A Reader’s Comments On Hooks Brothers Photography, 164 Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee

web header image showing part of the Hooks Brothers Photography sign, beale Street, memphis

A reader from the UK, Neil Lancaster, contacted us this month with comments about our page and post on Hooks Brothers Photography Studio on Beale Street in Memphis.

Neil Lancaster writes:

“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.”

We totally agree with Neil. So for those readers, like Neil Lancaster, who are interested in Blues History and Places In Blues History and who are planning a trip to Memphis, Tennessee we recommend checking out the former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio at 164 Beale Street in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. Not many people know about it but it was where one of the two known photographs of Robert Johnson were taken.

So for our readers planning a trip to Memphis, here is a re-posting of our article about Hooks Brothers Photography Studio at 164 Beale Street in downtown Memphis:

web header image showing part of the Hooks Brothers Photography sign, beale Street, memphis

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.

Tennessee Historical Commission marker (front) for Hooks Brothers Photography, outside 164 Beale Street, Memphis
Tennessee Historical Commission marker (front) for Hooks Brothers Photography, outside 164 Beale Street, Memphis

The front of this marker reads:

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.”

Tennessee Historical Commission marker (rear) for Hooks Brothers Photography, outside 164 Beale Street, Memphis
Tennessee Historical Commission marker (rear) for Hooks Brothers Photography, outside 164 Beale Street, Memphis

The rear of this marker reads:

“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.”

Although it is not mentioned on this Tennessee Historical Commission marker, Hooks Brothers Photography was also where the only known studio portrait of Robert Johnson was taken.

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.
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.

Hooks Brothers Photography and Robert Johnson

CD cover, Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings. This is the edition we are currently recommending.
CD cover, Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings. This is the edition we are currently recommending.

The Hooks Brothers Photography studio at 164 Beale Street is also of interest to blues fans because of its connection to Robert Johnson.

There are only two known confirmed photographs of Robert Johnson.

One of the two confirmed photographs of Robert Johnson, the one used on the Robert Johnson Complete Recordings album cover (left), is a studio portrait taken circa 1934-1938 at the Hooks Brothers Photography Studio at 164 Beale Street.

The other is a snapshot of Robert Johnson that was used in making the cover of the Elijah Wald book Escaping The Delta, shown at left below.

 

 

Book cover, Escaping The Delta - Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues, by Elijah Wald.
Book cover, Escaping The Delta – Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues, by Elijah Wald.

Here are links to some articles about photographs of Robert Johnson:

 

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 former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once the Hooks Brothers reception area.
The former Hooks Brothers Photography Studio is now a pool hall. We think this was once the Hooks Brothers reception area.

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.

We’re speculating that Hooks Brothers Photography used the spaces shown in the photos below as offices.

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 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.
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.
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.

None of the other upstairs rooms have windows allowing natural light to come in. For that reason we think Hooks Brothers Photography would have taken advantage of the natural light and used these rooms overlooking Beale Street as their photographic studios. If so, the confirmed studio portrait of Robert Johnson (shown at left) was taken in these rooms.

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.
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?

1965 Painting By Carroll Cloar “Where The Southern Cross The Dog” In Moorhead, Mississippi

A reader has drawn our attention to a 1965 painting by Carroll Cloar entitled “Where The Southern Cross The Dog” which depicts a railway crossing in Moorhead, Mississippi. This railway crossing became part of the lyric in W.C. Handy‘s Yellow Dog Blues.

Carroll Cloar painting "Where the Southern Crosses The Dog" in Ruleville, Mississippi.
Carroll Cloar painting “Where the Southern Crosses The Dog” in Ruleville, Mississippi.

Our reader was wondering whether we knew where he could buy a print of this painting. We couldn’t find any available prints of this painting. If any of our readers know of any commercially available prints of this Carroll Cloar painting, please let us know via the dialog box below. We will pass the information along.

Here is how the same scene in Moorhead, Mississippi appears today.

The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker "Where The Southern Crosses The Dog", Moorhead, Mississippi
The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker “Where The Southern Crosses The Dog“, Moorhead, Mississippi, looking north.

