I\u2019m a day behind, I know.\u00a0 There was just no way I was staying up last to report on the day we had.\u00a0 And what a day it was.\u00a0 That was the most fun I\u2019ve had in a long time.\u00a0 Now I\u2019m tired.<\/p>\n
After three days outside in the weather, I was tired.\u00a0 I was a little slow keeping morning this morning.\u00a0 Yesterday, the weather was gray and cold.\u00a0 What happened to the 85 and sunny?\u00a0 I\u2019d take 85 and cloudy.\u00a0 We managed to dress enough to stay warm with layers.\u00a0 I think I slept all the better that night though.<\/p>\n
Time to check out of this hotel and move on to Clarksdale.\u00a0 The plan was to arrive in time for brunch at Ground Zero and see the sights and sounds of the Cat Head mini fest in downtown.\u00a0 Then we would go out to the Hopson Commissary on the old Hopson Plantation for the Pinetop Perkins Foundation event.<\/p>\n
We rolled into Clarksdale about 11:00.\u00a0 Things seemed to be a little slow in downtown.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure what streets might be closed, so we parked out at the Delta Blues Museum parking lot.\u00a0 I thought this would make it easier to leave when we headed out to the plantation.<\/p>\n
We could hear music playing.\u00a0 I had checked Facebook and saw a post from Roger Stolle that things had gotten underway at 9:00 AM.\u00a0 We went the couple of blocks toward downtown where Cat Head Music is located.\u00a0 We could see the tent set up outside of the store.\u00a0 They were playing right on the steps in front.\u00a0 There were a few people hanging out.\u00a0 Cool.\u00a0 More Delta Blues!<\/p>\n
We hung out for a few minutes listening to the band.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know them or their music.\u00a0 They were good.\u00a0 Still no slackers around the Delta when it came to playing music.\u00a0 We went into the store to look around and hopefully talk to Roger for a minute.\u00a0 I love the folk art that graces the walls and other surfaces around the store.\u00a0 The colors and subjects are all great.\u00a0 One day, it\u2019ll all be in a museum to show this time period and examples of the form.\u00a0 Rich picked out shirt he wanted.\u00a0 I found a small painting of Pinetop Perkins that would be wonderful to have.<\/p>\n
I was wondering around and looking when I saw this beautiful cigar box guitar.\u00a0 It was so colorful and I loved the subject on the front.\u00a0 It was highly decorated.\u00a0 Then I noticed the signature was SuperChikan.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always wanted one of his works.\u00a0 They are gorgeous.\u00a0 Rich only shook his head and turned down another aisle.\u00a0 So I\u2019d have to work on then.<\/p>\n
Wondering down the back of the store, Roger passed me to into out of the doors back there.\u00a0 I thought maybe I could linger around until he came back.\u00a0 Sure enough, it worked.\u00a0 I stopped him and told him the story of meeting his roommate at the Cincy Blues Fest.\u00a0 Roger laughed and explained the whole thing.\u00a0 Pat wasn\u2019t his roommate, but a friend that he drafted into going around to the juke joints in the Cincy and Kentucky area.\u00a0 Roger didn\u2019t want to go alone, but he had gotten hooked on blues back then and was starting to work on articles for magazines and selling the subject matter to other outlets.\u00a0 Pat would follow him anywhere, much to the chagrin of Pat\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n
We talked for a bit more.\u00a0 Roger said Pat came down last year to check out the store and the music in the area.\u00a0 Now he knew what prompted his friend to come down after all these years.\u00a0 Pat could tell his wife that Roger had made something of himself.<\/p>\n
We purchased the things that Rich said I could have.\u00a0 One more pitch for the guitar was met with another shake of the head.\u00a0 Darn.\u00a0 I\u2019m not giving up though.\u00a0 We went back outside and took up seats to listen to Leo Bud Welch again.\u00a0 I had talked to him beyond the tent where he was signing CDs.\u00a0 No one was around, so I took the opportunity to tell him how much I enjoyed the show yesterday.\u00a0 He was very nice.\u00a0 We chatted for a few minutes before Rich found me.<\/p>\n
