Today marked the end of our stay in Memphis as we took the first stage of our road trip to Clarksdale. Having let the rush hour traffic die down we loaded the car and commenced our drive south.
The route would take us down Highway 61 known as The Blues Highway. This was the road that took the early bluesmen from their roots in the delta to the city of Memphis and then onwards to Chicago.
As we left the city and suburbs of Memphis behind us,the scenery became very flat and the road ahead very straight.
The first stop on todays journey was to be in Clarksdale a small community in Mississippi that was home to many famous bluesmen including one Robert Johnson. It is said that when Johnson was a young man he sat and admired some of the old blues players but could not play a note himself. He left town and returned a few years later a guitar virtuoso, a talent apparently given to him by the devil in return for his soul. This event is commemerated today by the twin guitars .
Johnson died at 27 having written some of the greatest blues compositions including,of course, “Crossroads Blues” later made famous by Eric Clapton. We will never know whether the story is true but even if it was it’s doubtful that it occurred at this location. If I can play the blues when I get home perhaps there may be some truth to it.
Clarksdale was a very poor town in Johnson’s time and doesn’t appear to be much richer today with many of the buildings looking in a derelict condition.
The town is home to the Delta Blues Museum, a well put together exhibition and celebration of the area and its musical roots.
The museum outlined the history of the blues and contained many artifacts from the early days including some examples of African instruments. One of the larger exhibits was the cabin that was the early home of bluesman Muddy Waters which demonstrated the absolute poverty that these folk lived in. A really good presentaion but unfortunately due to copyright reasons we could not take any photos.
Walking through the town there were markers celebrating other people and events connected with blues including former Clarksdale resident, Ike Turner.
The town is also home to the Ground Zero blues club, which is owned by actor Morgan Freeman.
I sat on the veradah looking for some blues inspiration.
The journey then took us east across the state of Mississippi to the city of Tupelo, where tomorrow we will explore the birthplace of Elvis.