As part of Our Recommendations and Recommended Recordings, we are recommending Reconsider Baby – The Complete Checker Singles 1954-1962 by Lowell Fulson.
Available through Amazon.com and these Amazon affiliates:
Our Recommendations and Recommended Recordings also include these Lowell Fulson releases:
Would you like to leave a comment or question about anything on this post?
The Daily Memphian has published an article entitled A Memphis Music Road Map: The Early Years which includes a link to our page on Hooks Brothers Photography Studio, 164 Beale Street, in downtown Memphis, Tennessee.
Our thanks to The Daily Memphian for its recognition of our page on Hooks Brothers Photography Studio and the fact that one of the two known photographs of Robert Johnson was taken there.
For our readers planning a trip to Memphis, here is a re-posting of our Page about Hooks Brothers Photography Studio at 164 Beale Street in downtown Memphis which was mentioned by The Daily Memphian:
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.
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.”
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.
Hooks Brothers Photography and Robert Johnson
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.
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 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 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 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.
Would you like to leave a comment or question about anything on this post?
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 in downtown Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi is still standing. Here is a link to our page on Ralph Lembo’s store in Itta Bena.
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.”
We highly recommend this new new article on Ralph Lembo by T. DeWayne Moore. You can download it here.
Below is 1928 advertisement by Ralph Lembo recently discovered by T. DeWayne Moore:
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:
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.
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.”
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.
Hooks Brothers Photography and Robert Johnson
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.
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 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 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 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.
Would you like to leave a comment or question about anything on this post?
As part of Our Recommendations and Recommended Recordings, we are recommending Blue Shadows by Lowell Fulson.
This album was recorded at Blue Wave Studios in Vancouver, B.C. in 1982 and features Lowell Fulson backed by the Powder Blues Band.
Available through Amazon.com and these Amazon affiliates:
Would you like to leave a comment or question about anything on this post?
As one of Our Recommendations and Recommended Recordings, we recommend All Your Love I Miss Loving: Live At The Wise Fools Pub Chicago by Otis Rush, released on Delmark Records.
Available through Amazon.com and these Amazon affiliates:
Our Recommended Recordings also include these Otis Rush albums:
Would you like to leave a comment or question about anything on this post?
As one of Our Recommendations and Recommended Recordings, we recommend So Many Roads: Live In Concert by Otis Rush, released on Delmark Records. This is a live 1970’s recording of Otis Rush performing in Japan.
Available through Amazon.com and these Amazon affiliates:
Our Recommended Recordings also include these Otis Rush recordings:
Would you like to leave a comment or question about anything on this post?
The !!!! Beat was an American TV show in 1966, hosted by legendary DJ Hoss Allen (1922-1997).
Here are some episodes of The !!!!Beat which blues fans may be interested in seeing:
Episode 15 featuring Louis Jordan and Freddie King:
Episode 16, featuring Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry, Gatemouth Brown
Episode 25, featuring Little Milton and Freddie King
We came across this video of Joe Bonamassa covering Albert King’s Cadillac Assembly Line in 2016.
Here is a video of Albert King doing Cadillac Assembly Line in 1980:
The Mississippi Blues Trail marker for Albert King is in downtown Indianola, Mississippi:
We have been contacted by one of our readers, Teddy Wells, who is compiling a family history and is requesting assistance in locating ancestors and relatives.
Teddy says his great grandfather was Tom Stovall, a former slave who later worked at Stovall Farms outside Clarksdale, Coahoma County, Mississippi. Muddy Waters was working and living at Stovall Farm when he was first recorded by Alan Lomax in 1941-42.
Here is Teddy Wells’ request:
“My name is Teddy Wells,
I’m the grandson of Tommie Lee Stovall. I’m trying to locate Glen Stovall.
I have been tracing my family history and it lead me to Tom Stovall (my great grandfather) which he was a former slave for this plantation [Stovall Farms]. It would be an honor to connect with him to give me a tour of the plantation upon my visit in the near future. My phone number is 808.228.0181. I’m currently living in Hawaii.”
If anyone can help Teddy with any information he can be contacted at 808.228.0181, his work number Text/Voice 808.971.1553 or via the Hawaii Actors Network website: www.hawaiiactorsnetwork.com