As we were waiting for the show, I realized that the drummer setting up her kit was from yesterday.\u00a0 Then it struck me who she was!\u00a0 This was Dixie Street, wife of Stan Street who is a local artist and musician.\u00a0 We had met the last time we were in town.\u00a0 Can I hate her because she is cute?\u00a0 And she can really beat those skins.\u00a0 I heard someone call her the Queen of Beat.\u00a0 Yes, she is.<\/p>\n
After listening for a while, hunger got the best of us.\u00a0 We stowed our purchases in the car and headed to Ground Zero for some food.\u00a0 I was hoping there might be breakfast items on the menu.\u00a0 Nope, it was their standard menu.\u00a0 It\u2019s OK food, but nothing I really wanted.\u00a0 We ordered sandwiches to tide us over.\u00a0 It was crazy busy in there.<\/p>\n
The band on stage turned out to be from the UK.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember their exact name, but they were apparently regulars at King Biscuit for the last few years.\u00a0 They also grew up in the time period when The Rolling Stones and The Who wanted to be bluesmen.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t follow their dream into music until after they retired and got together to play blues again.\u00a0 They return every year to play at the festival in Helena.\u00a0 This year, they talked Bill and Morgan into letting them be the band on stage for the brunch at the Cat Head fest.\u00a0 They were pretty good, too.\u00a0 They have UK in their name since one of the members is from Scotland originally.<\/p>\n
We finished up and headed out to listen to more music.\u00a0 Good news is that over brunch\/lunch, we talked about the guitar I wanted.\u00a0 With promises and sad eyes and more promises, Rich finally agreed that we could go halves and buy it.\u00a0 Yes! It was worth every promise I made.\u00a0 Now can I remember to keep those promises?\u00a0 We went back to the store and got my guitar.\u00a0 I was so happy.<\/p>\n
We got our chairs from the car and set up across the street from the tent against the buildings.\u00a0 This was the best place to be.\u00a0 The music bounced off the buildings and amplified.\u00a0 It was great.\u00a0 Big George Brock had been sitting off to the side earlier.\u00a0 He was on stage now.\u00a0 It sounded so much better than on the Front Porch at King Biscuit.\u00a0 It was a good day.<\/p>\n
We could watch people mingling around and see the faces of the local musicians.\u00a0 Rich punched me at one point and said, \u201cThere\u2019s Watermelon Slim.\u201d\u00a0 Sure enough, it was.\u00a0 He was standing a few feet away from us having a conversation with a lady.\u00a0 Watermelon is one of Rich\u2019s all time favorites.\u00a0 I was trying to get Rich to go over to him.\u00a0 Rich only took his picture from afar.\u00a0 I guess this was going to be up to me to get right there and start the conversation.<\/p>\n
Watermelon had moved on to the sidewalk and carrying on conversations with different people.\u00a0 He had this huge bag with him.\u00a0 My first thought was dog treats, but there wasn\u2019t a dog around at that time.\u00a0 I got up and took Rich with me.\u00a0 I wanted to get a picture of Rich with Watermelon.\u00a0 We waited for a chance to introduce ourselves.<\/p>\n
Marquis Dixon came over and put his arm around Watermelon.\u00a0 We started hearing about how Marquis is the future of the blues.\u00a0 That is so true.\u00a0 There aren\u2019t many of the younger generation taking up that kind of music.\u00a0 I had heard Marquis play at King Biscuit while walking around.\u00a0 He is a great guitar player.\u00a0 Watermelon was kidding with him and we kind of joined the conversation.<\/p>\n
