Mississippi Blues Trail
Mississippi Blues Trail markers are not restricted to the State of Mississippi. There have been several markers placed at locations outside Mississippi. This is one of them.
This marker is located on the sidewalk out the Blues Foundation building at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee, near the National Civil Rights Museum.
The marker reads:
“THE BLUES FOUNDATION – The Blues Foundation, the world’s premier organization dedicated to honoring, preserving, and promoting the blues, was founded in Memphis in 1980. Mississippi-born performers and business professionals in the Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame outnumber those from any other state, and Mississippians have also won many annual Blues Music Awards, Keeping the Blues Alive Awards, and International Blues Challenge talent competitions sponsored by the Foundation.”
Here is a map showing the location of the Blues Foundation, 421 S. Main Street, Memphis, Tennessee:
Another Mississippi Blues Trail marker in Memphis is on S. 2nd Street, in front of the FedEx Forum, near Beale Street, commemorating the Blues Trail. Sites of interest near this Mississippi Blues Trail marker include Beale Street, the Memphis Rock and Soul Museum and the Gibson Factory.
Other sites of interest near the Blues Foundation include the National Civil Rights Museum.
Many buildings associated with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King are within a few blocks of the Blues Foundation. The building from which James Earl Ray fired the shot that killed Dr. King is right across the street; the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was killed, is one block away. These buildings are now part of the National Civil Rights Museum.
Here is a list of the artists included in the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame:
- Luther Allison
- Billy Boy Arnold
- Dave Bartholomew
- Chuck Berry
- Blind Blake
- Bobby “Blue” Bland
- Mike Bloomfield
- Lonnie Brooks
- Big Bill Broonzy
- Charles Brown
- Roy Brown
- Ruth Brown
- R.L. Burnside
- Paul Butterfield
- Leroy Carr
- Ray Charles
- Clifton Chenier
- Otis Clay
- Albert Collins
- James Cotton
- Robert Cray
- Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup
- Reverend Gary Davis
- Walter Davis
- Bo Diddley
- Willie Dixon
- Fats Domino
- Champion Jack Dupree
- David “Honeyboy” Edwards
- Sleepy John Estes
- Blind Boy Fuller
- Lowell Fulson
- Buddy Guy
- John Hammond
- W.C. Handy
- Slim Harpo
- Wynonie Harris
- Billie Holiday
- Earl Hooker
- John Lee Hooker
- Lightnin’ Hopkins
- Big Walter Horton
- Son House
- Alberta Hunter
- Mississippi John Hurt
- J.B. Hutto
- Elmore James
- Skip James
- Etta James
- Blind Lemon Jefferson
- Buddy & Ella Johnson
- Lonnie Johnson
- Robert Johnson
- Tommy Johnson
- Louis Jordan
- B.B. King
- Freddie King
- Albert King
- Denise Lasalle
- Leadbelly
- J.B. Lenoir
- Lazy Lester
- Furry Lewis
- Robert Jr. Lockwood
- Professor Longhair
- Big Maceo
- Taj Mahal
- Big Maybelle
- Percy Mayfield
- Jimmy McCracklin
- Mississippi Fred McDowell
- Brownie McGhee
- Big Jay McNeely
- Jay McShann
- Blind Willie McTell
- Amos Milburn
- Little Milton
- Roy Milton
- Memphis Minnie
- Mississippi Sheiks
- Little Brother Montgomery
- Matt “Guitar” Murphy
- Charlie Musselwhite
- Robert Nighthawk
- Johnny Otis
- Little Junior Parker
- Charley Patton
- Pinetop Perkins
- Ma Rainey
- Bonnie Raitt
- Dr. John (Mac Rebbenack)
- Jimmy Reed
- Jimmy Rodgers
- Jimmy Rogers
- Otis Rush
- Bobby Rush
- Magic Sam
- Son Seals
- Eddie Shaw
- Johnny Shines
- Memphis Slim
- Sunnyland Slim
- Guitar Slim
- Bessie Smith
- Otis Spann
- Frank Stokes
- Hubert Sumlin
- Roosevelt Sykes
- Hound Dog Taylor
- Eddie Taylor
- Koko Taylor
- Sonny Terry
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- Rufus Thomas
- Irma Thomas
- Big Mama Thornton
- Allen Toussaint
- Big Joe Turner
- Ike Turner
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Eddie Cleanhead Vinson
- Joe Louis Walker
- T-Bone Walker
- Sippie Wallace
- Little Walter
- Dinah Washington
- Muddy Waters
- Johnny “Guitar” Watson
- Junior Wells
- Peetie Wheatstraw
- Bukka White
- Big Joe Williams
- Jody Williams
- Robert Pete Williams
- Sonny Boy Williamson #1
- Sonny Boy Williamson #2
- Johnny Winter
- Jimmy Witherspoon
- Howlin’ Wolf
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