Clarksdale, Mississippi: Abandoned Places and Blues Joints

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  • Опубліковано 12 чер 2024
  • In this video, we are visiting and making photographs of abandoned buildings and old juke joints in Clarksdale, Mississippi, birthplace of blues music.
    Video: Clarksdale High School and Bobo Cemetery: • Abandoned Clarksdale H...
    Video: Abandoned Storefront • Abandoned Old Storefro...
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 72

  • @evelynwright9805
    @evelynwright9805 8 місяців тому +2

    Town just sitting waiting to be restored reborned. The beauty of it all is amazing. The history it hold and shows … WOW. Thank you Keith.

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  7 місяців тому +2

      I totally agree! Thanks for watching

    • @sandyfields678
      @sandyfields678 7 місяців тому

      SAW on tv recently,Morgan freeman ,,actor was there owns an old storen ,i,,think. It was dateline,or 2020..has it 4 any one to hang out and do blues,,etc,,so he may. B from there., and may help it get on map..no jobs..in s w al. Here, black belt area is deserted as no jobs..,so young ones hav to move .. nice country..good place for peace and quiet....

  • @SinaLaJuanaLewis
    @SinaLaJuanaLewis 3 місяці тому

    This town should be a national treasure. Imagine the possibility 😢

  • @happysnapper3676
    @happysnapper3676 2 роки тому +2

    The land of the delta blues. It has a haunting beauty about it.

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому

      "Haunting" is the right word. Would be great to see what you would capture on film in these places. Thanks for watching.

  • @philfischer4115
    @philfischer4115 Рік тому

    I am grateful for this video

  • @kngmidas8332
    @kngmidas8332 Рік тому

    I was born and raised in Clarksdale until I was 12, these bring back a lot of memories. Thank you

  • @deellaboe437
    @deellaboe437 Рік тому +2

    I visited Clarksdale as a child. I'm trying to trace my roots through memory. My grandma lived near the Piggly Wiggly. Most of these buildings I remember quite well

    • @mikejohn0088
      @mikejohn0088 Рік тому

      Piggly Wiggly -- was that a whore house?

    • @sandyfields678
      @sandyfields678 7 місяців тому

      It's waiting quietly for u to come back..Morgan freeman has an old store for music now. Think he's from there,,I love ghost towns out west, we need to help Sav it,,.

    • @shirleymorris6288
      @shirleymorris6288 6 місяців тому

      I also lived just around the corner from piggly wiggly when it was first opened on 4th street before moving to highway 61.

  • @terryolsen4244
    @terryolsen4244 2 роки тому +2

    Your videos are always excellent and I enjoy watching them. Even though I have lived 46 years in Arkansas, I have never explored or even traveled in what I call the "deep south" - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Through your videos, your photography and your historical narratives I have learned a great deal and an appreciation for this part of the country. Thank you so much!

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому

      Thanks Terry! I appreciate your steady support. I'd like to talk to you privately soon about Arkansas if you have time. I'll message you on Patreon

    • @terryolsen4244
      @terryolsen4244 2 роки тому

      @@Keithdotson Sounds good. I'll be happy to help you any way I can.

  • @tiowannalogan7148
    @tiowannalogan7148 2 місяці тому

    Big Jack Johnson was my uncle may he rest his soul. His brother Super chicken, Uncle Geno Tucker all played the blues. My uncle big jack perfomed all over the world band name Big Jack Johnson & The Oillers because unc use to work for the oil company years back before he got famous in blues. He has alot of paintings & murals around town in memory of him. U can vist his grave at maclarren cemetery on hwy 61. Zz top and alot of famous people was at my uncle's funeral at Coahoma Community College. We have a apartment complex named after him on 61 as well. He was friend w morgan freeman and alot of people. My aunt and some of his children and grandchildren are still back home. I miss the times uc use to play on the porch and we dance to the tune of tge guitar. I said one day unc how u do what u do w the guitar my unc said you have a special relationship with the instrument u find thats ment for you and the guitar will talk when u pluck the strings. You and the guitar connect and it plays how you feel and the way u want your soul to speak to the music and reaching the people soul. Thats how u play the blues. Soul expression. You want to do a story on my uncle feel free to contact me and we can get something cooking.

