2018 Dec 18, Christmas Trees, Cards, Cranes and Ducks Athens, Decatur, & Madison, Alabama

Today, Hubby and I visited the North Pole Christmas Tree Stroll at Big Spring Park, Athens.

North Pole Stroll Athens, Alabama 

Mallards, White Ducks, and goldfish greeted me as I approached the pond at Big Springs.

I enjoyed two(Grinch) buttermilk pancakes with a hint of green topped with sweet cream cheese icing and red candy hearts. Crowned with creamy green whipped topping & 2 link sausages at IHOP in Madison.
Hubby ordered fried Fish, shrimp, fries, toast, and a stack of 3 buttermilk pancakes.

Grinch Pancakes 

fish, shrimp, fries, toast 

Hubby drove us through the larger-than-life Christmas Card Lane that is showcased in front of some of the historic homes in Madison along Front and Chruch Streets.

Thank You for Visiting Christmas Card Lane

Magical Christmas Tree Trail Madison, Alabama Different sponsors of Madison decorate a tree, and the trees are located on both sides of the Main Street Cafe.

We rode to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge in Decatur via I-65 workers working on the bridge over the Tennessee River traffic backup. 

View of Decatur from the bridge where the traffic was backed up 

We walked down to the overlook to see the Cranes and ducks. Not as many sandhills and Whooping cranes as last year.  

We saw thousands of Sandhill Cranes but only one White Whooping Crane
The Whooping Crane, at 5 feet tall, is the tallest bird in North America and one of the most endangered. They are named for their whooping unison calls. 

Our last stop was Founders Park in front of Old Historic Bank to tour the Enchanted Forest Christmas Tree Stroll. 

Enchanted Forest Christmas Tree Stroll in Founders Park, Decatur 

By the time we finished, it was beginning to get dark, but the solar-powered lights had not come on. 
By the time we arrived home, it was dark. Hubby stopped at McDonald's for a hamburger, fries, apple pie, and Ice Cream. I ate a piece of the fish he had left over from lunch. 
Uploaded some of my pictures after I arrived home.

Sunset 

🚙2018 Nov 11-16, Trip to Smoky Mountains with Sherry & Bobby

Sunday, Nov 11, Sherry picked me up at home around 9AM. We traveled 72 hwy to hwy 101 to Town Creek and turned left onto hwy 20 to Decatur. We stopped at McDonald's near Beltline Highway for a restroom break and hot apple pie. We traveled 565 to 72 through Huntsville to Scottsboro, onto South Pittsburg, where we turned right onto I-24 to I-75 through Chattanooga. I drove from Chattanooga to Sevierville, where we were staying at Wyndham Condo 3017. We stopped several times for restroom breaks and lunch at Subway and Shell Gas in Louden, TN.

Bobby and I split a Tomato Basil wrap with rotisserie chicken, pepper jack cheese, avocado, and fixes we all drank a bottle of water. Sherry ordered a full roast beef wrap.

We arrived at check-in, Sherry went inside, and we went in later. While Sherry talked, we snacked on popcorn and water.

After we unloaded the car and were settled in, we watched some TV and decided to order a 1/2 vegetable and 1/2 sausage and pepperoni pizza from Big Daddy’s. 

I was very tired after the long trip, so I took some night quills and went to bed. I tried to read but was too sleepy.

Monday, Nov 12, We ate breakfast at the guest house of the Wyndham and listened for 2 1/2 hours about timeshares. Bobby and Sherry each received a $150.00 gift card for listening. I did not qualify because I was married, and my hubby was not with me. They were both widows. 

We rode to 3901 Hwy 411 Dandridge, TN, and ate lunch at Bushes Family Cafe Restaurant around 12:37PM. We each ordered the vegetable plate. I ordered okra, green beans, Mac and cheese, and fried apples with iced tea. 

Sherry and Bobby both ordered okra, green beans, Mac & Cheese, fried sweet potato, and water. 

We watched a short film about the Bush Family and factories, and then we toured the museum. 

We had our pictures taken together at the end, and each received a copy free.

, Aunt Bobbie and Cousin Sherry 

Green Beans, Fried Apples, okra, Mac & Cheese, Onion, and Cornbread

We stopped inside the Bush store for some mints and candy.

It rained all day. We rode to Sevierville and stopped at Ollies, where I bought a Christmas Carol book and a bottle of baby lotion. 

We rode to the condo, watched some TV, read some of my books, and ate leftovers for supper. 

