Black Prairie Kings

Scott Barretta writes about the Black Prairie Blues with a picture of the historic performance of Steve Bell, Eddy Clearwater, and Willie King at the recent BPB Mississippi Blues Trail marker dedication in Macon.

On Aug. 19 several hundred people gathered in downtown Macon for the unveiling of a Mississippi Blues Trail marker acknowledging "Black Prairie Blues." On Friday night, marker honoree Willie King headlines the 13th annual Howlin' Wolf Memorial Blues Festival in West Point as part of the "Black Prairie Kings," which also includes harmonica player Blind Mississippi Morris.

Although the Delta dominates public imagery of Mississippi blues, many important artists came from the prairies. Honored in Macon alongside King were natives Eddy Clearwater, who drove down from Illinois for the unveiling, and the late harmonica great Carey Bell, represented by his harmonica-playing son Steve of Kosciusko.

Forthcoming markers in Crawford for Big Joe Williams and in Aberdeen for Booker White will highlight the area's rich blues heritage, while Howlin' Wolf's legacy in West Point is secured. A statue of the bluesman - Chester Arthur Burnett - stands next to a Blues Trail marker in his honor, and the nearby Howlin' Wolf Blues Museum has amassed an impressive collection of Wolf-related artifacts from around the world.

Hubert Sumlin

Hubert Sumlin will enter the Blues Hall of Fame this week and gain a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail.

The Greenwood Commonwealth writes (read the full story - Sumlin: Greenwood's still my town)

Hubert Sumlin’s first wife told him to shape up or be single again. “She said it was either my guitar or her,” Sumlin said of an early tiff married life tossed his way. “So I picked up my guitar and walked out the door.” That decision, in effect, will be honored Tuesday when a marker is placed on the Mississippi Blues Trail in the blues giant’s hometown of Greenwood.

Sumlin, who as a 12-year-old in the 1940s was performing with harmonica great James Cotton, got his break when Howlin’ Wolf caught wind of the duo’s sound and invited them to do a 15-minute set on West Memphis’ KWM radio station. “Wolf told us, ‘If you do it right, I might have to get you in my band,’” Sumlin recalled. Something must have been done right.
From the 1950s until Wolf’s death in 1976, Sumlin’s lead guitar playing – described as “darting, unpredictable” by American Roots Music – complemented Wolf’s performances. Then, when Rolling Stone magazine made a list in 2003 of the top 100 guitarist of all time, Sumlin ranked number 65. And a sentence guitarist Jimi Hendrix is said to have uttered has entered into music-enthusiast legend: “My favorite guitar player is Hubert Sumlin.”

At 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sumlin be honored with a marker on the Mississippi's Blues Trail. The dedication will take place on Greenwood’s River Road Extended.

Billy Watkins writes about Sumlin's connection with famed rocker Eric Clapton in the Clarion Ledger (read the full article here - Finger-lickin' good: Blues Hall of Fame welcomes Hubert Sumlin):

Hubert Sumlin had never seen so many guitars. American brands. Japanese. German. The walls were covered with them. It was near midnight in April 1970 at Clapton's home. They had just finished what would come to be known as The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, a studio jam that included the Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr, Steve Winwood and Klaus Voorman.

"I can't take no guitar from you, Eric," Sumlin said. "I want you to," Clapton insisted.

Sumlin then spotted a guitar case on the floor and opened it. He pulled out a black mid-1950s Fender Stratocaster. He ran his fingers up and down the neck a few times, cradled it against his belly. "This one ... I'll take this one, Eric," Sumlin said.

The words made Clapton's whole body tremble. "No, Hubert, not that one. Please, man. Not that one."

Clapton had just recently purchased it in a small music store in Nashville for $100. It was the guitar of his dreams, the way it played and spoke.

"This is the one, man," Sumlin said. Several minutes passed. Sumlin kept playing. Clapton kept shaking.

"OK, Hubert," Clapton finally said. "But if I want this guitar back one day, can I buy it from you?"

Sumlin shook his head. "Naw, man, I'm gonna play it a while, and then I'll give it back to you. You ain't gotta buy it."

After he returned to the U.S., "I think everybody in Eric's family -including his butler - called me about that guitar," the 76-year-old Sumlin recalls now. "But I told them the same thing I told Eric. 'I'll give it back one day.' "

Hubert Sumlin, one of the Top 100 guitarists of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine and scheduled to be inducted Wednesday in The Blues Hall of Fame at ceremonies in Tunica, grew up on a plantation just outside Greenwood.

