Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues, Third Edition [Paperback]

Steve Cheseborough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 10, 2008

At a crossroads in the Mississippi Delta, Robert Johnson is said to have sold his soul to the Devil so that he could become a guitar virtuoso and King of the Delta Blues.

Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues will tell you where that legendary deal was supposed to have been made and guide you to all the other hallowed grounds that nourished Mississippi's signature music.

Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Memphis Minnie, Jimmie Rodgers, Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, Little Milton, Elvis Presley, Bobby Rush, Junior Kimbrough, R. L. Burnside-the list of great artists with Mississippi connections goes on and on.

A trip through Mississippi blues sites is a pilgrimage every music lover ought to make at least once in a lifetime, to see the juke joints and churches, to visit the birthplaces and graves of blues greats, to walk down the dusty roads and over the levee, to eat some barbecue and greens, to sit on the bank of the Mississippi River, and to hear some down-home blues music.

Blues Traveling is the first and only guidebook to Mississippi's musical places and blues history. With photographs, maps, easy-to-follow directions, and an informative, entertaining text, this book will lead you in and out of Clarksdale, Greenwood, Helena (Arkansas), Rolling Fork, Jackson, Natchez, Bentonia, Rosedale, Itta Bena, and dozens of other locales that generations of blues musicians have lived in, traveled through, and sung about. Stories, legends, and lyrics are woven into the text so that each backroad and barroom comes alive.

Touring Mississippi with Blues Traveling is like having a knowledgeable and entertaining guide at your side. Even people with no immediate plans to visit Mississippi will enjoy reading the book for its photos, descriptions, and lore that will broaden their understanding and enhance their appreciation of the blues.

Steve Cheseborough is an independent scholar and blues musician. His work has been published in Living Blues, Blues Access, Mississippi, and the Southern Register.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Providing excellent maps and driving instructions. . . . Along the way Cheseborough provides details on the towns, homes, and gravesites of famous blues musicians, buildings where they played, radio stations, sites of music festivals, and current clubs and restaurants that feature the music. Essential." -- Library Journal

"This localized, detailed and lively guidebook to blues music in Mississippi recommends following by car `a rough circle beginning and ending in Memphis' for a comprehensive tour. With maps, specific directions and succinct historical tidbits, Cheseborough describes blues venues as well as points of special interest. A recommended listening section completes the picture." -- Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

This acclaimed travel guide, hailed as the Bible of blues travelers throughout the world, will shepherd the faithful to such shrines as the intersection where Robert Johnson might have made his deal with the devil and the railroad tracks that inspired Howlin' Wolf to moan "Smokestack Lightnin'." Blues Traveling was the first and is the indisputably essential guidebook to Mississippi's musical places and its blues history. For this new edition Steve Cheseborough returned to the Delta, revisited all of the locales featured in previous editions of the book, and uncovered fresh destinations. He includes updated material on new festivals, state blues markers, club openings and closings, and many other transformations in the Delta's ever-lively blues scene.

With photographs, maps, easy-to-follow directions, and an informative, entertaining text, this book will lead the reader in and out of Clarksdale, Greenwood, Helena (Arkansas), Rolling Fork, Jackson, Memphis, Natchez, Bentonia, Rosedale, Itta Bena, and dozens of other locales where generations of blues musicians have lived, traveled, and performed. A previous edition was so effective and informative that Real Blues told its readers, "This is THE guide to the Delta; short of living there, it is the best."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi; 3 edition (September 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1604731249
• ISBN-13: 978-1604731248
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Tennessee

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Guide Book for Traveling Blues Fans, May 29, 2009

By 

Michael Cala (Staten Island, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues, Third Edition (Paperback)

In his 1991 masterpiece, Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon takes the reader on a journey of American discovery, scrupulously avoiding the interstates in favor of the nation's rural back roads.

With Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues, blues guitarist and writer Steve Cheseborough takes us on a similar odyssey; only this one is regional, leading us along the "blue highways" of the Mississippi Delta.

Rich with hallowed Blues place names -- Clarksdale, Greenwood, Tutwiler, Dockery Plantation, Helena, Parchman Farm, Leland, Bentonia and Meridian are only a few of the places named - Blues Traveling is only partly a guide book. But it's a good one, according to those who have ridden the circuit, following the author's detailed travel instructions.

The trip begins and ends in Memphis. Scheduled destinations in Mississippi and Arkansas include birthplaces, graves, jook joints, museums, hotels, historic venues, famed highways, notorious streets, historic record shops and other bluesiana many of us have read about our favorite performers but could never quite locate on a map. Where telephone numbers, names and other travel information are available, Cheseborough helpfully includes them.

The writer conveys his considerable knowledge of Delta history with every entry. Each site - there must be 500 listed -- has at least a short biography of the blues performer associated with the site, along with a discussion of his or her work and significance as a performer. Cheseborough also delves into the subsequent history and mythology of the place and its importance to the reader.

The historically richest locations -- towns like Greenville and Clarksdale -- have entire chapters dedicated to the treasures within their borders. Along the way, the author's concern for traveler comfort expresses itself in safety and etiquette tips.

Cheseborough has no doubt created a perennial by crafting three books in one: guide book, pocket history and paean to the early Delta performers who left us their musical legacy.

The book is also a feast for trivia hounds. Even so-called minor luminaries - including a former "Ikette" -- are represented fully and with dignity. To his credit throughout, Cheseborough keeps a close eye on history and has possibly made some original contributions in this regard.

Guide books have a way of going out of style as soon as another becomes available. The author has anticipated that. This book, with its solid writing, easy directions, fine thumbnail history, excellent maps, good photos and helpful tips is destined, like the blues itself, to stick around a while. - originally published in Blues Revue Magazine, 2003

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for my trip!, September 13, 2011

By 

Joel Wilks - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues, Third Edition (Paperback)

This book is very thorough and hits all the highlights that I want to see when I make my trip down to the Delta. I can't wait to pull this book out when I'm down there so I can hit all the "must see" spots! Great job on this book and it is very easy to follow.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This & Google maps is all you need, August 14, 2009

By 

A. Filacchione - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues, Third Edition (Paperback)

I just got back from my 10-day trip to the Delta which culminated in the Sunflower River Blues Festival. I did months of research on Google and through reading books. I created my own google map with many of the places that I was going to go mapped out. I then got this book, and ended up using this almost exclusively for the entire trip. Not because of a lack of spots on my map (it had more than in the book), but because for all of the spots that I could realistically get to, this book already had them all.

There are some areas that could use better directions. To give you an idea, a made up example: "Heading west on main street, go to the second light and make a left on Elm" - well what happens if I am starting out on some different part of main street? We found in all our stops, only a few were like this, and they seemed like the first sentence or two might have been left out of the directions. Weird.

Despite this, this is still an invaluable book, and none of the others like it can touch it. With this and google maps/GPS on my iphone, that was all I needed to get everywhere and see everything that I was able to given the time constraints. The book gives great background information on all of the areas that you'd be interested in, as well as the sites. Steve has done the research for you. No need to search the web for months and gather information. It's all here.

A couple of sites are missing, but you still aren't going to find a better book on the subject. Just remember to go to 305 S. State St in Clarksdale for Hot Tamales at Hicks. They are the best anywhere, and while Hicks Superette is mentioned in the book, the Hicks on S. State Street is not. Also no mention really of the cemetary in Haqzlehurst where Ike Zimmerman and likely Robert Johnson practiced guitar late at night, nor any of the possible crossroads locations other than the commercial and incorrect 49 & 61 intersection.