On Tuesday, Nov 13, We ate lunch at Old Mill Restaurant, 164 Old Mill Ave Pigeon Forge once again, we all ordered vegetables.

I ordered pinto beans, fried apples, mac & cheese, and okra. 

We each received a bowl of corn chowder and corn fritters. Once again, we had enough leftovers for supper. 

I stopped to take a few pictures of the raging Little Pigeon River. It has rained every day that we have been here. 

Bobby and I walked around inside the Old Mill Store and did not buy anything. 

We walked across the street and looked inside an oriental gift shop with lots of jewelry, wood carvings, and glassware. Sherry bought 5 or 6 bottles of balsamic Olive oil dressings for $25.00. We rode to Old Time Pottery I took several pictures of the Christmas displays. Bobby bought an elf, and Sherry bought a small table and several stackable shelving. We stopped at Kitchen Collections, and I walked to Dollar Tree, 141 E Wears Valley Rd Pigeon Forge, and bought some candy and 3 cans of Diet Coke. 

We rode to the Condo, watched some TV, finished one book, started another, and ate leftovers. 

pinto beans, fried apples, mac & cheese, and okra
Old Mill Restaurant 

Wednesday, Nov 14, We rode to Workshop Tools 105 Knives Works Ln Sevierville, where I bought sunglasses, flashlights, and ink pens, we walked next door to Lodge Store, where I bought 6 10-inch skillets with nickel carved backing. I had them shipped to my home because they were too heavy to carry. 

We rode to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World 3629 Outdoor Sportsman Place Kodak, TN, where I bought a pair of boots. Bobby bought herself 2 henley shirts. 

We ate lunch at Applewood Grill Restaurant, Apple Valley Rd Sevierville. We were all tired of vegetables, so we each ordered a bowl of soup and a grilled sandwich. Sherry ordered chicken noodles, Bobby ordered loaded potato soup, and I ordered vegetable soup.

We were all brought apple fritters, apple butter, and Julep(orange, apple, and Pineapple juice mixed). We once again had enough leftovers for supper. 

Watched some TV, read, and went to bed. 

Pipping a hot bowl of Vegetable Soup in the black kettle with grilled cheese at Applewood Grill Restaurant 

Visit the North Pole at Bass Pro Kodak, TN 

Merry Christmas from the Lodge Store 

Welcome from Old Time Pottery 

Thursday, Nov 15, We rode to Dolly Pardon’s Stampede, 3849 Parkway Pigeon Forge, to take a few pictures of the Christmas display with camels, sleighs, and Christmas trees.  

We walked through the Three Bears General Store, 2861 Parkway Pigeon Forge, and took a few pictures at the entrance. Could not take pictures inside. 

We ate lunch at Firehouse Sub 2627 Parkway Suite Pigeon Forge. I ordered a kid's meatball sub, chips, and a drink. I ordered a 4-inch Philly sub to take home. We stopped at Incredible Christmas Place, 2470 Parkway Pigeon Forge, took several pictures, and had my picture taken with Santa. 

We also stopped at Wranglers and several other stores behind Texas Road House on Collier Drive Pigeon Forge. 

Ate leftovers for supper, watched TV, packed, and read my book.

Come take a sleigh ride at Dolly Parton's Stampede.

Fireman at Firehouse Sub

Come visit Three Bears, General Store 

Friday, Nov 16, Finished Packing, cleaned, loaded the car, checked out, and rode to Great Smoky Mountain Flea Market 220 W Dumplin Valley Rd Kodak, TN around 8AM. 

We Stopped at McDonald's in Fort Louden for breakfast(around 10:36AM)  and to fill up with Shell Gas. I ordered two apple pies and ate both. Sherry and Bobby ordered a sausage and cheese McMuffin. 

We Huntsville) for lunch. I ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and water. 

Sherry and Bobby both ordered a cheeseburger. 

Hubby picked me up at a barbecue restaurant in Town Creek around 3:00PM and was home by 3:30PM.

Last Stop before heading home
Great Smoky Mt Flea Market

We were having a Tidwell Thanksgiving at 6:30PM tonight.

Pharr Indian Mounds Natchez Trace

Trade from Afar
Around 2,000 to 1,800 years ago native people built Pharr Mounds, a complex of eight dome-shaped mounds, spread over 90 acres.
One of the largest Middle Woodland era mound sites in the region, Pharr Mounds was near a sizable village. The people there attracted a trade for everyday items and ceremonial objects. 

