1.
North Sea Jazz Festival
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The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival was held before was demolished in 2006, the founder of the three-day festival was Paul Acket, a businessman and jazz lover who had made fortune in the 1960s with his pop magazine publishing company. When Acket sold his company in 1975, he was able to start up, Acket desired to present a great diversity of jazz music to the public, from American jazz to European avant-garde. In 1976 the first edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival took place and it was an immediate success, six stages, thirty hours of music and 300 performances drew over 9000 visitors. Many great jazz legends were presented, like Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz. Several significant awards, such as the Edison Jazz Award, and since 1985, originally the prize was awarded in three categories, the Bird Award International, the Bird Award Netherlands and the Bird Award Special Appreciation. From 2001, however, the prize is given in one category. Also, from 1998 onward the Edison Jazz Awards are presented at the festival, the Edison is the award of the Dutch music industry for albums of a special quality. In 1990, two sub-festivals were introduced, “North Sea Jazz Heats”, a festival performed in pubs throughout The Hague. Both take place on the evening before the actual festival, artists that have performed at the Midsummer Jazz Gala include, Tony Bennett, Herbie Hancock and Oscar Peterson. In 2004, late singer Amy Winehouse who was known for her jazzy vocal performed at the festival. The festival has grown to fifteen stages,1,200 artists and about 25,000 visitors a day. The festival is known worldwide for the music styles it presents, from traditional New Orleans jazz to Swing, bebop, fusion, blues, gospel music, funk music, soul music. The festival is acknowledged as the biggest indoor jazz festival in the world and has a reputation for showcasing many different areas of jazz from all eras. As well as established artists, it invites youth groups, since 2000, in March/April in Cape Town, South Africa the Cape Town International Jazz Festival that was founded as North Sea Jazz Cape Town. On the Caribbean island Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, the Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival in September, Official Rotterdam website North Sea Jazz Festival on Facebook North Sea Jazz Festival on YouTube Official Curaçao website
2.
Las Vegas, Nevada
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The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment and it is the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and it is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the worlds most visited tourist destinations. The citys tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated American city founded within that century, population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85. 2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to a 2013 estimate, perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo-Indians, who traveled there 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago, a young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera is credited as the first non-Native American to encounter the valley, in 1829. Trader Antonio Armijo led a 60-man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, the area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for the meadows, as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of John C, frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas Fremont Street is named after him, eleven years later members of the LDS Church chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward, the remainder of this Old Mormon Fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue. Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 110 acres of adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city,1931 was a pivotal year for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks and this year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. The construction work was completed in 1935, in 1941, the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Gunnery School was established. Currently known as Nellis Air Force Base, it is home to the team called the Thunderbirds
3.
Blues
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Blues is a genre and musical form originated by African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The genre developed from roots in African musical traditions, African-American work songs, spirituals, Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. Blue notes, usually thirds or fifths flattened in pitch, are also a part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove, Blues as a genre is also characterized by its lyrics, bass lines, and instrumentation. Early traditional blues verses consisted of a single line repeated four times, Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative, often relating the troubles experienced in African-American society. Many elements, such as the format and the use of blue notes. The origins of the blues are closely related to the religious music of the Afro-American community. The first appearance of the blues is often dated to after the ending of slavery and, later and it is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the former slaves. Chroniclers began to report about blues music at the dawn of the 20th century, the first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908. Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a variety of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres include country blues, such as Delta blues and Piedmont blues, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues, World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a form called blues rock evolved. The term blues may have come from blue devils, meaning melancholy and sadness, the phrase blue devils may also have been derived from Britain in the 1600s, when the term referred to the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. As time went on, the phrase lost the reference to devils, by the 1800s in the United States, the term blues was associated with drinking alcohol, a meaning which survives in the phrase blue law, which prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sunday. Though the use of the phrase in African-American music may be older, it has been attested to in print since 1912, in lyrics the phrase is often used to describe a depressed mood. The lyrics of traditional blues verses probably often consisted of a single line repeated four times. Two of the first published songs, Dallas Blues and Saint Louis Blues, were 12-bar blues with the AAB lyric structure. Handy wrote that he adopted this convention to avoid the monotony of lines repeated three times, the lines are often sung following a pattern closer to rhythmic talk than to a melody
4.
Rhythm and blues
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Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, the term rhythm and blues has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s it was applied to blues records. This tangent of RnB is now known as British rhythm and blues, by the 1970s, the term rhythm and blues changed again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a style of R&B developed, becoming known as Contemporary R&B. It combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop, popular R&B vocalists at the end of the 20th century included Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey. Although Jerry Wexler of Billboard magazine is credited with coining the term rhythm and blues as a term in the United States in 1948. It replaced the term race music, which came from within the black community. The term rhythm and blues was used by Billboard in its chart listings from June 1949 until August 1969, before the Rhythm and Blues name was instated, various record companies had already begun replacing the term race music with sepia series. In 2010 LaMont Robinson founded the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Museum, writer and producer Robert Palmer defined rhythm & blues as a catchall term referring to any music that was made by and for black Americans. He has used the term R&B as a synonym for jump blues, however, AllMusic separates it from jump blues because of its stronger, gospel-esque backbeat. Lawrence Cohn, author of Nothing but the Blues, writes that rhythm, according to him, the term embraced all black music except classical music and religious music, unless a gospel song sold enough to break into the charts. Well into the 21st century, the term R&B continues in use to music made by black musicians. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, arrangements were rehearsed to the point of effortlessness and were sometimes accompanied by background vocalists. Simple repetitive parts mesh, creating momentum and rhythmic interplay producing mellow, lilting, while singers are emotionally engaged with the lyrics, often intensely so, they remain cool, relaxed, and in control. The bands dressed in suits, and even uniforms, an associated with the modern popular music that rhythm. Lyrics often seemed fatalistic, and the music typically followed predictable patterns of chords, there was also increasing emphasis on the electric guitar as a lead instrument, as well as the piano and saxophone
5.
Blues rock
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Blues rock is a fusion genre combining elements of blues and rock. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with similar to electric blues. From its beginnings in the early- to mid-1960s, blues rock has gone through several stylistic shifts and along the way inspired hard rock, Southern rock, Blues rock continues to be an influence, with performances and recordings by several popular artists. Blues rock started with rock musicians in the United Kingdom and the United States performing American blues songs. They typically recreated electric Chicago-style blues songs, such as those by Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Howlin Wolf, and Albert King, at faster tempos and with a more aggressive sound common to rock. In the UK, the style was popularized by such as the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, and the Animals. In the US, Lonnie Mack, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, in the US, Johnny Winter, the Allman Brothers Band, and ZZ Top represented a hard rock trend. Although around this time, AllMusic commented, the lines between rock and hard rock were barely visible, there was a return to more blues-influenced styles. Groups, such as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and the White Stripes, brought an edgier, more diverse style into the 2000s, Blues rock bands borrow the idea of an instrumental combo and loud amplification from rock & roll. It is also played at a fast tempo, again distinguishing it from the blues. The core blues rock sound is created by the guitar, bass guitar. Often bands also included a harmonica, usually called a harp, the electric guitar is usually amplified through a tube guitar amplifier or using an overdrive effect. While 1950s-era blues bands would still use the upright bass, the blues rock bands of the 1960s used the electric bass. Keyboard instruments, such as the piano and Hammond organ, are occasionally used. As with the guitar, the sound of the Hammond organ is typically amplified with a tube amplifier. Vocals also typically play a key role, although the vocals may be equal in importance or even subordinate to the guitar playing. As well, a number of rock pieces are instrumental-only. Blues-rock pieces often follow typical blues structures, such as blues, sixteen-bar blues
6.
ABC Records
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ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. It acquired many labels before ABC was sold to MCA Records in 1979, ABC produced music in a variety of genres, pop, rock, jazz, country, rhythm and blues, soundtrack, gospel, and polka. American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters is an antecedent of the American Broadcasting Company and it evolved from federal antitrust actions taken against the movie studios and broadcasting companies in the 1940s and early 1950s. Blue was purchased by the businessman Edward J. Noble, in 1953 ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, the divested former exhibition/cinema division of Paramount Pictures. American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres formed a division in 1955 with Samuel H. Clark as its first president. The division was incorporated on June 14,1955 as Am-Par Record Corporation, in addition to producing records, ABC licensed masters from independent record producers, and purchased regionally released records for national distribution. Am-Par Record Corporation was changed to ABC-Paramount Records, Inc. on December 7,1961, in 1965, Clark was promoted to vice-president in charge of AB-PTs non-broadcast operations. National sales manager Larry Newton was named ABC-Paramount president. In April 1966, the label was renamed ABC Records in June 1966. In 1970, ABC and Dunhill moved its headquarters to Los Angeles, Newton was promoted to vice-president in charge of ABC Pictures. Dunhill co-owner Jay Lasker was named president and referred to the operations as ABC/Dunhill. At that time ABC had another five labels, Westminster, Command, Probe, Impulse, by May 1972, ABC formed the ABC Leisure Group, which included ABC Records, Anchor Records, and ABC Records and Tape Sales, plus a new retail record-store division. Lasker left ABC to join Ariola America Records in 1975 and he was succeeded by Jerry Rubinstein, who served as company head until 1977. In November 1972, ABC bought country music company Cartwheel Records, as a cost-cutting measure, ABC Records discarded many master tapes in the 1970s to save storage space. When these recordings were reissued on disc in the 1980s. The companys last president, Steve Diener, was named president in 1977 after serving as head of ABC Records international division, because of financial problems, ABC Records was sold on January 31,1979 to MCA Records, which discontinued the ABC label on March 5,1979. The bestselling albums in the ABC catalog were reissued on MCA, ABC Records sub-labeled Apt Records to release singles. In the early 1960s, it bought Westminster Records, a music label
7.
