“I went down to the crossroads and got down on my knees”, Sang blue icon Robert Johnson in his nod to the bluesman selling his soul to the devil on the crossroads of highway 61 and 49 in Clarksdale Mississippi. Well, I went down myself, but Legba was nowhere to be seen so i’m still a fair to middling guitarist lol.

Today it was a day of exploring Clarksdale, home of the Mississippi Delta Blues. after a breakfast of Pastries on the veranda of our shack we headed off to the infamous cross roads where legend has it that Robert Johnson sold his eternal soul to the devil in exchange for mastering the blues guitar. Ever since i was introduced to Johnson via Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac i’ve always been fascinated by his short life ( he was the original member of the 27 club) so this was a big tick on the bucket list.

We then walked the streets looking at the various blues murals on the walls and buildings and visited the Blues Museum where unfortunately no photography was allowed. The Museum itself was very good. Loads of artefacts from the First Bluesmen right up to the present day, loads of classic guitars to oggle over and a nice bit of history. Real shame i couldn’t take photos though.

After a coffee we headed off to Stovel Pikes which was the Plantation Muddy Waters lived, worked and was discovered in. His first recordings were done by the Library of Congress in the actual plantation fields after being discovered by a music historian. This was 1941 and within 2 years Muddy Waters had left the plantation to make his fortune in Chicago and the rest os history as they say. You couldn’t visit the plantation as it’s a working farm but there was a historical blues marker showing where his house was originally and it was great drive out into rural Mississippi.

Next on the agenda was a short 50 mile drive out to Greendale to try and find the final resting place of Robert Johnson. The actual place is, like his life, steeped in mystery and controversy however historians have named the Little Zion Missionary Baptist church near Money, Mississippi as the most likely of the three contested burial sites and this is where his gravestone lies. Johnson’s cause of death is also a mystery. The official death certificate says he died from syphilis, however the legend has it that he was poisoned by either the husband of a lover he had or the lover herself.

The drive back to Clarksdale was an interesting one with some random blues and history markers along the way and some huge storms to slow us down. One such history marker told the story of Emmett Till, a 14 year old black boy who in August 1955 visited the Bryant Grocery Store to buy candy. For some reason the store owner accused Emmett of flirting with her. He was found not guilty of this but that didn’t stop the husband kidnapping and murdering Emmett and dumping his body in the Yazoo river. The murder sparked the American Civil Rights movement.

That night we ate pizza in Clarksdale ( at the only restaurant that was open) and then headed back to The Shack Up Inn where a guitar blues workshop was having a jam. SO we got a few beers and sat in and listened. There were varying levels of skill on the guitar at show but it was great watching everyone feel the blues and make music in such a fantastic setting.