A vast trading network stretched from the southeastern US to the shores of Lake Ontario. Over hundreds of linked trails, objects of copper, mica, greenstone, and shell found their way to Pharr Mounds. People from smaller local villages then came here to obtain exotic goods. 
Natchez Trace ParkwayAll natural and cultural resources along the Natchez Trace Parkway are protected by federal laws.

Objects and Ideas
Mounds Along the Natchez Trace Parkway 
200 BCE
Middle Woodland Period
Bynum Mounds
Pharr Mounds 
Late Woodland Period 800 CE
Boyd Mounds 
Mangum Mounds
Early Mississippian Period 1000CE 1200CE 
Bear Creek Mounds
Late Mississippian Period 1400CE 1600CE 
Emerald Mound

People from the Woodland era created some of the finest crafts and artwork in North America. For inspiration, they turned to the natural world and their understanding of the universe. The objects they created in metal, stone, and shell were prized from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

Since many of the traded objects had a spiritual meaning or were linked to religious ceremonies, it is clear that ideas traveled with the trade. Though there were local variations, American Indians throughout today's eastern US understood and related to the imagery skillfully applied to pipes, jewelry, fabric, and pottery.

Coming Home 

Coming Home
Like the native peoples who lived near Pharr Mounds cultures around the world and across time built monuments and lasting memorials. Mounds like these are some of the earliest remaining monuments in North America.

Skillfully designed and built, these mounds are a source of wonder and pride, Spiritually enduring, they become the cornerstone of civic and religious ceremonies and rituals.

Modern Chickasaw feels a strong bond with Pharr Mounds and considers them sacred. Many return here as a part of a pilgrimage to their ancestral homeland.

"I am astounded by the levels of the science of spirituality, and community and organization evident in the creation and existence of Pharr Mounds and how it related to the larger region. I am proud of my ancestors."

Kirk Perry
Executive Officer for Historic Preservation
Chickasaw Nation

Pharr Indian Mounds Markers

Pharr Indian Mounds

John Lee Hooker - Vance MISS US 61 Blues Trail South Haven, MS

MISS US 61 John Lee Hooker - Vance

John Lee Hooker (c. 1917-2001), one of the most famous and successful of all blues singers, had his musical roots here in the Delta, where he learned to play guitar in the style of his stepfather, Will Moore.  Hooker spent many of his early years with his family in the cotton fields around Vance and Lambert before he moved to Detroit in the 1940s. He became an international celebrity after recording hits  such as “Boogie Chillen,” “I’m in the Mood,” and “Boom Boom.”

John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker was at once one of the most influential yet inimitable artists in blues history.  His distinctive “boogie” style harked back to the early days of blues, but his mixture of down-home sounds and urban sensibilities resounded with many Southerners who, like him, migrated north seeking work and a better life.  Hooker, one of eleven children, often gave vague and contradictory details about his early life, later professing little desire to return to Mississippi. He often cited August 22, 1917, as his birth date, although census records, showing the family near Tutwiler in 1920 and 1930, indicate he was several years older. He said he was born between Clarksdale and Vance; Social Security files list his birthplace as Glendora. His father, William Hooker, at one time a sharecropper on the Fewell plantation near Vance, was a preacher who frowned upon the blues. John Lee preferred living with his stepfather, blues guitarist Will Moore and claimed that his idiosyncratic style was “identical” to Moore’s. Hooker was also influenced by his sister Alice’s boyfriend, Tony Hollins (1910-c.1959), who gave Hooker his first guitar. Hooker’s song “When My First Wife Left Me” was based on a 1941 Hollins recording. Hollins once lived north of Vance in Longstreet (so named for its long street of stores, houses, and dance halls).

Following stays in Memphis and Cincinnati and returns to the Vance/Lambert area, Hooker settled in Detroit, where he made his first recordings in 1948. In 1949 his single “Boogie Chillen” reached No. 1 on the R&B charts; “I’m in the Mood” achieved the same feat in 1951. Hooker, famed for his ability to improvise new songs in the studio, recorded prolifically for many different labels, often under pseudonyms to avoid contractual problems. He later crossed over to rock ‘n’ roll and folk audiences and enjoyed a remarkable resurgence beginning in 1989 with the release of The Healer, one of several Hooker albums that featured collaborations with leading rock artists. Hooker received four Grammy® Awards, a Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (as well as the one in Clarksdale). He was inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Blues Hall of Fame. Hooker moved to California in the late 1960s and later owned a club, the Boom Boom Room, in San Francisco. He died at his home in Los Altos on June 21, 2001.