MCA Records
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MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc. which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group, of which MCA Records was still part. MCAs country division, MCA Nashville, is an active imprint of Universal Music Group Nashville. MCA was forced to exit the talent agency business in order to complete the merger, as American Decca owned Universal Pictures, MCA assumed full ownership of Universal and made it into the top film studio in town, producing hit after hit. In 1966, MCA formed Uni Records and in 1967 purchased Kapp Records which was placed under Uni Records management. In 1937, the owner of Decca, E. R. Lewis, chose to split off the U. K. Decca company from the U. S. company, companies if the emerging hostilities of Nazi Germany should lead to war – correctly foreseeing World War II. Lewis sold the remainder of his U. S. Decca holdings when war did break out, MCAs U. S. -based Decca Records kept the rights to the Decca name in North and South America and parts of Asia including Japan. U. K. Decca owned the rights to the Decca name in the rest of the world, after the war, British Decca formed a new U. S. subsidiary, London Records. During this time U. S. Decca issued records outside North America on the Brunswick, in 1967, Brunswick and Coral were replaced by the MCA label to release U. S. Decca and Kapp label material outside North America. Initial activity as MCA Records was based in London and MCA Records UK was formally launched on February 16,1968. Among the early artists on the MCA label, around 1971, were groups Wishbone Ash, Osibisa, Stackridge and Budgie, early MCA releases were distributed by U. K. Decca but it moved to EMI in 1974. In 1979, distribution moved to CBS, while the last releases in the 1980s were self-distributed, as the U. S. division of MCA Records was not established until 1972, the earliest U. K. MCA Records material was released in the U. S. on either Kapp or Decca, Uni label material was issued on the Uni label worldwide. In 1970, MCA reorganized its Canadian record company Compo Company Ltd. into MCA Records, in April 1970, former Warner Bros. Records president Mike Maitland joined MCA and initially served as Deccas general manager. Maitland was unsuccessful in his attempt to consolidate Warner Bros. Records with co-owned Atlantic Records which led to his departure from Warner, the three labels maintained their identities for a short time but were retired in favor of the MCA label in 1973. Drift Away by Dobie Gray became the final Decca pop label release in the U. S in 1973. Beginning the same year the catalogs of Decca, Uni and Kapp were reissued in the U. S. on the MCA label under the supervision of veteran Decca producer Milt Gabler. The first MCA Records release in the U. S. was former Uni artist Elton Johns Crocodile Rock single in 1972, MCA label used a black with curved rainbow design until the late 1970s. This design was inspired by the U. S. Decca label of the 1960s
8.
Geffen Records
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Geffen Records is an American major record label, owned by Universal Music Group, which operates as one third of the Interscope Geffen A&M Records label. On March 23,2017, Billboard. com announced the label was relaunching with longtime A&R Neil Jacobson as President, Geffen Records was started in 1980 by music industry businessman David Geffen who, in the early 1970s, had founded Asylum Records. Geffen stepped down from Asylum in 1975, when he crossed over to film and was named a vice-president of Warner Bros and he was fired from Warner circa 1978, but remained locked in a 5-year contract, which prevented him from working elsewhere. He returned to work in 1980 and struck a deal with Warner Bros. Records to create Geffen Records, profits were split 50/50 between Geffen and the respective distributors. Geffen Records first artist was disco superstar Donna Summer, whose gold-selling album The Wanderer became the labels first release in 1980, the label followed it up with Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It was Lennons first new album since 1975, two weeks after it entered the charts, Lennon was murdered in New York City. As the 1980s progressed, Geffen would go on to have success with acts as Kylie Minogue, Enya, Quarterflash, Oxo, Asia, Wang Chung. This prompted Geffen to create a label, DGC Records in 1990. Geffen also distributed the first incarnation of Def American Recordings through Warner Bros. from 1988 to 1990, after a decade of operating through Warner, when its contract with the company expired, the label was sold to MCA Music Entertainment in 1990. The deal ultimately earned David Geffen an estimated US$800 million in stock, following the sale, Geffen Records operated as one of MCAs leading independently managed labels. Geffen Records would distribute releases on the new operations DreamWorks Records subsidiary, Universal Music Group acquired PolyGram in 1999, resulting in a corporate reorganization of labels. Geffen Records, along with A&M Records, was merged into Interscope Records. Although Geffen would continue to exist as a brand, it was downsized to fit into the expansion of Interscope. At the same time, international distribution of Interscope and Geffen releases switched to ex-PolyGram label Polydor Records, meanwhile, DreamWorks Records also folded, with artists such as Nelly Furtado, Lifehouse and Rufus Wainwright being absorbed by Geffen as well. During this time, DGC Records was also folded into Geffen, at the end of 2007, however, Geffen was absorbed further into Interscope, laying off sixty employees. In 2009, it was announced that Geffen Records had signed an agreement with the Holy See to produce an album of Marian songs, jimmy Iovine relaunched the Geffen imprint in 2011, moving its headquarters from California to New York City
9.
Vibrato
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Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music, Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors, the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied. In singing it can occur spontaneously through variations in the larynx, the vibrato of a string instrument and wind instrument is an imitation of that vocal function. In practice, it is difficult for a singer or musical instrument player to achieve a pure vibrato or tremolo, electronic manipulation or generation of signals makes it easier to achieve or demonstrate pure tremolo or vibrato. A Leslie speaker creates vibrato as a byproduct of tremolo production, as a Leslie speaker is moved by the rotating mechanism on which it is mounted, it moves closer to or farther away from any given object not also mounted on the mechanism. e. However, the size of effect is likely to be tiny compared against the tremolo effect since the distance oscillation is very small. The use of vibrato is intended to add warmth to a note and this can add a shimmer to the sound, with a well-made instrument it may also help a solo player to be heard more clearly when playing with a large orchestra. The rate and extent of the variation in pitch during vibrato is controlled by the performer, wind and bowed instruments generally use vibratos with an extent of less than half a semitone either side. Despite his technique, he was unable to play without vibrato, the featured saxophonist in Benny Goodmans Orchestra, George Auld, was brought in to play the part. Many classical musicians, especially singers and string players, have a similar problem, the use of vibrato in classical music is a matter of some dispute. For much of the 20th century it was used almost continuously in the performance of pieces from all eras from the Baroque onwards, especially by singers, a drastic change in approach cannot be understood wholly without regarding the rise of notionally historically informed performance from the 1970s onwards. However, there is no proof that singers performed without vibrato in the baroque era. Vocal music of the renaissance is almost never sung with vibrato as a rule, there are only a few texts from the period on vocal production, but they all condemn excessive use of vibrato. However, it should be understood that vibrato occurs over a range of intensities, slow, fast, wide. Leopold Mozart’s Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, for example, provides an indication of the state of vibrato in string playing at the end of the baroque period. This however, does not give anything more than an indication of Mozarts own personal taste, in this respect he resembles his contemporary, Francesco Geminiani, who advocated using vibrato as frequently as possible on short notes for this purpose. Certain types of vibrato, then, were seen as an ornament, in wind playing too, it seems that vibrato in music up to the 20th century was seen as an ornament to be used selectively. Martin Agricola writing in his Musica instrumentalis deudsch writes of vibrato in this way, occasionally, composers up to the baroque period indicated vibrato with a wavy line in the sheet music
10.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In 1986, Cleveland was chosen as the hall of fames permanent home.8 billion, the Foundation began inducting artists in 1986, but the Hall of Fame still had no home. The search committee considered several cities, including Philadelphia, Memphis, Detroit, Cincinnati, New York City, Cleveland was also one of the premier tour stops for most rock bands. Civic leaders in Cleveland pledged $65 million in money to fund the construction. A petition drive was signed by 600,000 fans favoring Cleveland over Memphis, on May 5,1986, the Hall of Fame Foundation chose Cleveland as the permanent home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Sam Phillips of Sun Studios fame and many others were stunned and disappointed that it ended up in Cleveland, the hall of fame shouldve been in Memphis, certainly, wrote Peter Guralnick, author of an acclaimed two-volume Elvis Presley biography. Cleveland may also have chosen as the organizations site because the city offered the best financial package. As The Plain Dealer music critic Michael Norman noted, It was $65 million, Cleveland wanted it here and put up the money. During early discussions on where to build the Hall of Fame and Museum, ultimately, the chosen location was along East Ninth Street in downtown Cleveland by Lake Erie, east of Cleveland Stadium. Initial CEO Dr. Larry R. Thompson facilitated I. M. Pei in designs for the site, Pei came up with the idea of a tower with a glass pyramid protruding from it. The museum tower was planned to stand 200 ft high. The buildings base is approximately 150,000 square feet, the groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 7,1993. Pete Townshend, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, Sam Phillips, Ruth Brown, Sam Moore of Sam and Dave, Carl Gardner of the Coasters and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum all appeared at the groundbreaking. The museum was dedicated on September 1,1995, with the ribbon being cut by an ensemble that included Yoko Ono and Little Richard, among others, the following night an all-star concert was held at the stadium. It featured Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Al Green, Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Iggy Pop, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, and many others. In addition to the Hall of Fame inductees, the documents the entire history of rock and roll. Hall of Fame inductees are honored in an exhibit located in a wing that juts out over Lake Erie. Since 1986, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has selected new inductees, the formal induction ceremony has been held in New York City 25 times, twice in Los Angeles, and four times in the Hall of Fames home in Cleveland
11.
