Juke joints and blues bars

There are no gigs, no trips, no festivals - no live music of any kind thanks to coronavirus. Hopes of foreign trips this year are fading fast. The Mayor of New Orleans has said that there shouldn't be any festivals at all this year. So all we can do is listen to records and remember the trips we've made over the years.
So in this post I'm writing about US juke joints and similar establishments - black blues clubs which I and my travelling companions have visited on our many visits to the States. There are very few genuine places left, but those that we've been to were without exception welcoming and musically great.

1. First up is Wild Bill's at 1580 Vollentine in Memphis, which I visited several times, the first being in 2008 when I was in town with my late girlfriend Maxine. After a couple of weeks in New Orleans we returned with Aussie DJ Pierre Baroni for another enjoyable night and a few years later I went again when I was touring with three friends (Dave T, Lee and Alan). The band was called the Soul Survivors I believe (pictured above in 2008) and a very good blues band they were too. Only beer was available in the tiny club, but there was a liquor store next door and many of the regulars loaded up with stronger stuff. It was mainly a bar for locals, although on the later trip there were quite a few white students there. Brilliant atmosphere. The club closed down a few years ago, but I understand that it reopened in 2018: hopefully I will go again some time.    https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/farewell-to-wild-bills/Content?oid=10865194

2. Teddy's Juke Joint in Zachary, Lousiana, is another genuine bar that I've visited several times, the first being in 2010. It's hidden away in the swamps north of Baton Rouge and seems to have fairly few visitors, but its owner, Teddy Johnson, is a fantastic character with a friendly word for everyone. The place is littered with music memorabilia - and teddy bears - and Teddy plays records when he's not chatting at the bar. They have live music occasionally and the photo above shows bluesmen Rudy Richard and Larry 'Lightning' Washington. Teddy put on his own light show - using a torch! If you're ever in the area take a trip to Teddy's.

3. Red's in something of an institution in the capital of the blues, Clarksdale, and despite being frequented by many blues fans from out of town it remains a genuine juke joint, with great blues, basic facilities and twinkly Christmas lights. I first went there in 2005 when I drove down from Memphis with Alan and Ken to catch Pinetop Perkins at the Hopson Plantation (he didn't perform as it was a Sunday!). In the evening we went to Red's where Bob Stroger was playing. I've been many times on subsequent visits and the photo shows local blues man Lucious Spiller in 2017. Clarksdale is also home to the Ground Zero Blues Club which is more of a professional operation co-owned by Morgan Freeman, and also well worth a visit.

4. Po' Monkeys in Merigold, Mississippi, was a unique establishment run by a guy called William Seaberry. It was a shack in the middle of nowhere with numerous signs outside (see photo) and festooned with Christmas lights inside. Live music was only available on Thursdays and the time we went in 2015 featured a fairly forgettable white blues band for a largely white audience. William 'Po' Monkey' Seaberry toured the place wearing a sort of cod piece which he would lift up every now and again revealing a huge fake penis. William died in 2016 and sadly the place has now closed, its
contents having been sold off.   https://msbusiness.com/2018/10/po-monkeys-artifacts-sold-in-auction-as-collection/
 
5. Gip's Place in Bessemer, Alabama, has been operating since 1952 with live blues on a Saturday night. It was run by Henry 'Gip' Gipson, a former grave digger who loved the blues, in an outhouse where he lived and attracted many locals - and the occasional out of town visitor - for a night out each week. The night that I went in 2013, with John H, Lee and Alan, Gip (pictured with me above) did a couple of numbers but most of the music was provided by a white blues band. We brought our own booze - John carried a large box of wine - but there was food available and it was a great evening. A week later, however, the local council closed the place down on the grounds of operating without a licence. There was a campaign to get Gip's reopened which was eventually successful. However, Gip died last year at the age of 99 and its future is once again uncertain.   https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/breakingnews/story/2019/oct/09/owner-backyard-juke-joint-gips-place-dies/505452/

6. I discovered Neal's Juke Joint in Baton Rouge while touring the South with Dave C, Alan and Lee in 2017. Located in Plank Road, it was opened by bluesman Kenny Neal earlier that year, as we discovered when we popped in for a drink at lunchtime. We were told that there was likely to be live music that evening, with members of the Neal family, including Tyree, performing so we came back a few hours later. It seemed like we were the only white patrons they had had as they insisted on buying us drinks and again it was a great night - so much so that we returned the following year where another of the Neal family, Fred (pictured above with Lee) played a few numbers and once again the welcome was brilliant.   https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/article_42a03c50-46e8-11e7-b712-a721ec447cb8.html
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7. There was no live music when we visited the Queen of Hearts bar in Jackson, Ms, in 2018 but a good selection on the juke box, which Dave is pictured choosing some gems. It's a tiny place which has been operating as a blues club, with live music at the weekends, since the 1970s. Locals popped in for take aways while we were there and a local bluesman, McKinney Williams, was enjoying a drink.  Jackson's other main blues attraction these days is Blue Monday, a weekly blues jam at Hal and Mal's Club, which I've visited several times and where artists performing have included local resident Dorothy Moore.   https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/article_42a03c50-46e8-11e7-b712-a721ec447cb8.html

8. Another Mississippi blues joint with occasional live music is the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia. It's owned by bluesman Jimmy 'Duck' Holmes and has attracted quite a lot of interest in blues circles in recent years. Unfortunately there was no live music on the two occasions I've visited but hopefully one of these years....    http://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/blue-front-cafe

