"The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things
unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on
the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom."
Maya Angelou
The history of the Delta, the triangular floodplain that
lies between the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers, has long
been noted as some of America's most fertile land and it
was home to Native Americans for more than 1300-years
before Columbus. The French, the first European
settlers, began importing slaves from Africa in 1720.
They attempted to grow various crops but by the end of
the 1700s cotton was the biggest cash crop and with it
the need for slaves to work the fields exploded.
www.visitmississippi.org
After the 1820s the Indian treaties allowed the land
to be opened to white settlers. A culture thrived with
many large-scale plantations and free black labor
facilitated America's largest group of millionaires
residing on the shores of the Mississippi.Wade Hampton III owned 900 slaves and
Stephen Duncan, a former Pennsylvanian, owned more than
1000. At the onset of the
Civil War just under 50% of the state's families owned
slaves and 55% of the residents were enslaved. Post
Emancipation Delta life was redefined but the equality
blacks hoped for did not come. African American life and
economic opportunity was still tightly controlled and
civil rights were denied. By 1910 92% of the Delta's
farms were run by tenants and of that number 95% were
black.
The church was the one institution that sustained them
and music soothed them. A blending of gospel, work songs
and African rhythms led to the creation of a purely
American art form, the Delta Blues. Music became a way
out for the bluesmen of old and as they left the Delta,
via the roads or rails, they took their music with them
and changed music history forever.
www.visitthedelta.com
Mississippi, the "Birthplace of America's Music", has
done an outstanding job of identifying sites significant
in blues history and allied music genres, country, rock
'n' roll, rockabilly and gospel. Blues as uniquely
American, has had a profound impact on music
internationally and its realm of influence can be traced
along the trail. Highway 61 is the spine of the route
and is known as the "Blues Highway," commemorated in
story and song, taken by many bluesmen, carrying their
suitcase and the blues, north. msbluestrail.org
Tunica's Gateway to the Blues Visitors Center and Museum
is the perfect place to begin your tour along Highway
61. Here you can learn about all aspects of the route as
well as obtain guides and maps and purchase unique
souvenirs worthy of the trip. The museum galleries
display exhibits trace the music history from its
origins to the 60s British Invasion through more than
700 artifacts and artworks. The jewels of the collection
are a 1952 Les Paul guitar and a coronet that belonged
to W.C. Handy. The center, located at the entrance of
the Delta, is situated inside an 1895 one-room train
depot, reminiscent of the type the bluesmen would have
known, complete with railroad tracks in front.
www.tunicatravel.com
The Hollywood Café opened in 1969 inside a 1926
commissary building and quickly became renowned. It has
been featured on The Travel Channel, in John Grisham's
"A Time to Kill" and it is where Muriel played piano in
Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis." Her piano still sits
on the stage. This iconic restaurant is known for its
ambiance, great Southern menu and as the place
where fried dill pickles were created. Dine like a
legend!
www.thehollywoodcafe.com
Highway 61 originally ran from New Orleans to the
Canadian border. The MS Delta portion is known as the
Blues Highway because it is along this road that
numerous pivotal events occurred. Clarksdale has
justifiably emerged as the most recognized of the cities
on the music trail. It has the greatest number, nine, of
blues markers of any of the cities. Seminal music
figures were born here, Sam Cooke and Ike Turner and the
Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, died here in 1937 in
the then Thomas Afro-American Hospital. Most
significantly, at the crossroads of Highways 61 and 49,
Robert Johnson is said to have sold his soul to the
devil, who in turn tuned his guitar for him giving him
phenomenal musical ability.
www.visitclarksdale.com
The Delta Blues Museum, the oldest music museum in the
state, was founded in 1979 to preserve and promote the
blues' legacy. The collection begins with the African
origin of the blues and interprets its incarnations in
the Delta and internationally. Highlights of the
collection include a Three Forks sign from the place
Robert Johnson was poisoned and three important displays
from the life of Muddy Waters, the Stovall Plantation
cabin in which he made his first recordings, a replica
of the 1939 Ford Deluxe driven in 1942 through the Delta
by Alan Lomax and a Muddywood guitar crafted from
cypress from Muddy's Stovall cabin. He lived in the
4-room cabin with a porch from the age of 3.
www.deltablesmuseum.org
Clarksdale has the distinction of being home to the
past, present and the future of the blues. History
is found on every street and visitors have the
opportunity to sit in on sessions of the finest blues in
two of the three top blues clubs in the nation, Ground
Zero and Red's Lounge. Morgan Freeman and Bill Luckett
have designed Ground Zero to replicate a juke joint and
Red's Lounge is widely considered the last authentic
juke joint.
www.groundzerobluesclub.com
The Lofts at the Five & Dime, situated in the heart of
this blues destination, offers the perfect
accommodations for your visit. The luxury lofts are on
the upper level of a historic Woolworths with a
restaurant on the lower level. The rooms are well
appointed and the service is nonpareil.
www.fiveanddimelofts.com
Robert Johnson was 27 when he died, had recorded 29
songs and would influence bluesman across the world. The
10-site Robert Johnson Life & Legacy Tour is centered
around Greenwood, MS. In July of 1938 Johnson was
poisoned over a woman in a juke joint. He died an
agonizing death on August 16, 1938 on the Star of the
West Plantation. Several burial sites have been cited
but it is now generally accepted that he was buried in
Little Zion M.B. Church Cemetery. Little Zion M.B.