Albert King
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Albert Nelson, known professionally as Albert King, was an American blues guitarist and singer, whose playing influenced many other blues guitarists. One of the Three Kings of the Blues Guitar, he is perhaps best known for the 1967 single Born Under a Bad Sign. King stood taller than average, with sources reporting 6 ft 4 in or 6 ft 7 in, in May 2013, King was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was born on a plantation in Indianola, Mississippi. During his childhood he would sing at a gospel group at a church where his father played the guitar. One of 13 children, King grew up picking cotton on plantations near Forrest City, Arkansas, King was famed for his powerful string-bending style as well as for his soulful, smoky vocals. King often said he was born in Indianola and was a half-brother of B. B. King, King carved his own indelible niche in the blues hierarchy by creating a deep, dramatic sound that was widely imitated by both blues and rock guitarists. Albert King’s readily identifiable style made him one of the most important artists in the history of the blues, but his own identity was a longtime source of confusion. In interviews he said he was born in Indianola on April 25,1923, and whenever he appeared in Indianola at Club Ebony, the event was celebrated as a homecoming. He often claimed to be a half-brother of Indianola icon B. B. King, citing the fact that B. B. s father was named Albert King. But when he applied for a Social Security card in 1942, he gave his birthplace as “Aboden”, Mississippi, musicians also knew him as Albert Nelson in the 1940s and 50s. But when he made his first record in 1953–when B. B. had become a national blues star–he became Albert King and he also sometimes used the same nickname as B. B. –“Blues Boy”–and named his guitar Lucy. B. B. however, claimed Albert as just a friend, not a relative, and once retorted, “My name was King before I was famous. ”According to King, he was five when his left the family and eight when he moved with his mother, Mary Blevins. King said his family had lived in Arcola, Mississippi. He made his first guitar out of a box, a piece of a bush, and a strand of broom wire. As a left-hander learning guitar on his own, he used a normal string setup and tuning, King picked cotton, drove a bulldozer, worked in construction, and other jobs until he was finally able to support himself as a musician. He began his work as a musician with a group called the Groove Boys in Osceola. Moving north to Gary, Indiana, and later St. Louis, Missouri, he played drums for Jimmy Reeds band
12.
Freddie King
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Freddie King was an American blues guitarist and singer. He has been described as one of the Three Kings of electric guitar, along with Albert King. He was an influential guitarist with hits for Federal Records in the early 1960s and his soulful and powerful voice and distinctive guitar style inspired countless musicians, particularly guitarists. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, King based his guitar style on Texas and Chicago influences. He was one of the first bluesmen to have a backing band at live performances. According to his birth certificate he was named Fred King. When Freddie was six years old, his mother and his uncle began teaching him to play the guitar, in autumn 1949, King and his family moved from Dallas to the South Side of Chicago. In 1952 King started working in a steel mill, in the same year he married another Texas native, Jessie Burnett. King formed his first band, the Every Hour Blues Boys, with the guitarist Jimmie Lee Robinson, in 1952, while employed at the steel mill, the eighteen-year-old King occasionally worked as a sideman with such bands as the Little Sonny Cooper Band and Earl Paytons Blues Cats. In 1953 he recorded with the latter for Parrot Records, as the 1950s went on, King played with several of Muddy Waterss sidemen and other Chicago mainstays, including the guitarists Jimmy Rogers, Robert Lockwood, Jr. Eddie Taylor, Hound Dog Taylor, the bassist Willie Dixon, the pianist Memphis Slim, in 1956 he cut his first record as a leader, for El-Bee Records. The A-side was a duet with Margaret Whitfield, Country Boy, the B-side was a King vocal. Both tracks feature the guitar of Robert Lockwood, Jr. who during these years was also adding rhythm backing, King was repeatedly rejected in auditions for the South Sides Chess Records, the premier blues label, which was the home of Muddy, Wolf, and Walter. The complaint was that King sang too much like B. B. King, a newer blues scene, lively with nightclubs and upstart record companies, was burgeoning on the West Side, though. The bassist and producer Willie Dixon, during a period of estrangement from Chess in the late 1950s, asked King to come to Cobra Records for a session, meanwhile, King established himself as perhaps the biggest musical force on the West Side. He played along with Magic Sam and reputedly played backing guitar, uncredited, on some of Sams tracks for the Mel Londons Chief and Age labels, in 1959 King got to know Sonny Thompson, a pianist, producer, and A&R man for Cincinnatis King Records. Kings owner, Syd Nathan, signed King to the subsidiary Federal Records in 1960, King recorded his debut single for the label on August 26,1960, Have You Ever Loved a Woman backed with Youve Got to Love Her with a Feeling. Hide Away was originally released as the B-side of I Love the Woman, Hide Away was Kings melange of a theme by Hound Dog Taylor and parts by others, such as The Walk, by Jimmy McCracklin, and Peter Gunn, as credited by King
13.
Cotton gin
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A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, allowing for much greater productivity than manual cotton separation. The fibers are then processed into various goods such as linens. Seeds may be used to grow cotton or to produce cottonseed oil. Handheld roller gins had been used in India and then other countries since at earliest 500 CE, the Indian worm-gear roller gin, invented some time around the sixteenth century, has, according to Lakwete, remained virtually unchanged up to the present time. The modern mechanical cotton gin was created by American inventor Eli Whitney in 1793, whitneys gin used a combination of a wire screen and balls to pull the cotton through, while brushes continuously removed the loose cotton lint to prevent jams. It revolutionized the industry in the United States, but also led to the growth of slavery in the American South as the demand for cotton workers rapidly increased. The invention has thus been identified as an inadvertent contributing factor to the outbreak of the American Civil War, modern automated cotton gins use multiple powered cleaning cylinders and saws, and offer far higher productivity than their hand-powered forebears. The original cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, Whitney began to work on this project after moving to Georgia in search of work. Given that farmers were desperately searching for a way to cotton farming profitable. Whitney created two cotton gins, a one that could be hand cranked and a large one that could be driven by a horse or water power. Thanks to the gin, the amount of raw cotton yielded doubled each decade after 1800. The creation of the cotton gin also led to the creation of machines designed to spin and weave the fabric, single roller cotton gin, The Ajanta caves of India yield evidence of a single roller cotton gin in use by the 5th century. This cotton gin was used in India until innovations were made in form of foot powered gins, the cotton gin was invented in India as a mechanical device known as charkhi, more technically the wooden-worm-worked roller. This mechanical device was, in parts of India, driven by water power. Cotton fibers are produced in the pods of the cotton plant where the fibers in the bolls are tightly interwoven with seeds. To make the fibers usable, the seeds and fibers must first be separated, many simple seed-removing devices had been invented, but until the innovation of the cotton gin, most required significant operator attention and worked only on a small scale. The earliest versions of the cotton gin consisted of a single roller made of iron or wood, evidence for this type of gin has been found in Africa, Asia, and North America. These early gins were difficult to use and required a deal of skill
14.
Indianola, Mississippi
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Indianola is a city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 12,066 at the 2000 census and it is the county seat of Sunflower County. The town was originally named Indian Bayou in 1882 because the site along the bank was formerly inhabited by a Choctaw Indian village. Between 1882 and 1886, the name was changed from Indian Bayou to Eureka, then to Belengate, and finally Indianola. The town population developed at this due to the location of a lumber mill on the river. In 1891, Minnie M. Cox was appointed postmaster of Indianola and her rank was raised from fourth class to third class in 1900, and she was appointed to a full four-year term. Coxs position was one of the most respected and lucrative posts in Indianola, as it served approximately 3,000 patrons. White resentment to Coxs prestigious position began to grow, and in 1902 some white residents in Indianola drew up a petition requesting Cox’s resignation. James K. Vardaman, editor of the The Greenwood Commonwealth and a white supremacist, began delivering speeches reproaching the people of Indianola for “tolerating a negro wench as a postmaster. ”Racial tensions grew, and threats of physical harm led Cox to submit her resignation to take effect January 1,1903. The incident attracted attention, and President Roosevelt refused to accept her resignation, feeling Cox had been wronged. Unless Coxs detractors could prove a reason for her other than the color of her skin. Roosevelt closed Indianola’s post office on January 2,1903, and rerouted mail to Greenville and that same month, the United States Senate debated the Indianola postal event for four hours, and Cox left Indianola for her own safety and did not return. In February 1904, the post office was reopened, but demoted in rank from third class to fourth class and its goal was to resist any implementation of racial integration in Mississippi. The Indianola Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, Indianola is located at the junction of U. S. Indianola is 30 miles from Greenwood, the topography of Indianola is flat, with the only significant elevation changes along waterways such as Indian Bayou and one Indian mound located on Main Street east of U. S.49. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 10,683 people residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 78. 8% Black,18. 5% White,0. 2% Native American,0. 5% Asian,1. 6% were Hispanic or Latino of any race. As of the census of 2000, there were 12,066 people,3,899 households, the population density was 1,400.3 people per square mile
15.
Juke joints
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Juke joint is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African American people in the southeastern United States. The term juke is believed to derive from the Gullah word joog or jug, a juke joint may also be called a barrelhouse. Classic juke joints found, for example, at rural crossroads, plantation workers and sharecroppers needed a place to relax and socialize following a hard week, particularly since they were barred from most white establishments by Jim Crow laws. Set up on the outskirts of town, often in buildings or private houses, juke joints offered food, drink. Owners made extra money selling groceries or moonshine to patrons, or providing cheap room, the origins of juke joints may be the community rooms that were occasionally built on plantations to provide a place for blacks to socialize during slavery. Although uncommon in populated areas, such places were often seen as necessary to attract workers to sparsely populated areas lacking bars and other social outlets. As well, much like on-base Officers Clubs, such Company-owned joints allowed managers to keep an eye on their underlings, constructed simply like a field hands shotgun-style dwelling, these may have been the first juke joints. During the prohibition in the United States it became common to see squalid independent juke joints at highway crossings and these were almost never called juke joint, but rather were named such as Lone Star or Colored Cafe. They were often only on weekends. Juke joints may represent the first private space for blacks, paul Oliver writes that juke joints were the last retreat, the final bastion for black people who want to get away from whites, and the pressures of the day. Jooks occurred on plantations, and classic juke joints found, for example, dancing was done to so-called jigs and reels, to music now thought of as old-timey or hillbilly. Through the first years of the century, the fiddle was by far the most popular instrument among both white and black Southern musicians. The banjo was popular before guitars became widely available in the 1890s, dance forms evolved from ring dances to solo and couples dancing. Some blacks opposed the amorality of the raucous jook crowd, until the advent of the Victrola, and juke boxes, at least one musician was required to provide music for dancing, but as many as three musicians would play in jooks. In larger cities like New Orleans, string trios or quartets were hired. Mance Lipscomb, Texas guitarist and singer, So far as what was called blues, that didnt come till round 1917. What we had in my coming up days was music for dancing, and it was of all different sorts. Musicians of that time had a degree of versatility that is now extremely rare, the outside yard was filled with trash. Inside they are dusty and squalid with the walls stained to shoulder height, jukes figure prominently in her studies of African American folklore
16.
