Mojo Triangle
Encyclopedia
The Mojo Triangle, a geographical and cultural area located within a triangular connection between New Orleans, Nashville
and Memphis
, is the birthplace of country
, blues
, jazz
, and rock 'n' roll. The Mojo Triangle has presented the world with an astonishing array of creative artists, not just in music
, but also in literature
and films.
A fiddle
tune named “Natchez Under the Hill,” which originated in the joints along the docks in Natchez
, was one of the first original songs ever published in America, according to Dickerson. Published in 1834, it was re-titled “Old Zip Coon,” only to later morph into “Turkey in the Straw
.” With that song began a tradition that inspired the creation of a musical dynasty.
Natchez remained a musical cauldron throughout the 1800s, blending traditional folk music from Europe with the exotic rhythms and harmonies of the Choctaw and Chickasaw, and the unique phrasing vocalized by slaves from Africa. But it was not until the late 1920s, when Jimmie Rodgers began recording what would subsequently be recognized as America’s first country music that the first blend of European/Native American/African music took hold.
Ten years later, Robert Johnson took the music recorded by Rodgers and moved it a step further by recording what we today call blues music. Both Rodgers and Johnson owe an enormous debt to the Choctaw. “Both use 6/4, 5/4, and 4/4 time signatures, and both use short 6/4 introductions that quickly change to 5/4 or 4/4 after one or two bars. For example Johnson’s ‘Little Queen of Spades’ has a one bar introduction in 6/4 that changes to 4/4, an identical time signature to the Choctaw’s ‘Wedding Dance,’ which also goes 6/4 to 4/4.”
Musicians in New Orleans incorporated the music of Natchez and added Caribbean influences to produce jazz, a free-flowing instrumental interpretation of the same influences that birthed country and jazz.
In the mid-1950s, Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black took the work of Rodgers and Johnson and gave shape to rock ‘n’ roll, creating an unbroken circle of creativity that continues to this day.
Deborah Allen
, Lisa Angelle, Mose Allison
, Lil Hardin Armstrong
(1898–1971), Louis Armstrong
(1898–1971), Estelle Axton (1918–2004), Booker T & the MGs (Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson), Lance Bass
, Jimmy Buffett
, Ace Cannon, Joe Frank Carollo, Johnny Cash
(1932–2003), Sam Chatmon, Alex Chilton (1950–2010), Jack "Cowboy" Clement, Sam Cooke (1931–1964),Rita Coolidge, Harry Connick, Jr.
, Tommy Couch, Miley Cyrus
, Del Rays (Jimmy Johnson, Norbert Putnam, Jimmy Ray Hunter and Roger Hawkins), Rick Dees, Jim Dickinson (1941–2009), Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon (1915–1992), Fats Domino
, 827 Thomas Street Band (Bobby Emmons, Reggie Young, Bobby Wood, Mike Leech, and Gene Chrisman), and Sleepy John Estes.
Fred Ford, John Fry, Dr. John
, Aretha Franklin
, Rambling Steve Gardner, Gants (Sid Herring, Don Wood, Vince Montgomery, and Johnny Freeman), Rick Hall, David Hood, Bobbie Gentry
, Gentrys, Buddy Guy, W. C. Handy, Jessie Mae Hemphill
, Faith Hill
, Al Hirt
, John Lee Hooker
(1917–2001), Jimi Jamison
, Jimmy Johnson, Robert Johnson, Albert King
, B.B. King, Jimmie Lunceford (1902–1947), Mac McAnally, Bobby Manuel, Mar-Keys, Branford Marsalis
, Wynton Marsalis
, Memphis Minnie, Mississippi Sheiks (Armenter Chatmon, Sam Chatmon, Lonnie Chatmon, and Walter Vinson), Willie Mitchell (1928–2010), Chips Moman
, Brandy Norwood.
