651 ARTSblog

The Longest Road I Know

June 4th, 2008

Highway 61 by Pat Thomas 

This recording of Highway 61 was made in a plantation graveyard with the Delta blues musician and part-time grave digger, Pat Thomas.   Pat is the son of Son Thomas, the famous bluesman first recorded by Bill Ferris in the 1960s.   The song Pat is singing is called Highway 61.  It’s a standard among musicians, and was made famous by Bob Dylan on his album Highway 61 Revisited.

Often known as the Blues Highway because of the path it cuts through the Delta, Highway 61 parallels the Mississppi River and the Illinois Central Railroad.  During the Great Migration, Highway 61 was the esape route for thousands of unemployed Mississippians in search of a new life in Chicago.

“Highway 61,” they sing “is the longest road I know.  Goes from Chicago all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.”

Now Highway 61 runs by Brooklyn’s door::  Terry “Harmonica” Bean is at Franks on 6/4, Robert Belfour is at Frank’s on 6/5, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes is at the Kumble Theater on 6/5, and Corey Harris is at the Kumble on 6/6.   More info and more shows are listed here: www.651arts.org.

Field recording by Wills Glasspiegel

Entry Filed under: Delta Heritage Project