Just like he promised Clapton, he gave the guitar back. "I kept it a couple of weeks," Sumlin says. "I knew we were gonna be playing Montreal at the same time, so I went over to his hotel. Police led me to his room, and Eric met me at the door. He grabbed me. Hugged me. He said, 'Anything I can ever do for you, you just let me know.' "
Clapton went on to play and write most of his greatest hits on that guitar, which became affectionately known as "Blackie." It was donated by Clapton in 2004 to the Guitar Center in Corona, Calif., for auction, with proceeds going to Clapton's Crossroads drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Antigua. Winning bid: $959,000.

Hubert Sumlin -- Sittin on Top of the World

Howlin with the Wolf

All you need to know about the Howlin Wolf Festival this weekend in West Point.

Daily Journal: "SCENE: Howlin' with the Wolf"

Festivals

The Big Muddy Blues Festival cut Ike Turner from the line-up ("after the idea drew complaints stemming from Turner's well-known violent marriage to Tina Turner. Mayor Francis Slay declined to issue a Turner proclamation — a decision that made international headlines — and the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer called in sick") but still claimed its share of Mississippi blues roots (Full Story).

The Farish Street Heritage Festival [in Jackson] will celebrate its 29th year with performances by funk legends Zapp and soul star J. Blackfoot, as well as a lineup of local performers that includes bluesman Eddie Cotton and rapper Kamikaze. (Full Story)

“The Howlin' Wolf Festival will join forces, as a part of a cross-promotional event, with the Prairie Arts Festival to present the first annual Point City Fest,” Howlin' Wolf Society of West Point program director Richard Ramsey said. (Full Story in Columbus Dispatch) - and - West Point blues fest kicks off Thursday (Full Story in MSU Reflector)

With just 42 days remaining until the 22nd annual Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival, supporters of down home Delta Blues are answering tons of questions from fans around the world. Roger Stolle, owner of Cathead Delta Blues & folk art shop on Delta Ave. in Clarksdale Miss. is very busy helping promote the festival as well as answering masses of e-mail quires about Helena's own blues weekend that has received world wide attention. (Full Story)

Blues Trail Update

Howlin' Wolf, Magic Sam to get Blues markers

Marker dedication, festivals celebrate the legacy of Howlin' Wolf

Robert Johnson Blues Trail marker stolen

Bluefront Cafe on Blues Trail

Mississippi Blues Trail features some of state's best golf courses

Blues Trail - August

Here are three upcoming events on the Mississippi Blues Trail:

Bentonia - Blue Front Cafe - August 21st at 10am

Grenada - "Magic Sam" - August 28th at 10am

West Point - Howlin' Wolf - August 30th at 1:30pm

More details to follow...

Howlin Wolf Festival

Columbus Commercial Dispatch: The festival honoring great blues legend Chester “Howlin' Wolf” Burnett is set for Saturday, June 10 at Waverly Waters in Columbus, and will feature plenty of entertainment and barbeque. The event should help finish raising the remaining funds needed to purchase the Howlin' Wolf marker for the Mississippi Blues Trail. Entertainment will feature Daniel “Slick” Ballinger, 19th Street Red, Big Joe Shelton and Flathead Ford. (Full Story)

In other news, Howlin Wolf and others are featured on the "The American Folk-Blues Festival: The British Tours" DVD reviewed by the LA Times.

Thursday News Roundup

Yesterday, the Mississippi Blues Commission dedicated a Blues Trail marker for the Summers Hotel and Subway Lounge in Jackson. The Subway was featured in the Last of the Mississippi Jukes and was a longtime blues staple of Jackson.
WLBT has video and the Clarion Ledger also has a report of the event.

Delta Southern Bank has pledged $200,000 toward the BB King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola (full story).

Elvis Fest kicks off tonight in Tupelo (full story).

Tupelo Daily Journal: Country music star Marty Stuart will bring a host of artists to Oxford this weekend to celebrate American music. The stars will gather to perform for Oxford Sessions, a series of concerts to be videotaped live for a planned series of TV specials celebrating American Music. The two-night event will kick off Thursday at the Gertrude C. Ford Center on the University of Mississippi campus. The Williams Brothers, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Hubert Sumlin will take the stage Thursday, while the Blind Boys of Alabama and Charlie Mussellwhite will perform Friday. Marty Stuart will host and perform both nights. Tickets for each show is $5. For more information about the shows, call (662) 915-2787 (More on this at the University of Mississippi newsdesk.)

The Delta Democrat Times has this great feature on Greenville native Frank Vick, bluesman and longtime drummer for Little Milton and later Howlin' Wolf. The eighth annual Highway 61 Blues Festival, to be held Saturday in Leland, is dedicated to Vick and to the late James “Son” Thomas (Full Story Here).