B.B. King has brought a juke joint in his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, a place where he plays once a year during his annual homecoming and where he met his second wife. Club Ebony opened in 1945 and B.B. was one of the many big names in blues and R&B who has played there over the years. Others have included Count Basie, Ray Charles, James Brown, and Ike Turner. The previous owner brought the place from B.B.'s mother-in-law in the mid-seventies. B.B. must have big plans for the joint because he is a man who doesn't think small. Besides continuing to tour at age 82, he operates namesake clubs on Beale Street in Memphis, Times Square in New York, Nashville, and Orlando.
Blues tourism is becoming a big part of the economic picture in the Mississippi Delta region. The town of Clarksdale, MS has been revitalized over the last decade with the influx of blues devotees from around the world opening music related business's and art galleries. Actor Morgan Freeman is the best known, opening his upscale juke joint "The Ground Zero" in 2001 ( if a juke joint is upscale, is it still a juke joint? ). Perhaps B.B. sees the same future for his hometown of Indianola, a place where he has returned to play many times over the years.
The Music Rambler in the coming weeks will be posting a music guide and travel information about Memphis and the Mississippi Delta.
Also see: Clarksdale Mississippi's Juke Joint Festival
B.B. King's Club website
The Ground Zero website
