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“RAILROADIN’
SOME” by 'Mississippi'Max Haymes
(The Tennessee, Mississippi & Arkansas Book Signing Tour)
This is the tale of
'Delta Bound Blues: 3 Brits Hit the
South' - the jottings and photos of our recent book signing trip to the Southern
States. Max Haymes is the storyteller (with interjections from 'Ramblin' Rex and
'Pic-poppin' Al) and Alan White is the photographer and website master. Hope
y'all
enjoy it!
_______________________________________________________________________________
DAY FOUR: Monday, 4th September 2006
Moving on from Memphis, down Highway 61, branching off to Helena, AK and
then on to Cleveland, MS for the next 5 nights at the fabulous Molly's B&B.
Fairly
early (well around 10.00a.m.) Alan, Rex and I said our farewells to David and
Marice Evans as we eased out of their drive to catch the main highway outta town
heading for Cleveland, Mississippi, in the heart of the Delta.
First off, we had to refuel our ‘Bluesmobile’ and pulled into a filling station just outside of Memphis to get some more gas. Having filled up we were about to depart when ‘Pic-Poppin’ Al’ spotted a little building just across the road from the filling station - it was Sun Records Studio at 706, Union Avenue!! Honest -just like that! That’s how we stumbled on the home of this great icon in the blues, r n’ b, rock-a-billy and r n’ r. We bought the T-Shirt (natch!) and made for Highway 61.
While
on ‘the longest highway that I know’ we decided to check out Helena across the
river in dear old Arkansas. Along with West Helena this was the hub of blues
life and activity back in the 1920s, in the Arkansas Delta. Despite the fact not
one prewar blues session was ever recorded there! Nevertheless, artists such as
Roosevelt Sykes, ‘Mooch’ Richardson, Robert Johnson and his side-kick Johnny
Shines, (amongst many others) were often to be heard playing around the Helena
train depot, on the short side streets, and especially along Helena’s main drag
Cherry Street, which featured on at least one early blues recording: ‘Hambone
Willie’s Dreamy Eyed Woman Blues’ (OKeh 8693) by Hambone Willie Newbern in
1929.
The main reason for Helena's popularity was because, as we were reliably informed, the city was (in the 1920s) a wide-open one at night; while the Delta towns on the other side of the Mississippi River had little to offer the blues audience and singers in the way of barrelhouses or jook joints - unless they lived on a large plantation such as Dockery's for example. Black citizens at this time were under curfew (certainly in Clarksdale) and were advised to 'leave town' by around 10.00 p.m.!
But
when we arrived after crossing the mighty river over the Mississippi Bridge we
found Cherry Street - deserted! This was around 11.00 a.m. and after parking up
we started walking down a dry and dusty main street which didn't even sport a
stray hound dog! Eerie man. A little further down, (taking pics as we went) we
had still only spotted a total of three people. All the buildings looked closed,
if not abandoned. We had traversed the best part of south Cherry Street when we
saw the Delta Cultural Center which also looked closed.
Then
we spied the railroad tracks over on our left with the old depot, now converted
to a museum. On a short section of rail directly outside the building stood a
red caboose - an essential part of all earlier freight trains and usually
situated at the rear (it's in the book!). There were many songs recorded about
this rail car by both black and white artists in the 1920s and 30s. The
bestknown to blues lovers being the Henry 'Ragtime Texas' Thomas rendition 'The
Little Red Caboose' (Vocalion 1138) from 1927. Checking out this railroad icon
in the brilliant Arkansas sunshine reminded me that this freight car was often
home to the train crew for days or even weeks on end and included a cooking
stove and sleeping bunks - at least, in the smarter ones!
While the red caboose was having its photo taken, we saw a family emerging from the entrance of the museum - it was open, after all! Without further ado we went inside and checked out some fascinating memorabilia from the 1860s onwards. Coming out into the eternal sunshine we realized there were more people about (it was pass noon by this time) and places were open like shops and the Delta Cultural Center. Helena had done woke up!
So
after climbing up to the crest of the levee and Pic-Poppin' Al snapping the
railroad yard (several times) we headed into this Center. As can be imagined,
artifacts abounded and on chatting to a very attractive young woman who was on
reception, we discovered that the building was now also home to the fabled King
Biscuit Show on Radio KFFA! Still going strong (Mon Fri) since 1941 in
half-hour shows, one of the original announcers/deejays was keepin' on keepin'
on! This was the celebrated Sonny Payne, now only 81 years old. You made me
(aged 66) feel kinda young an' foolish, Sonny. We got signed up for the whole
show a couple of days further on (see Sept 6th). Have mercy, NOW!
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But time was passing
all
too fast, and
we got to keep movin'-yeah! Crossing back over the Mississippi River, we headed
south-destination Cleveland. As we left the 'Father of Waters' on Highway 49
this brought us to Lula, Mississippi just off the main highway; a few miles down
the road. Celebrated by Gus Cannon on his autobiographical 'Jonestown Blues'
which he recorded twice. First, in 1927 as 'Banjo Joe' with Blind Blake on
guitar (Paramount 12588) and again in 1928 with Cannon's Jug Stompers (Victor
38629). Lula vibes hit us between the eyes!
