Finding the Crossroads in Clarksdale
Written: Nov 28 '00 (Updated Nov 28 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Historic roots of the blues here, small town charms
Cons: Small town woes--2 listed restaurants closed and out of business, museum needs time and money to get more exhibits
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| janesbit1's Full Review: Mississippi |
You’ve probably heard about the Blues Highway -- highway 61. You certainly have if you are into the blues, or perhaps you wondered what Bob Dylan was singing about on his Highway 61 Re-visited album, or you saw the Ralph Macchio movie Crossroads in the 1980’s. This area has been on my required list for visiting, and I finally got my chance last Friday when most Americans were hitting the shopping malls for the official opening of Christmas season.
Located in northwestern Mississippi a little over an hour south of Memphis on Highway 61, Clarksdale can easily claim to be the home of the Delta blues. No other single location can claim as many legendary influential blues artists, as Clarksdale became the blues center for the entire region. Beginning with the acknowledged “father of the blues” W.C. Handy, check out some of the other blues artists who can claim Clarksdale as home territory: Son House, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, “Pinetop” Perkins, Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Bessie Smith.
Sooner or later, all traditional blues artists come to Issaqueena Avenue in Clarksdale to lay some blues down. Part of the town along that avenue is abandoned and boarded up, but there’s still a blues atmosphere about the area. There’s also an active juke joint, which was unfortunately closed the short time I was in town, but you can sense why the area is such fertile ground for the blues.
Ask modern guitarists about Clarksdale, and you’ll likely see a gleam of recognition in their eye, as they tell about the musical influences of the area. For one of the more famous instances of this, check out ZZ Top, who had a piece of Muddy Water’s Clarksdale shack made into a guitar, dubbed the “Muddywood,” and sent it out on tour to raise money for the Delta Blues Museum.
Delta Blues Museum
The museum is the main tourist attraction of Clarksdale and is worth a visit. They have converted the old train station that Muddy Waters once waited at to catch his train to Chicago into a blues museum. Presently the artifacts are limited, but with more funding they have big plans to become a comprehensive site. You can see those plans at the official web site at: http://www.deltabluesmuseum.org/
You can still get a sense of the area from the museum. It contains numerous pictures from the cotton-picking days, along with a few cotton bales scattered throughout the displays. There’s also a chronological display of blues memorabilia. While these consist mostly of pictures and text, there will be a few surprises along the way: a harmonica from Big Mama Thornton, a guitar from Son House, a sign from the store where Robert Johnson was poisoned, and much more.
The museum has fairly recently added a section for blues concerts, and they have had Buddy Guy and other notables perform there. They even had a large blues festival this past summer, headlined by Queen of the Blues Koko Taylor! The gift shop contains standard souvenir fare, but the most helpful item I found there was a blues map of the area that locates significant blues sites.
Heading for the Crossroads
One of my missions was to find the real Crossroads. This is the legendary place where Robert Johnson is rumored to have made his pact with the Devil, converting himself from a really weak beginning guitar player almost “overnight” to the best blues guitarist anyone had ever heard. All I knew was that the legendary Crossroads was in the Clarksdale area.
The modern Crossroads is easy to find, and is marked with a sign suitable for tourist picture taking at the junction of highway 61 and highway 49. But that is NOT the Crossroads of Johnson fame. For that one I consulted the blues map for the junction of the old highway 61 and highway 49, and ended up just a little ways from the Delta Blues Museum after passing W.C. Handy’s onetime home site on Issaqueena Avenue.
I didn’t see the Devil there, but I took my picture there during the rainstorm and felt fulfilled that I had been to the Crossroads. I can’t say that everyone would get off on the laid back hamlet of Clarksdale, but if you’re into the blues, it’s a required pilgrimage. Sooner or later, all blues people have to get to Issaqueena Avenue.
Recommended:
Yes
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janesbit1
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Member: John Nesbit
Location: Phoenix, Az.
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Watching movies and baseball, now reviewing at oldschoolreviews.com
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