November 4, 2008 Memphis, TN (A Historic Day)

Went up to Bartlett High School early in the morning to vote, and the wait wasn't that bad since most people had early voted. In the evening, I watched the results, and was quite amazed and thrilled with Barack Obama's victory. I called a lot of my friends from all over the country to celebrate.

The Forrest City 45s

These are the 45s that turned up in the flea market in Forrest City:

THE SILVERTONE SINGERS OF WYNNE, ARKANSAS feat. LONNIE HARRIS JR. Where Jesus Is/Go Back to God DESIGNER 5541 (1970)
THE SHAW SINGERS He Never Left Me Alone/ Go Out in Jesus' Name MESSENGER 7006
THE WOLFE FAMILY OF MARIANNA, ARKANSAS I Felt A Change/In The End DESIGNER 7280 (1977)
THE SHAW SINGERS Don't Move The Mountain/I've Got Something D-VINE SPIRITUALS 4163
THE SHAW SINGERS Life Will Soon Be Over/ I Made A Promise To The Lord DESIGNER 8875 (1970)
THE ZION JUBILEE SINGERS Be What You Are/Feel the Fire Burning DESIGNER 6320 (1972)
JESSE "GUITAR" BOX with HARRY DALLAS BAND Heart Trouble/ Lying Girl ACQUARIAN 9002
BOBBY RUSH She Caught Me With My Pants Down/ Buttermilk Kid LAJAM 008 (1984)
J. T. WATKINS Baby, Let's Get Married/ Lady's Man BIG THIGH 001 (1987)
R. L. HAMILTON & THE HEAVEN BOUND SINGERS MARIANNA, ARK I Found A Joyful Song/ He Did A Miracle MULTITUDE 1237 (1970)
BROOKLYN ALLSTARS Let's Rap/ Swing Low Sweet Chariot JEWEL 171 (1965?)
BROOKLYN ALLSTARS Did You Stop to Pray This Morning/A Prayer for Today JEWEL 186
BROOKLYN ALLSTARS He Said He Would Move/ Family Prayer NASHBORO 952
THE GABLEAIRS Set My Soul on Fire/Something About the Lord SONGBIRD 1125
EMMA TUCKER Come On and Go/ Look and See NASHBORO 45-753
THE DELTA BIG FOUR Lord, Deliver Me/ Story of the Blind Man SONGBIRD 1110
ERNEST FRANKLIN AND THE VOICES OF MOUNT EAGLE Blessed Quietness/ Walking With The King CHECKER 5026
THE GOSPEL CLASSICS I've Been Born Again/ Don't Let Hate Tear It Down CREED 5204
SUPREME ANGELS Shame on You/Lord, Bring Me Down NASHBORO 1009 (1974)
BOB BOLER AND THE MELLTONES OF GARY, INDIANA One Day We'll Meet/ You Can't Hurry God STAFF 222
ERNEST FRANKLIN My Lord and I/ There's A Leak In This Old Building JEWEL 209 (1973)
MYSTICS Peace of Mind/ Help Me to Carry On STAFF 1001
SHELIA YARBROUGH AND THE T-Y SIX This is My Dream, My Prayer/ No Stains In My Book TRIANGLE SOUND 8770

November 1, 2008 Little Rock, AR

My friend E-Rokk was down from Kalamazoo, Michigan visiting his children in North Little Rock, Arkansas, so I decided to drive over there to meet him and take them to lunch. I headed west on I-40, listening to recordings of three George Antheil operas (Venus in Africa, Volpone and The Brothers) which I had downloaded from an online website. At Forrest City, I headed over to Highway 70 where there was a flea market, and while I didn't find any Abraham and His Sons or Ike Noble and the Uptights records, I did find a stash of Black gospel 45s, some of them from Wynne and Marianna, Arkansas, and a few on the Designer and Messenger labels out of Memphis. I decided to stay on Highway 70 through Brinkley (the flea markets there were rather disappointing), and when I got to North Little Rock, E-Rokk gave me directions to where he was staying and I went and met him there. Since his girlfirend had to work, we took the kids with us and headed to a pizza place I had found on my iPhone called ZaZa's Fresh Salads and Wood-Fired Pizzas on Kavanaugh Boulevard in Little Rock. The restaurant featured salads and pizzas cooked in a brick oven, as well as gelato, espresso and cappucino. We all enjoyed our pizzas, got some gelato for dessert, and then headed downtown to President Clinton Avenue to Andina Coffee Roasters where I bought some pounds of coffee to take home. The kids were intirgued by an African drummer who was playing a djembe in front of the River Market, and then they wanted to run into a playground along the riverfront, so we walked over there, and then across the river bridge over to North Little Rock and back. I had to get back to Memphis, so after it began to get dark, I dropped them back off at the apartment in North Little Rock and headed back toward Memphis. At West Memphis, I had seen a Huddle House and so I decided to eat dinner there, but, when I got there, I found that it was newly built and had not opened yet. So, now wanting breakfast, I settled for the Iron Skillet truckstop in West Memphis, and found that the breakfast there was really quite good.