Apparently, this year\u2019s King Biscuit flyer had a picture of Watermelon Slim on it.\u00a0 One of the earlier people to talk to Watermelon brought it back to him.\u00a0 Watermelon was on a roll after that.\u00a0 Apparently, the Blues Society people didn\u2019t agree with ownership over a song.\u00a0 They were blackballing him from getting jobs.\u00a0 That\u2019s not right, the music belongs to the people who wrote it.\u00a0 I think Watermelon is a little more vocal than the society likes on some issues and they want him to be quieter about those issues.\u00a0 Let me tell you, he is definitely vocal!<\/p>\n
I took a picture of Watermelon with Marquis.\u00a0 Then I got a picture of Watermelon with Rich.\u00a0 It was a great photo.\u00a0 We mentioned that we couldn\u2019t get Watermelon\u2019s latest CD because it was sold out in the Cat Head store.\u00a0 He mentioned that we could get a copy around the corner.\u00a0 Great, we would check that out.<\/p>\n
We were sitting in our chairs listening to music when I noticed that Robert \u201cBilbo\u201d Walker was standing by a table next to Red\u2019s BBQ smoker pit.\u00a0 I decided to go talk to him and see if he had CDs.\u00a0 This guy is a real character.\u00a0 He wears this incredible wig and it\u2019s become his trademark.\u00a0 It\u2019s really hard to tell how old he is, but I see on Wikipedia that he is 77.\u00a0 It says he\u2019s also a late bloomer to publishing his music.\u00a0 No time like the present.\u00a0 Said hello and picked out a CD from the table.\u00a0 He laughs and shakes his head.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, this one here is a much better set of music than that CD.\u00a0 You should buy this one, but don\u2019t let me tell you which one to buy.\u201d\u00a0 OK, I take his advise and buy that one.\u00a0 I ask him to sign it to Rich.\u00a0 The CD artwork is printed on a computer and the CD is handwritten.\u00a0 Too cool.\u00a0 You won\u2019t find this anywhere else.<\/p>\n
We listened to some more music.\u00a0 Then it was 2:30.\u00a0 We needed to get out to the Hopson Plantation for the Pinetop Perkins Foundation.\u00a0 The flyers said it would start at 3:00.\u00a0 We packed up our chairs and headed toward the car.\u00a0 Rich stopped me at Red\u2019s BBQ wagon first.\u00a0 Red Padon is the owner of Red\u2019s Lounge in town.\u00a0 This is a real juke joint set up down the street from Ground Zero.\u00a0 We were planning to go over tonight to see what it was like.\u00a0 I was excited and scared.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know what happened in a juke joint.<\/p>\n
Rich wanted to try the ribs that Red was preparing on the smoker.\u00a0 Since Rich makes the world\u2019s best ribs, he always has to try someone else\u2019s just to be sure.\u00a0 Red poked around in the pan for what he considered to be some choice ribs.\u00a0 As we were paying for the ribs, Red invited us over to his place tonight.\u00a0 We assured him that we planned to be there.\u00a0 I think Red might have made a threat to come and find us if we didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Now I was scared.<\/p>\n
We were standing on the corner with our chairs and ribs.\u00a0 Now I wonder where Watermelon meant had CDs?\u00a0 We saw the Blues Emporium and started down that way.\u00a0 Watermelon came running up and asked if we still wanted that CD.\u00a0 Of course we did!\u00a0 Turns out, he had them in the trunk of his car!\u00a0 We stood at his car talking for a bit.\u00a0 He gave Rich the CD and they discussed the title track, Bull Goose Rooster.<\/p>\n
The rooster on the front cover is the rooster from the song.\u00a0 While in Key West, Watermelon was in the post office parking lot where this particular rooster was the bull goose guy of the hens in that area.\u00a0 In case you didn\u2019t know, chickens are wild down there.\u00a0 This rooster came over and checked Watermelon out.\u00a0 I guess he decided that Watermelon was OK because he ran off to chase away his competition.\u00a0 That\u2019s lucky.\u00a0 A rooster who decides you are a danger can be a bad thing.\u00a0 Watermelon wrote a song about the encounter and that point in his life.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great song.<\/p>\n
