The Reopening of the Riverside Hotel Clarksdale, Mississippi

The Reopening of the Riverside Hotel Clarksdale, Mississippi

Several historical buildings lean precariously alongside the endangered Sunflower River in Clarksdale, Miss., in the heart of the Mississippi Delta.

The main building was shifting and almost fell in the river. The walls were beginning to cave in after a tree fell on one building that was once a healing place for sick and injured souls and later a safe haven hotel for “negro travelers” in the south.

The Riverside Hotel, a multi-generational Black-owned piece of property, is being repaired and renovated. 

If these walls could talk.

There is a room-turned-shrine, where blues legend Bessie Smith died in 1937 in what was, at the time, an African American Hospital, Clarksdale Colored Hospital. In the basement was the morgue.

The hospital was eventually converted into a hotel that was listed in The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, a guide that listed hotels and restaurants for blacks in the Jim Crow South. 

Throughout the years many Black entertainers and Blues legends stayed at Riverside Hotel, including Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Ike Turner, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Sam Cooke.

Now, it’s once again becoming a museum and interpretive center spilling over with blues history. They will eventually offer lodging in the rooms, except for the sacred space where Bessie Smith passed away.  The rooms are being restored to the hotel days, complete with original furnishings.

You can sleep where many music legends slept.

 

In the 1980’s the morgue area basement was revamped into a hot spot and neighborhood disco, allowing guests to drink, dance and forget their troubles, if only for a while.

“They came down these stairs and boogied all night” says Justin Gates, whose family owns the hotel. 

And early in the 1990s, blues fan John Kennedy Jr. who had been named the sexiest man alive at the time, came to listen to blues and to hide out. “He spent hours listening to stories by my great grandmother,” says Gates of Z.L. Hill, who owned the hotel.

The hotel is just down the street from the Blues Crossroads, the spot in Clarksdale where legend claims Blues musician Robert Johnson “sold his soul to the devil” for his musical expertise.  Clarksdale, about 75 miles south of Memphis is rich in black and blues history and culture.

The hotel may have been saved just in time. In 2021, it was named to the list if the 11 Most Endangered Historical Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Sunflower River, down to a trickle, itself is listed as endangered.

“When you saw the light flick on you knew he wasn’t working up here anymore he was downstairs working on the club,” added another family member Darrius Gates.       

 Clarksdale prides itself on still having an authentic blues scene, with live music seven nights a week. https://www.clarksdale.com/

 The hotel, with over twenty rooms, has been added to the African American Civil Rights Network. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/african-american-civil-rights-network.htm

 It is also listed on the Mississippi Blues Trail. https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/blues-trail/mississippi-blues-trail-riverside-hotel/

By Karen Pulfer Focht 2026 ©

Dale and Ray At Hernando's Hideaway

Entertainers Dale Watson and Ray Benson, founding member and frontman of Asleep at the Wheel, perform together at the historic and independently owned music venue, Hernando’s Hideaway, in Memphis, Tennessee April 2, 2026.

Here are a few other photos I’ve taken of Ray Benson over the years, including a double exposure from my film days (early 80’s) and a photo from when he played at Lafayette’s here in Memphis. Another photo from when Benson was honored with the Master Award at the 2024 Ameripolitan Music Awards in Austin, Texas.

A special highlight and surprise was to find Memphian Wyly Bigger sitting in on keyboards.

For more than half a century, Ray Benson has been the unmistakable driving force behind Asleep at the Wheel, the Grammy-winning group that helped keep Western swing alive and thriving. Benson commented Thursday evening on how difficult it was to stay relevant during the disco era.

The band found its home after relocating to Austin in the early 1970s at the invitation of country icon Willie Nelson.

Standing 6-foot-6 in his size-16 cowboy boots, Benson, 75, has been the band’s centerpiece. While more than 80 musicians have cycled through Asleep at the Wheel’s ranks, he remains its sole continuous member. Asleep At The Wheel has over two dozen albums, more than 20 Billboard country chart hits, and nine Grammy Awards.

Even now, Benson shows no signs of slowing down. On April 2, 2026, he took the stage at Hernando's Hideaway in Memphis to a standing-room-only crowd, joining fellow Texas troubadour Dale Watson, owner of the club and part-time Memphian, for a night that blended classic swing with modern honky-tonk energy—a reminder that his legacy is still very much alive onstage.

For more about Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel go to https://www.asleepatthewheel.com/

For more about upcoming shows at Hernando’s Hideaway, go to https://hernandoshideawaymemphis.com/

Karen Pulfer Focht ©2026

Let's Honor B.B. King on his 100th Birthday

B.B. King would have been 100-years-old on September 16th, 2025.