October 23, 2008 Gainesville, Fl; Phenix City, AL; Memphis, TN

Upon checking out of the Holiday Inn in Gainesville, Florida, I ate breakfast in the Red Onion Grill there at the hotel (too expensive) and then headed out I-75 toward Memphis, stopping for coffee at Valdosta. I got some frozen yogurt from a TCBY near the mall in Albany, and then I drove on into Columbus and across to Phenix City, where I stopped for lunch at the Char-Broil Steakhouse, owned by the famous charcoal grill manufacturers across the river in Columbus. The rest of the trip was relatively non-eventful, except for my fruitless effort to find coffee in Tupelo. The coffee bar downtown on Main Street had closed (and was supposedly moving to Gloster Street), but Uptown Coffee on Gloster was also out of business, so I gave up and headed on into Memphis.

October 22, 2008 Gainesville, FL

After waking up, I checked out of the hotel, and ate breakfast at 43rd Street Deli and Breakfast, which was really good. I then spent the day going around to record stores, such as Hear Again on University Avenue, where I found a number of jazz CDs that I purchased. Then, wanting a latte, I headed downtown, but Michelle Obama was scheduled to speak at a theater, so downtown was absolute pandemonium, with crowds and lines of people waiting to get in to the event, and police everywhere, as there were rumors of threats. I walked past a number of sidewalk cafes, and managed to get to a coffee bar, where I purchased a latte, and then a few blocks away, I discovered a gelato bar, and I stopped there to enjoy a chocolate gelato. Finally, my hotel room was ready at the Holiday Inn across from the University of Florida campus, so I checked in, and headed up to the rooftop pool, but I found the water too cold, despite the warm, pretty weather. Heading to dinner at the Stonewood Tavern, I got a call from the Mississippi raper Skipp Coon regarding his new release, and then after dinner I headed back downtown to the Gainesville Music Summit, which got underway late, as most rap events usually do. Afterwards, I walked around downtown to see if I could find a jazz club. I didn't, although a neo-soul/funk band was playing at a club a block away. I thought about going inside, but decided against it, and I headed back to the hotel instead and went to bed.

October 21, 2008 Memphis, TN; Valdosta, GA; Gainesville, FL

The weather was a little chilly, but clear and sunny as I headed out Highway 78 on my way to C. Wakeley's 5th Gainesville Music Summit in Florida. When I arrived in Birmingham, I stopped just long enough to fill up with gasoline and pick up a quick lunch from Chick-Fil-A, and then I continued out Highway 280. At Auburn, I turned off the main road into town, and stopped at Toomer's Coffee Company for a latte and a chocolate chip cookie. Then I headed on into Columbus, across Fort Benning and around Albany. Highway 133 from Albany was a dark, single-lane highway through Moultrie, and it was nearly 9 PM when I arrived in Valdosta. I found a Loco's Bar and Grill and ate a steak dinner there, and my waitress recommended a coffee place just up the road called Elliano's. I noticed that in that area the old milltown of Remerton had been turned into a district of clubs, bars and restaurants, some of which were fairly crowded with students from Valdosta State University. I still had an hour-and-a-half drive to Gainesville, but the coffee helped me stay awake, and with some difficulty, I made my way to the Paramount Plaza Hotel and Suites. My room had been reserved for me, and I quickly checked in and went to bed.

October 19, 2008 Monroe, LA; Memphis, TN

I was supposed to meet up with Gravedigga for breakfast, but, as I had somewhat expected, he didn't seem to be awake when I called him before I headed up to the Brandy House for breakfast. Only after I had finished breakfast did he call, so I agreed to meet him up at O'Charley's near the mall. He and I sat at the bar to watch the Saints game, I ordered a dessert, and we talked about the music business. Afterwards, I headed out east on I-20 toward Jackson. I was surprised to find that Fusion Coffeehouse wasn't open, and I ended up going back to Cups in the Fondren neighborhood, where I purchased a couple of pounds of coffee and a latte. When I got back to Memphis, I ate dinner with Tune C before I drove on to the house.

