She’sbestknown forherducks,who
live insplendor in theirrooftoppenthouse
andwho’vebeen taking theelevatordown
forasplash in the fountaineveryday
forover80years.But it’salsoa fact, and
anybodywill tellyou, that theMississippi
Deltabeginsrighthere in the lobbyofThe
PeabodyMemphis.
BealeStreet, thehomeof theblues,be-
gins justashortwalk fromhere.Wemake
ourwayalongthesidewalks,breathing in
smells fromtheoldestrestaurants inthe
city, sounds fromtheclubsandairthick
withhistory.About150yearsago,yellow
fevertooka lotof thepeopleandmostall
thepropertyvalueoff thesestreets, soafter
the frostscameandnippedthe feveraway,
thistwo-milestretchopened itsarmsto
theblackcommunity.Theycame,andthey
stayedhere.LouisArmstrong,MuddyWa-
ters,AlbertKing,MemphisMinnie,Rufus
Thomas,RoscoGordon…theymadeBeale
Street famous.The“B.B.” inB.B.King
stands for“BluesBoy”ofBealeStreet.And
walkingthoseblocksthatnight,wecan
hearthemall.
E GET CHASEDOUTOF
Memphis
thenextmorningby
thekindofstormyou’llnever
findoutsideof theDelta: rain
stingingus throughour jackets,blinding
tornadoesofswirlingdustandgrit,
bone-rattling thunder.Youwant toknow
wheregospelmusiccame from?Itcame
fromcottonpickersandsharecroppers
whosang theirheartsout ingratitudeev-
ery time they lived throughastormexactly
like thisone.There’snomusiccoming
fromusLuckyRiders though.We just
pointourbikes towardClarksdale, ride
untilwe loseournerveand thencower
underneathanoverpassandhopewe live
longenough toget there.
Old61 takesyou intoClarksdale,
Mississippi, thespiritualhomeof the
Triangle. Itdoesn’t look likemuch;hard to
believe thisplace feeds theneedysoulsof
strangers.Yetoutof thisground,hallowed
bymusiciansandsacred tomusic lovers,
risesmagic thatfills theemptinessand
heals thepain.
This is the town thatnurturedand
embracedW.C.Handy,JohnLeeHooker,
SamCooke, IkeTurner,MuddyWaters
anddozensofotherswhowerebornhere,
whochose tomake theirhomeshereor
whomaybe justdropped in fora time.This
is the townwhereRobertJohnsonplanted
theseeds thatgrew into theMississippi
This is the
townwhere
Robert
Johnson
planted the
seeds that
grew into the
Mississippi
Blues.
BELOW
:
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram (left, at
age 15) andLeoBudWelchplayatMorgan
Freeman’sGroundZeroBluesClub in
Clarksdale.
RIGHT
:
TheLuckyRiders’ insignia
78
DECEMBER2015
AMERICANWAY
PHOTOS
LUCKY R IDERS ( 2)
W
