Blues in Black & White

"I see a red door

And I want it painted black.

No colors anymore

I want them to turn black."

(Jagger/Richards)

Sometimes less is more.

I recently read an article that described the appeal of black and white photography in terms of "authentic experience." In my experience, there is nothing more authentic than blues.

Luther Trammel and Cedric Ridgeway - Bock's Juke Joint | Amherst, Ohio

Cedric Burnside - North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic | Waterford, Mississippi. Ced's album with Trenton Ayers, Descendants of Hill Country, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Blues Album in 2015. His album Benton County Relic was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2018. He has won the Blues Music Award (formerly known as The Handy Award) for Best Instrumentalist - Drums five times.

L.C. Ulmer (1928 - 2016) - Bentonia Blues Festival | Bentonia, Mississippi

R.L. Boyce - Goat Fest III | Juke Joint Chapel, Clarksdale, Mississippi. R.L.'s Roll and Tumble was nominated for a Grammy in 2017 for Best Traditional Blues Album and a Blues Music Award for Traditional Blues Artist - Male.

Robert "Bilbo" Walker (1937 - 2017) - Juke Joint Festival | Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Garry Burnside - Rooster's Blues House | Oxford, Mississippi.

Leo "Bud" Welch (1932 - 2017) - Kimbrough Cotton Patch Blues Festival | The Hut, Holly Springs, Mississippi.

Robert "Wolfman" Belfour (1940 - 2015) - North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic | Waterford, Mississippi.

Dr. David Evans of the Last Jug Band - All Our Friends Hill Country Celebration | Como, Mississippi. Dr. Dave has won two Grammys for Best Liner Notes (2019 - Voices of Mississippi: Various Artists, 2003 - Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton).

William "Sonny Mack" Norris - King's Palace Cafe patio | Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee

Jon Popper - North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic | Waterford, Mississippi

Mark "Muleman" Massey - Coldwater Blues Bash | Coldwater, Mississippi

Memphis Gold (Chester Chandler) - Kimbrough Cotton Patch Blues Festival | The Hut, Holly Springs, Mississippi

Richard "Rip Lee" Pryor - Juke Joint Festival | Clarksdale, Mississippi

Little Joe Ayers - Kimbrough Cotton Patch Blues Festival | The Hut, Holly Springs, Mississippi

"Sunshine" Sonny Payne (1925 - 2018) - Host of KFFA's King Biscuit Time radio show in Helena, Arkansas, for over 60 years. Sonny was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2010.

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As a bonus for reading all the way to the end, here's a photo taken by Mrs. L. in the mid-1980s of Memphis Slim (1915 - 1988) and me during his birthday celebration at the Peabody Skyway in Memphis:

Thanks for stopping by.

- Steve

all photos, except Memphis Slim, are © Steve W. Likens