Fri Oct 24th - Memphis to Clarksdale, Mississippi - The Crossroads

The visitors centre is an old Rlwy Stn

Fri Oct 24 -  Clarksdale, Mississippi - The Crossroads

The start of The Blues

Here we are!

Our Site at The Expo Grounds. Great

We had a leisurely start to the pack up in Memphis and drove the 2 hours to Clarksdale, arriving around mid day. We had some fun trying to find the non existent Chamber of Commerce location, only to find out by phone that they no longer handle the RV sites at the Expo Centre. Anyway we drove in turning west at “The Crossroads” Hwy 61 and 49 and, for the uninitiated, look up Robert Johnson! He sold his soul to the devil at the Crossroads.
We got to the Expo grounds and found full hook ups, got an envelope off the rack, enclosed the $20 and dropped it into the lock box - brilliant system and the cheapest full service hook up of the last two years.

The crossroads where Johnson 'sold his soul' is widely understood to be located at the junction of Hwy 61 and Hwy 49.

Robert Johnson was here!!!! We think!!!!

Robert Johnson might have been here

A great find in Rosedale at the Crossroads (2)

Now there is a discrepancy about where the actual crossroads is. A latest concept is that it is at the junction of Hwy 1 and 8 in Rosedale some 39 miles away. After all Rosedale not Clarksville is mentioned in the lyrics. Off we went to Rosedale. To be fair, Derek doesn’t want to miss any chance that he can improve his guitar playing. So we got the bases covered!!!  At the junction is Leo’s at the Levee, a dubious café but a rare gem, just wrapping up their small buffet…wow awesome catfish, fall of the bones ribs, caramelized beans and great peach cobbler. On a sharezees plate…$10.00 for lunch for us both. Fabulous.

Good eats at Leo's

The Folks in Rosedale are convinced

Cotton fields

We drove back into Clarksville, checked out some of the stores, Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero club,  and various blues trail markers (Bessie Smith, Ike Turner, WROX radio etc.) then went a couple of miles out of town to the site where Muddy Waters house use to be on the Stovall Plantation. It was here right in the cotton fields framed with Pecan trees that Mckinley Morganfield grew up. Our imaginations were let loose as we stood on such hallowed ground. And we picked a bag full of pecans from trees that have probably been around since McKinley (Muddy Waters) was there many many years ago! We tried one and have never ever tasted such fresh soft tasty pecans… ever!!! 

Cotton fields

Roadside cotton. Looks like snow

Bales of Cotton

Swamp at the side of the road

Ike got his start in Clarksdale

Ground Zero Blues club - Clarksdale

Not pretty but big history

Ground Zero stage

Plaque at Muddy's shack location

Site of Muddy's home

Cotton fields behind Muddy's shack

......Fish are jumpin and the cotton is high..............

Fresh picked Pecan

Sharecropper's house next door to Muddy's shack

Pecans ..... YUMMMM!!!

Remains of Muddy's shack before move

An amazing feeling of connection

Roadside cotton!

We arrived at Red's Lounge early

Lucius Spiller rocked the place!!

Back to the condo, then we got a cab into Reds Lounge touted as the only remaining authentic 'juke joint'. Well it was certainly down and dirty, bottled beers out of a couple of much used coolers. Luscious Spiller, a youngish  bluesy / rocker from Little Rock, Arkansas was on. His first set began at 9.00 and was over two hours non- stop, backed by a local drummer and bass player. By 12.30 after only a 10 minute break he was still coming out with new stuff, lots of old blues standby’s with rock and his own stuff thrown in. Wow.  Called our taxi driver and got him out of bed to come and take us home…. And he was still cheerful! Mind you he was well paid for his trouble.  What a great night.

Derek.. at the Crossroads