Highway 61

Derek Bright is a British blues musician, researcher and author. His first book 'The Pilgrims' Way: Fact & Fiction of an Ancient Trackway' re-evaluated use of the route evidenced by roadside crime, prohibitive legislation, and economic inequality. He has appeared on several TV programmes including Simon Reeve's Pilgrimage; Tony Robinson's Britain's Ancient Tracks, and the BBC's Countryfile. Then inspired to research the history of the blues linked to the struggle for emancipation, he followed his own blues pilgrimage to Chicago and the Deep South of the USA. Derek took three road trips, each time confronting his own expectations through meeting musicians, writers, historians, farmers and bartenders along the route from Chicago to New Orleans who shared their knowledge, experience and understanding of the land and culture from where the Blues originated.

Acknowledgements. Foreword by Johnny Green. Introduction. Chapter 1 Down on the Killing Floor: Chicago. Chapter 2 Lord, Sixty-One Highway: Joliet to Rock Island. Chapter 3 Down to St Louis: St Louis. Chapter 4 Big Train Goes to Memphis: Memphis. Chapter 5 Casinos and Cotton: Walls to Robinsonville. Chapter 6 Pass the Biscuits - It's King Biscuit Time: Helena. Chapter 7 Juke Joints, Shacks and BBQ: Clarksdale. Chapter 8 The Ghosts of Emmett Till: Tutwiler to Greenville. Chapter 9 Beyond Catfish Row: Vicksburg to Natchez. Chapter 10 Carry Me Down on Rampart Street: New Orleans. Afterword. Bibliography. Index.