Rich explained that he heard the song on Bluesville XM station.\u00a0 Watermelon was glad to hear that Bluesville was still playing his music.\u00a0 Rich is also.\u00a0 We got Watermelon to sign the CD, which also made very happy.\u00a0 What a great day for Rich!\u00a0 Watermelon mentioned that he might stop by Red\u2019s tonight for the jam.\u00a0 We shook his hand and assured him we would be there and looking for him.\u00a0 We left Watermelon in the hands of another fan who was waiting for us to finish so he could shake hands and buy a CD.<\/p>\n
We packed up our stuff and headed out toward Hopson\u2019s.\u00a0 Now Hopson Plantation is what remains of a cotton plantation in the area.\u00a0 Someone purchased the property and it now houses the Shack Up Inn.\u00a0 They collect sharecropper shacks and put them on the property as hotel rooms.\u00a0 They are really cool.\u00a0 We stayed out there the first time we came to Clarksdale.<\/p>\n
When we rolled up, there were cars everywhere.\u00a0 I pulled through the driveway and we happened to find an empty spot close to the path to the commissary.\u00a0 We could hear blues from every direction as we got out.\u00a0 Following the path to the main building, we walked by Terry \u201cHarmonica\u201d Bean playing for a an audience.\u00a0 Cool!<\/p>\n
At the Commissary building, we walked up to the porch and found out that the Foundation show was more than a dedication.\u00a0 There were shows all day long.\u00a0 That means we had missed a few!\u00a0 When I saw that Superchikan was on the bill for 5:30, I dished over the money to get in.<\/p>\n
Superchikan is one of those artist that Rich loves to listen to.\u00a0 He is the nephew of Big Jack Jackson, one of the all time big names in blues.\u00a0 Superchikan is the guy who made the guitar I just talked Rich into buying.\u00a0 His band is all female and called the Fighting Cocks.\u00a0 Lala plays the synthesizer like you never seen and do it so well.<\/p>\n
We wandered around inside the commissary and listened to the band on stage.\u00a0 Inside was packed pretty well.\u00a0 There was nowhere to sit.\u00a0 The signs started just inside the door to let you know that Laguanitas was helping to sponsor the event and you could get one of their four beers for $2.00.\u00a0 What a deal.\u00a0 Rich got a Little Something Something.\u00a0 After a bit, we went back outside and followed the signs to another stage in the garden behind the commissary.<\/p>\n
We found the Key West garden back there.\u00a0 Guitar Mac was on stage.\u00a0 The wide yard area was surrounded by these little front porch structures with tables and chairs.\u00a0 This was too cool.\u00a0 We found a table on one of the porches and settled in to listen.\u00a0 The weather was about 78 and cloudy.\u00a0 It was a great day.\u00a0 A waitress came by to take orders.\u00a0 Even better, there was service out here.<\/p>\n
We listened to music and talked.\u00a0 An older gentleman came out and sat down at the other table on our porch.\u00a0 Another gentleman joined him pretty quickly.\u00a0 I heard them talking before the waitress came by and they ordered.\u00a0 They had definite accents.\u00a0 We moved around our table to leave a couple of chairs open. \u00a0This worked well as other guys came and joined the other table.\u00a0 They needed the chairs.\u00a0 I asked where they were from.\u00a0 The answer was The Netherlands.\u00a0 So yet another group from that area.\u00a0 We talked about the King Biscuit Festival.\u00a0 The original guy at the table had been coming for the last 14 years.\u00a0 However, he was getting discouraged with the commercial acts and less of the real blues.\u00a0 We agreed.\u00a0 There needed to be more real blues.<\/p>\n
One of the Dutch guys wanted to just plain chips to go with his beer.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the waitress couldn\u2019t find any.\u00a0 He had to settle for Cajun chips.\u00a0 A round of beers and a Sprite came out with the chips.\u00a0 Before the guy could get his chips, the guy to his left grabbed the bag and slammed it to the table.\u00a0 Now they were all broken!\u00a0 He still ate them.<\/p>\n