Memphis, Tennessee
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Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U. S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the fourth Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf, Memphis had a population of 653,450 in 2013, making it the largest city in the state of Tennessee. It is the largest city on the Mississippi River, the third largest in the greater Southeastern United States, the greater Memphis metropolitan area, including adjacent counties in Mississippi and Arkansas, had a 2014 population of 1,317,314. This makes Memphis the second-largest metropolitan area in Tennessee, surpassed by metropolitan Nashville, Memphis is the youngest of Tennessees major cities, founded in 1819 as a planned city by a group of wealthy Americans including judge John Overton and future president Andrew Jackson. A resident of Memphis is referred to as a Memphian, and the Memphis region is known, particularly to media outlets, as Memphis and the Mid-South. Occupying a substantial bluff rising from the Mississippi River, the site of Memphis has been a location for human settlement by varying cultures over thousands of years. The historic Chickasaw Indian tribe, believed to be their descendants, French explorers led by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto would encounter the Chickasaw in that area, in the 16th century. J. D. L. Chickasaw Bluffs, located on the Mississippi River at the present day location of Memphis, spain and the United States vied for control of this site, which was a favorite of the Chickasaws. The United States gained the right to navigate the Mississippi River, the Spanish dismantled the fort, shipping its lumber and iron to their locations in Arkansas. Captain Isaac Guion led an American force down the Ohio River to claim the land, by this time, the Spanish had departed. The forts ruins went unnoticed twenty years later when Memphis was laid out as a city, the city of Memphis was founded on May 22,1819 by John Overton, James Winchester and Andrew Jackson. They named it after the ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile River, Memphis developed as a trade and transportation center in the 19th century because of its flood-free location high above the Mississippi River. Located in the delta region along the river, its outlying areas were developed as cotton plantations. The cotton economy of the antebellum South depended on the labor of large numbers of African-American slaves. Through the early 19th century, one million slaves were transported from the Upper South, Many were transported by steamboats along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. This gave planters and cotton brokers access to the Atlantic Coast for shipping cotton to England, the citys demographics changed dramatically in the 1850s and 1860s under waves of immigration and domestic migration. Due to increased immigration since the 1840s and the Great Famine, ethnic Irish made up 9.9 percent of the population in 1850, but 23.2 percent in 1860, when the total population was 22,623. They had encountered considerable discrimination in the city but by 1860 and they also gained many elected and patronage positions in the Democratic Party city government, and an Irish man was elected as mayor before the Civil War
17.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
18.
Las Vegas
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The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment and it is the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and it is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the worlds most visited tourist destinations. The citys tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated American city founded within that century, population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85. 2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to a 2013 estimate, perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo-Indians, who traveled there 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago, a young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera is credited as the first non-Native American to encounter the valley, in 1829. Trader Antonio Armijo led a 60-man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, the area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for the meadows, as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of John C, frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas Fremont Street is named after him, eleven years later members of the LDS Church chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward, the remainder of this Old Mormon Fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue. Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 110 acres of adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city,1931 was a pivotal year for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks and this year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. The construction work was completed in 1935, in 1941, the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Gunnery School was established. Currently known as Nellis Air Force Base, it is home to the team called the Thunderbirds
19.
Nevada
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Nevada is a state in the Western, Mountain West, and Southwestern regions of the United States of America. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 34th most populous, nearly three-quarters of Nevadas people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the states four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada is officially known as the Silver State because of the importance of silver to its history and economy. It is also known as the Battle Born State, because it achieved statehood during the Civil War, as the Sage-brush State, for the plant of the same name. Nevada borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, Nevada is largely desert and semi-arid, much of it located within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are located within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe, about 86% of the states land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U. S. federal government, both civilian and military. Before European contact, Native Americans of the Paiute, Shoshone, the first Europeans to explore the region were Spanish. They called the region Nevada because of the snow covered the mountains in winter. The area formed part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the United States annexed the area in 1848 after its victory in the Mexican–American War, and it was incorporated as part of Utah Territory in 1850. The discovery of silver at the Comstock Lode in 1859 led to a boom that became an impetus to the creation of Nevada Territory out of western Utah Territory in 1861. Nevada became the 36th state on October 31,1864, as the second of two added to the Union during the Civil War. Nevada has a reputation for its libertarian laws, in 1940, with a population of just over 110,000 people, Nevada was by far the least-populated state, with less than half the population of the next least-populated state. However, legalized gambling and lenient marriage and divorce laws transformed Nevada into a major tourist destination in the 20th century, Nevada is the only U. S. state where prostitution is legal, though it is illegal in Clark County, Washoe County and Carson City. The tourism industry remains Nevadas largest employer, with mining continuing as a sector of the economy. The name Nevada comes from the Spanish nevada, meaning snow-covered, most Nevadans pronounce the second syllable of their state name using the vowel of trap. Many from outside the Western United States pronounce it with the vowel of father, although the latter pronunciation is closer to the Spanish pronunciation, it is not the pronunciation preferred by most Nevadans. State Assemblyman Harry Mortenson proposed a bill to recognize the alternate pronunciation of Nevada, though the bill was not supported by most legislators, the Nevadan pronunciation is the de facto official one, since it is the one used by the state legislature. Nevada is almost entirely within the Basin and Range Province, and is broken up by many mountain ranges
20.
Cotton plantation
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A plantation is an area of land or water where one crop is specifically planted for widespread commercial sale. The crops grown include cotton, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar cane, sisal, oil seeds, oil palms, rubber trees, protectionist policies and natural comparative advantage have sometimes contributed to determining where plantations were located. Among the earliest examples of plantations were the latifundia of the Roman Empire, Plantation agriculture grew rapidly with the increase in international trade and the development of a worldwide economy that followed the expansion of European colonial empires. Like every economic activity, it has changed over time, Industrial plantations are established to produce a high volume of wood in a short period of time. Plantations are grown by state forestry authorities and/or the paper and wood industries, christmas trees are often grown on plantations as well. In southern and southeastern Asia, teak plantations have replaced the natural forest. Industrial plantations are managed for the commercial production of forest products. Individual blocks are usually even-aged and often consist of just one or two species and these species can be exotic or indigenous. Forest genetic resources are the basis for genetic alteration, selected individuals grown in seed orchards are a good source for seeds to develop adequate planting material. Wood production on a plantation is generally higher than that of natural forests. In 2000, while plantations accounted for 5% of global forest, in the first year, the ground is prepared usually by the combination of burning, herbicide spraying, and/or cultivation and then saplings are planted by human crew or by machine. The saplings are usually obtained in bulk from industrial nurseries, which may specialize in breeding in order to produce fast growing disease-. In the first few years until the canopy closes, the saplings are looked after, after the canopy closes, with the tree crowns touching each other, the plantation is becoming dense and crowded, and tree growth is slowing due to competition. This stage is termed pole stage, when competition becomes too intense, it is time to thin out the section. There are several methods for thinning, but where topography permits, the most popular is row-thinning, many trees are removed, leaving regular clear lanes through the section so that the remaining trees have room to expand again. The removed trees are delimbed, forwarded to the forest road, loaded onto trucks, a typical pole stage plantation tree is 7–30 cm in diameter at breast height. Such trees are not suitable for timber, but are used as pulp for paper and particleboard. As the trees grow and become dense and crowded again, the process is repeated
21.
Itta Bena, Mississippi
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Itta Bena is a city in Leflore County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,049 at the 2010 census, the towns name is derived from the Choctaw phrase iti bina, meaning forest camp. Itta Bena is part of the Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area, Choctaw Indians occupied the Delta region prior to the arrival of European settlers. Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, a senator from Claiborne County, Mississippi, is credited with the founding of Itta Bena. He found such an opportunity on Roebuck Lake, a stretch of old channel the river had discarded a few miles west of Greenwood, longtime Claiborne County friends became interested in his project, and the first of them began to acquire land in the area two years later. Humphreys had established a permanent winter residence, Lucknow, in Claiborne County and he did not bring his family to his plantation until he completed the building of a substantial home in 1857, christened Itta Bena, the Choctaw words for Home in the Woods. The walls of Itta Bena were made from logs felled in clearing the plantation and it was the earliest substantial residence built in the wild Yazoo country and was the center of activity for the plantation’s many hundred acres. The main portion of the original Humphreys home was still in use as a residence in 1954, following the Civil War, Humphreys was elected as governor of Mississippi. As other settlers moved into the area, the village grew up around the plantation was also called Itta Bena. The rate of growth increased after the Columbus and Greenville Railway was begun in 1888, among the first to build stores were J. B. Humphreys, P. Cohen, and Uriah Ray, the first store was operated by H. M. Weber and a man named Long. The town’s first school, a building, was built in 1888. The first high school was erected in 1905 across from the present-day First Baptist Church, the post office in Itta Bena was opened in 1918. On a march between Itta Bena and nearby Greenwood, coordinated by the SNCC but led by Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael coined the rallying phrase Black power. Byron de la Beckwith, widely known at time as the un-convicted murderer of Medgar Evers. Itta Bena is located at 33°29′45″N 90°19′20″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles, of which 1.4 square miles is land and 0.04 square miles is water. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 2,049 people residing in the city, the racial makeup of the city was 89. 2% Black,10. 1% White, <0. 1% Native American and 0. 1% from two or more races. 0. 5% were Hispanic or Latino of any race, as of the census of 2000, there were 2,208 people,763 households, and 559 families residing in the city
22.
