I’ve reached the final destination on this trip – I’m in Chicago, the windy city.

This is a special place for me. Chicago blues is my favourite of all the blues styles.

In the 1960s, the south side of Chicago was the hub of blues. Artists like Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and Howlin’ Wolf were at the height of their powers and leading the scene.

The sound is urban, amplified, and raucous. You get harsh guitars, harps amplified to distortion, walking bass, uptempo shuffling rhythms. The vocals have Southern-style soul in them but you also get fierce, dynamic shouting, capturing urban anger.

It’s this Chicago scene that really took blues global – this is the style that hooked Alex Korner, John Mayall and the Rolling Stones, kicking off the British blues scene.

The Yardbirds were rooted in this style and a training ground for two guitarists that went on to rock supremacy; Eric Clapton with Cream and Jimmy Page with Led Zeppelin.

The king of the Chicago was Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield). He grew up in Clarksdale, where he learnt slide guitar.

He moved to Chicago and formed a band in the 50s with other players who were influential in their own right.

Episode 6

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour

Today I’m Memphis, Tennessee, to get a taste of the electric Memphis blues.

Further north now, the blues sound is more polished, more electric, more of a polished performance.

I’ve left the juke joints and low-down bars back in Baton Rouge and Clarksdale. Here in Memphis, it’s sharp suits, backing bands full of brass, elegant theatres and putting on a show.

And the king of putting on a show – a man many call ‘King of the Blues’ – is B. B. King.

Born Riley B. King, in Itta Bena, Mississippi, he moved to Memphis in the 40s and has been recording, playing and touring ever since. At age 76, he’s still going strong and defining the blues for new audiences.

King is a pioneer of electric blues guitar. He was soloing way before his blues contempories caught up with him and he continues to be a model for aspiring blues guitarists today.

If you want to learn about the blues – and the heritage of African American music – a good place to start is the Memphis Rock n Soul Museum. Let’s go in.

Episode5 — Memphis

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour

Today I’m in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

‘I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees’ — said Robert Johnson

The junction between Highway 61 and Highway 49 in Clarksdale is a famous crossroads. This is the place where, according to legend, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for mastery over the guitar.

Meeting at the crossroads at midnight, the Devil tuned Johnson’s guitar so that Johnson could play any song he wanted.

Johnson’s peers were so taken aback at his sudden mastery of the guitar and his repertoire of songs in such as short space of time that the story gained momentum.

I’m here now with new guitar – bought specially for the trip. It’s a beautiful semi-acoustic Peerless Songbird but stone me if I can get a blues tune out of it. There’s something missing. Let’s see if I can get some inspiration here in Clarksdale.

Episode 4 – The Crossroads

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour

I’m in Baton Rouge, Louisiana – home of the ‘swamp blues’. Famous for harmonica stars Slim Harpo and Lazy Lester, and the guitarist Lightning Slim.

It’s also the home of ‘zydeco’, a strange mix blend of French Cajun music, blues, and rock n roll. Accordion player Clifton Chenier kick started this off in 1955.

I’m not here for the zydeco though.

I’ve come to Baton Rouge to meet Larry Garner, a blues singer and guitarist. He was the first blues artist I ever saw playing live. He played at Woodford Community Centre, Stockport, backed up by the Norman Beaker Band.

Episode 4 – Baton Rouge, Louisiana – home of the ‘swamp b…

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour

Born in New Orleans in 1940, Little Freddie is noted for his style known as ‘gut bucket blues’ — gutsy, lo-fi, stripped down, unpretentious.

Little Freddie’s 1970 recording Harmonica Williams and Little Freddie King is believed to be the first electric blues album recorded in New Orleans.

Today, Little Freddie regularly performs monthly in BJ’s Lounge in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward.

Little Freddie has a new CD out in March 2010 called ‘Gotta Walk With Da King’. It’s a ‘down and dirty straightforward, no-frills CD that captures real juke joint blues on a festival stage. Recorded live at the annual Thirsty Ear Festival in New Mexico’.

Episode 2 – BJ’s Lounge

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour

Photo of Little Freddie King by Andrew Huff

The Mississippi delta, the melting pot, a hot and humid brew of African, country and European sounds and rhythms. The south. The home. Where it all started.

I’m in New Orleans, Louisiana to start my blues heritage tour. Not quite an odyssey, but something akin to it.

New Orleans lies at the bottom end of Highway 61 — the Blues Highway — the popular route for blues performers travelling north from the Mississippi delta to seek fame and fortune in the northern Chicago metropolis.

The junction between Highway 61 and Highway 49 in Clarksdale, Mississipi is a famous crossroads. This is the place where, according to legend, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for mastery over the guitar. Meeting at the crossroads at midnight, the Devil tuned Johnson’s guitar so that Johnson could play any song he wanted.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll drive north up Highway 61, stopping along the way to take in some sounds and interview characters from the local blues scene.

• What was it like to hear Jimmy ‘Snooks’ Allen in a tiny bar in 1965?
• Is there really a secret chord etched on the back of Elmore Jenson’s tombstone in Clarencetown?
• Is it true that Thomas ‘Blind Boy’ Austin drove Eddie Fitch for over a year before Eddie’s manager discovered Austin couldn’t see?
• I’m not a big drinker — can I still join the ’12 bar blues’ club?
• How do you eat a burger while pulling off a mean blues harp solo?

These are just some of the questions I’m hoping to find the answers to on this blues heritage tour.

How will I ride up Highway 61? In a chuffing fine car, that’s what: a red 1966 Ford Mustang.

Listen to interviews and music from the road trip each week on The Big Paws show from 6th March or subscribe to the podcast:

Related links

• Listen to Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour Episode 1
• Blues Highway Festivals 2010
• Photo credit: 1966 Ford Mustang by kenjonbro

You can hear the first episode right now (the full tracks from the blues legends are only available on The Big Paws, they’re restricted to clips on the podcast):