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Hello AMers!
Months ago, when I mentioned in the forum, that we plan to visit the Delta to explore the origins of the Blues, Don D. stood up, offered his help and suggested a meeting in Clarksdale MS, where he lives.Last night we met at the renowned Ground Zero Blues Club. We were friends in a minute and planned to spend the following day at the Delta.
So today we, that was Don, my wife Aurelia and me, took a roadtrip to the Dockery Farm. We picked him up at his home, met his lovely dogs Lola and Buddy and he showed us (parts of) his record collection, there might be thousands of them.
Dockery farm used to be a cotton plantation back in the days. Most experts think that at this place Charlie Patton played a kind of music, that we nowadays call the Blues.
After lunch at Mosquito Burrito in Cleveland MS a visit at “the Crossroads” with its famous monument was mandatory.
Tonight we met again at the Reds Lounge Juke Joint for some music and a drink.
Thank you so much for your hospitality, it was a great honor to meet you and we can say nothing but the best about our stay in Clarksdale.By the way – if you’d like to read more about our trip and our adventures in the Deep South, past and coming, check out my homepage (English version available).
http://www.werner-schulze.deWerner
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Very cool photos! I didn’t know our long-time member, Don, was from that area. No wonder he knows so much about the history of the blues.
Sunjamr Steve
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Thank you, Keith, you got my logistics right, but you overstated my depth of knowledge. I know a little bit more about the blues than most people, but there’s so much to know. I’m nowhere near being a historian, just a fan and enthusiast (there are a lot of great compilations of interviews with musicians put into book form; I’m currently reading Rollin’ and Tumblin’: Interviews with Postwar Blues Guitarists, edited by Jas Obrecht—highly recommended, those are my best education; I’ll put a list together).
I grew up in Chicago, moved to New York at 28, when I married a woman living there. I’d still happily be there, but she passed away in 2013. I was thinking of moving to Memphis or St. Louis about a year after I retired (giving myself time to pack), then I was laid off about a year and a half before I turned 65, in early 2023. Someone mentioned a house for sale in Clarksdale. It was a beautiful and affordable place. I closed last April and moved in July, and here I am, in one of the blues epicenters. Live blues in 4 or 5 places every day and night (more occasionally), lots of historical sites to visit, beautiful (hot) weather most of the time and relatively mild winters (10 consecutive days below freezing after a snowstorm last winter didn’t seem mild to me, but that was supposed to have been an exceptionally cold winter).
Pic of Lola, the pittie, and Buddy (aka Rosco), the honey-colored hound, my housemates.
Don D.
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Very cool photos! I didn’t know our long-time member, Don, was from that area. No wonder he knows so much about the history of the blues.
Don can explain further if he wants to but he’s originally from Chicago so he began at the main starting place of electric blues and now he’s living at the birthplace of the blues
I’d heard that there was a debate whether Yazoo City MS or Clarksdale MS was the birthplace of the blues, guess that they’ve finally given the honor to ClarksdaleI am very impressed with his knowledge of the blues and he typically doesn’t have to look things up, he usually knows it off the top of his head
I started the thread Our Blues Roots but my knowledge is limited to what i would call 1st generation. I quickly saw from Don’s responses that he would be a good person to continue that thread and he took It to a depth that i never could have. Many times he knows when it was recorded, what label it was on, studio musicians, studio location, etc
He could probably get a job at the blues museum -
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Meeting Werner & Aurelia and hanging out for 2 short days was great fun! It felt like another festival. Many thanks to you two for including me in your travels!
Dockery Farms is one of the special places in the Delta because of its connection to Henry Sloan (a near-mythical legend, never recorded, who played a prototype of the blues), Willie Brown, Charley Patton, and all the people who heard them there. The rainy drive there and back was enjoyable thanks to Aurelia’s driving (I’m often nervous in the back seat, but I wasn’t), and the cultural comparisons we were making.
Red’s is my favorite place in Clarksdale. Going there is always a great musical experience, no matter who is booked. The night we went it was a young and very talented soul blues band, Edna Nicole and Delta Avenue, who nevertheless included many traditional blues songs. The guitar solo on “Down Home Blues” (by Z.Z. Hill, a soul blues staple) was the musical highlight of my week, I’m still feeling it (I left without finding out who was playing guitar, but I will check them out again and mention that solo, asking if he’d show it to me; I think it was based on a harmonized shuffle in the 2nd and 3rd position of G, but the rhythm was infectious and elusive—-I doubt I’ll ever play it right).
After the fact, I wouldn’t repeat my recommendation of Mosquito Burrito, but it was the only place I’ve eaten in Cleveland, so I knew it was decent, but not great.
Thank you again Werner and Aurelia!
Don D.
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