Hooker’s cousin Earl Hooker (1929-1970), who also hailed from the Vance area, was widely regarded by his peers as the best guitarist in the blues.  A versatile and innovative performer, Hooker was especially celebrated for his slide guitar skills. As a teenager, Hooker performed on the King Biscuit Time radio show in Helena and later played and recorded with Ike Turner, Junior Wells, and many others, including his own Chicago-based group, the Roadmasters.

Modern Hollywood Records
“Boogie Chillin'”
 John Lee Hooker & His guitar 

Far left, Shaw Artists photo, the 1950s let Hooker during an interview for Living Blues Magazine, Chicago 1977.
Hooker was a headliner on the "chitlin circuit" when he appeared at the Lyric Theater in Louisville, Ky advertised here in the March 1, 1952 issue of the Louisville Defender.
Cousin John Lee and Earl Hooker followed separate career paths but came together to record the album If You Miss I got im in 1969.
Eddie Barns, who once lived in nearby Dublin teamed up with John Lee Hooker to perform and record in Detroit in the 1950s and 50s. Barns (b.1928) knew the Hooker family here, although John Lee had already moved north at the time. Hooker's first wife, Alma Pope was also from Dublin.
Hooker, "King of the Boogie" at a California performance in 1981 with fellow Mississippi native Charlie Musselwhite on hardware. 

Welcome to one of the many sites on the Mississippi Blues Trail  Visit us online at www.MSBluesTrail.org 

Muddy Waters Miss US 61 Blues Trail South Haven, MS

MISS. US 61

Muddy Waters 

Muddy Waters lived most of his first thirty years in a house on this site that was part of the Stovall Plantation. In 1996 the restored house was put on display at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale. Muddy Waters was first recorded here in 1941 by Alan Lomax, who was a complaining song for the Library of Congress.
Muddy Waters is known as the king of Chicago Blues. 

Muddy Waters 

Muddy Waters 

Muddy Waters 

Muddy Waters African American Music on the Stovall plantation was documented as early as 1901 when a Harvard archeologist heard local workers singing what he later described as “autochthonous music” and strains of apparently genius African music. 

Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield, 1913-1983) moved to Stovall with his grandmother from Rolling Fork, Mississippi c1915. The Stovall plantation remained his primary base until he moved to Chicago in 1943. 

In August 1941, on a field recording expedition sponsored by the Library of Congress and Fisk University, Alan Lomax and John Work set up portable equipment in Water’s house to record Muddy and other local musicians, including fiddler Henry “Son” Simmons. Lomax returned with Lewis Jones in 1942 for the second series of recordings. Two of Water’s recordings, “Burr Clover Farm Blues” and “Burr Clover Blues” paid tribute to plantation owner Colonel William Howard Stovall (1895-1970) and his crop. The Stovalls, one of the Delta’s most successful cotton-farming families, were pioneers of agricultural technology, and Colonel Stovall invented the burr clover seed harvester in 1935. Waters told Lomax that he wrote “Burr Clover Blues” at Stovall’s request. Waters entertained field hands at his house which serves as a juke joint and also played at social functions for the Stovalls, as did the Mississippi Sheiks, a popular black string band that Waters admired. 

Water’s cousin, The Reverend Willie Morganfield (1927-2003), was born on the Stovall plantation and turned down offers to sing the blues and devoted his talent to the church, becoming a popular gospel recording artist in the 1960s. He was the pastor of the Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Clarksdale. Blues singer-pianist Eddie Boyd (1914-1994), who wrote the classic “Five Long Years,” a NO. 1 rhythm & blues in 1952, was also born on Stovall. Stovall resident and blues basis David “Pecan” Porter (1943-2003) later lived in the house that Muddy Waters had earlier occupied. Porter was active on the Clarksdale blues scene from the 1960s through the 1990s. 

Only in the 1980s after the vacant house was in disrepair, did tourists begin visiting it as a Muddy Waters shrine. In 1987m guitarist, Billy Gibbson of the rock group ZZ Top had “Muddywood” guitars crafted from plans of the house. ZZ Top subsequently used the guitars to promote a fund-fund-raising drive to benefit the Delta Blues Museum.

Well, now the reason I love that
ol' Stovall's Farm so well
Well, now you know, we have
a plenty of money
And we never be raisin' hell
"Burr Clover Blues" by Muddy Waters
The remains of Muddy Water's house from this spot as it appeared in the mid-1990s. Shortly after this photo was taken the cabin was removed from this site and sent on a five-year world tour that was sponsored by to House of Blues.

