South Shannon Street

I know this doesn't look like much, but this street has lived in my imagination for too long. I finally stood on Shannon Street in Jackson, TN, a place I'd heard about in Shannon Street Blues and Bluebird Blues. These songs by Sonny Boy Williamson make mention of this street as if it were the greatest stretch of asphalt in the hemisphere. Living and performing in Chicago for most of his life, Williamson seems not to have been able to get through a recording session without mentioning Jackson. Williamson makes few references to specific places in Jackson, but this was one of his favorite local references.

 

First, about Jackson, from one of the greatest blues songs ever written: Jackson Blues.

 

I'm goin' back to Jackson,

Good old Jackson, Tennessee

I can't do no good up here,

I got the jinx on me.

 

Well mother told me and told me

My father he sat down and cried

She said your too young a man,

Son to have that many women at your side.

 

But its Bluebird Blues that makes this street famous:

 

Now bluebird when you get to Jackson,

I want you to fly down on Shannon Street.

Now bluebird when you get to Jackson,

I want you to fly down on Shannon Street.

Well that I don't want you to stop flying

'Til you find Miss Lacie Belle for me

 

Nowadays the street is little more than a purposeless two way avenue spanning a few blocks, the only business seems to be the back side of a bank. Like the rest of the blues sites, it has become more of a mystery since I visited it.

Done