A little WC Handy and Tutwiler, MS

Imitation Elsie pays tribute to BB King

I gave up the hunt for this marker after driving for miles down dirt roads, passing farmers harvesting the cotton crop. Then, I came to a dead end and started to turn when I looked over my shoulder and there was the dang marker. This happened more than once to me with a few of the off-the-beaten-path markers. It was kind of strange how they seemed to just appear.

BB's hand and footprints in the cement.

I think there is a third BB King marker but I can't be certain since I didn't find it....

Putting some miles on that car in the Mississippi Delta - Blues Trail Markers

Imitation Elsie at Sun Studios

The Million Dollar Quartet. Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and The King.

A row of guitars in the studio. Upstairs is the museum then downstairs you go into the actual studio. Stand where He stood. Ok, stand where many others stood too. The studio is used once again for recording at night and 1000s of tourists visit each week.

I'm really gettin' lazy... From Wiki:

Sun Studio was opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Reputedly the first rock-and-roll single, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats' "Rocket 88" was recorded there in 1951 with song composer Ike Turner on keyboards, leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll. Blues and R&B artists like Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Little Milton, B.B. King, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, and Rosco Gordon recorded there in the early 1950s.

The front office of the Sun Studio, where office manager Marion Keisker worked and greeted many artists on their first visit to the studio, including a young Elvis Presley.
Rock-and-roll, country music, and rockabilly artists, including unknowns recording demos and others like Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, Warren Smith, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis, signed to the Sun Records label

The Riverside Hotel, Abe's BBQ, Red's Blues Club, Club 2000, and a few other places around Clarksdale, MS

We got here either a little early or a little late - depends on how you look at it I suppose. This was taken close to 7am. I'm thinking we were about 2 hours late. Dang.

Clarksdale has a lot of music history for those interested. Since I'm getting tired, here is some info from wikipedia:

Riverside Hotel, located at 615 Sunflower Avenue, is a historic hotel in Clarksdale, Mississippi in operation since 1944. It was the fourth marker place on the Mississippi Blues Trail. Famed for providing lodging for such blues artists as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Ike Turner, and Robert Nighthawk, it was also where Bessie Smith died in 1937 after her fatal car accident on Highway 61 (then known as the G.T. Thomas Hospital). Ike Turner wrote and rehearsed his song "Rocket 88" here. Robert Nighthawk left his suitcase in his room there just before he died.

Abe's is the place to grab a pulled pork sandwich if you stop in Clarksdale. Well, if the place is open! I learned quickly about Blue Sunday... and then again... Blue Monday... translated to 'many places are not open on Sunday and Monday'.... Unfortunately I did most of my traveling Sunday and all museums and other places of interest are closed. I remember when it was like that most everyplace. I could get all of the fast food I wanted and even go Krogering - but - try to get a tamale or bbq plate and you are out of luck. I was referred to a Mexican restaurant that was packed and the food was very good.

I stopped by here to listen to some music but the place was dead. Tuesday night in the Delta isn't such a great night to party either.

Yes, that is Imitation Elsie sittin' on the smoker.

IE at the birthplace of the king, Tupelo, MS

Imitation Elsie sitting at the feet of the Elvis sculpture.

This is one of many MS Blues Trail Markers that I found. I have to admit that this one was very easy to locate!

Imitation Elsie on the porch.

This is the birthplace of Elvis Presley in Tupelo, MS.

Joanie the Jehovah Witness Stripper - at the Shack Up Inn!

This is another inside view of my Cadillac Shack at the Shack Up Inn. In the spirit of the Ground Zero Blues Club, visitors have written on the walls of the shack. I was reading some of the writing and when I got to a spot above the door.... I KNEW I was supposed to be in this place at this time...

This is written above the front door... a little to the left: