Located
in the University of Mississippi's Barnard Observatory, the
Ole Miss Blues Archive houses a large collection of photographs,
film, and long-playing records. B.B. King
donated part of his record collection to the Center for the Study of
Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi in 1982. This collection
is now housed at the Barnard Observatory in the blues archive.
Richland,
Mississippi, slide guitarist Elmore
James learned his lessons in the Delta but was buried closer to home.
Elmore James's grave is in the Newport Community Cemetery, behind
the Newport Missionary Baptist Church near Ebenezer, Mississippi.
Jackson's
Alamo Theater, 333 North Farish Street, is a reminder of the
popularity of the art deco style. It was here that longtime
Muddy Waters pianist Otis Spann won a talent contest at the age of eight.
Celebrated
blues label Trumpet Records had its recording studio here at
309 Farish Street. The first records by
Sonny Boy Williamson and Elmore
James were cut here. During the early 1950s, Trumpet recorded many bluesmen,
often backed by Joe Willie Wilkins,
the label's house guitarist.
Alan
Lomax's field recordings during the late 1950s brought the work of previously
unrecorded Mississippi Fred McDowell to an appreciative audience during
the 1960s "blues revival." McDowell's records featured stinging
slide guitar and gravelly vocals. Mississippi Fred
McDowell's grave is tucked away in a small churchyard near Como,
Mississippi.
Mississippi
John Hurt sang "Avalon is my home" on his 1928 record "Avalon
Blues." He remained in Avalon, Mississippi, where he was rediscovered
by blues researchers in the initial salvo of the 1960s blues revival.
Mississippi John Hurt's grave rests
in quiet seclusion on a hilltop near Avalon.