Rise and Preserve NOLA mural, Bywater, 7/5/12
Photography
A Storm on the Swamp
Our tour of the Honey Island Swamp was cut short by a sudden thunderstorm, and we were soon drenched to the bone. When it became apparent that the storm wasn’t stopping anytime soon, we returned to the dock.Â
Alligators in Honey Island Swamp
Not surprisingly, alligators are common in the Honey Island Swamp. Our tour guide explained to us that they are not particularly aggressive however, and the last human fatality from an alligator in Louisiana was in the 1950’s. These alligators seem to like marshmallows and hot dogs.Â
Exploring the West Pearl River near Slidell
On the morning of the Fourth of July, I went on a swamp tour with Cajun Encounters out near Slidell, Louisiana, along the West Pearl River and the Honey Island Swamp. While we didn’t see any black bears, we did see many water birds and alligators.
Albert King Mural in Center Alley, Downtown Memphis
This really cool painting of Albert King can be found in Center Alley between Union Avenue and Monroe Avenue in downtown Memphis. Although there is no attribution on it, it looks like Lamar Sorrento’s work. #MemphisRising
Seclusion and Beauty at Arkansas’ Eden Isle
West of Heber Springs, Arkansas, the aptly-named Eden Isle development is home to the famous Red Apple Inn and restaurant. The community is really an island in Greers Ferry Lake, and visitors enjoy boating, fishing, golf, tennis and swimming.
3316 Line Avenue: Sound City and Shreveport’s Forgotten Legacy of Soul
This former theater at 3316 Line Avenue in Shreveport was once the Sound City Recording Studio in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s While not as famous as Cossimo Matassa’s, or Sun, or Stax, or Malaco, a lot of great southern soul was cut at Sound City, by artists like Eddie Giles, Reuben Bell, Ted Taylor, Geater Davis, Little Johnny Taylor, Shay Holliday, Tommie Young and the African Music Machine. Bobby Patterson ran his Soul Power label there for awhile, and Stewart Madison ran Alarm Records from the building before moving to Jackson, Mississippi and Malaco. The years were not kind to Sound City, however. Renamed Southern Star, the studio became a more country-oriented operation in the mid 1970’s before closing down during the financial crisis that wracked Shreveport in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The legacy of soul and funk music in Shreveport was largely forgotten.
From Beale to Main
Walking up the Main Street Mall from Beale to the Mud Island entrance at Civic Center Plaza, Memphis, July 3, 2011