For more information about this location in Moorhead, Mississippi see our page Going Where The Southern Cross The Dog, Moorhead, Mississippi.

New Historical Information About The Ralph Lembo Music Store In Itta Bena

In the late 1920’s Ralph Lembo ran a music store at 114 Humphries Street in Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi. We have a page about Ralph Lembo’s store in Itta Bena on this site.

The former Ralph Lembo store, Humphreys Street, Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi
The former Ralph Lembo music store, 114 Humphreys Street, Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi

Until now blues historians have only written about one Ralph Lembo Music Store, i,e, the one at 114 Humphries Street in Itta Bena. The Ralph Lembo store in Itta Bena was the only Ralph Lembo store that Mississippi Blues Travellers was aware of prior to today.  Continue reading New Historical Information About The Ralph Lembo Music Store In Itta Bena

Alan Lomax – Some Sites Associated With Alan Lomax Sessions

Book cover - Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded The World by John Szwed
Book cover – Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded The World by John Szwed

Alan Lomax (1915 – 2002) played a major role in recording Delta blues artists from the 1930’s to 1978.

In the 1930’s he worked with his father, John Lomax. They made a trip through the southern United States in which they discovered and recorded Huddy Ledbetter in Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana.

In 1941 and 1942, he made recording trips to Mississippi for the Library of Congress, which resulted in recordings of Muddy Waters, Son House, David “Honeyboy” Edwards and others.

He made the first recordings of Muddy Waters (1941-42) at Stovall Farm near Clarksdale.  He also made historic recordings of Son House in Tunica County 1941 and 1942. He also recorded David “Honeyboy” Edwards (1942) and other Delta bluesmen.

Here are some of the highlights of Alan Lomax’s career which relate to Mississippi and the Delta blues.  Continue reading Alan Lomax – Some Sites Associated With Alan Lomax Sessions

Hooks Brothers Photography – Where The Only Known Studio Portrait of Robert Johnson Was Taken

Tennessee Historical Commission Markers – Hooks Brothers Photography, 164 Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee

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 now the second floor of the King’s Palace Cafe building, in the space currently occupied by the Absinthe Pool Room.

Hooks Brothers Photography was established in 1907 at 164 Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee and, over the years, took photographic portraits of many well known people in Memphis history, particularly people from the African-American community.

Circa 1934-1938, Hooks Brothers Photography also took the only known studio portrait of a then virtually unknown blues musician named Robert Johnson.

Tennessee Historical Commission marker (front) for Hooks Brothers Photography, outside 164 Beale Street, Memphis
Tennessee Historical Commission marker (front) for Hooks Brothers Photography, outside 164 Beale Street, Memphis

The front of this marker reads:

“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.”  Continue reading Hooks Brothers Photography – Where The Only Known Studio Portrait of Robert Johnson Was Taken

Where The Southern Cross The Dog – Moorhead, Mississippi

Goin’ Where The Southern Cross The Dog” appears as a lyric in W.C. Handy’s composition Yellow Dog Blues, which he copyrighted in 1914. It refers to the junction of the of two rail lines, the Southern R.R. and the Yazoo Delta R.R. (later part of the Illinois Central) in Moorhead, Mississippi. Here is the origin of the W.C. Handy’s well known song, Yellow Dog Blues, and its equally well known lyric.

The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker "Where The Southern Crosses The Dog", Moorhead, Mississippi
The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker “Where The Southern Crosses The Dog“, Moorhead, Mississippi

Here’s a clip of Bessie Smith’s 1925 recording of Yellow Dog Blues, with Fletcher Henderson (piano), Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax), Joe Smith (cornet), Charlie Green (trombone) and Buster Bailey (clarinet).

The Yazoo Delta RR was nicknamed the “Yellow Dog.” The Ruleville Depot National Historic Register designation says this nickname came about because the Yazoo Delta RR’s s locomotives and rolling stock were constantly covered in yellow dust from the surrounding agricultural areas and because of the trains’ habit of regularly jumping jumping the tracks.

W.C Handy gives a different explanation for the origin of the nickname “Yellow Dog” in Chapter 6 of his autobiography.

