kay will travel

Clarksdale was not visibly alive with the beat of music or even human hearts the day we visited the Delta Blues Museum.  It was a cool and dull afternoon and the view of the street where we stood seemed to be in keeping with the weather and defer to its music origins.

We wandered and browsed a few of the stores and even though Miss Del provided all the “stuff” we might need and the Cat Head having a vast array of both new and old unusual and atypical folk art products (no cat’s heads though thank goodness) we didn’t make a purchase.

Perhaps the idea that Morgan Freeman (a part owner) might be lurking within was an encouragement or just the fact that we were tourists meant that we wanted to see more than just the outside of the blues venue, Ground Zero. We were not welcome to stay for any length of time as it was being set up for a private function. The outside of this club was what you might call casual and more shabby than chic. It had the odd (and I mean mismatched) lounge chair outside and every surface of the windows and door was covered in signs, stickers and added notes from past clientele. It was good to know that the large graffiti work of Clint and his gun across the street was just a reference to a movie and in no way indicating support of weapons – at least inside the club (although rules about smoking inside seemed much more important).  Passing through the door we were assaulted – by the sheer volume of graffiti. Most interior surfaces had been saturated in more than you could imagine, unedited, free-form text. Despite the fact that I thought it was quirky, I cannot say that I could really see this decorating style taking off. 

We headed down the road in our vehicle to a hotel in Cleveland but we returned in the evening to see the crossroads which are the intersection of Highways 49 and 61 where Robert Johnson, a blues musician, was said to have sold his soul to achieve success. His music success was mostly all posthumous so it didn’t seem like a particularly agreeable deal to me!

From there we went to Reds – another classic juke joint.

• Juke joint (or jook joint) is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African American people in the southeastern United States. The term “juke” is believed to derive from the Gullah word joog, meaning rowdy or disorderly.  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juke_joint

Reds was darkly lit with a variety of lighting effects – none of which would be abiding by any home decorating trend. The interior style was ‘Multifarious’. Walls and ceiling appeared to be layered in parts with unrefined attempts to make repairs and, I concluded, there might have even be tape and glue used. The furniture had a recycled, (the term upcycled not finding any place here), found feel about it. The toilet door had to be lifted to be opened as one of the hinges was not being employed and was on an angle. I suspect the dimness of the interior might have been hiding other characteristics as well.

We paid at the door, bought a drink and sat at the side of the area which was less cluttered and acted as an unraised stage. By the end of the evening I understood that this experience in the past would probably have been much more spontaneous than the current situation, as any friendly and unceremonious meeting of more than one musician might prove to be anywhere. However, this night’s performer, Terry Harmonica Bean tried to instil some intimacy by chatting with the audience between playing and explaining some of the characteristics of the Delta Blues – demonstrating some of the traditional blues which is meant to be felt not played via written bars and notes.

Exhibiting learned audience behaviour, when we had to leave we tried to quickly and inconspicuously pass by the musician leaving our tip and some money in exchange for a CD, a variety of which were displayed beside him. Terry promptly stopped singing mid song and asked what CD we wanted. Will said “the best one”. He replied that they were all the best ones! We had a laugh, made a decision, waved goodbye and felt suitably sated with our juke joint experience.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3x_2winvsk