Church, Minnie's place of worship in The Help, is also
listed on Greenwood's 14-site movie tour centered around
the movies' locations.
www.visitgreenwoodms.com
The Alluvian, winner of the AAA Four Diamond Award,
offers luxury accommodations and a complete menu of spa
services in the heart of the Greenwood Delta. The
boutique hotel teams with the Viking Cooking School to
present events and unique classes. Giardina's Restaurant
and Bar is adjacent to the hotel and is renowned for its
stunning drink menu and gourmet cuisine. The Alluvian is
a wonderful destination hotel, ideal for getaways and as
a hub for Delta explorations.
www.thealluvian.com
Meridian, MS was occupied by Choctaw Indians until an
1831 treaty opened it to European settlement. It is
listed on both the Delta Blues and the Meridian 18-site
Civil Rights Trail. It was home to Jimmie Rogers, the
Father of Country Music and currently honors the MS arts
at several locations including a downtown Walk of Fame.
www.meridianms.org
The MSU Riley Center contains an artfully restored 1889
Victorian theater, performance space and conference and
educational centers. The 3-year theater restoration
revealed hand-stenciled wallpaper, and a leather
curtain.
www.msurileycenter.com
Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience, the MAX,
opened April 28, 2018. The Hall of Fame is the
360-degree focal point featuring a 2-story rotunda. The
2nd-floor has 6 galleries with 10 predesigned tours. The
galleries are Land, Home, Community, Church,
People+Places and Global Community. They are complete
with interactives and holograms in over 58,000-sq. ft.
of exhibition space.
www.msarts.org
Weidmann's is the oldest restaurant in the state. It was
founded in 1870 and moved to its current address in
1923. Weidmann's menu consists of southern cuisine based
on authentic recipes and regional specialties. Don't
forego this treat.
www.weidmanns1870.com
The 28,000-sq.ft. GRAMMY Museum® is Cleveland's newest
addition and the first GRAMMY Museum not in LA. The
museum interprets the history of music and the award
itself. There are numerous artifacts and opportunities
to engage with the music. My personal favorite is a
station that allows you to select a song and hear how it
would sound as a recording on a wax cylinder, on a
gramophone, on vinyl, on a cassette and in surround
sound. A temporary exhibit, "Legends of Motown:
Celebrating the Supremes" is on view until Sept 3rd.
Mary Wilson's personal photographs and costume
collection are displayed.
www.grammymuseumms.org
Chef Cole Ellis presides over the Delta Meat Market,
a full service butcher shop, grocery store and southern
restaurant. Everything is delicious and you will like
both the comfort food and the comfort.
www.deltameatmarket.com
Eight miles from Cleveland is the 1895 Dockery
Plantation, a true blues mecca. This cotton plantation
was home to Charley Patton a seminal blues figure.
Robert Johnson, Pops Staples and Howlin' Wolf lived,
worked and learned there. Tours are self-guided.
Dockeryfarms.org
B.B. King called Indianola home and they honor his
legacy in the $17.6-million B.B. King Museum & Delta
Interpretive Center housed in the oldest brick cotton
gin, where King once worked. Self-guided tours begin
with a 12-minute film and proceed into the chronological
story of King's life. Many of the exhibited articles
were donated by King himself. He is buried on the museum
grounds.
www.bbkingmuseum.org
Hattiesburg has the unique distinction of being both a
university and a military town. It has 42-miles of rails
to trails and the 1964 Freedom Summer Trail complete
with audio guide. Live music is offered every night of
the week.
www.visithburg.org
Camp Shelby's Mississippi Armed Forces Museum is the
state's military history museum. The museum serves as
the military history museum for the State of Mississippi
and memorializes the contributions of Mississippians and
those who trained here during war time. Galleries
exhibit dioramas, photographs and artifacts from the War
of 1812 through the global war on terrorism. There are 6
large exhibition areas and two Halls of Honor. African
American military history is integrated into the
exhibitions to make their contributions even more
comprehensible. Display highlights include dioramas of
a WWI trench and Vietnam medical evacuation.
Hattiesburg's Purple Parrot Café is designated the best
fine dining restaurant in Mississippi, second best in
the South and winner of six Four-Diamond ratings from
AAA. Owner and chef Robert St. John features the
freshest ingredients in classic American dishes with a
creative creole and Piney Woods twist. Reservations
requested.
www.purpleparrotcafe.net
"Blues musicians don't retire. They drop." Buddy Guy.
TRAVEL TIP:
An outstanding option is a 'Deep South and Delta
Blues' tour with Grand American Adventures tour company.
Twelve days, 13 participants, five states, 4 genres of
music and an introduction to the Civil Rights Movement
combined with unique experiences including Graceland,
Beale Street, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans and a
photo op at the Crossroads.
www.grandamericanadventures.com
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