Dolly Parton
, Charlie Patten (??-1934), Pinetop Perkins (1913–2011), Sam Phillips
, Elvis Presley
, Charley Pride
, Jimmy Reed, Road Runners (Terry Dunn, Jimmie Dunn, Tom Smith, Curt Ayers, James L. Dickerson), LeAnn Rimes
, Jimmie Rodgers
, Percy Sledge
, Jim Stewart, Britney Spears
, Pop Staples (1914–2000),Ole Miss Strokers (Jay Sheffield, Bunker Ex Hill, Bill Lemmon, Mike Daniel, James L. Dickerson), Marty Stuart
, Fingers Taylor, Carla Thomas, Irma Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Justin Timberlake
, Allen Toussaint, Ike Turner
(1931–2007), Muddy Waters
, Jim Weatherly, Tim Whitsett
and The Imperials, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf
, and Tammy Wynette
.
FILM
Dana Andrews
(1909–1992), Shannen Doherty
, John Dye, Morgan Freeman
, James Earl Jones
, Diane Ladd
, Dorothy Lamour, John Larroquette, Gerald McRaney, Parker Posey
, Annie Potts
, Cybill Shepherd
, Stella Stevens, Fred Thompson, Ray Walston (1914–2001), Sela Ward
, Carl Weathers, Oprah Winfrey
, and Reese Witherspoon
.
LITERATURE
Stephen Ambrose (1936–2002), Ace Atkins, Howard Bahr, John Barry, Larry Brown
(1951–2004),Jimmy Buffet, Will Campbell, Hodding Carter
(1907–1972), Hodding Carter III
, Turner Catledge, Ellen Douglas
, John Faulkner (1901–1963), William Faulkner
(1897–1962), William Ferris, Richard Ford, Shelby Foote
(1916–2005), John Grisham
, Beth Henley
, Barry Hannah
(1942–2010), Greg Iles, Willie Morris
(1934–1999), Lewis Nordan
, Walker Percy
(1916-1990), Wjilliam Alexander Percy (1885-1942), Anne Rice
, Elizabeth Spencer
, Kathryn Stockett, Margaret Walker (1915–1998), Eudora Welty
(1901-2001), Curtis Wilkie, Tennessee Williams
(1911-1983), Richard Wright
(1908-1960), Steve Yarbrough, and Stark Young (1881-1963).
, is the author of twenty-nine books. He has worked as a magazine editor and publisher, newspaper editor, reporter, columnist, book critic, and social worker. His book, Mojo Triangle, was the winner of a 2006 IPPY award (Independent Publisher Book Award
s) in the non-fiction category. Two other books, Goin' Back to Memphis and That's Alright, Elvis, were finalists for the Gleason Award, given out annually by Rolling Stone
magazine, BMI, and New York University
. In the mid-to-late 1980s, Dickerson was the publisher/editor of Nine-O-One Network Magazine
, the first magazine located in the Mojo Triangle to obtain newsstand circulation in all 50 states. He co-owned and produced a radio syndication, Pulsebeat—Voice of the Heartland, which focused on the music produced in the Mojo Triangle.
Other music historians who have written about musicians from the Mojo Triangle are Stanley Booth
(The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones, Rhythm Oil, and Furry’s Blues); Peter Guralnick
(Sweet Soul Music) and Robert Palmer (Deep Blues
). None of those writers were born in the Triangle, but all wrote extensively on the blues. Palmer, who died in 1997, was a music writer for the New York Times and spent the last years of his life living in the Mojo Triangle. Booth, who lives in Georgia
, has contributed to Rolling Stone, Playboy
, and Esquire
. Guralnick is probably best known for his two-volume biography of Elvis Presley
.
