In April, 1991, I set out to see the birthplace of Delta Blues, the northwest corner of Mississippi. So many blues legends have come from this one area, including  B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Howlin Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Johnson and many more.

I flew to Memphis and visited the Sun Studios. Then I traveled by auto down Highway 61 to Clarksdale, MS and explored that area. The primitive, rural conditions and the poverty were a bit of a shock, having come from a large northeast city. I could see what drove the blues musicians to leave the area and head north to the big cities of Chicago and Detroit. Yet, I found a quality there of a simpler time, a more relaxed, slower pace of life. People would take time to stop and chat. I came home with a more complex, and contradictory, impression of the Mississippi Delta.

To see the YouTube video of the full trip, set to blues music, click this link::

Mississippi Blues - North Mississippi Trip