I’ve said many times over the years what I love about Memphis is the music and music scene. Memphis music changed the world. And it wasn’t just Elvis.

When I came here for a job interview, as I came out of the Commercial Appeal building at 495 Union Ave. a short walk from historic Beale Street, I could hear the blues music wafting through the air. I was already a blues fan.

That was enough for me. I was sold that this was the place I wanted to be.

My instincts were good. I’ve had so many wonderful experiences covering the Memphis Music scene. Being a photojournalist in Memphis has been an amazing experience. I left the newspaper over ten years ago, but I still continue to cover and enjoy the music scene here.

One of my favorite subjects was the great blues entertainer B.B. King, who would have been 100 years old September 16th, 2025.

B.B. King was so personable, so warm and kind. I loved to watch him perform and work the audience. B.B.’s life was on the road; his people were everywhere. He knew people all over the world.

B.B. (born Riley B. King) grew up in the Mississippi Delta, finding his way alone as a young man with little family support. He eventually moved to Memphis where he found success and took on the name “Beale Street Blues Boy” after his DJ days. I’d recommend reading a fascinating biography about B.B. King, “King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B.B. King” written in recent years by one of my favorite authors, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Daniel deVise.  B.B.’s life is fascinating.

You can also learn more about B.B. King at his museum in Indianola, Mississippi, at https://bbkingmuseum.org/. I feel honored that a few of my photos are in his museum.

One of the things that stood out to me about B.B. was his gratitude for the life he was given. He was so thankful that he was allowed to follow his dreams and play music for a living.

As Kings 100th birthday crept up, I thought about an interview I had taped with B.B. on his bus around 2010.  I interviewed him for a project I was doing at the time, “What is the Blues and Who gets to do it?” Only a tiny portion of the audio interview was published.  So I decided this would be a nice time to share some of my B.B. King photo archive and that audio interview.


HERE IS THE LINK TO MY INTERVIEW WITH B.B. KING ON HIS BUS JUST OFF BEALE STREET IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE 2010.



Harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

One of the world’s great harmonica players, Charlie Musselwhite, (above) reflected on B.B. King when I was chatting with him from his Clarksdale, Mississippi home recently. Charilie remembers listening to B.B. on the radio WDIA. Both were born in Mississippi and both were bluesmen who lived in Memphis for a time. He said “ What stood out to me about B.B. King was as a human being, what a nice person he was, he was like and an example for everybody.  He always had time to talk with you; he was very compassionate and had a lot of heart.” Charlie toured a few times with B.B. and opened for him, he sat in on occasion with B.B. King and he loved to be on B.B.’s tour bus with him and said they talked about all kinds of things, especially women. “He loved the ladies.”

Three time Grammy award winner entertainer Bobby Rush in Memphis at the Overton Park Shell 2025.

Entertainer Bobby Rush, (above) another Mississippi Bluesman, said, “B.B. was the kindest person; he’d give you the shirt off his back. He’d talk to you until YOU are ready to go home, not him. I learned a lot of things from B.B. '“ He reflected on how they both enjoyed being with people and their fans. Bobby says”I shake every hand if I can.”

Bobby Rush was at B.B.’s funeral, marching down Beale Street in Memphis next to the hearse.

I covered B.B. King’s funeral for the Associated Press. His hearse drove down Beale Street and then on down highway 61 into Mississippi to lay his body to rest in Indianola.

B.B. King funeral Here is a link to a short clip of that day on Beale Street.

Karen Pulfer Focht ©2025 All Rights Reserved

Bobby Rush Plays Grand Ole Opry; My Library of Congress Award

“Professional photographer and documentarian Karen Pulfer Focht from Memphis, Tennessee, received an Owen Award to continue and expand her work documenting the legendary bluesman Bobby Rush.” The Library of Congress American Folklife Center
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2023/07/afc-fellowship-and-award-recipients-2023/?loclr=eaftb

So, with the support of the Library of Congress, I continue to document the rising star of 92-year-old, Grammy award-winning bluesman Bobby Rush as he makes his debut at the Grand Ole Opry. Thank you so much! Karen

Three-time Grammy Award-winning blues legend Bobby Rush,91, made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry on SaturdayAugust 2, 2025.

This year marks the Opry’s 100th Anniversary. He performed with guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd with whom he recently recorded.

Rush, who lives in Mississippi, is one of the last 20th-century bluesmen. But his taste in music is not exclusive. He said he has always loved country music, especially by contemporary Willie Nelson.

He said he was so honored to be invited to perform on the same stage that Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton and other greats have performed.