http://www.elvis.com/graceland/
Natchez Festival of Music (March)
http://natchezfestivalofmusic.art.officelive.com/default.aspx
Memphis in May
(May)
http://www.memphisinmay.org/
Tupelo Elvis Festival (June)http://tupeloelvisfestival.com/
W. C. Handy Music Festival
(July)http://www.wchandymusicfestival.org/
Southern Festival of Books (October)http://www.humanitiestennessee.org/index.php
Crossroads Film Festival
(March)http://www.crossroadsfilmfestival.com/
The Natchez Trace
, a 440-mile federal parkway that connects Natchez and Nashville http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm
Beale Street Music Festival (Memphis)
http://www.thebealestreetmusicfestival.com/index.html
Jazz & Heritage Festival (New Orleans)http://www.nojazzfest.com/
French Quarter Festival (New Orleans)http://www.fqfi.org/
Essence Music Festival
(New Orleans)
http://www.essencemusicfestival.com/
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, is the birthplace of country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and rock 'n' roll. The Mojo Triangle has presented the world with an astonishing array of creative artists, not just in music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, but also in literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and films.
Origins of the Mojo Triangle
The phrase “Mojo Triangle” was first coined by author James L. Dickerson in his award-winning 2005 book, Mojo Triangle: Birthplace of Country, Blues, Jazz and Rock ‘n’ Roll.A fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
tune named “Natchez Under the Hill,” which originated in the joints along the docks in Natchez
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
, was one of the first original songs ever published in America, according to Dickerson. Published in 1834, it was re-titled “Old Zip Coon,” only to later morph into “Turkey in the Straw
Turkey in the Straw
"Turkey in the Straw" is a well-known American folk song dating from the early 19th century.The song's tune was first popularized in the late 1820s and early 1830s by blackface performers, notably George Washington Dixon, Bob Farrell and George Nichols. Another song, "Zip Coon", was sung to the...
.” With that song began a tradition that inspired the creation of a musical dynasty.
Natchez remained a musical cauldron throughout the 1800s, blending traditional folk music from Europe with the exotic rhythms and harmonies of the Choctaw and Chickasaw, and the unique phrasing vocalized by slaves from Africa. But it was not until the late 1920s, when Jimmie Rodgers began recording what would subsequently be recognized as America’s first country music that the first blend of European/Native American/African music took hold.
Ten years later, Robert Johnson took the music recorded by Rodgers and moved it a step further by recording what we today call blues music. Both Rodgers and Johnson owe an enormous debt to the Choctaw. “Both use 6/4, 5/4, and 4/4 time signatures, and both use short 6/4 introductions that quickly change to 5/4 or 4/4 after one or two bars. For example Johnson’s ‘Little Queen of Spades’ has a one bar introduction in 6/4 that changes to 4/4, an identical time signature to the Choctaw’s ‘Wedding Dance,’ which also goes 6/4 to 4/4.”
Musicians in New Orleans incorporated the music of Natchez and added Caribbean influences to produce jazz, a free-flowing instrumental interpretation of the same influences that birthed country and jazz.
In the mid-1950s, Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black took the work of Rodgers and Johnson and gave shape to rock ‘n’ roll, creating an unbroken circle of creativity that continues to this day.
Talent from the Mojo Triangle
MUSICDeborah Allen
Deborah Allen
Deborah Allen is an American country music singer. Since 1976, Allen has issued 12 albums and charted 14 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, most notably the 1983 crossover hit "Baby I Lied" which reached #4 on the country charts and #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Allen has also...
, Lisa Angelle, Mose Allison
Mose Allison
Mose John Allison, Jr. is an American jazz blues pianist and singer.-Biography:...
, Lil Hardin Armstrong
Lil Hardin Armstrong
Lil Hardin Armstrong was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader, and the second wife of Louis Armstrong with whom she collaborated on many recordings in the 1920s....
(1898–1971), Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
(1898–1971), Estelle Axton (1918–2004), Booker T & the MGs (Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson), Lance Bass
Lance Bass
James Lance Bass , best known as Lance Bass, is an American pop singer, dancer, actor, film and television producer, and author. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band 'N Sync. 'N Sync's success led Bass to work in film and television...
, Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
, Ace Cannon, Joe Frank Carollo, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
(1932–2003), Sam Chatmon, Alex Chilton (1950–2010), Jack "Cowboy" Clement, Sam Cooke (1931–1964),Rita Coolidge, Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
, Tommy Couch, Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana....