Kilmichael, Mississippi
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Kilmichael is a town in Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 830 at the 2000 census, Kilmichael is located at 33°26′32″N 89°34′11″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 2.8 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 830 people,314 households, the population density was 298.7 people per square mile. There were 367 housing units at a density of 132.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 53. 37% African American,46. 27% White,0. 24% Native American, hispanic or Latino of any race were 0. 96% of the population. 23. 9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.09. In the town, the population was out with 26. 6% under the age of 18,8. 7% from 18 to 24,24. 5% from 25 to 44,23. 0% from 45 to 64. The median age was 37 years, for every 100 females there were 80.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.0 males, the median income for a household in the town was $24,712, and the median income for a family was $30,909. Males had an income of $25,192 versus $18,281 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,457, about 24. 8% of families and 25. 3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34. 7% of those under age 18 and 28. 4% of those age 65 or over. The Town of Kilmichael is served by the Montgomery County School District, Montgomery County Elementary School and Montgomery County High School are both located in Kilmichael. The school mascot is the Hornet, colors are Green, Gold, and White. In 1989, Kilmichael High School and Duck Hill High School consolidated into one school, in 1990, the name was changed to Montgomery County High School. In 2004, Kilmichael Elementary and Duck Hill Elementary consolidated to form Montgomery County Elementary School, in 2001, the all-white board of aldermen cancelled town elections after citing a need for more time to implement election changes. Allegedly, the elections were delayed in order avoid electing black politicians, the Justice Department intervened under the Voting Rights Act and forced a special election, in which Kilmichael elected its first black mayor and three black aldermen. Kilmichael native and 1988 Kilmichael High School graduate, Dr. Katrina Poe, was recognized nationally as Country Doctor of the Year by Staff Care, patients and hospital staff nominated her for the award
23.
Gospel music
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Gospel music is a music genre in Christian music. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music varies according to culture. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, Gospel music usually has dominant vocals with Christian lyrics. Gospel music can be traced to the early 17th century, with roots in the oral tradition. Hymns and sacred songs were repeated in a call and response fashion, most of the churches relied on hand clapping and foot stomping as rhythmic accompaniment. Most of the singing was done a cappella, the first published use of the term Gospel Song probably appeared in 1874. The original gospel songs were written and composed by such as George F. Root, Philip Bliss, Charles H. Gabriel, William Howard Doane. The advent of radio in the 1920s greatly increased the audience for gospel music, following World War II, gospel music moved into major auditoriums, and gospel music concerts became quite elaborate. Gospel blues is a form of gospel music. Southern gospel used all male, tenor-lead-baritone-bass quartet make-up, progressive Southern gospel is an American music genre that has grown out of Southern gospel over the past couple of decades. Christian country music, sometimes referred to as gospel music, is a subgenre of gospel music with a country flair. It peaked in popularity in the mid-1990s, bluegrass gospel music is rooted in American mountain music. Celtic gospel music infuses gospel music with a Celtic flair, and is popular in countries such as Ireland. British black gospel refers to Gospel music of the African diaspora, some proponents of standard hymns generally dislike gospel music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, with distance, there is a greater acceptance of such gospel songs into official denominational hymnals. Gospel music in general is characterized by dominant vocals referencing lyrics of a Christian nature, subgenres include contemporary gospel, urban contemporary gospel, Southern gospel, and modern gospel music. Several forms of gospel music utilize choirs, use piano or Hammond organ, tambourines, drums, bass guitar and, increasingly, electric guitar. In comparison with hymns, which are generally of a statelier measure, several attempts have been made to describe the style of late 19th and early 20th century gospel songs in general
24.
Pentecostalism
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The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks. For Christians, this event commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ, like other forms of evangelical Protestantism, Pentecostalism adheres to the inerrancy of scripture and the necessity of accepting Christ as personal Lord and Savior. It is distinguished by belief in the baptism in the Holy Spirit that enables a Christian to live a Spirit-filled and empowered life and this empowerment includes the use of spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and divine healing—two other defining characteristics of Pentecostalism. For this reason, some Pentecostals also use the term Apostolic or Full Gospel to describe their movement, Pentecostalism emerged in the early 20th century among radical adherents of the Holiness movement who were energized by revivalism and expectation for the imminent Second Coming of Christ. In 1900, Charles Parham, an American evangelist and faith healer, the three-year-long Azusa Street Revival, founded and led by William J. While virtually all Pentecostal denominations trace their origins to Azusa Street, an early dispute centered on challenges to the doctrine of the Trinity. As a result, the Pentecostal Movement is divided between trinitarian and non-trinitarian branches, there are over 279 million Pentecostals worldwide, and the movement is growing in many parts of the world, especially the global South. Together, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity numbers over 500 million adherents, Pentecostalism is an evangelical faith, emphasizing the reliability of the Bible and the need for the transformation of an individuals life through faith in Jesus. Like other evangelicals, Pentecostals generally adhere to the Bibles divine inspiration and inerrancy—the belief that the Bible, Pentecostals emphasize the teaching of the full gospel or foursquare gospel. The central belief of Pentecostalism is that through the death, burial and this is the Gospel or good news. The fundamental requirement of Pentecostalism is that one be born again, the new birth is received by the grace of God through faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. In being born again, the believer is regenerated, justified, adopted into the family of God, Pentecostal soteriology is generally Arminian rather than Calvinist. The security of the believer is a doctrine held within Pentecostalism, nevertheless, Pentecostals believe in both a literal heaven and hell, the former for those who have accepted Gods gift of salvation and the latter for those who have rejected it. For most Pentecostals there is no requirement to receive salvation. Baptism with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues are not generally required, a notable exception is Oneness Pentecostalism, most adherents of which believe both water baptism and Spirit baptism are integral components of salvation. Pentecostals identify three distinct uses of the baptism in the New Testament, Baptism into the body of Christ. Every believer in Christ is made a part of his body, the Holy Spirit is the agent, and the body of Christ is the medium. Baptism with the Holy Spirit, This is an experience distinct from baptism into the body of Christ
25.
Church of God in Christ
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The Church Of God in Christ is a Pentecostal-Holiness Christian denomination with a predominantly African-American membership. The denomination reports having more than 12,000 churches and over 6.5 million members in the United States. The National Council of Churches ranks it as the fifth largest Christian denomination in the U. S. Internationally and its worldwide membership is estimated to be between six and eight million, composing more than 25,000 congregations throughout the world. The Church of God in Christ was formed in 1897 by a group of disfellowshiped Baptists, Mason were licensed Baptist ministers in Mississippi who taught a Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection or Entire Sanctification as a second work of grace to their Baptist congregations. Her life story led many African-Americans into the movement, including C. H. Mason who testified to receiving Entire Sanctification after reading her autobiography, Jones held a Holiness convention at Mt. Helm Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, attended by C. H. Mason and others from several states, protestant doctrinal debates about Calvinism and Wesleyan Perfectionism impacted how even local African-American Baptist pastors responded to new Christian movements at the time. Some of these African-American Baptist pastors in local Southern areas such as Mississippi, Tennessee, the leadership of the Mississippi State Convention of the National Baptist Convention intervened and expelled C. P. Mason, and others who embraced the Wesleyan teaching of Entire Sanctification, in 1897 after being expelled from preaching in local Baptist churches under the Mississippi State Convention, Elder Mason founded the St. Paul Church in Lexington, Mississippi, the first COGIC church. When the first convocation was held in 1897, the group was known simply as the Church of God. Since so many new groups and fellowships were forming using the name Church of God. Mason sought a name to distinguish this holiness organization from others, later in 1897, while in Little Rock, Arkansas, C. H. Mason believed that God had given him such a name for the group, Mason believed that the name taken from 1 Thessalonians 2,14 was divinely revealed and biblically inspired. This Holiness group/fellowship adopted the name Church of God in Christ, Jones was elected the General Overseer, C. H. Mason was selected as Overseer of Tennessee, and J. A, Jeter was selected as Overseer of Arkansas. After testifying to being sanctified, members of the referred to themselves as the Saints. In 1906, C. H. Mason, J. A Jeter, Young were appointed as a committee by C. P. Jones to investigate reports of a revival in Los Angeles, California that was being led by an itinerant preacher named William J. Seymour, masons visit to the Azusa Street Revival changed the direction of the newly formed holiness church
26.
Sears Roebuck
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Sears, Roebuck & Company, also known simply as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in 1886. Formerly based at the Sears Tower in Chicago and currently headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, it began as a mail ordering catalog company and began opening retail locations in 1925. The company was bought by the American big box chain Kmart in 2005, in terms of domestic revenue, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States until October 1989, when Walmart surpassed the record. It is currently the fifth-largest American department store company by sales as of October 2013, Sears operates divisions in Canada and Mexico, as well as several other subsidiaries within its brand. Richard Warren Sears was a station agent in North Redwood, Minnesota. Sears purchased them, then sold the watches for a profit to other station agents. Soon he started a business selling watches through mail order catalogs, the next year, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he met Alvah C. Roebuck, who joined him in the business, farmers did business in small rural towns. Before the Sears catalog, farmers typically bought supplies from local general stores with narrow selections of goods, prices were negotiated, and depended on the storekeepers estimate of a customers creditworthiness. Sears took advantage of this by publishing catalogs offering customers a selection of products at clearly stated prices. The first Sears catalog was published in 1888, in 1893, Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck renamed their watch company Sears, Roebuck & Company and began to diversify. By 1894, the Sears catalog had grown to 322 pages, featuring sewing machines, bicycles, sporting goods, automobiles, by 1895, the company was producing a 532-page catalog. Sales were greater than $400,000 in 1893 and more than $750,000 two years later, by 1896, dolls, stoves and groceries had been added to the catalog. The company had sales of $800,000 in 1895, but the national Panic of 1893—a full scale depression—caused a cash squeeze and large quantities of unsold merchandise. Sears offered Roebucks half of the company to Chicago businessman Aaron Nusbaum, in August 1895, they bought Roebucks half of the company for $75,000. The new Sears, Roebuck and Company was re-incorporated in Illinois with a stock of $150,000 in August 1895. The transaction was handled by Albert Henry Loeb of the Chicago Law Firm of Loeb & Adler, copies of the transaction documents are now displayed on the walls of the Law Firm. Sears and Rosenwald got along well with other, but not with Nusbaum
27.
