B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. Photo by Mississippi Delta Tourism Association
Clarksdale With blues clubs, blues festivals, and music history, Clarksdale is the heart and home of the Blues. The town's former Illinois Central train depot has been transformed into the Delta Blues Museum. Many of the exhibits rotate, but the new wing with their Muddy Waters exhibit draws visitors who want to pay their respects to the great Bluesman. Born McKinley Morganfield, Waters spent several years as a sharecropper on the Stovall Plantation outside of Clarksdale. Part of that cabin was relocated to be the centerpiece of the new wing of the Delta Blues Museum, the result in part of the efforts of the rock group ZZ Top. The other highlight is their collection of guitars. Of course, there is one of the stream of Lucilles played by B.B. King, but there are also the guitars of other Blues greats in the museum. Their rich program of exhibits, particularly photography and memorabilia, make return visits even more likely. Indianola and BB King Born in Berclair, Mississippi, but raised in Indianola, B.B. King is one of the best known and perhaps one of best loved Blues musicians in the history of that music form. The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center is dedicated to telling the story of the man who went from picking cotton to picking guitar strings and changing and challenging the world of music in the process. His life unfolds through photographs, videos, and exhibits. Don’t miss the theater with the videos describing the reality of life on the road and the obstacles King faced as a black musician in the highly
View the kiosks with information about a variety of blues musicians at the Gateway to the Blues Museum. Photo by Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau
Learn more about the various instruments played by other Blues greats in the Delta Blues Museum. Photo by Mississippi Delta Tourism Association
segregated south. There’s fun as well. A plaque explains why King named all his guitars Lucille (yes, there was a real Lucille, but the naming of the guitar is a cautionary tale not a tribute). From the challenges he surmounted to the acclaim he received, the museum tells his story, and it will enthrall you.
20 COAST TO COAST FALL 2016
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