Ralph Lembo was a store owner and music promoter during the 1920’s and 1930’s in Leflore County, Mississippi who obtained recording contracts for musicians like Bukka White and Rube Lacey.
Ralph Lembo’s store in Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi is still standing at 114 Humphreys Street in downtown Itta Bena.
The former Ralph Lembo store, 114 Humphreys Street, Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi
Ralph Lembo’s historical reputation has been tarnished through articles by blues historians, including Gayle Dean Wardlow and Ed Komara, who wrote that musicians considered Ralph Lembo untrustworthy. Gayle Dean Wardlow has written that Charley Patton refused to work with Ralph Lembo because he considered Lembo untrustworthy.
New research by T. DeWayne Moore of the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund suggests that Ralph Lembo’s posthumous reputation has been tarnished unfairly and the criticism of Ralph Lembo as being untrustworthy is itself untrustworthy.
Paramount Records invited fans to send in their suggestion for the name of Ma Rainey’s “Mystery Record“, (Paramount 12200) and offered 100 prizes for respondents.
A 1924 advertisement for Ma Rainey recordings in the New York Age. (Courtesy of Mt. Zion Memorial Fund)
This Tennessee Historical Commission marker is located outside the King’s Palace Cafe at 162 Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. The Hooks Brothers Photography Studio was located at 164 Beale Street, which is the second floor of the King’s Palace Cafe building, in the space currently occupied by the Absinthe Pool Room.
“HOOKS BROTHERS PHOTOGRAPHY ESTABLISHED IN 1907 – Established by Henry Hooks, Sr. and his brother Robert B. Hooks, Hooks Brothers Photography Studio was the second oldest continuously operating black business in Memphis. Located during its early years at 164 Beale Street, it next moved to Linden Avenue and finally to McLemore Avenue where it ceased operation after a destructive fire in 1979.”
“Covering much of the 20th century, the company chronicled and documented the history and lives of black Memphis and Memphians. Among the subjects and luminaries captured on film by the Hooks Brothers were Booker T. Washington, W.C. Handy, Robert R. Church, the beginning days of the Memphis NAACP, the Lincoln League, early high school and college graduating classes from Howe Institute, LeMoyne College and many other activities of black society and ordinary people.”
Kings Palace Cafe, 162-164 Beale Street, Memphis, TN. The second floor was once occupied by Hooks Brothers Photography. The only known studio portrait of Robert Johnson was taken by Hooks Brothers Photography.
The office and studio space used by the former Hooks Brothers Photography is now the Absinthe Pool Room, part of the King’s Palace Cafe located downstairs at 162 Beale Street.
Many of the original features of this space are still intact and it is possible to get some idea of what the Hooks Brothers’ offices and studio may have looked like in the mid-1930’s when the confirmed studio portrait of Robert Johnson was taken here circa 1934-1938.
Here are some photos of how the space now appears.
The photo above shows what the entrance area of the Absinthe Pool Room looks like today.
This is the second floor room you first enter after coming up the staircase from Beale Street. The Absinthe Pool Room uses this space as a bar and sitting area.
We’re speculating that Hooks Brothers Photography would have used it as a reception area and waiting room.
The main architectural features of interest today are the original wooden wainscoting, transoms above the doors and the interior windows that open in all the interior walls. The interior sliding windows are an interesting remnant of the days before air conditioning. Interior windows that opened allowed air to circulate more freely through the interior spaces, allowing more effective ventilation and circulation of interior air.
The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers office.The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers office.
The photos below show the current appearance of what we believe to have been a room used by Hooks Brothers as a photography studio. These rooms overlook Beale Street and have large south facing windows overlooking Beale Street which allow natural light to enter. These are the only rooms in the space with natural light, which leads us to believe Hooks Brothers Photography would have used them as studios. If so, this is where the confirmed studio portrait of Robert Johnson was taken.
These photos show the view looking toward the north, away from the Beale Street frontage of the building.
The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers studio room.This photo of Robert Johnson was taken at Hooks Brothers Photography, 164 Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee.
The photos below show another view of the same room shown in the photos above.
This view looks south toward the Beale Street frontage of the building. The large windows face south onto Beale Street and allow natural light into the interior space at the front of the building.
The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers studio room.The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers studio room.The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers studio room.
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Ralph Lembo (1897-1960) was a store owner and land owner in Leflore County, Mississippi who also acted as promoter and talent scout for blues artists in the 1920’s and 1930’s.
The former Ralph Lembo store, 114 Humphreys Street, Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi
Prior research by Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow has suggested that Ralph Lembo exploited blues artists and musicians like Charlie Patton refused to deal with Ralph Lembo because they didn’t trust him.