, Del Rays (Jimmy Johnson, Norbert Putnam, Jimmy Ray Hunter and Roger Hawkins), Rick Dees, Jim Dickinson (1941–2009), Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon (1915–1992), Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, 827 Thomas Street Band (Bobby Emmons, Reggie Young, Bobby Wood, Mike Leech, and Gene Chrisman), and Sleepy John Estes.
Fred Ford, John Fry, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Rambling Steve Gardner, Gants (Sid Herring, Don Wood, Vince Montgomery, and Johnny Freeman), Rick Hall, David Hood, Bobbie Gentry
Bobbie Gentry
Roberta Lee Streeter , professionally known as Bobbie Gentry, is a former American singer-songwriter notable as one of the first female country artists to compose and produce her own material...
, Gentrys, Buddy Guy, W. C. Handy, Jessie Mae Hemphill
Jessie Mae Hemphill
Jessie Mae Hemphill was an American award-winning electric guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist specializing in the primal, northern Mississippi country blues traditions of her family and regional heritage....
, Faith Hill
Faith Hill
Faith Hill is an American country singer. She is known both for her commercial success and her marriage to fellow country star Tim McGraw. Hill has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and accumulated eight number-one singles and three number-one albums on the U.S...
, Al Hirt
Al Hirt
Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...
, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
(1917–2001), Jimi Jamison
Jimi Jamison
Jimmy Wayne "Jimi" Jamison is a rock vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer for the band Survivor from 1984–1989 and 2000-2006.- Further biography :...
, Jimmy Johnson, Robert Johnson, Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
, B.B. King, Jimmie Lunceford (1902–1947), Mac McAnally, Bobby Manuel, Mar-Keys, Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born...
, Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, Memphis Minnie, Mississippi Sheiks (Armenter Chatmon, Sam Chatmon, Lonnie Chatmon, and Walter Vinson), Willie Mitchell (1928–2010), Chips Moman
Chips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
, Brandy Norwood.
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Charlie Patten (??-1934), Pinetop Perkins (1913–2011), Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
, Jimmy Reed, Road Runners (Terry Dunn, Jimmie Dunn, Tom Smith, Curt Ayers, James L. Dickerson), LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
, Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
, Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
, Jim Stewart, Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Pop Staples (1914–2000),Ole Miss Strokers (Jay Sheffield, Bunker Ex Hill, Bill Lemmon, Mike Daniel, James L. Dickerson), Marty Stuart
Marty Stuart
John Martin "Marty" Stuart is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music...
, Fingers Taylor, Carla Thomas, Irma Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
, Allen Toussaint, Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
(1931–2007), Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Jim Weatherly, Tim Whitsett
Tim Whitsett
Tim Whitsett is an American music publisher, musician, songwriter, producer, author, and consultant. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi.-Biography:...
and The Imperials, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
, and Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette
Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....
.
FILM
Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
(1909–1992), Shannen Doherty
Shannen Doherty
Shannen Maria Doherty is an American actress, producer, author and television director, known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers , as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spinoff series 90210, and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed .-Early life and career:Doherty was born in Memphis,...
, John Dye, Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
, James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
, Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and published author. She has appeared in over 120 roles, on television, and in miniseries and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Wild at Heart , Rambling Rose , Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days , and...
, Dorothy Lamour, John Larroquette, Gerald McRaney, Parker Posey
Parker Posey
Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....
, Annie Potts
Annie Potts
Anne Hampton "Annie" Potts is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles in the 1980s popular films such as Ghostbusters , Pretty in Pink , Jumpin' Jack Flash , Who's Harry Crumb? and Ghostbusters II . Potts is also known as a voice-actress...
, Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress, singer and former model. Her best known roles include starring as Jacy in The Last Picture Show, as Betsy in Taxi Driver, as Madeleine Spencer in Psych, as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting, as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill, and as Phyllis Kroll on The L...
, Stella Stevens, Fred Thompson, Ray Walston (1914–2001), Sela Ward
Sela Ward
Sela Ann Ward is an American movie and television actress, perhaps best known for her television roles as Teddy Reed on the American TV series Sisters and as Lily Manning on Once and Again...