9. When I visited New Orleans for the first time in 1989 one of the main places I wanted to visit was Irma Thomas's Lion's Den bar. Situated in an unfashionable, and allegedly dangerous part of town in Gravier Street, it proved to be far better than I could have asked. Irma and her husband Emile ran the place with Irma herself helping to serve red beans and rice to customers, as well as performing her brilliant songs with her band The Professionals. On subsequent visits I found that the club had been improved somewhat but the atmosphere remained utterly unique and indeed Irma's voice is still great to this day. As well as Irma I saw several other New Orleans artists play there, including Allen Toussaint, Johnny Adams and Larry Hamilton. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the club and it hasn't reopened - a great loss to the New Orleans music scene.    https://relix.com/articles/detail/interview-irma-thomas-soul-queen-of-new-orleans/
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10. Another New Orleans legend, Jessie Hill, was celebrated when his daughter Judy opened the Ooh Poo Pah Doo bar in Orleans Avenue in Treme in 2014. It proved popular with locals and visitors alike and other members of the Hill family, including Trombone Shorty and James Andrews, played there from time to time, along with Guitar Slim Junior, who I saw there on one visit. It seems that the place is now closed as a result of the lease expiring - another sad loss to the Big Easy. The photo above shows Judy - no mean singer herself - in action at the club.    https://relix.com/articles/detail/interview-irma-thomas-soul-queen-of-new-orleans/

11. It took several visits to Lafayette before I eventually found El Sid O's zydeco and blues club open: Sundays only I believe. But when I did in 1993 I was impressed. Run by Sid Williams, brother of Nathan (of Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas), it features local zydeco acts and is one of the few genuine bars of its kind in the region. The night I was there, with Jonathan Coke-Smyth, the band was Zydeco Force (pictured above).   https://eu.theadvertiser.com/story/entertainment/2015/05/08/el-sidos-marks-years-making-em-dance/27008359/

12. Ernie K-Doe, hit maker with Mother in Law in 1961, was one of the main reasons I went to New Orleans Jazzfest back in 1989 and in subsequent years. But it wasn't until 1997 that I visited his Mother In Law Lounge in North Claiborne St with John Howard. There were few customers and Ernie was sitting in a 'throne'. as befits 'The Emperor of the Universe'. Ernie would perform there on occasions including one time when he impersonated Jerry Butler at length. After his death in 2001 it was taken over by his widow Antoinette who turned it into a shrine to Ernie, with garish murals on the exterior and K-Doe related memorabilia and a lifesize mannequin inside. It became quite successful but was badly damaged by Katrina. The club survived however and reopened but Antoinette herself died in 2009. It is now owned by New Orleans trumpeter Kermit Ruffins and still features live music on occasions.     https://acloserwalknola.com/places/ernie-k-mother-law-lounge/

13. Los Angeles is a place where the blues is rather hidden away. But genuine blues places can be found if you know where to look (thanks to Allen 'Charmin' Larman for the info). Bell's Blues Workshop is one such place. Run by Franklin Bell (pictured above) it takes place every Sunday afternoon in the garage of his house in South Central. There's a band and a variety of singers perform a few numbers each while the mostly older audience soak it up. Singers that I've seen there on the four occasions I've visited, with Alan and John and others, include Mississippi Bert, South Side Slim, Sherry Pruit and others who are not well known, although on one occasion Eli 'Paper Boy' Reed sang a couple of numbers. Highly recommended.    https://www.laweekly.com/l-a-s-coolest-blues-joint-is-franklin-bells-south-central-garage/

14. Another venerable LA institution was the Pure Pleasure Blues Lounge in Manchester Road, a place where every Sunday evening local blues artists such as 'Sir' Stan Griggs, Sonny Green and Bobby Love (pictured) could regularly be found doing a few numbers. The locals look after you well - we were accompanied across the road to our car after one show in case we were mugged - and the house band led by veteran bluesman Joe Kincaid was great. The place has been operating for many years, as the link below shows, but I've heard that it has now closed. If so it's a tragedy. While on the subject of LA I really should mention a couple of other places that feature (or featured) live blues: the Menlo Club, which featured live blues on a regular basis, sadly closed down in 2016, but  La Louisianne, a smooth black supper club, is still in operation, with Hank Carbo, brother of New Orleans artists Chuck and Chick, appearing there every Monday until recently.    https://www.laweekly.com/r-i-p-the-menlo-club-one-of-l-a-s-last-old-school-blues-joints/

15. We move to Detroit where Dave and I visited in October to attend the Detroit A Go Go soul weekend. While we were there Noah Shaffer introduced us to the Raven Lounge, probably the only genuine blues bar in the city. There were a steady stream of excellent blues singers performing a few numbers each, the best of whom was Harmonica Shah (pictured above). Just how this unassuming bar has survived is a miracle but survive it does. And long may it thrive.   https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-raven-lounge-detroit

16. Finally, Alan Lloyd has reminded me that I really should include the City Lights Bar and Grill in Las Vegas on this list. We discovered this up market place a few years ago and went along a couple of times on the Monday following Viva Las Vegas. The host Bobby Jones, an excellent singer in the B B King style, sang several numbers and invited others to sing, including Monique Brewster and Lady Brandy, all of whom were excellent. On our last couple of visits to Vegas we noticed that the club had closed - yet another blues bar (admittedly only one night a week) hitting the dust it seems.