The music continued and the beers kept coming.\u00a0 Our waitress would bring whatever we wanted.\u00a0 Life was good in the Key West Garden.\u00a0 At 5:30, we moved back inside to get ready for Superchikan.\u00a0 I stopped off at the bathroom and came out to find Rich talking to strange woman.\u00a0 Turns out, she was from Grand Rapids, MI.\u00a0 She worked as a representative to a company that handled sirens in a large geographical area.\u00a0 And she worked with Motorola system, including their own internal radio system.\u00a0 Cool.<\/p>\n
Superchikan hit the stage.\u00a0 The music was great.\u00a0 Rich walked around and got some pictures, including one of Lala for me.\u00a0 We listened until the end of the set at 6:30.\u00a0 Then we had to get over to the hotel and check in before going to Red\u2019s.\u00a0 We had been so busy that we hadn\u2019t gone over yet.\u00a0 I still needed to change clothes so I had something warmer on.<\/p>\n
The Hampton is one of the newer hotels in the area.\u00a0 That\u2019s probably why I could get a room there.\u00a0 It was only 10 minutes from Hopson\u2019s.\u00a0 We pulled in and got registered.\u00a0 Then we had to unpack the car again.\u00a0 We were getting pretty good at knowing how to get luggage onto the car and into the room.\u00a0 The cardkey was a wave in front of the doorknob.\u00a0 Technology is wonderful.<\/p>\n
The room was the most beautiful place I had seen.\u00a0 The bathroom had a wonderful walk-in shower.\u00a0 Problem is:\u00a0 I just needed a place to sleep!\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t see much of this luxury.\u00a0 For now, I changed clothes and we left to head out to Red\u2019s.<\/p>\n
I was starving and we had spent most of our money.\u00a0 Our plan had been to get tamales from Hick\u2019s.\u00a0 Unfortunately, they were closed on Sundays!\u00a0 No tamales.\u00a0 So Mickey D\u2019s would do in a pinch.\u00a0 We went by a bank close to the hotel and found it I could get money out of the ATM!\u00a0 We went downtown to look for a credit union that was listed for that location.\u00a0 No good though.\u00a0 We found another branch of the bank that denied me and Rich tried.\u00a0 Success!\u00a0 We were in busy again.\u00a0 Red would be happy.<\/p>\n
Red\u2019s Lounge had been right on the corner of Sunflower and Delta.\u00a0 We got there and found out that it had moved just down the block.\u00a0 You could tell because the door was open, music was pouring out, and the smoker was smoking.\u00a0 We paid the man at the door and took up seats right in front of the stage with our backs to the bar.\u00a0 The seats were going fast.<\/p>\n
The band was just sitting in the area of a large rug that was probably defined as the stage.\u00a0 There were lights all over the place in different colors.\u00a0 It was definitely an eclectic arrangement of d\u00e9cor.\u00a0 Music was blasting out of the speakers.\u00a0 I was trying to figure out why everyone was just sitting around listening.\u00a0 The drummer made an announcement stating that we were listening to Big Jack Johnson.\u00a0 That explained a lot.\u00a0 I knew Red is a huge Jack Johnson fan. Turns out, they were best friends, probably as close as brothers.\u00a0 I think he does this because he missed his friend.<\/p>\n
After considerable thought and seeing Red\u2019s t-shirts all over town, I think Red Paden is a philosopher.\u00a0 He has a very straightforward outlook on life and living.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think he pulls any punches.\u00a0 I looked Red up on the Internet and found out he went to college with Walter Payton and they played football together.\u00a0 That might explain a lot.\u00a0 So cool.<\/p>\n
After the CD completed, the band took the stage.\u00a0 This is Anthony \u201cBig A\u201d Sherrod and his band.\u00a0 From the first moment that Big A touched the guitar, I was impressed.\u00a0 This guy has a lot of talent and is very charismatic.\u00a0 Big A played several songs and the crowd was really getting into the music.\u00a0 It was easy though.\u00a0 At the end of his set, Big A explained the rules of the jam and the atmosphere of a juke joint.\u00a0 Pretty much everything went, except for videotaping.\u00a0 They announced that anyone caught would pay a $1,000 fine.\u00a0 $500 would go to the band and $500 to Red.<\/p>\n