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 місяці тому +1

      I love the idea of doing a story about him with all the memories and details you still have.

  • @1stites
    @1stites Рік тому +1

    Love these videos! We’re taking a road trip out NC this. September. Plan is to got through Tuscaloosa to Natchez, up the Blues Highway to Leland and Clarksdale, then head back east through Oxford and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Looking forward to some glorious photography, and these images have me really hyped. Thanks!!

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  Рік тому

      What an incredible road trip! You are in for some real treats!

  • @georgecarpenter4126
    @georgecarpenter4126 2 роки тому

    "A direct connection to the past, even if it's in ruins". That says it all ! By the way, that last image of the old warehouse with the jet flying over...that's a golden shot. As always...stay safe.

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому +1

      Thanks George -- I'm partial to that old warehouse shot too! I was hoping the airplane would read well enough on video. I appreciate the support.

  • @ImpalamansGarage
    @ImpalamansGarage 2 роки тому

    It was a wonderful school. Heart breaking to see it now or whenever I go back there.

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому

      I hope it can be saved but it may already be too late

  • @ImpalamansGarage
    @ImpalamansGarage 2 роки тому +1

    10:15: My mother worked there for years.

  • @mikepowell7938
    @mikepowell7938 2 роки тому +1

    Born & Raised here the 🧱 Brick Yard BBY

    • @gregg.380
      @gregg.380 2 роки тому

      me 2 lived on Garfield st.

  • @RickJsurge
    @RickJsurge 2 роки тому +1

    Graduated from CHS in 1993 in this building. Senior tradition was to throw freshmen into the graveyard. Also the marking in the concrete has a pitchfork symbol in it that is the tag of a gang. Many came from Chicago to Memphis to Clarksdale. There used to be many factories in that area that provided work but they shut down in the 2000's. The town has just gone downhill from there. Blues tourism has been its only saving Grace.

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому +1

      Thanks for the information! I hope the town manages to turn it around.

    • @RickJsurge
      @RickJsurge 2 роки тому

      Me too but not many hold out hope. When we left in the late 90's the crime was bad there. Your video shows building on 4th street. My dad and family lived in that area growing up but by the time I was old enough to drive, you couldn't even drive down those streets for fear of been shot at. I have friends who live there that post videos of them laying in the floor of their homes because people just drive down streets shooting into homes. It breaks my heart. Thank you for the video. Even though it's run down, it brings back good memories of growing up. God bless.

  • @shirleymorris6288
    @shirleymorris6288 Рік тому

    Saw my first movie “Blacula” at the New Roxy.

  • @shirleymorris6288
    @shirleymorris6288 Рік тому

    I lived just down the street from smitty’s

  • @shirleymorris6288
    @shirleymorris6288 Рік тому

    Graduated from Coahoma Agricultural”Aggie” High School

  • @tiowannalogan7148
    @tiowannalogan7148 2 місяці тому

    I am also a photographer so we can also collaborate for another projects as well. Juke joint festival coming up for 2024. Big Jack Johnson & The Oillers Legacy Documentary or something

  • @i-35vagabond56
    @i-35vagabond56 2 роки тому

    I bet there's lots of ghost stories around Clarksdale and the Delta in general. I love the black and white photos. They accent the bleakness in a way color does not.

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому

      Thanks very much! And I'll bet you're right Delta ghost stories! Would make a great series!

  • @DecayWithUs
    @DecayWithUs 2 роки тому

    Wow! So much abandoned! We could spend a month there 🤣 great video 👍

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому +1

      Barely scratching the surface! Thanks for the support!

  • @DavidBridwellMusic
    @DavidBridwellMusic 2 роки тому

    Great photos and footage, thanks for posting!

