirit of the blues deep inside as you watch the sun set behind its roof, dimming the Delta or watching the sun birth with some good tunes. There’s nothing like a good bloody mary from Zero’s front porch couch.

It’s what the Blues is all about–Big Fun.

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

Mississippi, the State of the Blues, giving birth to this truly American art form.

Baptizing of a music all its own to spread to the world.

Mississippi, the State of the Blues today, Scott with words, Ken with eyes, picture our blues in the present.

Young and old musicians are alive and well, performing and sharing their gifts. Opportunities to play music in traditional clubs and many festivals provide steady contact with Blues fans.

Local blues enthusiasts are abundant, joined with supporters from world wide visiting our state to experience these good times.

Culturally living within this art form–“the blues experience”–we the fans get to have a good ole party and throw down.

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

Last year about this time, I made a pilgrimage to West Point paying respects to an all-time hero, Howlin’ Wolf. I started listening to his music over 40 years ago, and to say his musical influence on me is huge is an understatement.

The Howlin’ Wolf Blues Museum is really a small room in size yet chock full of Wolf memorabilia. It is a fan’s paradise of Wolfana reverently displayed with gifts from Hubert Sumlin–Wolf’s longtime guitar player, and the lovable Willie King.

For me it’s hard not to think about the Wolf without hearing “Spoonful” in my mind. Going from Wolf’s version to Willie King’s and then back to the Wolf. Two greats gone from my life yet their music lives.

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

Moanin’ at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin’ Wolf

by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman

Pantheon (2004)

Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett)–all six feet three inches and 300 pounds of him–is a god of the blues. Moanin’ is the first full length biography capturing this giant of American music.

From a hard childhood around West Point, Mississippi, Wolf emerged to become immortal, even expressing desire to play the blues on the moon. This landmark biography captures the times and influences upon this icon. In the 30s, as a young man he was playing next to Sonny Boy II, from whom he learned to play the harp and Robert Johnson.

In the early 50s Wolf hit Chicago, recording for Chess, and the world opened up. Working with Willie Dixon, and backed by Hubert Sumlin, Wolf developed a style of overwhelming intensity. His presence was created with a feral state of antics, crawling around on all fours, howling out masculinity. Women found him irresistible. It was music that would pitch a wang dang doodle and tear the house down.

Moanin’ at Midnight captures it all, helping us to understand how Wolf, Muddy, Sonny Boy, Little Water and a parade of others–led by Willie Dixon– defined electric blues for the world.

Howlin’ Wolf’s final performance was in Chicago with B. B. King in November of 1975. This larger than life giant passed away in January of 1976.

West Point, Mississippi now honors the Wolf this time of year with the “Howlin’ Wolf Memorial Blues Festival.”

How do you make a fabulous book on Mississippi blues? Get the well-known Mississippian photographer Ken Murphy to join forces with blues aficionado Scott Barretta.

You may know the work of Ken Murphy through his previous books, My South Coast Home and Mississippi. You may not know that it was sort of an accident that he became a photographer. An injury to his right index finger in a war game operation in Germany led to a reassignment with a hobby shop at a U.S. military base which led to his interest in photography. In 1986 Ken received a BFA degree in Narrative, Documentary and Editorial Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. To our good fortune, he landed back in Mississippi to capture the beauty and curiosity of our state.

Scott Barretta finds his professional home at University of Mississippi, but his love of the blues has taken him cross-country and over the ocean. Studying sociology and editing the oldest continuous blues publication–which happens to be in Sweden–gave Scott a sweeping view of the blues tradition and its fans. Though his work has taken him to various and sundry places, Scott is pleased to reside in the heart of the blues while researching and writing under The Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, the Mississippi Arts Commission, Mississippi Blues Commission and other organizations at the center of blues study and support. You can also listen to him on Highway 61 Radio.

While these two were doing great work on their own, John Evans somehow managed to get  them together: “Ken’s photos flip-sided by Scott’s commentary, two creators coming together on the shape of Mississippi blues today” (“Forward” Mississippi: State of Blues).

Nothing can replace holding the book in your hands, but we’re going to be giving you a preview of this gorgeous book. The unexpected treat at the end is a list of blues festivals, clubs that regularly feature blues, and a list of museums and resources devoted to the blues.

So be on the lookout over the coming weeks. We’ll be posting our thoughts on State of Blues on our blog. Got your own Mississippi blues memory about one of Ken’s photos? Share it with us in the comments section. Howlin’ Wolf is gonna start us off tomorrow!