, Carl Weathers, Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
, and Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
.
LITERATURE
Stephen Ambrose (1936–2002), Ace Atkins, Howard Bahr, John Barry, Larry Brown
Larry Brown (author)
Larry Brown was an American novelist, non-fiction and short story writer. He was a winner of numerous awards including the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for fiction, the Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Award, and Mississippi's Governor's Award For Excellence in the Arts...
(1951–2004),Jimmy Buffet, Will Campbell, Hodding Carter
Hodding Carter
William Hodding Carter, II was a prominent Southern U.S. progressive journalist and author. Carter was born in Hammond, the largest community in Tangipahoa Parish, in southeastern Louisiana, to William Hodding Carter, I , and the former Irma Dutartre...
(1907–1972), Hodding Carter III
Hodding Carter III
Hodding Carter, III , is an American journalist and politician best known for his role as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in the Jimmy Carter administration.-Biography:...
, Turner Catledge, Ellen Douglas
Ellen Douglas
Ellen Douglas is the pen name of Josephine Ayres Haxton , an American author. Her book Apostles of Light was a National Book Award nominee.She was born in Natchez, Mississippi and grew up in Louisiana and Arkansas...
, John Faulkner (1901–1963), William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
(1897–1962), William Ferris, Richard Ford, Shelby Foote
Shelby Foote
Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. was an American historian and novelist who wrote The Civil War: A Narrative, a massive, three-volume history of the war. With geographic and cultural roots in the Mississippi Delta, Foote's life and writing paralleled the radical shift from the agrarian planter system of the...
(1916–2005), John Grisham
John Grisham
John Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade...
, Beth Henley
Beth Henley
Elizabeth Becker "Beth" Henley is an American dramatist and actress. She writes primarily about women's issues and family in the Southern United States. She is also a screenwriter who has written many film adaptations of her plays...
, Barry Hannah
Barry Hannah
Howard Barry Hannah was an American novelist and short story writer from Mississippi.The author of eight novels and five short story collections , Hannah worked with notable American editors and publishers such as Gordon Lish, Seymour Lawrence, and Morgan Entrekin...
(1942–2010), Greg Iles, Willie Morris
Willie Morris
William Weaks "Willie" Morris , was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' trademark was his lyrical prose style and reflections on the American South, particularly...
(1934–1999), Lewis Nordan
Lewis Nordan
Lewis Nordan grew up in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He is a graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1983, at age forty-five, Nordan published his first collection of stories, Welcome to the Arrow-Catcher Fair...
, Walker Percy
Walker Percy
Walker Percy was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is best known for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, the first of which, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1962...
(1916-1990), Wjilliam Alexander Percy (1885-1942), Anne Rice
Anne Rice
Anne Rice is a best-selling Southern American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history...
, Elizabeth Spencer
Elizabeth Spencer (writer)
Elizabeth Spencer is a writer. Spencer's first novel, Fire in the Morning, was published in 1948. She has written a total of nine novels, seven collections of short stories, a memoir , and a play...
, Kathryn Stockett, Margaret Walker (1915–1998), Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty
Eudora Alice Welty was an American author of short stories and novels about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards. She was the first living author to have her works published...
(1901-2001), Curtis Wilkie, Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
(1911-1983), Richard Wright
Richard Wright (author)
Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African-Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries...
(1908-1960), Steve Yarbrough, and Stark Young (1881-1963).
Writers who have explored the Mojo Triangle
James L. Dickerson, a native of the Mississippi DeltaMississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region has been called "The Most Southern Place on Earth" because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history...
