Delta Blues Museum
The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale , Mississippi , is a museum dedicated to blues music . In addition to a comprehensive collection of blues memorabilia, the museum also exhibits art related to the blues, including works by sculptor Floyd Shaman and photographer Birney Imes.
history
Clarksdale, a town at the junction of Highways 61 and 49, and the surrounding area are known as "the land where the blues began". It is also home to many great blues musicians such as Muddy Waters , John Lee Hooker , Son House , Ike Turner , Jackie Brenston , Sam Cooke , Junior Parker and WC Handy . It therefore made sense to dedicate a museum to the rich cultural heritage. The museum was founded in 1979 by the Carnegie Public Library Board of Trustees and reorganized in 1999. This makes it the oldest museum in Mississippi dedicated to music. The museum is run by a five-person governing body appointed by the Mayor of Clarksdale. The financial endowment is provided on the one hand by the city of Clarksdale, on the other hand the museum is financed from admissions, the museum shop, memberships and donations. Supporters include Billy Gibbons, the front man of the Texan blues rock group ZZ Top .
museum
The museum is located in the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Passenger Depot, also known as the Illinois Central Passenger Depot, or the Clarksdale Passenger Depot, which was built in 1918 for the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
In addition to the museum's tasks, the museum also takes care of the musical education of young people, e.g. B. in piano workshops with Henry Gray , harmonica workshops with Geneva Red and oral history talks with David “Honeyboy” Edwards and Charlie Musselwhite on the history of the blues.
The museum stage hosts concerts as part of the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival in August and the Juke Joint Festival in April.
The museum is open in the summer months from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the winter months (November to February) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed on Sundays.
Exhibitions
- Ike Turner and Rocket 88: Ike Turner, the eminent musician and producer, is a son of the City of Clarksdale.
- Blues, Booze & BBQ: Photo exhibition for the book of the same name by Michael Loyd Young.
- Muddy Waters: The exhibition shows the rescued part of Muddy Waters' house, which was on the Stovell Plantation near Clarksdale. This is where Alan Lomax shot Muddy Waters for the Library of Congress .
- Guitars: Guitars by various artists are exhibited, such as John Lee Hooker , BB King or Big Joe Williams . Stella guitars from New Jersey were the preferred instruments of delta musicians like Charley Patton , Willie Brown or Skip James , but (as "twelve-string") also of Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leadbelly .
- Big Mama Thornton : Her own showcase is dedicated to her.
Trivia
- The museum is featured in Patricia Schultz's book "1,000 Places to See Before You Die".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Delta Blues Museum Homepage ( Memento of the original dated February 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Delta Blues Museum Homepage ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 34 ° 12 ′ 0.4 ″ N , 90 ° 34 ′ 24.9 ″ W.