A Recollection of Memphis’ Black Majorette and Drummer Tradition
Black majorettes and majorette drummers were a unique part of the culture of Memphis’ Black neighborhoods from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Most …
History
Afternoon in Shreveport and the Strange Emptiness of a Lost Downtown
I had ridden to Shreveport with someone else, and although I wanted to eat at Orleandeaux’s now that it had opened in the old Smith’s …
Blues at Nightfall: How Dr. David Evans and High Water Records Tried to Secure A Future For The Blues
High Water Records was founded in 1980 by Dean Richard Ranta and Dr. David Evans, an eminent folklorist who was brought to what was then …
Moscow Nights: Scenes From A Rural Juke in West Tennessee
The Delta Review has given a thorough description of Saine’s Blues Club on a couple of previous occasions. The remote juke joint north of Moscow …
Further On Up The Road: Celebrating the Legacy of Bobby “Blue” Bland in Barretville
On January 27, 1930, Robert Bland was born in rural Shelby County, Tennessee. Most biographies place the birth at Rosemark, which is barely a wide …
Coldwater: A Struggling Town Celebrates Its Legacy
The original town of Coldwater, Mississippi was founded in Tate County, Mississippi in 1872 along the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad, which ran from Memphis to …
Big Don Valentine and the Hollywood All-Stars at a Fayette County, Tennessee Juke
Juke joints are a dying breed, but they loom large in blues history as well as in the popular image of blues culture. Eagerly sought …
Bartlett’s Annual Fall Car Show on Guffin Road
The homestead and surrounding acreage which belonged to Bartlett bluesman Lum Guffin still belongs to his descendants, and is occasionally rented out for events. Once …
Remembering the Roots of Hill Country Blues at Chulahoma
Blues singer Beverly Davis’ family owns the only store in Chulahoma, a small town about halfway between Senatobia and Holly Springs in the Mississippi Hill …
A Hot Saturday in Covington on the Square
I drove up to Covington to Breakfast Cove on a Saturday morning to meet up with a friend so that we could discuss the possibility …