At one point in his life, it seemed unobtainable.

There was a time when Rush was hired to play for an all-white audience outside of Chicago. He and his band had to play behind a curtain. “They wanted to hear our music but didn’t want to see our faces.” That hurt him deeply inside.

They got paid with chitlins and cheeseburgers. Rush sold his to make the extra money.

For decades the popular entertainer reigned over the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a network of Black nightclubs that hosted Black entertainers and audiences. That legacy earned him the nickname King of the Chitlin’ Circuit.

He has been recording 72 years and has sold many of his more than 300 records out of his car trunk at shows and festivals.

“I never thought I’d play here, this is success to me,” he says, nibbling on some popcorn and sipping some lemonade backstage at the Opry.

In the time between the sound check and showtime, Rush goes into the dressing room he shares with Shepherd and Shepherds six children. Pictures of famous country artists adorn the walls. Quotes from the stars are written above and to the side of the many photographs.

A very relaxed Rush, dressed in his slick showbiz attire, grabs a quick power nap in a chair as the kids bang on the piano, run, and play. A few minutes before he and Shepherd are called onto the stage, Rush pops up and opens his eyes. He follows the stage director backstage, waiting in the wings to go out and perform.

He dances on stage, making jokes, playing his harmonica, and having a musical conversation with Shepherd on guitar. He gets the crowd singing with him, and he brings them to their feet. They give him a standing ovation; he soaks in the moment.

“Now I feel in my heart that I am successful because I played the Opry House.”

Bobby Rush, whose real name is Emmett Ellis Jr., says his life has been filled with much grace and mercy. “I have lived long enough to see the changes in people’s hearts and minds” and for that he is very grateful.

 BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT ©2025

For previous coverage:

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/tag/Bluesman+Bobby+Rush

For some Videos I have shot on Bobby:

https://youtu.be/nHPJOK143M4 (Southern Folklore Festival)

https://youtu.be/ppMIN4yeBGA (At the Levitt Shell in Memphis)

https://youtu.be/NGFGe5F3L9o (Bobby Rush plays at funeral for Pinetop Perkins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to81fyxzPm8 (At the Blues Foundation in Memphis)

Bobby Rush was at the Memphis funeral procession for B.B. King in 2015. He also performed in Handy Park that day. https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/2015/5/27/bb-king-funeral-procession-beale-street

Previous article I worked on :

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/bobbyrushchitlincircut

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/bobbyrushwinsgrammy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amish Sing-A-Long

Who doesn’t love a sing along????

While attending the Rocky Mountain Ukulele Festival in Durango this month, we (a few members of the Memphis Ukulele Flash Mob) had a late-night jam in our hotel lobby.

Much to our surprise, while we sang a gospel song led by Pete McCarty, one by one a few Amish guests were slowly drawn into the room. Pete, who is known for his jolly personality and rich deep voice, discovered a common bond, and touched by their presence, we sang one gospel song after another for over an hour. They listened to us sing, and with big smiles on their faces, they sang along too.

These Amish singing with us were from Shipshewana, Indiana, which is the third largest Amish and Mennonite community in the United States. They were visiting Durango on vacation. They took the train to Colorado.

The Amish are conservative Christians and they believe in a simple lifestyle, dress modestly, and live close to the land and without technology. They are known for building fine furniture sold all over the country.

After we sang together, they asked if they could sing us a song. They began chanting The Praise Song, VERY slowly in high German. They sang one verse, which took over five minutes. You can hear it here in this video. It's about 1:48 minutes in.

As little as we had in common, for a few minutes that night, we were all just the people of God.

The Stax Documentary

A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART FOR STAX

STAX ARTISTS THROUGH THE YEARS

Photo gallery includes: Rufus Thomas, The Memphis Horns, Isaac Hayes, Justin Timberlake, Barack and Michelle Obama, David Porter, The Memphis Horns, Booker T. and the MG’s, Sam Moore, Marva Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, Al Bell, Albert King, Steve Cropper, Jerry Lee Lewis with Ben Cauley, Doobie Brothers Michael McDonald with Carla Thomas, Kirk Whalum and the Stax Kids and Graziano Uliani.

SOULSVILLE: The neighborhood around Stax, and home to many musical greats!

It’s no secret that what made me fall in love with Memphis and made me want to stay in Memphis for so many years was the music. The people, yes, the warm climate, yes, the fantastic professional opportunities, yes, the central location, yes and the low cost of living, yes. But the music-- absolutely yes!

I‘ve always loved jazz and the blues. My father entertained me with silly songs any child would love, like Slim Gaillard- Potato Chips and “Flat Foot Floogie.” He went to an elite school in the northeast and had to listen to this “race” music secretly, as it was frowned upon.