, is the author of twenty-nine books. He has worked as a magazine editor and publisher, newspaper editor, reporter, columnist, book critic, and social worker. His book, Mojo Triangle, was the winner of a 2006 IPPY award (Independent Publisher Book Award
Independent Publisher Book Award
The Independent Publisher Book Awards , launched in 1996, are designed to bring increased recognition to titles published by independent authors and publishers...
s) in the non-fiction category. Two other books, Goin' Back to Memphis and That's Alright, Elvis, were finalists for the Gleason Award, given out annually by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine, BMI, and New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. In the mid-to-late 1980s, Dickerson was the publisher/editor of Nine-O-One Network Magazine
Nine-O-One Network Magazine
Nine-O-One Network Magazine was a bi-monthly music magazine published in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1986 to 1989.-Beginnings:The magazine originated during the heralded 1986 “Class of '55” recording session in Memphis with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. Producer Chips...
, the first magazine located in the Mojo Triangle to obtain newsstand circulation in all 50 states. He co-owned and produced a radio syndication, Pulsebeat—Voice of the Heartland, which focused on the music produced in the Mojo Triangle.
Other music historians who have written about musicians from the Mojo Triangle are Stanley Booth
Stanley Booth
Stanley Booth is an American music journalist. Booth has written extensively about important music figures, including Keith Richards, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, James Brown, Elvis Presley, Gram Parsons, B.B. King, and Al Green...
(The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones, Rhythm Oil, and Furry’s Blues); Peter Guralnick
Peter Guralnick
Peter Guralnick is an American music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra...
(Sweet Soul Music) and Robert Palmer (Deep Blues
Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads
Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads is a documentary film, released in 1992, and made by David A. Stewart in conjunction with his brother John J. Stewart, in collaboration with music critic and author Robert Palmer and documentary film maker Robert Mugge. The film provided insight...
). None of those writers were born in the Triangle, but all wrote extensively on the blues. Palmer, who died in 1997, was a music writer for the New York Times and spent the last years of his life living in the Mojo Triangle. Booth, who lives in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, has contributed to Rolling Stone, Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, and Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
. Guralnick is probably best known for his two-volume biography of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.
Places to experience the Mojo Triangle
GracelandGraceland
Graceland is a large white-columned mansion and estate that was home to Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee. It is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the vast Whitehaven community about 9 miles from Downtown and less than four miles north of the Mississippi border. It currently serves as...
http://www.elvis.com/graceland/
Natchez Festival of Music (March)
http://natchezfestivalofmusic.art.officelive.com/default.aspx
Memphis in May
Memphis in May
Memphis in May is a month long festival held in Memphis, Tennessee. The festival itself is split into four main events: The Beale Street Music Festival, the kick-off event which showcases a mix of local and national music acts, International Week, a group of events dedicated to the country that is...
(May)
http://www.memphisinmay.org/
Tupelo Elvis Festival (June)http://tupeloelvisfestival.com/
W. C. Handy Music Festival
W. C. Handy Music Festival
The W. C. Handy Music Festival is held annually in Florence, Alabama, sponsored by the Music Preservation Society, Inc., in honor of Florence native W. C...
(July)http://www.wchandymusicfestival.org/
Southern Festival of Books (October)http://www.humanitiestennessee.org/index.php
Crossroads Film Festival
Crossroads Film Festival
The Crossroads Film Festival is an independent film festival that takes place annually around the Jackson metropolitan area in the state of Mississippi. It focuses on independent film of all kinds, as well as regional and Mississippi film...
(March)http://www.crossroadsfilmfestival.com/
The Natchez Trace
Natchez Trace
The Natchez Trace, also known as the "Old Natchez Trace", is a historical path that extends roughly from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers...
, a 440-mile federal parkway that connects Natchez and Nashville http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm
Beale Street Music Festival (Memphis)
http://www.thebealestreetmusicfestival.com/index.html
Jazz & Heritage Festival (New Orleans)http://www.nojazzfest.com/
French Quarter Festival (New Orleans)http://www.fqfi.org/
Essence Music Festival
Essence Music Festival
Essence Music Festival is an annual music festival celebrating contemporary African American music and culture. It is the largest event celebrating African American culture and music in the United States. It has been held in New Orleans, Louisiana every year since 1995 except for 2006, where it...
(New Orleans)
http://www.essencemusicfestival.com/