Monday 25 April 2016 - We were so happy to have a travelling companion with us for a few days. We met up with Clive at the excellent WW11 Museum in New Orleans and after picking up a rental car, we headed north towards the Mississippi Blues Highway. Crossing the 38km long causeway across Lake Pontchartrain, Hurricane Katrina comes to mind as you realise how easy it is for New Orleans to flood. The Americana Music Triangle includes New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville; and Highway 61 links NO with Memphis via the Blues Highway. We stopped over in Jackson, Mississippi and spent a fabulous evening at Hal and Mal's, listening to authentic Blues music, eating fried chicken and drinking Bourbon with the most talented,generous and friendly group of locals ever.
The next day we headed for Clarksdale via Crystal Springs, Robert Johnson's home town and the BB King Museum in Indianola. All along the Blues Trail you can search for plaques and landmarks that commemorate important people and places and tell the story of the history and development of Blues Music. We ate lunch at The Old Country Store on Route 61 in Lorman MS. It was hands down the best fried chicken we have ever eaten! And we got to meet chef and owner, old Mr. D. After a stop at BB King's Museum in Indianola, MS, we rolled into Clarksdale for the evening. Clarksdale is the home of blues music and after many years of neglect, a handful of music lovers have settled there and are trying to create a local tourist industry around music. We had dinner at the "down home" Ramon's followed by live music at Hambone. Next day, we visited Cathead Record Store and the Rock and Blues Museum before " Going down to the Crossroads " - the intersection of Highway 61 and Route 49, in the rain.
The legend goes that Robert Johnson made a deal with the devil here; guitar skills for his soul...
After lunch at Abe's, ( BBQ 2) we hit the road for Memphis. First stop, Sun Records and a tour of the studio where Rock 'n Roll was born. Sam Philips recorded the so called first Rock n Roll record here; Ike Turner's "Rocket 88", in March 1951. In June 1954, during a recording break Elvis was fooling around in the studio singing "That's all right Mama" when Sam realised he had found the new sound he had been searching for and the rest they say, is Rock 'n Roll history! We all enjoyed an evening of music on Beale St. The next day Clive had to leave but Neil and I spent another 4 nights in Memphis. We ate lunch on Friday at Central ( BBQ 3) ( best ribs I've ever had ) and on Sunday at Neely's Interstate; ( BBQ 4) voted 2nd best BBQ in America by People Magazine.
Despite quite a bit of rain and a great deal of mud, we loved the Beale Street Music Festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. We saw, amongst others, Neil Young, Grace Potter, the Arcs, Ana Popovic and Megan Trainor but my favourite by far was Paul Simon. He has a new album out and had an awesome backing group, but he sang so many old hits and had 4 encores!We didn't go to Graceland; we have been before but we did go to the Rock and Soul Museum and to the excellent National Civil Rights Museum; built around the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated.
The next day we headed for Clarksdale via Crystal Springs, Robert Johnson's home town and the BB King Museum in Indianola. All along the Blues Trail you can search for plaques and landmarks that commemorate important people and places and tell the story of the history and development of Blues Music. We ate lunch at The Old Country Store on Route 61 in Lorman MS. It was hands down the best fried chicken we have ever eaten! And we got to meet chef and owner, old Mr. D. After a stop at BB King's Museum in Indianola, MS, we rolled into Clarksdale for the evening. Clarksdale is the home of blues music and after many years of neglect, a handful of music lovers have settled there and are trying to create a local tourist industry around music. We had dinner at the "down home" Ramon's followed by live music at Hambone. Next day, we visited Cathead Record Store and the Rock and Blues Museum before " Going down to the Crossroads " - the intersection of Highway 61 and Route 49, in the rain.
The legend goes that Robert Johnson made a deal with the devil here; guitar skills for his soul...
After lunch at Abe's, ( BBQ 2) we hit the road for Memphis. First stop, Sun Records and a tour of the studio where Rock 'n Roll was born. Sam Philips recorded the so called first Rock n Roll record here; Ike Turner's "Rocket 88", in March 1951. In June 1954, during a recording break Elvis was fooling around in the studio singing "That's all right Mama" when Sam realised he had found the new sound he had been searching for and the rest they say, is Rock 'n Roll history! We all enjoyed an evening of music on Beale St. The next day Clive had to leave but Neil and I spent another 4 nights in Memphis. We ate lunch on Friday at Central ( BBQ 3) ( best ribs I've ever had ) and on Sunday at Neely's Interstate; ( BBQ 4) voted 2nd best BBQ in America by People Magazine.
Despite quite a bit of rain and a great deal of mud, we loved the Beale Street Music Festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. We saw, amongst others, Neil Young, Grace Potter, the Arcs, Ana Popovic and Megan Trainor but my favourite by far was Paul Simon. He has a new album out and had an awesome backing group, but he sang so many old hits and had 4 encores!We didn't go to Graceland; we have been before but we did go to the Rock and Soul Museum and to the excellent National Civil Rights Museum; built around the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated.
Hal and Mal's, Jackson MS
Old Counrty Store, Route 61, MS
Mr. D
Hambone, Clarksdale, MS
Abe's, Clarksdale MS
The Crossroads
Beale St, Memphis, TN
Paul Simon
Beale St Festival, Memphis, TN
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