Bukka White
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Booker T. Washington Bukka White was an African-American Delta blues guitarist and singer. Bukka is a spelling of Whites first name, placed on the labels of his early recordings. He preferred the spelling of his name, Booker, as he was named after the well-known African-American educator. White was born south of Houston, Mississippi and he was a first cousin of B. B. He is remembered as a player of National resonator guitars and he also played piano, but less adeptly. He typically played slide guitar, in an open tuning and he was one of the few, along with Skip James, to use a crossnote tuning in E minor, which he may have learned, as James did, from Henry Stuckey. White started his playing the fiddle at square dances. He claimed to have met Charlie Patton soon after, but some have doubted this recollection, nonetheless, Patton was a strong influence on White. He first recorded for Victor Records in 1930 and his recordings for Victor, like those of many other bluesmen, included country blues and gospel music. Victor published his photograph in 1930 and his gospel songs were done in the style of Blind Willie Johnson, with a female singer accentuating the last phrase of each line. Nine years later, while serving time for assault, he recorded for the folklorist John Lomax, the few songs he recorded around this time became his most well known, Shake Em On Down, and Po Boy. His 1937 version of the oft-recorded song Shake Em on Down, is considered definitive, it became a hit while White was serving time in Parchman. Bob Dylan covered his song Fixin to Die Blues, which aided a rediscovery of White in 1963 by guitarist John Fahey and Ed Denson, White had recorded the song simply because his other songs had not particularly impressed the Victor record producer. It was a composition of which White had thought little until it re-emerged thirty years later. Fahey and Denson found White easily enough, Fahey wrote a letter to Bukka White, c/o General Delivery, Aberdeen, Fahey had assumed, given Whites song Aberdeen, Mississippi, that White still lived there or nearby. The postcard was forwarded to Memphis, Tennessee, where White worked in a tank factory, Fahey and Denson soon traveled to meet White, and White and Fahey remained friends through the remainder of Whites life. He recorded a new album for Denson and Faheys Takoma Records, White was at one time also managed by experienced blues manager Arne Brogger. Later in his life, White was friends with the musician Furry Lewis, the two recorded an album, Furry Lewis, Bukka White & Friends, Party
28.
KFFA (AM)
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KFFA is an American radio station licensed by the FCC to serve the community of Helena, Arkansas. The station is owned by Delta Broadcasting, which is owned by Jamie and Nancy Howe, in November 1941, Helenas first radio station KFFA went on the air. Station Manager and part owner Sam Anderson offered to sell a block of time to a group of musicians on the condition that they obtain a sponsor. Max Moore, owner of Interstate Grocer Company, which distributed King Biscuit Flour, agreed to sponsor the show — thus was born King Biscuit Entertainers and the beginning of King Biscuit Time. The program was first broadcast on November 21,1941, and featured blues artists Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Lockwood, other musicians who played on the show included pianist Pinetop Perkins and guitarist Robert Nighthawk. Musicians such as guitarist Hound Dog Taylor would stop by for occasional appearances and these KFFA broadcasts, heard in the hometowns of Nighthawk, Lockwood, and Sonny Boy, were a draw to young southern blues artists who came to Helena to hang around and learn. Jimmy Rogers and Little Walter, later central to the sound of the Muddy Waters band, were among them, levon Helm, drummer and vocalist for Ronnie Hawkins and The Band, grew up outside Helena in Turkey Scratch. He frequently went into town to watch as the show was broadcast, the KFFA studios were on the second floor of the Floyd Truck Lines building, a rickety old structure. The program was broadcast from there for 20 years until the building was condemned, the show opens with the announcers, Sunshine Sonny Paynes, words, Pass the biscuits, cause its King Biscuit Time. With more than 17,000 broadcasts, this show has influenced generations of blues, rock. The program is broadcast weekdays at 12,15 PM local time and recordings of the show are available for download from the internet at the stations web site
29.
Helena, Arkansas
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Helena is the eastern portion of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, this portion of the city population was 6,323, Helena was the county seat of Phillips County until January 1,2006, when it merged its government and city limits with neighboring West Helena. Helena is the birthplace of Arkansas former Senior United States Senator Blanche Lincoln, Helena is home to the longest running daily radio program in the U. S. King Biscuit Time. From 1906 to 1946, Helena was a point on the former Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad. After, a loss of service in early 2015, a successful effort was launched by the Helena-West Helena/Phillips County Port Authority to have freight service restored. The service was restored on October 1,2015 and two new freight customers have already been gained, Helena is located at 34°31′34″N 90°36′5″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, Helena had an area of 8.9 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 6,323 people,2,312 households, the population density was 710.7 people per square mile. There were 2,710 housing units at a density of 304. 6/sq mi. The racial makeup of Helena is 67. 93% Black or African American,30. 59% White,0. 13% Native American,0. 60% Asian,0. 17% from other races,0. 73% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 30. 0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.28. In Helena, the population is out with 32. 5% under the age of 18,10. 0% from 18 to 24,22. 1% from 25 to 44,20. 0% from 45 to 64. The median age was 32 years, for every 100 females there were 83.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.5 males, the median income for a household in Helena is $18,662, and the median income for a family was $21,534. Males had an income of $27,203 versus $17,250 for females. The per capita income for Helena is $13,028, about 38. 4% of families and 41. 4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 54. 9% of those under age 18 and 24. 1% of those age 65 or over. Helena, Arkansas is home to a number of buildings such as the Sidney H. Horner House. Helena-West Helena School District operates schools in what was Helena, dorathy M. Allen, the first woman elected to the Arkansas Senate Bruce Bennett, former Arkansas Attorney General Caroline Shawk Brooks, First known American sculpture to work with butter
30.
Inverness, Mississippi
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Inverness is a town in Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,153 at the 2000 census, as the town had the largest cotton gin in the Delta, it served as a gathering place for farmers from the region when they brought their cotton for processing. The town was damaged by a tornado in 1971. Inverness is located at 33°21′10″N 90°35′31″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.4 square miles, all land. Inverness is about 90 miles north of Jackson, as of the 2010 United States Census, there were 1,019 people residing in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 50. 7% Black,47. 6% White,0. 2% Native American,0. 6% Asian and 0. 2% from two or more races,0. 7% were Hispanic or Latino of any race. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,153 people,411 households, the population density was 800.4 people per square mile. There were 432 housing units at a density of 299.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 59. 41% African American,39. 64% White,0. 78% Asian, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 13% of the population. 22. 4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.28. In the town, the population was out with 27. 6% under the age of 18,10. 8% from 18 to 24,24. 8% from 25 to 44,21. 9% from 45 to 64. The median age was 34 years, for every 100 females there were 86.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males, the median income for a household in the town was $27,500, and the median income for a family was $31,912. Males had an income of $26,429 versus $19,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,050, about 26. 6% of families and 34. 0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39. 8% of those under age 18 and 39. 3% of those age 65 or over. The Town of Inverness is served by the Sunflower County School District, Inverness School is the sole public school in Inverness. Gentry High School in Indianola is the sole high school. After desegregation began in Inverness in the century, white parents withdrew their children from the white public school
31.
WGRM (AM)
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WGRM is an American radio station licensed to serve Greenwood, Mississippi, USA. Ewing, the station was owned by the Ewing family for 60 years, WGRM is currently owned by Christian Broadcasting of Greenwood, Inc. WGRM broadcasts to the central region of Mississippi. In the 1940s, the station aired live performances by the Famous St. Johns Quartet of Inverness, Mississippi. This station first signed on the air in 1938 with studios in Grenada, the station, broadcasting at 1240 kilohertz with 250 watts of power, was assigned the call sign WGRM by the Federal Communications Commission. In 1939, the relocated to the second floor of a building at 222 Howard Street in Greenwood, Mississippi. The station launched under the ownership of P. K, Ewing, Sr. with Fayette C. Ewing as general manager. By 1943, with the Ewing family in control, Herb Abramson was named the program director. The station derived much of its programming from the Blue Network, by 1945, Lorene Wood was named program director and the station added programming from the Keystone Broadcasting System. The next year, with the sale of the Blue Network, WGRM switched affiliations to remain with NBC, by the end of the 1940s, Grace Harris took over the program director role. In the early century, the voices of African Americans were rarely heard on the radio in the Southern United States. A notable exception to rule was live broadcasts of gospel music. In the 1940s, WGRM aired live performances by groups on Sunday afternoons, including the Famous St. Johns Quartet of Inverness. Some sources place the first appearance of the quartet on WGRM in 1940 and some in 1943, after several years, Riley King moved to Memphis where he took on the nickname Beale Street Blues Boy which was in turn shortened to B. B. King. In the early 1950s, pianist Bobby Hines, bluesman Matt Cockrell, lonnie the Cat Cation all recorded songs in these studios. In 1950, the station relocated north of the Tallahatchie River to new studios at 600 Walnut Street, the stations programming remained steady through the early 1950s with Lew Sadler becoming program director by 1955. Later that year, however, station founder P. K, Ewing, Sr. died and his wife, Myrtle M. Ewing, took both ownership and operational control of the station as executrix of his estate. By 1958, Myrtle Ewing had direct ownership of WGRM and named Ed Smith program director, by 1961, Myrtle Ewing had joined her late husband and control of WGRM passed to Fayette Ewing as the executor of her estate
32.