Memphis is home to The Blues Foundation because of the rich blues musical history and heritage. Memphis and the Mississippi Delta are like Mecca for blues fans and blues pilgrims.

As long as I’ve lived here, I have noticed that Europeans were very knowledgeable about Memphis music, much more so that many Americans. Americans came to Memphis to see Graceland.  But it’s always been the Europeans who were savvy on the blues, R&B, and the soul music that has its roots in Memphis. The Stax Documentary explains this.

There is the Poretta Soul Festival, in Rufus Thomas Park the third week of July, every year, in Porretta Terme, province of Bologna. Graziano Uliani, frequently comes to Memphis seeking out new local talent for his festival.

I have a vivid memory of Rufus Thomas telling me how excited he was that they were naming a park after him.

It’s the music created here in this region that draws people from all over the world, to Memphis.  

In the last decade, Memphis has risen to the top of places to visit by influential travel magazines like National Geographic and Condé Nast . “Memphis is one of two destinations from the U.S. highlighted in Condé Nast Traveler's “23 Best Places to Go in 2023,” which covers 22 countries and six continents,” a Commercial Appeal story reported.

I got to know Stax artist Rufus Thomas when I first moved here from Chicago. Rufus captivated me right away and quickly became of my favorite entertainers. He was SO MUCH FUN! He was an amazing entertainer with roots in vaudeville. He could still get a crowd going with Funky Chicken and Walking the Dog, into his 80’s. I have many fun memories of seeing him perform on Beale Street. He used to say, “If you could be black for one Saturday night on Beale Street, never would you want to be white again.”

His daughter Carla, who still lives in Memphis, was also a successful Stax artist. You can still find Carla out buying flowers, or as a guest or singer at one of the many Memphis music events held over the years. Carla is Stax royalty. She had the good fortune to record with Otis Redding before he was killed in a plane crash in 1967.

Redding’s music is so soulful, it just pierces right into your heart.

As with many great artists, he died way too young at age 26.  Stax music was experiencing some real success when Redding and many band members died in a plane crash.

As a photojournalist in Memphis, over the years I covered the only survivor of that plane crash, Ben Cauley.  Other influential Stax artists like Booker T. and the MG’s, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Marva Staples, David Porter, Steve Cropper and Sam Moore have all been in my camera’s viewfinder.

The documentary goes into the run of bad luck that followed Redding’s death, the assassination of MLK in Memphis and the signing of a bad contract by Stax owner Jim Stewart, who in a very Memphis way, trusted the people he was working with, and in the end, the trials of Stax record executive Al Bell.

By the time I had come to Memphis, Stax had closed. But there was an appreciation for the Stax contribution to Memphis music legacy.

The documentary helped me appreciate more deeply the people, their experience and the music that is so deeply woven into the fabric and culture of Memphis.

I covered the opening of the Stax Museum and the music programs they had for the kids of Memphis. These programs are still teaching our city’s youth about the magical musical legacy here while cultivating the next musical generation. I went to New York City to cover the Stax Kids when they played at Lincoln Center and I also was on assignment when Memphis Music, including several Stax artists, Justin Timberlake and harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite were honored at the White House by Michelle and President Obama.

Wayne Jackson , and his wife Amy, were good friends of ours. He was one of the Memphis Horns.  Jackson and partner Andrew Love were on hundreds of Top Ten and Number One hits, gold and platinum records. They were considered the Rolls Royce of horn sections. Jackson fully appreciated the experience and told about it in this short video I did before he passed away. He says “Memphis was just on fire! And Andrew and I were walking right down the middle of that street. We played on hit records every day”

Memphis is just such a musical treasure box that never ceases to amaze and entertain me. Living here you run into these folks here and there. Most of them have always been very accessible.

“Indeed, many musical luminaries either hailed from or resided in the Soulsville neighborhood,” writes Alex Greene in Memphis Magazine.

Even though I felt like I knew the Stax story and many of the players and much of the music, the Stax documentary opened my eyes with more intimate details, historical glimpses, and great storytelling that helped me appreciate what the artists and producers went through, good and bad to create and capture the “Memphis sound.”





By Karen Pulfer Focht ©2024

Memphis Photojournalist




The Memphis Horns- “We laughed our way around the world”

Kirk Whalum- Delivering Music Soul to Soul-


Wayne Jackson - https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/waynejackson-memphishorns

For a really in-depth read, Rob Bowman, author of Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records is serving as a consultant on the series. Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records: Bowman, Rob

Amazon.com