Blues historian T. DeWayne Moore has published a very interesting new article which shows that Ralph Lembo was definitely not the untrustworthy figure early research has portrayed him as being.
T. DeWayne Moore shows that Ralph Lembo played a leading role in getting recording contracts for Bo Carter, the Mississippi Sheiks, Booker “Bukka” White,
Here is the Introduction to this new T. DeWayne Moore article on Ralph Lembo:
“This essay examines newspaper articles, government documents, personal family collections, and secondary sources to refute and corroborate interviews about Ralph Lembo and restore the good name of the Mississippi talent scout and manager whose passionate, multi-faceted engagement with the entertainment world brought many artists to major recording companies, including Columbia, Paramount, OKeh, and Victor. Lembo drove Rocket 88 air-conditioned automobiles, wore alligator boots and Panama-brimmed hats, and he stepped up and offered his large plantation when several other potential sites had refused to support the establishment of Mississippi Valley State University. Lembo relished playing the drums in his band the Pot Lickers and operating several music stores in the mid-Delta, which brought him into contact with an immense well of talent, including such figures as Kansas City Jim Jackson, Bo Carter, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Rubin Lacy. This article also explodes the negative and ongoing bias against Lembo and argues that he discovered the “King of the Delta Blues,” Charley Patton.”
“Astonishing to see this. Original features extant, too. Was in Memphis on pilgrimage in 2016 but missed the opportunity to see this. It should be made far more well known for blues travellers. Best, from England.”
This Tennessee Historical Commission marker is located outside the King’s Palace Cafe at 162 Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. The Hooks Brothers Photography Studio was located at 164 Beale Street, which is the second floor of the King’s Palace Cafe building, in the space currently occupied by the Absinthe Pool Room.
“HOOKS BROTHERS PHOTOGRAPHY ESTABLISHED IN 1907 – Established by Henry Hooks, Sr. and his brother Robert B. Hooks, Hooks Brothers Photography Studio was the second oldest continuously operating black business in Memphis. Located during its early years at 164 Beale Street, it next moved to Linden Avenue and finally to McLemore Avenue where it ceased operation after a destructive fire in 1979.”
“Covering much of the 20th century, the company chronicled and documented the history and lives of black Memphis and Memphians. Among the subjects and luminaries captured on film by the Hooks Brothers were Booker T. Washington, W.C. Handy, Robert R. Church, the beginning days of the Memphis NAACP, the Lincoln League, early high school and college graduating classes from Howe Institute, LeMoyne College and many other activities of black society and ordinary people.”
Kings Palace Cafe, 162-164 Beale Street, Memphis, TN. The second floor was once occupied by Hooks Brothers Photography. The only known studio portrait of Robert Johnson was taken by Hooks Brothers Photography.
The office and studio space used by the former Hooks Brothers Photography is now the Absinthe Pool Room, part of the King’s Palace Cafe located downstairs at 162 Beale Street.
Many of the original features of this space are still intact and it is possible to get some idea of what the Hooks Brothers’ offices and studio may have looked like in the mid-1930’s when the confirmed studio portrait of Robert Johnson was taken here circa 1934-1938.
Here are some photos of how the space now appears.
The photo above shows what the entrance area of the Absinthe Pool Room looks like today.
This is the second floor room you first enter after coming up the staircase from Beale Street. The Absinthe Pool Room uses this space as a bar and sitting area.
We’re speculating that Hooks Brothers Photography would have used it as a reception area and waiting room.
The main architectural features of interest today are the original wooden wainscoting, transoms above the doors and the interior windows that open in all the interior walls. The interior sliding windows are an interesting remnant of the days before air conditioning. Interior windows that opened allowed air to circulate more freely through the interior spaces, allowing more effective ventilation and circulation of interior air.
The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers office.The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers office.
The photos below show the current appearance of what we believe to have been a room used by Hooks Brothers as a photography studio. These rooms overlook Beale Street and have large south facing windows overlooking Beale Street which allow natural light to enter. These are the only rooms in the space with natural light, which leads us to believe Hooks Brothers Photography would have used them as studios. If so, this is where the confirmed studio portrait of Robert Johnson was taken.
These photos show the view looking toward the north, away from the Beale Street frontage of the building.
The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers studio room.This photo of Robert Johnson was taken at Hooks Brothers Photography, 164 Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee.
The photos below show another view of the same room shown in the photos above.
This view looks south toward the Beale Street frontage of the building. The large windows face south onto Beale Street and allow natural light into the interior space at the front of the building.
The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers studio room.The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers studio room.The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once a Hooks Brothers studio room.
Would you like to leave a comment or question about anything on this post?
