Illinois Entertainer December 2013 | Page 18

By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates THE BLUES TRAIL O www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com T H U R S D AY D E C 5 Ron & Naomi's 4th Annual Christmas Spectacular n the southern edge of Grant Park, overlooking empty train yards and trampled grass filled with dog walkers and soccer players, a piece of Chicago blues history stands, largely unnoticed. It's hard to believe how few blues fans know where the Chicago marker on the Mississippi blues trail stand, so I took off to find it myself. It's easy to overlook. Located directly across from the attention-grabbing "Agora" sculptures of headless iron tor- F R I & S AT D E C 6 & 7 Chicago as one of only a handful of markers out of state and one of only two located in the North. Yet, few have come to visit the site since the marker's unveiling five years ago. Bluesmen Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater and Eddie C. Campbell shared their experiences arriving in Chicago for the first time on the Illinois Central (IC) railroad from Mississippi during the 2009 dedication. Their speeches brought real life experiences, emotions Blues Trail marker: Grant Park Fri: Electric Show; Sat: Acoustic Show Reckless Kelly with Humming House T U E S D AY, D E C 1 0 Voice Box with Cathy Richardson W E D N E S D AY, D E C 1 1 FitzGerald's 33rd Anniversary shows John De e Graham Jon Langford T H U R S D AY, D E C 1 2 FitzGerald's 33rd Anniversary shows Bill Kirchen and The World Famous Pontani Sisters' Burlesque-a-pades F R I D AY, D E C 1 3 FitzGerald's 33rd Anniversary shows Tab Benoit plus Sol Driven Train S AT U R D AY, D E C 1 4 FitzGerald's 33rd Anniversary shows Brave Combo Annual Holiday Extravaganza! F R I D AY, D E C 2 0 Beatle Brothers S AT U R D AY, D E C 2 1 The Redmonds and The Rev. Bob Band plus Romeo Brothers S AT U R D AY, D E C 2 8 Robbie Fulks Raps Up 2013 T U E S D AY, D E C 3 1 New Year's Eve with B ecca Kauffman Orchestra Coming Jan 3 & 4 : Marcia Ball Band 18 illinoisentertainer.com december 2013 sos, the unassuming sign that announces the site as a Mississippi Blues Trail marker looks like a simple park placard or street notice. But it's oh so much more. The marker rests across the street from where the Illinois Central Railroad would stop, dropping off hundreds of African Americans who left the South for the North during the "Great Migration,"spanning 1915-1970. And what has that got to do with the Chicago blues? Everything. This was the spot where thousands of Mississippians arrived, including Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and Elmore James, bringing with them the Delta blues that they would transform into the Chicago blues. It's the spot where their dreams of the storied North were first brought to reality by touching down in the Chicago IC train station. There are two large stones from the Illinois Central station that remain near the Mississippi Blues Trail marker. Crumbling, but with the elaborate script that testifies to its one time importance, the stones echo the strong resolve those new migrants would need to demonstrate in order to survive in the big city. Lean against one of the stones and listen to the rushing traffic and hustling people. Imagine the loneliness, fea r and isolation that those early migrants must have felt and you have the beginnings of what helped create the Chicago blues. The blues has traveled a long way from the Mississippi Delta, literally and figuratively. The world honors the genre as the ultimate American folk music that launched nearly all popular American genres but we are still working on bestowing it with the proper respect and acknowledgement at home. The Chicago blues is such an integral part of the genre that the Mississippi Blues Trail includes and longings that they would eventually develop into their legendary careers performing Chicago blues. The Mississippi Blues Marker celebrates the musicians, record label owners, DJs and club owners who helped create the Chicago blues. I hope that we continue to celebrate it and always remember the essential history of the blues. Please visit the Mississippi Blues Trail Chicago marker if you haven't already. You can grab maps and apps for the whole trail at the blues trail website: http://bluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/chicago. Here's the inspiring text for the Chicago blues marker: "The "Great Migration" from the South to "the Promised Land" of Chicago brought more African Americans here from Mississippi than any other state, especially during and after World War II. With the migrants came the Delta blues that was the foundation of the classic postwar Chicago blues style. Muddy Waters, who became the king of Chicago blues, was among the thousands of Mississippians who arrived on Illinois Central trains at Central Station, which stood across the street from this site from 1893 to 1974. Robert Johnson never moved to the place he praised in his song "Sweet Home Chicago," but his sentiments were shared by thousands of fellow Mississippi natives who came here in search of a better life. In "Chicago Bound," bluesman Jimmy Rogers called the city "the greatest place around," and in "Chicago Blues," Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup deemed it "the greatest place on earth." Many migrants traveled north on the Illinois Central via its extensive lines that spread across the Deep South, including eight hundred miles of IC-owned Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad track that crisscrossed the Continued on page 26