  • @mechcavandy986
    @mechcavandy986 5 місяців тому

    I was in the men’s bathroom at Smitty’s one night, taking a leak. I was peeing in a metal trough kinda thing, wearing sandals. I felt my feet getting wet. The “urinal” had no drain pipe. Everything went right down to the floor and onto your feet! 🙀🙀🙀

  • @RickJsurge
    @RickJsurge 2 роки тому

    Across the street from the school was another 3 story building that was part of the high school. It also housed the JR High band room . That band room was built over the top of a defunct pool. You could go into a closet and lift a trap door that went down in to the pool. There was also a large auditorium in that building with a balcony. The building with the smokestack was the maintenance building. The second floor housed the Senior High Band room.

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому

      I appreciate the new information

    • @mikepowell7938
      @mikepowell7938 2 роки тому

      you talking about Oakhurst 👌🏾

    • @RickJsurge
      @RickJsurge 2 роки тому

      @@mikepowell7938 For sure!

  • @kanyegang2810
    @kanyegang2810 2 роки тому

    The Greyhound is my family station the Howard's, and the Amtrak

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому

      That Greyhound station is amazing

  • @shvonlambert1317
    @shvonlambert1317 2 роки тому +1

    My family birth place

  • @shirleymorris6288
    @shirleymorris6288 Рік тому

    Big jack johnson first cousins with my father. I worked in same hospital as his wife Annette. Spent many days at his home

  • @donbaileynyc
    @donbaileynyc 2 роки тому

    Well done, Keith.... but so very depressing. I felt nauseous watching. I finished h.s. in 1968... hard to fathom such decline.

  • @msdeltalady
    @msdeltalady 2 роки тому +1

    Hi Keith. Was wondering what time of day did you shoot this & what day of the week.

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  2 роки тому +1

      Hi Debbie -- It was shot early in the morning on a Saturday. I can't say specifically what time, but the well before noon.

    • @msdeltalady
      @msdeltalady 2 роки тому

      @@Keithdotson TY

  • @georgesgoris14
    @georgesgoris14 Рік тому

    Bin there done that

  • @davidhoward8951
    @davidhoward8951 2 роки тому

    I went to school there it sure was a whole lot better then than it is now If only if the walls could talk ....I guess things just have to go the way to go looks like somebody would try to do something with the place and clean it up make something out of it but if you look at Clarksdale they made nothing out of it but the Blues they need some people to come in there and generate some new businesses if they want that town to be popular for the blues do something else for it fire escape was not stairs but , a tunnel sliding sliding escape out the other side is across the street from the Bobo building that you're looking at with a graveyard is Bobo High School that's what the 1st name was for the school brother graduated there also very said to see like this, We had some good times there

  • @johnatkins3017
    @johnatkins3017 Рік тому

    Clarksdale also excelled in what is erronrously called "classical" music.
    I was raised in Mississippi.

  • @AlaijhaHale
    @AlaijhaHale 5 місяців тому

    Bro i live in clarksdale yall do not wanna live here 😢

  • @mikejohn0088
    @mikejohn0088 Рік тому

    Welcome to the CROSS ROADS where you sell your soul for momentary fame and shame for an eternity of pain in the flame.

  • @gangstagummybear3432
    @gangstagummybear3432 Рік тому

    "So called" implies that you doubt the legitimacy of the claim, where else would the birthplace of blues be then?

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  Рік тому

      No not all all. You misinterpreted my meaning

  • @jodielangford.6401
    @jodielangford.6401 11 місяців тому

    Clarksdale and no crossroads come on now

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  11 місяців тому

      Too commercial for my photography!

  • @TheBluesmanBlue
    @TheBluesmanBlue 8 місяців тому

    I want to thank you personally for your hard work dedication energy and time for putting this video together and given the a little bit history of clarksdale Ms 🫱🏾‍🫲🏻

    • @Keithdotson
      @Keithdotson  8 місяців тому +1

      Thanks for the nice message! I love that part of the world and I hope it comes through

    • @TheBluesmanBlue
      @TheBluesmanBlue 8 місяців тому

      @@Keithdotson if them billionaires, up north find it in their hearts clarksdale, Mississippi to make their way there from what you have shown it will make a good tourist area the only one that’s not afraid to come to Clarksdale and put his money there is Hollywood star Mr Morgan Freeman I love what you doing.