March 29th

My first 20 miles or so north out of Vicksburg was among the weirdest driving I’ve ever done. In the Mississippi Delta the river has a mind of its own, as both sides of the road were surrounded by water and I saw a church and a house (see picture below) that were islands just a short distance from the road.

I spent most of the morning on US 61, which was one of the routes taken by African-Americans during the Great Migration from the Southern farms to the Northern cities. More relevant to me today, it was also the road where gospel, country and blues music evolved into rock and roll and soul music.

I visited the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and Memphis Rock ‘n Soul Museum, both in Memphis. I passed on Graceland – too over-the-top.

I also went to the National Civil Rights Museum, attached to the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was assassinated. This was very comprehensive, covering what I had already seen in Alabama and Mississippi and then some.

Today’s song is “Memphis, Tennessee”. Chuck Berry wrote and sang it, but the most well-known version was by Johnny Rivers. The album of the day is “Highway 61 Revisited” by Bob Dylan, his first electrified album, with the songs “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”.

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