Tonight is about jam.\u00a0 Anyone who wanted to get on stage would sign up with Big A to join the jam.\u00a0 As Big A called the name, the person would come on stage and play three songs with the band.\u00a0 The first guy was from Frances and had his own guitar.\u00a0 He was so excited to get on stage.\u00a0 He was really good.\u00a0 You could tell that he had practiced up for this.\u00a0 After the third song, he got his stuff and went back to his seat.\u00a0 We congratulated him as he left the stage.\u00a0 Amazing.<\/p>\n
The next guy, Jed, came up to the stage.\u00a0 He apparently was a musician who played with a band, but his dream was to play on stage at Red\u2019s.\u00a0 His set was really professional.\u00a0 We saw a guy from Pennsylvania, who was not a professional, but he did a great job.\u00a0 The next set was a group of professional musicians in town.\u00a0 The harmonica player was a local guy using the name Johnny B.\u00a0 He brought a guy from Lichtenstein who had a blues band back there.\u00a0 Dixie Street took over the drum kit.\u00a0 They played their three tunes and Big A asked Dixie to stay on.<\/p>\n
Next on stage was Lorenzo from Italy.\u00a0 I was not aware of a blues scene in Italy and I can see why.\u00a0 Lorenzo could definitely guitar, but he couldn\u2019t sing.\u00a0 He mostly screamed.\u00a0 We couldn\u2019t wait for him to get off stage.<\/p>\n
The jam turned to the local musicians, such Terry \u201cHarmonica\u201d Been, Dixie, Iceman, and a guy on guitar named Tony.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t get his name.\u00a0 Finally, Watermelon Slim took the stage and did his three songs.\u00a0 He is an amazing showman.\u00a0 It was so cool to have the opportunity to see.\u00a0 I loved the song, \u201cCall the Boss.\u201d\u00a0 The song was about calling in sick after being out all night partying.\u00a0 Like that\u2019s never happened.<\/p>\n
Throughout the night, we saw all kinds of people.\u00a0 Just about anyone who was musician in Clarksdale came through.\u00a0 Sugar from the Big City Rhythm and Blues magazine sat next to Rich.\u00a0 Earnest \u201cGuitar\u201d Roy came in and was trying to get a beer from the bar.\u00a0 He talked to Rich while he was waiting.\u00a0 We just saw this guy at King Biscuit!\u00a0 Even the Dutch guys came and got lost in the back.\u00a0 I never saw them again.\u00a0 Lala came in and talked to Sugar for a while.\u00a0 I just couldn\u2019t get up the courage to talk to her.<\/p>\n
Around midnight, the place was clearing out, but the music was still rolling.\u00a0 However, the drunks were getting dangerous.\u00a0 I was getting a lot of beer spilled on me and almost getting elbowed.\u00a0 We called it quits.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t appear that it was stopping soon.\u00a0 It was raining outside, but only lightly.\u00a0 We headed back to the hotel.\u00a0 We got in and realized neither of us had grabbed a cardkey to get back into our room.\u00a0 The guy at the desk took pity on his and gave us another card.<\/p>\n
Once inside, we talked and talked.\u00a0 After winding down, Rich went to bed while I made notes to write this entry up tonight for you.\u00a0 After that, I went to bed and slept really, really well.<\/p>\n
Oh yeah, I got t-shirts from Red\u2019s Lounge and I\u2019ll be wearing mine proudly.<\/p>\n
P.S. \u00a0I posted this and then realized how long the info was and the ridiculous number of photos. \u00a0We were on the go from 11:00 when arrived in Clarksdale until midnight. \u00a0This is all we have to show for it. \u00a0And a couple of t-shirts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Crowd](\"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Crowd-outside-of-Cat-Head-Biz.jpg\")
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