October 18, 2008 Monroe, LA; Grambling, LA

Feeling that the Brandy House would take too long for breakfast, causing me to miss the Grambling Homecoming parade, I tried a new place instead in downtown Monroe called Lea's of Lecompte. There were only a few people in there, but the breakfast was good, and then, with the sun out but the weather chilly, I headed westward toward Grambling. At Ruston, I noticed that the road heading to Grambling past Rabb's Steakhouse was backed up all the way to Cooktown Road, so I drove down through the Louisiana Tech campus instead and onto Highway 80. To my amazement, I was able to park for free on the street leading to the stadium, and from there I walked across the campus where large crowds had already gathered to watch the parade, especially in front of the Favrot Student Union and on the quadrangle. There were even more people along Main Street in the Village, and a cacophony of sounds from the intersection of Main and Martin Luther King Avenue, where the Grambling State University band and a number of high school bands were warming up and getting ready for the parade. As the parade got underway, the weather began to get warmer. There were a number of high school bands, one that had come all the way from Detroit, Michigan, and a huge RV decorated with Barack Obama banners which drew cheers from the crowds along the route. I walked along the parade route, starting at the north end of Main, near the new Spivey's Fried Chicken, and ending up near where Martha Adams Hall had been at Central Avenue and RWE Jones Drive, near the gate to the stadium. There the Fair Park marching band from Shreveport began to battle the Madison High School band from Tallulah, and they soon drew a crowd, playing songs back and forth. I walked back to the student union area, where there was a Starbucks, and I bought a latte and relaxed there before walking back over to the stadium for the game. Around the stadium were all kinds of RVs and tailgaters, some with old-school DJs playing southern soul and blues hits, and with the tantalizing smell of barbecue drifting over the area. By the kickoff, the weather had finally warmed up enough that it wasn't uncomfortable outside, but Alabama State had not brought their marching band to Grambling, so there was no battle, and Grambling's band could only play sporadically because of new SWAC conference rules that restrict when bands can play. Grambling won the game, and afterwards, realizing the traffic gridlock that would follow for at least an hour, I decided to walk back over onto the campus. Ralph Waldo Emerson Drive had turned into a rolling street party, much like the seawall used to in Galveston during the Texas Beach Party in its heyday. Customized and candy-painted cars were everywhere, with booming systems and people hanging out on the sidewalks. The police would not let people leaving the game turn left to head back north through the crowds thronging the street, but they were u-turning in the street south of Tiger Village and then heading back up through the crowd. As I stood on the sidewalk, I heard somebody yell "J-DOGG! I see you, homie!" and it was DJ Bay Bay from Shreveport, who was riding with his homeboy in a blue-and-white custom Chevy. He yelled that he was in Dallas now, and then he had gone on down the street. The crowds seemed more like the big homecomings of the 90's, and I walked back onto the campus. Amazingly, Main Street, although it had its share of crowds, seemed far quieter than the busy boulevard to the west. Only up at the quadrangle was there a large crowd, and it proved to be the fraternities and sororities, standing and holding hands on their hills. As the Que-Dogs were gathered there singing songs, the boom of drums announced that the Grambling band was coming, and they soon marched in front of Long Jones Hall, heading across the quad and toward Dunbar Hall. Everyone soon lined up to see them, and though the band marched into the band room, the drumline, known as Chocolate Thunder, stayed out on the quad to entertain the crowd that had gathered. They played several funky cadences for the people, and then they too disappeared into the bandroom. Even after an hour, I had difficulty in maneuvering my way out of Grambling and on the way back toward Monroe. I had decided to eat at the Waterfront Grill, but traffic nearby was thick, because the University of Louisiana at Monroe was playing their homecoming game as well. After a filet mignon dinner, I drove back over to the Corner Coffeehouse for a chocolate-peanut-butter brownie and a latte, and then I stopped by the West Monroe Civic Center to meet Gravedigga, who was DJ-ing a high school dance. From there, I drove one last time to Grambling to see what was happening on the campus, but aside from a crowd of people at the new Plush Sports Bar, things had quited down considerably. Back in Monroe, I stopped by Club Envy on Catalpa to leave promo CDs with DJ Phat, and then I did the same at Club Dominos, where the DJ was visiting from Baton Rouge. Finally,thoroughly tired, I returned to the room and went to bed.