The whole town seemed to be on
welfare, except a filling station with a single antique pump outside a shabby
wooden repair shop. We gazed at the many semi-derelict buildings, with peeling
paint, on the main street, and the red-rusty railroad tracks of the old Illinois
Central. Together with a whole manifest (i.e. a chain of cars) of equally
battered box cars which hadn't moved for decades; this whole take of Lula was
surely identical (except for rust) to how it looked in the 1930s when Charley
Patton and Bertha Lee were living there. Bertha Lee sang of this little Southern
Delta town on her excellent 'Mind Reader Blues' (Vocalion 02650) in 1934 (see
Railroadin' Some - Ch.3). While
Charley Patton, King of the Delta Blues, injected some of the harshness of the
drought which hit Lula in 1930, in his searing vocals and the heavy rhythms of
his own and Willie Brown's guitars.
Recorded the same year 'Dry Well Blues'
(Paramount 13070) included these lines:
When I live at Lula, I livin', an' at ease; When I livin' at Lula, I livin', an' at ease. Lord, the drought come an' caught us, an' parched up all our trees.
Aw! I ain't got no money an' I sure ain't got no home; Lord, I ain't got no money an' I sure ain't got no home. Them hot weather done come in, parched all the cotton an' corn.
Just looking at the scene in front of our eyes, I could just feel the presence of Charley Patton there in Lula and the drought could have just passed through! An awesome experience with Lula, Mississippi imprinted on our minds.
We pulled back on to Highway 49 and eased on down the road, don't you know. Pretty soon we hit Highway 61 again and headed on down - always traveling south. With the sun in a shimmering blue Delta sky, we rolled along with the endless flat terrain of more fields of cotton, soya beans and a comparative newcomer (in the Mississippi Delta) in the form of rice. This is the heart of Blues country, good people and I want you to stop and listen to hear every word I say - mmm, mmm.
As we went by Clarkdsdale in Coahoma County, we saw the sign for Lyon, birthplace of the great Delta bluesman Son House; the main influence on Robert Johnson. Our Bluesmobile took us across the county line as we passed on down through Bolivar County and saw a turning for Alligator, Miss. What cool address that would be. Moving on down old 61' we hit Shelby and then Mound Bayou, the first successful all-black town in the Delta (see Sept 7th). More Charley Patton territory as we cruised through Merigold and then Renova, an old sawmill town which was also all-black; and finally arriving outside Molly's B&B at 214, South Bolivar Avenue in Cleveland, Mississippi. Time was around 4.00p.m.
On meeting Molly
Shaman, our fantastic landlady, I was struck by her bearing and can best be
described as a genteel Deep South version of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Plus
Molly is so cool! She made us right at home in her glorious abode (built c.1900)
which is a traditional white-painted wood building of two storeys with a real
Southern balcony. Filled with cultural artifacts (her husband was a famous
sculptor and Molly an artist) and with various themes in her four guest rooms,
the atmosphere was just outa-sight!
Having unloaded our luggage and chosen a room each (I got the 'Oasis Room' and featured some lovely young ladies on the wall who were definitely not dressed for winter!) we sat on the wicker seats outside on the balcony sipping some cool liquid refreshments and digging the green environment under a deep blue Cleveland sky. Very shortly, the screen door opened and out stepped one foxy lady.
This was Liza Schnabel who was responsible for Alan, Rex, and myself being in Mississippi in the first place. A leading Southern historian with a Delta lineage going back to the Civil War, we all hit it off right away and then we met her charming mother, Eleanor. Talent definitely runs in the family and I had a dozen different in-depth conversations I wanted to conduct with this highly intelligent and dry-humoured lady.
But first, Liza said we were all going on a picnic they had planned down by the Mississippi River and everything was packed and ready to go! We took two cars with Ramblin' Rex and Pop-Pickin' Al in Eleanor's and I traveled with Liza. On the way down we turned on to a dirt road heading for the levee - only Liza realized after a mile or so we were on the wrong dirt road. This road, I have to tell you, was a gravel one about four feet in width ( with a serious drop on either side) and only a fraction wider than the car! I could see my shining white knuckles gripping my seat as Liza engaged in a 3-point turn!! (I'm kiddin', gal). But we got down to the riverside without any more ado and Liza and Eleanor laid out this beautiful picnic. This included chicken, corn bread, barbecue sauce, some delicious home-made jam, bottles of red wine, and I don't know what else. Good Gordon gin!
While we ate and drank, the dusk deepened as the evening drew on and there out on the Mississippi, heading south, a string of barges were easing through the muddy waters (which were really low after the extra dry summer) with a towboat (OK it was diesel-powered!). It was an almost surreal picture from the past ( in the heyday of the busy steamboat trades on the lower Mississippi in the 1910s and 20s) as the barges slid by with a garish green light on the front and accompanied by the only noise we could hear - a low-down moan of the towboat's whistle. That's the Blues! It was just in time as darkness suddenly fell and we all made our way back to town. After a couple (!) more drinks out on Molly's cool balcony taking in the Cleveland night air decorated with the 'song of the cicada', the three of us turned in - what a great introduction to this part of the journey of a lifetime - in the Mississippi Delta. And on the morrow we were going to meet famous blues collector Steve LaVere down there in Greenwood - man, this is too much!
Day Six: Tuesday, 5th September (Coming Soon!)
To order the 'Railroadin' Some' book click here
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