Greenwood, Mississippi
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It was a center of cotton planter culture in the 19th century. The population was 16,087 at the 2010 census and it is the principal city of the Greenwood Micropolitan Statistical Area. The Tallahatchie and the Yalobusha rivers meet at Greenwood to form the Yazoo River, throughout the 1960s, Greenwood was the site of major protests and conflicts as African Americans worked to achieve racial integration and voting access during the civil rights movement. The flood plain of the Mississippi River has long been an area rich in vegetation and wildlife, fed by the Mississippi, Long before Europeans migrated to America, the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indian nations settled in the Deltas bottomlands and throughout what is now central Mississippi. They were descended from indigenous peoples who had lived in the area for thousands of years, including the Mississippian culture, in the nineteenth century, the Five Civilized Tribes in the Southeast suffered increasing encroachment on their territory by European-American settlers from the United States. The government opened the land for sale and settlement by European Americans, the first Euro-American settlement on the banks of the Yazoo River was a trading post founded in 1834 by Colonel John Dilliard and known as Dilliards Landing. The settlement had competition from Greenwood Leflores rival landing called Point Leflore just three miles up the Yazoo River, in 1844 it was incorporated as Greenwood, named after Chief Greenwood LeFlore. The city served as a point for cotton to major markets in New Orleans, Vicksburg, Mississippi, Memphis, Tennessee. Greenwood continued to prosper, based on slave labor on the plantations and in shipping. The end of the Civil War in 1865 and the years of Reconstruction changed the labor market to one of free labor. The state was mostly undeveloped frontier, and many withdrew from working for others. In the nineteenth century, many managed to clear and buy their own farms in the bottomlands. With the disruption of war and changes to labor, cotton production initially declined, Greenwood again emerged as a prime shipping point for cotton. Downtowns Front Street bordering the Yazoo filled with cotton factors and related businesses, the city continued to prosper in this way well into the 1940s, although cotton production suffered during the infestation of the boll weevil in the early 20th century. For many years, the bridge over the Yazoo displayed the sign, the industry was largely mechanized in the 20th century before World War II, displacing thousands of sharecroppers and tenant farmers. Greenwoods Grand Boulevard was once named one of Americas 10 most beautiful streets by the U. S, chambers of Commerce and the Garden Clubs of America. Sally Humphreys Gwin, a member of the Greenwood Garden Club. In 1950, Gwin received a citation from the National Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution in recognition of her work in the conservation of trees, chapters were established across the state
33.
West Memphis, Arkansas
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West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 26,245 at the 2010 census, ranking it as the states 18th largest city and it is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, and is located directly across the Mississippi River from Memphis. Native Americans lived in the Mississippi River Valley for at least 10,000 years, the Indians of the Mississippian Period were the last native inhabitants of the West Memphis area. Mound City Road, located within the portion of the West Memphis city limits, has a marker indicating that the villages of Aquixo or Pacaha were in the area. Explorers from both Spain and France visited the area near West Memphis, among those explorers were Hernando de Soto and his men from Spain and Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet from France. By the time French hunters and explorers entered the region, the Mississippian towns, the original site of West Memphis came from Spanish land grants issued during the 1790s. Grants were given to Benjamin Fooy, John Henry Fooy, and Isaac Fooy in the Hopefield area, the Spanish found the land to be the most densely populated that they had seen since starting their journey on the Florida coast, two years earlier. The Spanish expedition departed Arkansas two years later, leaving behind numerous Old World diseases and it was 130 years before Europeans visited this region again. The original inhabitants, like the settlers, were drawn to this region because of its fertile river bottom soil, abundant game. He chose a location across the river from present-day Memphis, in 1797, the Spanish established Campo de la Esperanza which was a small fort along the Mississippi River. Crittenden County is bounded on the east by the Mississippi River and was established in 1825, named after Robert Crittenden, the first secretary of the Arkansas Territory, the county had a population of 1,272 in 1830. Hopefield became the terminal for the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad in 1857. However, the Civil War forced a halt to track construction just east of the St. Francis River in 1861, during the summer of 1862 Memphis fell into the hands of the Union forces. Most Confederate soldiers were ferried across the river to Hopefield, Arkansas, many of these soldiers were moved on to other battle fronts, but some remained to harass the Union forces and disrupt river traffic. This became such a problem that on February 19,1863, the town of Hopefield was rebuilt after the war but never regained the prominence it once held in Crittenden County. An early settlement that was established for operations between Memphis and Arkansas in the early 1880s was given the name West Memphis. In addition to its lost ferry operations, this area, in the fashion as its northern neighbor Hopefield. The entire area usually flooded in the spring until the St. Francis Levee District was established in 1893, however, private landowners along the Mississippi River built levees that were only three or four feet high
34.
Sonny Boy Williamson II
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Alex or Aleck Miller, known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp stylist who recorded successfully in the 1950s and 1960s. Miller used various names, including Rice Miller and Little Boy Blue, before calling himself Sonny Boy Williamson, to distinguish the two, Miller has been referred to as Sonny Boy Williamson II. He first recorded with Elmore James on Dust My Broom, some of his popular songs include Dont Start Me Talkin, Help Me, Checkin Up on My Baby, and Bring It On Home. He toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival and recorded with English rock musicians, including the Yardbirds, the Animals, Help Me became a blues standard, and many blues and rock artists have recorded his songs. Miller was born Alex Ford on the Sara Jones Plantation in Tallahatchie County, the date and year of birth are uncertain. He lived and worked with his stepfather, Jim Miller, whose last name he soon adopted. He was also associated with Robert Johnson during this period, Miller developed his style and raffish stage persona during these years. Willie Dixon recalled seeing Lockwood and Miller playing for tips in Greenville, Mississippi and he entertained audiences with novelties such as inserting one end of the harmonica into his mouth and playing with no hands. At this time he was known as Rice Miller—a childhood nickname stemming from his love of rice. In 1941 Miller was hired to play the King Biscuit Time show, advertising the King Biscuit brand of baking flour on radio station KFFA in Helena, Arkansas, with Lockwood. Some blues scholars believe that Millers assertion he was born in 1899 was a ruse to convince audiences he was old enough to have used the name before John Lee Williamson, who was born in 1914. In 1949, Williamson relocated to West Memphis, Arkansas, and lived with his sister and her husband and he started his own KWEM radio show from 1948 to 1950, selling the elixir Hadacol. He brought his King Biscuit musician friends to West Memphis—Elmore James, Houston Stackhouse, Arthur Big Boy Crudup, Robert Nighthawk, in the 1940s Williamson married Mattie Gordon, who remained his wife until his death. McMurry later erected Williamsons headstone, near Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1977, when Trumpet went bankrupt in 1955, Williamsons recording contract was yielded to its creditors, who sold it to Chess Records in Chicago. He had begun developing a following in Chicago beginning in 1953 and it was during his Chess years that he enjoyed his greatest success and acclaim, recording about 70 songs for the Chess subsidiary Checker Records from 1955 to 1964. His first LP record, Down and Out Blues, was released by Checker in 1959, One single, Boppin with Sonny b/w No Nights by Myself, was released by Ace Records in 1955. Around this time he was quoted as saying of the bands who accompanied him, those British boys want to play the blues real bad
35.
KWEM Radio
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KWEM Radio was set up by the KLXR-Razorback Network in 1946, in West Memphis, Arkansas. Efforts were made to get the station on air before the end of 1946. Tests were made during the week of January 1947. Their studios were at 231 Broadway Street in West Memphis, in the west side of the Merchants and Planters Bank Building, in 1954 a second studio was added at 64 Flicker Street in Memphis, Tennessee. The tower and transmitter were south of the viaduct between the Harahan Bridge and the U. S, KWEM was a daytime station with 1,000 watts on 990 kHz. George Mooney, sportscaster for the Razorback Network, was the manager, later, Franklin Page of Little Rock was added as an announcer. Officers of KWEM included, J. O. Johnson, president, J. W. Rich, vice-president, mccaa, secretary, Melvin Dacus, director, and John Cooper, director. KWEM was later sold, and in 1960 would officially become KWAM. Unknown artists who appeared on KWEM during the late 1940s and early 1950s were B. B. King, Howlin Wolf, Ike Turner, Scotty Moore, Stan Kessler, Warren Smith, Paul Burlison and Joe Hill Louis. All of these artists performed live on KWEM, and for many it was their first radio exposure. Listening to KWEM Radio would inspire another young West Memphis area youth, Albert King, to learn to play and he appeared to support his band at the T-99 Club in Oceola, Arkansas. He would launch his career and become an influence on Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix. Howlin Wolf, Hubert Sumlin, Pat Hare, James Cotton and Junior Parker honed their skills at KWEM, Joe Hill Louis began his music career with his own show in 1949. He would record for Sam Phillips that year, Louis moved to WDIA in the early 1950s and replaced B. B. King as the Pepticon Boy. Louis would also become a Sun Records recording artist and session musician, sonny Boy Williamson II had become the most well known musician in the Mississippi Delta while appearing on the King Biscuit Radio Program on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. Williamson arrived in West Memphis in 1949 and launched his own live daily KWEM program, while at KWEM, Williamson worked with Howlin Wolf, B. B. King, Junior Parker, and James Cotton, bring his friends from around the delta to perform on his program. These included Elmore James, Houston Stackhouse, Robert Nighthawk and Arthur Big Boy Crudup, B. B. King made his first radio appearance anywhere at KWEM in 1949, appearing on Williamsons show. Howlin Wolf was the first colored artist to have his own show on KWEM from 1949 to 1952
36.