Welcome to one of the many sites of the Mississippi Blues Trail
Visit us online at
www.MSBluesTrail.org

Abbay & Leatherman - Robinsonville Blues Trail South Haven, MS

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MISS US 61

Abbay & Leatherman - Robinsonville

Abbay & Leatherman, one of the oldest and largest cotton plantations in the Delta, is known to music enthusiasts worldwide as the boyhood home of blues icon Robert Johnson (c. 1912-1938). Johnson lived here with his family in a tenant shack by the levee during the 1920s. The powerful and impassioned recordings he made in 1936-37 are often cited as the foundation of rock ‘n’ roll, and the facts, fantasies, and mysteries of his life and death are a continuing source of intrigue.

Abbay & Leatherman - Robinsonville

Abbay & Leatherman - Robinsonville

Abbay & Leatherman - Robinsonville

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Robert Johnson would become known as the “King of the Delta Blues,” heralded not only as a dramatic and emotional vocalist but also as an innovative and influential master of the guitar and a blues poet who could chill listeners with the dark depths of his lyrical vision. But he was recalled only as a good harmonica player who had limited skills as a guitarist during his adolescent years here on the Abbay & Leatherman Plantation. Johnson left the Delta around 1930, but when he reappeared about two years later he possessed such formidable guitar technique that Robinsonville blues luminary Son House later remarked that Johnson must have “sold his soul to the devil.”  The 1986 Hollywood movie Crossroads was based on the legend of Johnson’s alleged deal with the devil, as were several subsequent documentaries and books.

Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, the illegitimate son of Julia Dodds and Noah Johnson. May 8, 1911, is often cited as his birthdate, although some sources, including a census listing and his death certificate, point to 1912. His mother once sent him to Memphis to live with his father, Charles Dodds (aka Charles Spencer) but took him back after she married Willie “Dusty” Willis at Abbay & Leatherman in 1916. Johnson, then known as Robert Spencer, reportedly lived here for a decade or more beginning in about 1918. Records from the nearby Indian Creek School verify his enrollment there. However, the 1920 census shows Will and Julia Willis and Robert Spencer in Lucas, Arkansas, in the same county where Abbay & Leatherman owner Samuel Richard Leatherman once acquired additional cotton-farming property.

Johnson married Virginia Travis in Tunica County in 1929, but his 16-year-old wife died in childbirth on April 10, 1930. Back in Hazlehurst, Johnson found himself a new wife, Callie Craft, as well as a musical mentor, guitarist Ike Zinnerman.  He soon left married life behind to pursue a career as an itinerant musician, now able to play alongside the best bluesmen in the Delta, including Son House and Willie Brown, and to entertain crowds wherever he went with a reputation for being able to play any song after hearing it just once. He began recording in 1936, and though his recordings proved highly influential in the course of blues and rock ‘n’ roll history, few of them sold well during his lifetime. His death near Greenwood on August 16, 1938, has often been attributed to poisoning, although the case remains a mystery. Johnson was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in its first year, 1980, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame also in its initial year, 1986.

I'm gon' get up in the mornin',
I believe I'll dust my broom.
Girlfriend, the black man you lovin'
My girlfriend can get my room.
"I Believe I'll Dust my Broon""
Robert Johnson
An aerial view of part of the Abby & Leatherman plantation from the 1920s. At its peak, more than 45-0 families lived and worked here, according to Bobby Leatherman. The plantation traces its history back to 1831 when Richard Abby purchased land from the Chickasaw Indians tribe. 

“I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom” was one of many of Robert Johnson’s classics later covered by blues and rock performers. Others include “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Cross Road Blues,” “Love In Vain,” “Come On In My Kitchen,” and “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues.”

The deep Delta blues of Son House and fellow Delta legends Charley Patton and Willie Brown were a major inspiration to Robert Johnson. House, Brown, Louise Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Fiddlin’ Joe Martin, Woodrow Adams, Willie Johnson, and Tommy Bankhead were among the blues recording artists who lived and performed at various times on plantations in this area.

The mystique surrounding Robert Johnson helped propel the boxed set, The Complete Recordings, to the Billboard pop music charts in 1990. It was the first album to feature a photograph of Johnson; earlier album covers, including that of the historic 1961 compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers, relied on illustrators’ imaginations.

