King Cotton

The sun is as yellow as a daffodil floating in a sea of blue. From high above, it reaches down to warm a vast expanse of smoky-black earth that smells like river. The cotton is flourishing — clear-to-the-horizon fields of it are broken by groves of pecan trees, whispering to each other in a rustle of leaves. And though you can't see Old Man hidden behind the levee, you can feel his presence--the twisting, turning, mighty, muddy presence of the Mississippi River. -Valerie Fraser Luesse, Delta Journal

I wish they'd had electric guitars in cotton fields back in the good old days. A whole lot of things would've been straightened out. ~jimi hendrix

Cotton is a major crop in Mississippi. It ranks third behind poultry and forestry in state commodities with $598 million dollars of revenue produced each year.
Mississippi producers plant approximately 1.1 million acres of cotton annually. This number seems to fluctuates depending on weather, price of production and current commodity markets.

I was influenced a lot by those around me - there was a lot of singing that went on in the cotton fields. ~willie nelson

Cotton remained a key crop in the Southern economy after emancipation and the end of the Civil War in 1865. Across the South, sharecropping evolved, in which free black farmers and landless white farmers worked on white-owned cotton plantations of the wealthy in return for a share of the profits. Cotton plantations required vast labor forces to hand-pick cotton, and it was not until the 1950s that reliable harvesting machinery was introduced into the South (prior to this, cotton-harvesting machinery had been too clumsy to pick cotton without shredding the fibers).

When I was a little bitty baby
My mama would rock me in the cradle,
In them old cotton fields back home;
Oh, when them cotton bolls get rotten
You can’t pick very much cotton,
In them old cotton fields back home.
~LeadBelly

I was a typical farm boy. I liked the farm. I enjoyed the things that you do on a farm, go down to the drainage ditch and fish, and look at the crawfish and pick a little cotton. ~sam donaldson

From the time of its gaining statehood in 1817 to 1860, Mississippi became the most dynamic and largest cotton-producing state in America.

After all those days in the cotton fields, the dreams came true on a gold record on a piece of wood. It's in my den where I can look at it every day. I wear it out lookin' at it. ~carl perkins

Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival

Twenty four years ago, I lived in West Memphis, Arkansas and was the mother of a four-month old daughter. During that same time, my hometown, Clarksdale, had given birth to one of their babies - the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival. And like my daughter, it has grown and taken on a life of its own.

The 24th annual Sunflower Fest is scheduled to start this Friday, August 12. Tourists, visitors, artists, and friends are already in town. The numbers will grow throughout the week. They come from all over the world. Several make the trek every year. I've only attended a little over half of the festivals. Actually, it was in its third or fourth year before I was even aware of it. I had happened to come home for a visit and it was going on. Was pleasantly surprised.

My Daddy, Don "Boogie Woogie" Mooneyhan

My Daddy had known about the festival from the beginning and, except for the last couple of years, came to Clarksdale for all the festivals. Many times he came down from Tate County, Mississippi, with Mr. Otha Turner, R. L. Boyce, and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. After they would play their first venue, Daddy would ride with the group in the back of an old truck, singing and playing, to the main stage. Mr. Turner has passed away. I think Daddy sees R.L. from time to time and Mr. Turner's granddaughter, Sharde, carries on the tradition of fife playing. The band continues to make the yearly pilgrimage to Clarksdale.

Daddy at Stovall, checking out Muddy's Blues Trail Marker.

Other musicians on the agenda for this year include Pat Thomas, Kenny Brown, T-Model Ford, Bill Abel, and Johnny "Duck" Holmes. The Delta Blues Museum Band kicks off the festival on the main stage, Friday at 4:15. There will be many acts at various venues throughout the weekend. To name a few, Ground Zero Blues Club, Red's, Bluesberry Cafe, The Den, Hopson Commissary, and Cathead. For full schedules check out individual websites. The festival website is www.sunflowerfest.org.

One of my favorite bands, the members of which are really dear friends, will play one of my favorite venues on Saturday night, August 13. Blues Award winner, James "Super Chikan" Johnson and the Fighting Cocks will be at Ground Zero Blues Club. No matter where I see them play, or how many times I see them on stage, they bring the house down. The entertainment does not get any better, in my opinion. Below are pics from their performances at the 2010 Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival.

"Super Chikan and The Fighting Cocks"

Super Chikan and guest, Baby Boy

Jamiesa Turner

Torey Todora (filling in for Heather Tackett Falduto)

And my very dear friend, LaLa

The Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival is just one of the many treasures Clarksdale has to offer. Come visit my hometown!

Gotta Start Somewhere!

There's no place like home. My home, Clarksdale, Mississippi. Coahoma County. The Delta.

No where else I'd rather be. I love it here. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The new, the old, and the in-between.

We still have several life-long residents here. We have also had many transplants to join us. And our number of visitors grows daily.

It's a mystical, musical, and magical place. No where on earth like it! No place like home!

And, the intent of this blog is to share stories of Clarksdale, my home, with you.