In W.C. Handy’s version, a “blistering sun beats down upon a gang of black section hands during the late nineties [note: construction of the the Yazoo Delta Railroad began in 1897]. They are working down in Mississippi, laying the railroad tracks for the Yazoo Delta line between Clarksdale and Yazoo City. Their hammers rise and fall rhythmically as they drive the heavy spikes and sing ‘Dis ole hammer killed John Henry, won’t kill me. Dis ole hammer killed John Henry, won’t kill me.’

A locomotive, following the progress of the men, is steaming idly on the track. The letters ‘Y.D.’ are painted boldy on its coal car.

Cover of W.C. Handy's autobiography, Father of the Blues, paperback edition
Cover of W.C. Handy’s autobiography, Father of the Blues, paperback edition

A travelling salesman comes up the embankment, mops the sweat from his face, shifts a chaw of tobacco from one bulging red cheek to the other, and says:

‘Hey, boy. What in tarnation does that Y.D. stand for?’

A Negro straightens up, rubs the kink out of his back and begins to scratch his head in obvious puzzlement.

‘H’m,’ he ventures slowly. ‘Yaller Dawg, I reckon.’

The strangers eyes twinkle. He cackles softly and walks on down the track. ‘Yaller Dawg,’ he repeats under his breath. ‘that’s pretty cute, hanged if it ain’t. Yaller Dawg. Gee whiz, that’s a good one.’ The Yazoo Delta R.R. was christened The Yellow Dog.

The story was circulated and the idea spread until one branch of of the Yazoo Delta was known as the North Dog. For reasons equally suggestive, the fast, direct train from Clarksdale to Greenville was known as the Cannon Ball, while its slow-time, round-about companion between those points was called the Peavine. Negroes had nicknamed all those roads.”

Whatever the source of the Yazoo Delta Railroad’s nickname of the “Yellow Dog,” W.C. Handy used the name in his composition Yellow Dog Blues, which he copyrighted in 1914 and which featured the lyric, “I’m Going Where The Southern Cross The Dog“, referring to the rail intersection of Southern Railway with the “Yellow Dog” in Moorhead, Missisippi.

The name “Yellow Dog” also figures in W.C. Handy’s story of his first hearing the blues in about 1903-04 at the railway station in Tutwiler, Mississippi.

For blues historians, Tutwiler, Mississippi is probably best known as the place where W.C. Handy first discovered the blues, likely around 1903-1904, as he was waiting at Tutwiler’s railway station for a delayed train. At that time, Handy was managing a band based in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The photo below shows the site of the Tutwiler, Mississippi train station as it appears today. The train station has been demolished but the concrete pad on the left of the photograph is what remains of the foundation and floor of the Tutwiler train station.

The remains of the former Tutwiler train station where W.C. Handy encountered the blues, Tutwiler, Mississippi
The remains of the former Tutwiler train station where W.C. Handy encountered the blues, Tutwiler, Mississippi

Here’s how W.C. Handy described it in his autobiography

“The band which I found in Clarksdale and the nine-man orchestra which grew out of it did yeoman duty in the Delta. We played for affairs of every description. I came to know by heart every foot of the Delta, even from Clarksdale to Lambert on the Dog and Yazoo City. I could call every stop, water tower and pig path on the Peavine with my eyes closed. It all became a familiar, monotonous round. Then one night in Tutwiler, as I nodded in the railroad station while waiting for a train that had been delayed nine hours, life suddenly took me by the shoulder and wakened me with a start.

A lean, loose-jointed Negro had commenced plunking a guitar beside me while I slept. His clothes were rags, his feet peeped out of his shoes. As he played he pressed a knife on the strings of the guitar in a manner popularized by Hawaiian guitarists who use steel bars. [note: to see what W.C. Handy was describing, watch this video of Bukka White playing Poor Boy in the early 1960s]

The effect was unforgettable. His song, too, struck me instantly. Goin’ where the Southern cross’ the Dog.

The singer repeated the line three times, accompanying himself on the guitar with the weirdest music I had ever heard. The tune stayed in my mind. When the singer paused, I leaned over and asked him what the words meant. He rolled his eyes, showing a trace of mild amusement. Perhaps I should have known, but he didn’t mind explaining. At Moorhead the eastbound and the westbound met and crossed the north and southbound trains four times a day. This fellow was going where the Southern cross’ the Dog, and he didn’t care who knew it. He was simply singing about Moorhead as he waited.

