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MISSISSIPPI
ROADS
SHOW #2705
Mississippi Roads is coming to you from the
heart of the delta and home of the crossroads
in Clarksdale, Mississippi; we are at the Delta
Blues Museum.
The Delta Blues Museum has a
lot of exhibits on display but if you are looking
for something new and fresh; they offer a rotating
exhibit that changes every four to five months.
True blues royalty is currently featured in
a display honoring legendary drummer Sam Carr.
Sam was born here in Coahoma County in 1926.
His father was the blues slide guitar great
Robert Nighthawk. Sam began playing the blues
in the 1940's and has played everything from
juke joints to international festivals. He is
best know in these parts for playing with Big
Jack Johnson and Frank Frost. They made up the
Jelly Roll Kings. Sam Carr is one of the most
important blues drummers to ever come out of
the Mississippi Delta; so make sure you stop
by and check out this display.
And
speaking of the blues, in our next story we
step over to the WROX museum here in Clarksdale
, which pays tribute to Early Wright one of
the first African-American deejays in the south.
The
W.R.O.X. museum was the site of the W.R.O.X.
blues radio station from around 1946 to 1953,
according to the building's current owner, Bubba
O'Keefe. Early Wright, Ike Turner and Robert
Nighthawk all had shows here, plus Elvis, Sam
Cooke and Sonny Boy Williamson II were all on
the air there at some point in time. Open weekdays
10-5 plus festival weekends or by appointment.
257 Delta Ave. Admission is $5/per year for
adults. Children 13 & under free. Special
group/tour rates. Contact Bubba O'Keefe 662
645 8874 or John Fewkes (Director) 662 357 3618.
The cabin where Muddy Waters lived as he grew
up here in Clarksdale is on display along with
memorabilia in the museum. The legendary blues
man was a sharecropper on the Stovall Plantation
in the 1920’s and early 1930’s.
He was discovered and recorded by musicologist
Alan Lomax . Muddy would be a part of the Northern
migration of Blacks in the 1930’s. He
would be credited with electrifying the blues;
when he plugged his guitar into an amplifier
in order to be heard over the noise of the city
of Chicago.
One thing you want find a shortage of in the
delta is blues musicians but doctors on the
other hand have been vanishing from the landscape
in record numbers. In our next story we take
a look at a program designed to cure the physician
shortage plaguing the rural parts of our state.
There is no shortage of guitars at the Delta
Blues Museum. You will find a lot of the Stella
Guitars that were popular with blues musicians
from the south because of their cheap price,
durability and superior sound. Big Joe Williams’
twelve sting guitar is on display here. He preferred
to only use nine of the strings when he played.
But probably the most famous of guitars is also
featured here at the museum. Lucille, BB King’s
sweetheart has served him well from his humble
beginnings in Indianola.
And speaking of guitars, in our next story we
travel up the road to Olive Branch and meet
a man that has a pretty extensive collection
of guitars of his own.
Jeff Brown is all about guitars, electric, acoustic,
old, new, bought or rescued from the trash.
He loves playing them and collecting them. He
has whittled his collection down to his top
seventy-five and you can usually find him in
his guitar room picking one of his prized possessions.
It seems that each guitar the Jeff owns has
a story behind the strings.
There is a lot more to the Delta Blues Museum
here in Clarksdale than just displays. They
also offer an Arts and Education Program to
the kids of the region. The program is designed
to teach students to play music, and keep the
history of the Delta blues alive and well. The
group recently traveled to Chicago and performed
at the Chicago Blues Festival and they were
also featured at the Sunflower Blues Festival
which is held right here on the grounds of the
Delta Blues Museum.
http://www.sunflowerfest.org/index.cfm
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