Sam Cooke, a legendary figure in American music, is honored with a blues marker located in front of the New Roxy Theatre at 363 Issaquena Avenue in Clarksdale, Mississippi. This marker commemorates his significant contributions to the evolution of soul and rhythm and blues. Notably, the marker stands in close proximity to his birthplace at 2303 7th Street, Clarksdale, MS, highlighting the deep roots of his musical journey within this vibrant blues community.
Category: Landmarks
-
Muddy Waters Blues Maker
I’ve traveled the Mississippi Blues Trail a number of times an always enjoy finding out of the way places that have a footnote in the history of the blues and the State of Mississippi. This Muddy Waters marker on the location that was the Stovall Plantationnwas on of those sites that I spent a bit of time trying to envision what was like to have lived during that time period and understanding how the hardships of the times could have brought forth blues music.
-
Ground Zero Blues Club – Clarksdale Ms
Whenever I’m in Clarksdale MS., one of my favorite stops is the Ground Zero Blues Club.
-
Zanesville Church
On one of my wandering journeys back to Washington DC, took a detour into Zanesville, OH. St. Nicholas Catholic Church dominates the downtown area. Not sure my photography skills does it justice.
-
Po’ Monkey’s Juke Joint Blues Trail Marker- Merigold, MS
On a gravel road in Merigold, MS is the Mississippi Blues Trail Maker for Po’ Monkeys.
Po’ Monkey’s, one of Mississippi’s most famous juke joints, was also the residence of Willie “Po’ Monkey” Seaberry. According to Seaberry, he opened for business c. 1963. He worked as a farmer and continued to live here and operate the club on certain afternoons and nights. By the 1990s Po’ Monkey’s was attracting a mixed crowd of locals as well as college students from Delta State University and blues aficionados in search of “authentic” juke joints. The dramatic décor both inside and outside the club also attracted attention from news outlets including the New York Times and noted photographers including Annie Leibovitz; Mississippi’s Birney Imes, who featured the club in his 1990 book Juke Joint; and Will Jacks, in his 2019 book Po’ Monkey’s: Portrait of a Juke Joint.