That was not unusual. Southern Negroes sang about everything. Trains, steamboats, steam whistles, sledge hammers, fast women, mean bosses, stubborn mules – all become subjects for their songs.They accompany themselves on anything from which they can extract a musical sound or rhythmical effect, anything from a harmonica to a washboard.

In this way, and from these materials, they set the mood for what we now call blues…….”

This chance encounter at Tutwiler’s railway station sparked W.C. Handy’s interest in the blues. He became aware of the commercial potential of the blues during a performance in Cleveland, Mississippi circa 1905. The Mississippi Blues Trail has commemorated that event with its Enlightenment of W.C. Handy marker in Cleveland.

Mississippi Blues Trail marker commemorating The Enlightenment Of W.C. Handy, outside the Bolivar County Courthouse, Cleveland, Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail marker commemorating The Enlightenment Of W.C. Handy, outside the Bolivar County Courthouse, Cleveland, Mississippi

After these encounters in Tutwiler, Mississippi and in Cleveland, Mississippi, W.C. Handy changed his own musical direction to a course which led to his becoming one of the most influential figures in the history of American music.

The photo below shows the Mississippi Blues Trail marker in Tutwiler, Mississippi commemorating W.C. Handy’s first encounter with the blues. It stands near the remains of Tutwiler’s former train station.

Mississippi Blues Trail marker, W.C. Handy Encounters The Blues, Tutwiler, Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail marker, W.C. Handy Encounters The Blues, Tutwiler, Mississippi

The inscription reads:

W.C. HANDY ENCOUNTERS THE BLUES

Bandleader W.C. Handy was waiting for a train here at the Tutwiler railway station circa 1903 when he heard a man playing slide guitar with a knife and singing ‘Goin’ where the Southern cross’ the Dog.’ Handy later published an adaptation of this song as ‘Yellow Dog Blues,’ and became known as the ‘father of the Blues’ after he based many of his popular orchestrations on the sounds he heard in Tutwiler.”

The GPS location of this Mississippi Blues Trail marker in Tutwiler, Mississippi is: N34° 00.875′ W90° 25.919′

The photos below shows the actual location “where the Southern cross’ the Dog” in Moorhead, Mississippi. This photo shows the view looking north, the second photo shows the view looking south.

The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker "Where The Southern Crosses The Dog", Moorhead, Mississippi
The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker “Where The Southern Crosses The Yellow Dog“, Moorhead, Mississippi, looking north.
The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker "Where The Southern Crosses The Dog", Moorhead, Mississippi
The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker “Where The Southern Crosses The Dog”, Moorhead, Mississippi, looking south.

A Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker (shown in the photos above) has been placed at the location where the rail lines intersected. Given the significance of this location in Blues history as a result of W.C. Handy’s Yellow Dog Blues, we were surprised to find that there was no Mississippi Blues Trail marker in Moorhead to commemorate “where the Southern cross’ the Dog.” The Mississippi Blues Trail has since erected a marker in Moorhead.

The GPS location of the Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker for “where the Southern Crosses the Yellow Dog” in Moorhead, Mississippi is: N33° 26.951′ W90° 30.414′

The GPS location of the actual spot “where the Southern cross’ the Dog” is: N33° 26.952′ W90° 30.415′

The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker "Where The Southern Crosses The Dog", Moorhead, Mississippi
The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker “Where The Southern Crosses The Yellow Dog“, Moorhead, Mississippi

The Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker reads:

” ‘WHERE THE SOUTHERN CROSSES THE YELLOW DOG

At the start of the twentieth century, the rail crossing once located nearby was an important land transportation point. The junction of the Southern Railroad and the Yazoo Delta Railroad (the ‘Yellow Dog’) was established in 1897. For decades it was the Delta’s major rail link, making Moorhead one of the region’s most active passenger and freight connections. The crossing gained national fame in 1914 with W.C. Handy’s seminal blues song ‘The Yellow Dog Blues.’ ”

Other blues songs mentioning the Yellow Dog or this specific location in Moorhead include:

Removal of the Railroad Tracks In Moorhead, Mississippi

The rail tracks were removed when the railways shut down these lines in the late 1970’s. When the tracks were taken up, the railroads had no plans to leave tracks in place to mark “where the Southern cross the Dog.” The railroads wanted to remove all the rails and scrap them. They eventually relented when Moorhead residents demanded that rail tracks be left in place to mark this important location in Blues history.

