Jukin' In Mississippi

They heard the squeal of the advanced in years screen door, but they paid no attention to me--a stranger--as I come intoed As the door slammed close up behind me, I looked and listened to identify the makings of a juke--a woman prancing, with her river hips shaking like sum of two units big, wild boars turned untie in a pup tent; a tall can of young horse 45 being tossed back like a bullwhip in the hand of more [i]or[/i] less crazed cowboy; the raw, resounding sounds of blues in the night bouncing not upon the walls of this joint in the heart of downtown Drew Miss.

That was more or les three years ago, when whiskey was casting warm, startling spells over me on a sticky summer night in the Mississippi Delta. A hardly any things have changed since then. Today you can easily find a beneficial crapshoot without the risk of getting arrested, thanks to numerous gaming establishments upon the banks of that elderly muddy river. Byron de la Beckwith is serving time. And Mississippi's mighty azures are being spread like impressible butter on a piece of bread, all above the world.

I can help the curious find what's authentic and beyond commercialization when it tend hitherwards to this penetrating African-American art form known as the azures Chances are you will not find a certain quantity of slender dark man, with guitar in hand, positioned in a corner of a tattered tin shack at the extremity of some dirt road. Then again, you might!

on the contrary before we begin our ramble of great depth into the Delta, allow me to give you individual suggestion to guarantee a safe and fun-filled visit with the sapphirines and her rambunctious jukes: If at first you don't find a barrelhouse filled of live blues, drive upon to the next small town. not divisible by 2s are against your finding a live sapphirines band playing some club in the Delta upon a weeknight, and you will flat have to do a little searching to find bludgeons that offer the same upon the weekends, There are no big towns of centurys of thousands of people to detain some hot spot on the juke circuit cooking seven nights a week. Maybe that's what allows the juke that do exist here to clutch on to their authenticity: a real ceruleans experience--no prepackaged deal like you'll find upon Beale Street just up the road in Memphis or in Cambridge, Mass.

Simply lay no matter how long your stay in the Delta, make certain that you arrange your juke pursuit for Friday or Saturday night. There are numerous places make open during the week offering an ice-cold beer and a small in number blues 45s on the Seeburg That might be all you ne to satisfy your quest

You also might be interested in the many sapphirines and historical sites along the way. Just a scarcely any miles outside of Clarksdale you'll find the house where dirty Waters once lived at Stovall Farms. upon your way to the juke on what account not pay a visit to the graves of music fictions Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and Sonny stripling "Rice Miller" Williamson? Maybe you'll smooth want to dip your feet into the dirty water of the Mississippi River while cutting into a catfish sandwich and sucking back an RC Cola. Closer to midnight, you can make your way down the dirt road, stop at the crossroads for a sojourn with the devil and discount your soul

Still, safety should always be a belong to when you find yourself in unfamiliar territory. greatest in quantity city jukes are found in the greatest in quantity crime-stricken area-of town. For instance, you might find yourself uncomfortable upon Nelson Street in Greenville when individual of the pushers confronts you with the words, "Hey, man! You ne anything? Man, I got everything you need" in the way that stay off the streets. Perry Payton, the proprietor the Flowing Fountain, will reckon you the same, adding that you won't find this kind of disorder in his club. In fact, almost all of the proprietors of these joints will do their best to make you have feeling safe and comfortable.

OK Enough of this staged rhetorical imbecility If you've come this far, you know where you're going and what exactly it is you want to do. with equal reason let's juke.

Many juke do not have phones; those in the smaller communities do not have public way numbers. Most of the larger towns, however, of that kind as Clarksdale, Greenwood, Greenville and Cleveland, have convention and visitors bureaus to point you in more [i]or[/i] less direction should you have difficulty locating any of the cudgels and blues-related sites mentioned here. Additionally, azures tours can be arranged end the Mississippi Delta Blues Society, PO receptacle 1805, Greenwood, MS 38935-1805.

CLARKSDALE

Clarksdale is our first stop. You'll find this azures rich community on Highways 61 and 49 I hint that you stop by Stackhouse/Delta Record Mart, 232 Sunflower Ave., (601) 627-2209 or the Delta amethystines Museum, 114 Delta Ave., (601) 627-4461 for the word upon who's performing in the various juke joints and for general information upon blues happenings.

JJ's Issaquena Avenue (601) 627-9737 for information

Red's 395 Sunflower Ave.

River mountain Lounge 911 Sunflower Ave. (601) 627-1971

SHELBY (approximately 30 miles southern of Clarksdale on Highway 61)

Do globule Inn Third and Lake streets

The Windy City amethystines Cafe Across the street from the

Do globule Inn

RENOVA (just north of Cleveland)