Willie Coffee and R. L. Windum were local childhood friends of Robert Johnson. Coffee was one of several musicians who played in the area at house parties and juke joints but who never recorded commercially; others he recalled included Willie Polk, Robert Newman, Henry Neyland, Mitchell Winters, Mamie Fletch, Will Loving heart, Walter Rogers, and Sol Henderson. Windum (1910-2003) and Johnson played harmonica together as youngsters. He recalled “Three O’Clock in the Morning” as a favorite harmonica piece of Johnson’s.

LONGUEROR Recording Company
“I Believe I'll Dust My Broom”
 Robert Johnson

Welcome to one of the many sites on the Mississippi Blues Trail 

Visit us online at www.MSBluesTrail.org

Memphis Minnie-Walls Miss US 61 Blues Trail South Have, MS

MISS US 61

Memphis Minnie - Walls

Memphis Minnie (Lizzie Douglas, 1897-1973) was one of the premier blues artists of the 1930s and ‘40s. Her singing and songwriting, spirited demeanor, and superlative guitar playing propelled her to the upper echelons of a field dominated by male guitarists and pianists. In the early 1900s, Minnie lived in Tunica and DeSoto counties, where she began performing with guitarist Willie Brown and others. She is buried here in the New Hope M.B. Church Cemetery.

Memphis Minnie 

Memphis Minnie 

Memphis Minnie 

MEMPHIS MINNIE spent most of her childhood in Mississippi, where she was known as “Kid” Douglas. U.S. Census listings of 1900 and 1910 place her in Tunica County, but she gave her birthplace as Algiers, Louisiana (June 3, 1897). When she was a teenager, her family moved to Walls, but Minnie soon struck out on her own, inspired to make a living with her voice and guitar. She reportedly joined the Ringling Brothers circus as a traveling musician and performed locally at house parties and dances with Willie Brown, Willie Moore, and other bluesmen around Lake Cormorant and Walls.

The lure of Beale Street drew her to Memphis, where she worked for the streets, cafes, clubs, and parties. She began performing with Joe McCoy, whom she married in 1929. After a talent scout heard the duo performing for tips in a barbershop, they made their first recordings that year, billed as “Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie.” “Bumble Bee” was their big hit, and has been recorded by many other blues singers, although in later years their most recognized song would become “When the Levee Breaks.” The couple soon relocated to Chicago and continued to perform and record together before Minnie took on a new guitar-playing husband, Ernest Lawlars (or Lawlers), a.k.a. “Little Son Joe.” Minnie recorded prolifically throughout the 1930s and ‘40s, scoring hits such as “Me and My Chauffeur Blues,” “Please Set a Date,” “In My Girlish Days,” and “Nothing in Rambling.” Her showmanship and instrumental prowess enabled her to defeat the top bluesmen of Chicago, including Muddy Waters and Big Bill Broonzy, in blues contests. Minnie gained a reputation as a down-home diva who could handle herself, and her men, both on and off the stage. In 1958 Minnie returned to Memphis, where she died in a nursing home on August 6, 1973.

One of the rare women of her era to gain prominence as a guitarist, Minnie overcame considerable odds to achieve success, battling both racism and sexism. She has been heralded as a champion of feminist independence and empowerment. She was elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in its first year of balloting (1980). The Mt. Zion Memorial Fund erected a headstone for her here in 1996. Her songs have been recorded by women such as Big Mama Thornton, Lucinda Williams, and Maria Muldaur, as well as by men, including Muddy Waters, Elmore James, and Western swing pioneer Milton Brown.

Columbia Recording Company
“When the Levee Breaks”
 Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie 

If it keeps on rainin',
Levee's goin' to break.
And the water gonna come and
You'll have no place to stay.
Oh, cryin' won't help you,
Prayin' won't do no good.
When the levee breaks, mama,
You got to move.
It's a mean old levee,
Cause me to weep and moan.
Gonna leave my baby and
My happy home.
When the Levee Breaks
Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie

When the Levee Breaks, recorded June 18, 1929, was the first release by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. McCoy was the vocalist on this song and many others during the years of his partnership with Minnie. Led Zeppelin brought the song to rock audiences when they recorded it in 1971, and its lyrics carried its renewed prominence as a theme song for documentaries about Hurricane Katrina after the levees broke in New Orleans in 2005.

In Woman with Guitar, Memphis Minnie's Blues at 1922 Da Capo Press book. Paula and Beth Garon documented Minnie's life and music analyzing her work from sociological, political, and surrealist perspectives.

Welcome to one of the many sites on the Mississippi Blues Trail 

Visit us online at www.MSBluesTrail.org