First we went to the legendary "Crossroads". This is the intersection of Highways 61 and 49 where it is said that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for virtuosity on the blues guitar. Robert Johnson wrote a blues song entitled Crossroads but there is no reference to the Devil. The song is actually about a black man in Mississippi try to get back into down before sundown. During those days there was a curfew for African-Americans and there would be severe consequences to being caught out after dark. Eric Clapton recorded a version of this song and it is one of his signature pieces.
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| The legendary Crossroads |
Afterwards we went to the Delta Blues Museum located in the old train station. It is appropriate that this be the location of the museum. One must remember that life in Mississippi was not pleasant (an understatement!) for African-Americans in the 1920s and '30s. As soon as a blues musician gained any modicum of success it was straight to the train station with a one-way ticket as far north as he could get. This is why you can follow the trail of the blues from Clarksdale to Memphis to St. Louis to Chicago. The museum had a lot of interesting exhibits, but photography was not allowed inside.
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| The Delta Blues Museum |
After looking around the town some more we headed back to our shack for a little rest before going out to hear some more live music in the evening. I was inspired enough to get out my old Epiphone and play a little blues on the porch.
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| Channeling Robert Johnson? |
That evening we went to the Ground Zero Blues Club. The band playing was the Brandon Santini Blues Band. Ground Zero is definitely set up for tourists. The clientele was exclusively white and consisted mainly of older folks and college students.
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| Ground Zero Blues Club |
After listening to a few sets we decided to go back to the shack and rest up for the morning.
More later!
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