
The Blues Highway 61
They call Highway 61 the “Blues Highway” and the “Great River Road” as it follows the Mississippi as it winds it way from Minnesota to New Orleans. One could argue that it is actually the “History of American Music” Highway.
Just think about it. Highway 61 begins near Duluth, Minnesota, the birthplace of Bob Dylan, whose folk music beginnings meander to the seminal “Highway 61 Revisited” and beyond). It skirts through St. Louis, Missouri, the home of Chuck Berry (heralded as the “Father of Rock ‘n Roll”). It slices through Memphis, the rock n roll birthplace of Sun Records (Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Sam Phillips and more) and also the soul of Stax Records (Albert King, Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas, Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs, The Staple Singers, and on and on…).
Highway 61 hits the flat Mississippi Delta, know as the birthplace of the blues, for good reason. Hard times begat haunting music of Bessie Smith, Charlie Patton at the Dockery Farms cotton plantation, the birthplaces of Muddy Waters and B.B. King. Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the Crossroads, and may be buried in one of 3 marked graves near the route. Not far, Emmitt Till lost his life, and sparked the Civil Rights movement.
Ultimately the road ends in New Orleans, full of jazz and zydeco, a virtual jambalaya of sounds and flavors from cultures who were forcibly brought to this country. The trip is haunting, exhilarating, full of ghosts, tamales, BBQ and gumbo.
Po Monkey's Juke Joint Marigold, Mississippi 2013
Gateway to the Blues Tunica, Mississippi 2013
WABG Radio Station Greenwood, Mississippi 2013
Elvis Presley's Birthplace Tupelo, Mississippi 2022
Johnnie's Drive In (Elvis Presley's Hangout) Tupelo, Mississippi 2022
Train tracks and cotton fields Clarksdale, Mississippi 2013
Robert Johnson's Gravesite No 3 Greenwood, Mississippi 2013
Robert Johnson's Gravesite No 3 Greenwood, Mississippi 2013
Ground Zero Blues Club Clarksdale, Mississippi 2014
Barn outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi 2013
Abe's Bar-B-Q Clarksdale, Mississippi 2013
Dockery Farms Cleveland, Mississippi 2014
Dockery Service Station Cleveland, Mississippi 2013
Dockery Farms Cleveland, Mississippi 2013
Earl Simmon's Art Shop Bovina, Mississippi 2017
Bus and Pulpit at Margaret's Grocery Vicksburg, Tennessee 2013
Moon Lake Store Dundee, Mississippi 2013
No Furnature (sic) Bell Buckle, Tennessee 2002
Mount Zion (Robert Johnson's Gravesite No 2) Itta Bena, Mississippi 2014
The Daisy Memphis, Tennessee 2022
Riverside Hotel Clarksdale, Mississippi 2014
Earnestine and Hazel's Memphis, Tennessee 2022
Hometown of Tina Turner Nutbush, Tennessee 2017
The Hollywood Tunica, Mississippi 2014
Along Highway 61 Clarksdale, Mississippi 2013
Shack Up Inn Clarksdale, Mississippi 2022
Delta Blues Cafe Art Car Clarksdale, Mississippi 2022
Bad Apple Blues Club Clarksdale, Mississippi 2022
The Crossroads Clarksdale, Mississippi 2013
Earnestine and Hazel's Memphis, Tennessee 2022
Po Monkey's Lounge Merigold, Mississippi 2014
Sun Records Memphis, Tennessee 2014
Meat and Threes Clarksdale, Mississippi 2014
D & T Market Clarksdale, Mississippi 2022
Shack Up Inn Clarksdale, Mississippi 2022
Street Heroes Memphis, Tennessee 2022
Street Musician New Orleans, Louisiana 2014
Music Reflections New Orleans, Louisiana 2014
Window New Orleans, Louisiana 2014
Shack Up Inn Clarksdale, Mississippi 2022
Doorway Clarksdale, Mississippi 2022
Church Clarksdale, Mississippi 2014
Shirley's Beauty Salon Memphis, Tennessee 2014