While we were in Moorhead, Mississippi we met a lifelong resident of the town named Gail Oswalt, who told us that her late husband, Steve Oswalt, had been Mayor of Moorhead between 1973 and 1993 and was Moorhead’s Mayor when the railways took up the rail tracks through Moorhead after the rail lines were closed in the late 1970s. She told us her late husband “threw a fit” when he heard of the railroad’s plans to remove all the rail tracks from Moorhead and scrap them. Mayor Oswalt asked the railway to leave the rail tracks in place in Moorhead to commemorate the importance of this rail intersection in American music history but the railway management strongly resisted this request. Gail said her late husband, along with the Moorhead Town Council and local residents, fought a very time consuming battle to get the railway management to leave some of the tracks in place in Moorhead. As a result of their actions, a short section of track was replaced at the former rail intersection to commemorate “where the Southern cross’ the Dog.”

Local residents told us that this house (shown below) near the southwest corner of the former rail intersection in Moorhead, Mississippi was the home of Chester Pond, who built the Yazoo Delta R.R. in 1897. They also told us that Chester Ponds was instrumental in developing the town of Moorhead.

Local Moorhead residents told us that this house near "Where The Southern Cross The Dog" was once the home of Chester Ponds, who built the Yazoo Delta R.R. in 1897.
Local Moorhead residents told us that this house near “Where The Southern Cross The Dog” was once the home of Chester Pond, who built the Yazoo Delta R.R. in 1897.

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Some Recordings About Parchman Farm

Parchman Farm is the maximum security Mississippi State Penitentiary for men. It is located on Highway 49W between Tutwiler and Drew. Also see our web page for Parchman Farm Blues.

The Mississippi Blues Trail marker for Parchman Farm Blues is located directly across the highway from the main entrance gate of the Mississippi State Peniteniary. There is an unpaved parking lot immediately adjacent to the marker so you can pull off the highway to see it.

Miississippi Blues Trail marker for Parchman Farm Blues near the main gate of the Mississippi State Penitentiary
Miississippi Blues Trail marker for Parchman Farm Blues near the main gate of the Mississippi State Penitentiary

The GPS location of the Mississippi Blues Trail‘s Parchman Farm marker is: N 33° 55.123′ W 90° 29.815’
The front side of the Parchman Farm marker reads:

PARCHMAN FARM BLUES

The Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman has inspired many songs, including ‘Parchman Farm Blues‘ by singer-guitarist Booker ‘Bukka’ White, who was once an inmate here, and ‘Parchman Farm‘ by jazz singer-pianist Mose Allison. Folklorists from the Library of Congress and other institutions also came to Parchman beginning in the 1930s to document the pre-blues musical forms of field hollers and work songs, which survived due to the prison’s relative isolation from modern cultural influences.”  Continue reading Some Recordings About Parchman Farm

Muddy Waters’ House at Stovall Farm, site of the first recordings of Muddy Waters made by Alan Lomax in 1941-42

The Mississippi Blues Trail has a marker at the site of Muddy Waters’ house on Stovall Farm, just outside Clarksdale, Mississippi. The actual house that Muddy Waters lived in is no longer at this site; it has been moved to the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale. This is an important site in blues history: it was the site of Muddy Waters’ first recordings, made in 1941-42 by Alan Lomax.

The GPS location of the Muddy Waters’ House marker is: N34° 15.706′ W90° 37.947′

The Mississippi Blues Trail marker at the Muddy Waters House site, Stovall Farms, outside Clarksdale, Mississippi.
The Mississippi Blues Trail marker at the Muddy Waters House site, Stovall Farms, outside Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Continue reading Muddy Waters’ House at Stovall Farm, site of the first recordings of Muddy Waters made by Alan Lomax in 1941-42