The book will go on sale in early November. Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta will be at Lemuria Thursday, November 11th for a Signing at Sunset with live music at the DotCom building. If that’s too early for you, there’s more live music and fun at Jackson’s Underground 119 starting at 8 o’clock. (Click here for directions.)

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

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

jjj

In 1986 Ken received a BFA degree in Narrative, Documentary and
Editorial Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in
In 1986 Ken received a BFA degree in Narrative, Documentary and
Editorial Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in
Rochester, New York.
Rochester, New York.

I love to look at cool photograph books about music I care about. It’s fun and brings back many memories, sights and sounds of good times shared with friends and family. Our music gives Mississippians so much to be proud of as it enhances the quality of our lives.

Blues, Booze, & BBQ is a full of the stuff that makes our Mississippi Delta special. Michael Young visited Lemuria last month and the bookstore found a new pal. He received the 2010 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for photography for his new blues book. As I visited with Michael, I learned that all book proceeds go to The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, which has a show for this book hanging through August 2010.

A favorite photo of Pat Thomas close up captures the air of the artist/musician legacy wearing his ever slanted headgear.

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New Roxy is a perfectly balanced Clarksdale Festival street scene.

T-Model with his Jack says what it’s all about.

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Michael’s book makes you want to go party in the Delta. Sunflower Blues Festival next month in Clarksdale is a great time to hear music, catch Michael’s photo exhibit or just sit with a beverage in front of the always fun Ground Zero with these pals that I hope to join soon. During the Sunflower fest, be sure to catch Cathead’s Mini Blues Fest II starring Big George Brock, Jimbo Mathus and more on August 8th.

www.michaelloydyoung.com includes Blues, Booze, and BBQ signed photos Michael has for sale by request. (Again all proceeds go to The Delta Blues Museum.)

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Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive

Text and Photographs by Dick Waterman; Introduction by Peter Guralnick; Preface by Bonnie Raitt; Thunder’s Mouth Press (2003)

This collection is summed up best in the opening dedication: “To lovers of the blues . . . ” featured across the page from a 1968 photo of a young Buddy Guy.

Waterman’s book is a feast for the eyes on some of the most classic personalities in blues: John Hurt and Son House sharing a conversation (1964); Muddy Waters (1965); B. B. King (1966); Howlin Wolf (1965); Luther Allison and John Lee (1995); Albert King (1969); Otis Rush (1971); Big Mama Thorton (1972). And on and on, it seems as if they are all included.

Companion personal essays accompany each photo grouping with behind the photo experience commentary of Waterman’s time with the players. Looking at the photos, you realize Waterman’s fortunate exposure to this time and place. Reading about his interactions with these artists capture for the reader this glorious musical period. It’s easy to become jealous of the closeness he shared with these unique individuals.

Very rarely are we able to offer a true blues collectible in book form. Between Midnight and Day comes in a very special edition printed as 1 of 450 copies signed by the author. Also, an archival photo of B. B. King signed by Dick Waterman is laid in the folding protective box.

This book is also available in hardback and over-sized paperback.

Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History, from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago’s South Side to the World

by Robert Palmer

Viking Penguin (1981)

Browsers in our music section often say, “I want to read about the Blues, where do I start?”  Always a good choice is Palmer’s Deep Blues.  This little paperback is so readable and yet continuously informative – every page seems to have an unexpected folk-social history fact tucked in the text.

In 1903, the first descriptions of black music in the Delta were published in the Journal of American Folklore.  From this point, Palmer describes the musical influence from Africa as it migrated into Delta culture, placing emphasis on how folk polyrhythms played such an important part in the development of Mississippi Blues (this section surely was one of my favorites, as Palmer featured interesting narratives on hand drumming).

From Dockery Plantation, to the early 1920s and 30s recordings, to Mighty Mojo Muddy From Stovall, Palmer writes a who’s who of Delta Music.  With ease he explains how all the players were influenced by the music and each other, fitting in together and creating a Delta way of life.  From the Delta, to Chicago in the 40s, through the Chess’n of the 50s Blues Gods – not leaving out King Biscuit Time or Memphis and all the pathways in between – Palmer clearly explains it all.

All the major players appear with jigsaw puzzle perfection explained in time, influence, and place.  Palmer chronicles how major songs, bands, record labels and communities grew from the Delta blues, thus having a major impact on the world music scene.

Deep Blues has a chapter-by-chapter discography and bibliography to further guide the reader.  Unfortunately, Robert Palmer passed away in 1997.  A 30-year updated anniversary edition would be so interesting – a very good excuse for a reread.