WDIA
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WDIA is a radio station based in Memphis, Tennessee. Active since 1947, it became the first radio station in the United States that was programmed entirely for African Americans. It featured black radio personalities, its success in building an audience attracted radio advertisers suddenly aware of a new market among black listeners. The station had a influence on music, hiring musicians early in their careers. The station started the WDIA Goodwill Fund to help and empower black communities, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. the stations studios are located in Southeast Memphis, and the transmitter site is in North Memphis. WDIA went on the air June 7,1947, from studios on Union Avenue, the owners, John Pepper and Dick Ferguson, were both white, and the format was a mix of country and western and light pop. The station did not do well, nat D. Williams, a syndicated columnist and high-school teacher, started Tan Town Jubilee in October 1948. This was the first radio program in the United States to appeal to black listeners, after a switch to all-black programming, WDIA became the citys top station. In June 1954 WDIA was licensed to increase its power to 50,000 watts and its powerful signal reached the Mississippi Delta’s dense African-American population and was heard from the Missouri Bootheel to the Gulf Coast. WDIA reached 10% of the African-American population in United States, future WJLB strong jock, Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg became known as Princess Premium Stuff. Ernest Brazzell gave crop advice, and Robert Thomas became a DJ named “Honeyboy” after he won an amateur competition. Among other notable personalities were Maurice Hot Rod Hulbert, Theo Bless My Bones Wade, and Ford Nelson, WDIA is known for its community efforts throughout the years. A. C. Williams, a disc jockey for the station. Originally, the fund provided transportation to school for disabled black children, later the fund expanded to include college scholarships, establish boy clubs, provide 125 Little League Teams to Memphis and neighboring communities, and help provide low cost supplemental housing. We have raised over $900,000 over the years, A. C. Williams says, many music legends got their start by working at WDIA, including B. B. King and Rufus Thomas. Elvis Presley was greatly influenced by the station, B. B. King joined WDIA in early 1949. He had a daily 15-minute show, promoting first a patent medicine called Pep-Ti-Kon, and later Lucky Strike cigarettes, the next year he took a DJ position on an afternoon show previously hosted by Maurice Hot Rod Hulbert. King credits his days on the station for building his audience and launching his career, Williams ended his show in 1972 following a stroke
37.
Beale Street
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Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately 1.8 miles. It is a significant location in the history, as well as in the history of the blues. Today, the clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are major tourist attractions in Memphis. Festivals and outdoor concerts periodically bring large crowds to the street, Beale Street was created in 1841 by entrepreneur and developer Robertson Topp, who named it for a forgotten military hero. The original name was Beale Avenue and its western end primarily housed shops of trade merchants, who traded goods with ships along the Mississippi River, while the eastern part developed as an affluent suburb. In the 1860s, many black traveling musicians began performing on Beale, the first of these to call Beale Street home were the Young Mens Brass Band, who were formed by Sam Thomas in 1867. In the 1870s, the population of Memphis was rocked by a series of fever epidemics. During this time, Robert Church purchased land around Beale Street that would lead to his becoming the first black millionaire from the south. In 1890, Beale Street underwent renovation with the addition of the Grand Opera House, in 1899, Church paid the city to create Church Park at the corner of 4th and Beale. It became a recreational and cultural center, where musicians could gather. A major attraction of the park was an auditorium that could seat 2,000 people, speakers in the Church Park Auditorium included Woodrow Wilson, Booker T. Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the early 1900s, Beale Street was filled with clubs, restaurants and shops. In 1889, NAACP co-founder Ida B, wells was a co-owner and editor of an anti-segregationist paper called Free Speech based on Beale. Beale Street Baptist Church, Tennessees oldest surviving African American Church edifice built in 1864, was important in the early civil rights movement in Memphis. Mayor Thornton contacted Handy, and Memphis became the home of the musician who created the Blues on Beale Street, Mayor Thornton and his three sons also played in Handys band. Handy wrote Mr. Crump as a song for political machine leader E. H. Crump. The song was later renamed The Memphis Blues, Handy also wrote a song called Beale Street Blues in 1916 which influenced the change of the streets name from Beale Avenue to Beale Street. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Memphis Minnie, King, Rufus Thomas, Rosco Gordon and other blues and jazz legends played on Beale Street and helped develop the style known as Memphis Blues
38.
T-Bone Walker
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In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 67 on its list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Walker was born in Linden, Texas, of African-American and Cherokee descent and his parents, Movelia Jimerson and Rance Walker, were both musicians. His stepfather, Marco Washington, taught him to play the guitar, ukulele, banjo, violin, mandolin, Walker began his career as a teenager in Dallas in the 1920s. His mother and stepfather were musicians, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, Walker left school at the age of 10, and by 15 he was a professional performer on the blues circuit. Initially, he was Jeffersons protégé and would guide him around town for his gigs, in 1929, Walker made his recording debut with Columbia Records, billed as Oak Cliff T-Bone, releasing the single Wichita Falls Blues backed with Trinity River Blues. Oak Cliff is the community in which he lived at the time, the pianist Douglas Fernell played accompaniment on the record. Walker married Vida Lee in 1935, the couple had three children, by the age of 25, Walker was working in clubs on Central Avenue, in Los Angeles, sometimes as the featured singer and as guitarist with Les Hites orchestra. In 1940 he recorded with Hite for the Varsity label, in 1942, Charlie Glenn, the owner of the Rhumboogie Café, brought T-Bone Walker to Chicago for long-time stints in his club. In 1944 and 1945, Walker recorded for the Rhumboogie label, much of his output was recorded from 1946 to 1948 for Black & White Records, including his most famous song, Call It Stormy Monday. Other notable songs he recorded during this period were Bobby Sox Blues, throughout his career Walker worked with top-notch musicians, including the trumpeter Teddy Buckner, the pianist Lloyd Glenn, the bassist Billy Hadnott, and the tenor saxophonist Jack McVea. He recorded from 1950 to 1954 for Imperial Records, Walkers only record in the next five years was T-Bone Blues, recorded during three widely separated sessions in 1955,1956 and 1959 and released by Atlantic Records in 1960. However, several acclaimed albums followed, such as I Want a Little Girl. Walker recorded in his last years, from 1968 to 1975, for Robin Hemingways music publishing company, Walkers career began to wind down after he suffered a stroke in 1974. He died of pneumonia following another stroke in March 1975. Walker was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, chuck Berry named Walker and Louis Jordan as his main influences. B. B. King cited hearing Walkers recording of Stormy Monday as his inspiration for getting an electric guitar, Walker was admired by Jimi Hendrix, who imitated Walkers trick of playing the guitar with his teeth. Stormy Monday was a live number of the Allman Brothers Band. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, T-Bone Walker discography, forum, and marketplace at Discogs T-Bone Walker at the Internet Movie Database T-Bone Walker at Find a Grave
39.
Sam Phillips
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He was a producer, label owner, and talent scout throughout the 1940s and 1950s. He was the founder of both Sun Studio and Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, through Sun, Phillips discovered such recording talent as Howlin Wolf, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash. The height of his success culminated in his launching of Elvis Presleys career in 1954 and he is also associated with several other noteworthy rhythm and blues, country, and rock and roll musicians of the period. Phillips sold Sun in 1969 to Shelby Singleton and he was an early investor in the Holiday Inn chain of hotels. He also advocated racial equality and helped break down barriers in the music industry. Phillips was the youngest of eight children, born on a farm near Florence, Alabama, to tenant farmers, Madge Ella. As a child, he picked cotton in the fields with his parents alongside black laborers, the experience of hearing workers singing in the fields left a big impression on the young Phillips. Traveling through Memphis with his family in 1939 on the way to see a preacher in Dallas, he slipped off to look at Beale Street, I just fell totally in love, he later recalled. Phillips attended the former Coffee High School in Florence and he conducted the school band and had ambitions to be a criminal defense attorney. However, his father was bankrupted by the Great Depression and died in 1941, forcing Phillips to leave school to look after his mother. To support the family Phillips worked in a store and then a funeral parlor. In the 1940s, Phillips worked as a DJ and radio engineer for Muscle Shoals radio station WLAY, according to Phillips, this radio stations open format would later inspire his work in Memphis. Beginning in 1945, he worked for four years as an announcer, on January 3,1950, Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. The Memphis Recording Service let amateurs perform, which drew performers such as B. B. King, Junior Parker, Phillips then would sell their performances to larger record labels. In addition to performances, Phillips recorded events such as weddings and funerals. The Memphis Recording Service also served as the studio for Phillipss own label, Phillips combined different styles of music. He was interested in the blues and said, The blues, it got people—black and white—to think about life, how difficult and they would sing about it, they would pray about it, they would preach about it. This is how they relieved the burden of what existed day in, the recording was released on the Chess/Checker record label in Chicago, in 1951
40.
Sun Records
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Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in 1952. Sun was the first company to record Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Sun Records discovered and first recorded such influential musicians as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Presleys recording contract was sold to RCA Victor Records for $35,000 in 1955 to relieve Suns financial difficulties. Before those records, Sun had concentrated mainly on African-American musicians because Phillips loved rhythm and blues, Sun record producer and engineer Jack Clement discovered and recorded Jerry Lee Lewis while Phillips was away on a trip to Florida. The original Sun Records logo was designed by John Gale Parker, Jr. a resident of Memphis, Sun was founded with the financial aid of Jim Bulliet, one of many record executives for whom Phillips had scouted artists before 1952. Some of the artists at Sun were Roscoe Gordon, Rufus Thomas, Little Milton, Tex Weiss, Charlie Rich, Howlin Wolf, Bill Justis. In the Lovin Spoonful song Nashville Cats, John Sebastian used poetic license when he referred to Sun as the Yellow Sun Records from Nashville, there were also sixteen female recording artists whose records were released on the Sun and Phillips international label. These include Barbara Pittman and the Miller Sisters, in 1969, Mercury Records label producer Shelby Singleton purchased the Sun label from Phillips. Singleton merged his operations into Sun International Corporation, which re-released and re-packaged compilations of Suns early artists in the early 1970s and it later introduced rockabilly tribute singer Jimmy Orion Ellis in 1980, with Orion taking on the persona of Elvis Presley. The company remains in business as Sun Entertainment Corporation, and currently licenses its brand, Sun Entertainment also includes SSS International Records, Plantation Records, Amazon Records, Red Bird Records, Blue Cat Records among other labels the company acquired over the years. Its website sells collectible items and compact discs bearing the original 1950s Sun logo, Sun Records is located in Nashville, Tennessee. It has been mainly a reissue label since the 1970s but signed country musician Julie Roberts to a contract in 2013. The music of many Sun Records musicians helped lay part of the foundation of late 20th-century rock and roll and influenced younger musicians. In 2001, Paul McCartney appeared on a compilation album titled Good Rockin Tonight. List of record labels Elvis Presleys Sun recordings Johnny Cashs Sun recordings Roy Orbisons Sun Recordings Official website Sun Studio official site Chronology, session files, discography
Oral History, B.B. King reflects on his greatest musical influences. interview date August 3, 2005, NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Oral History Library
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