zzzx | Why they call US 61 The Blues Highway

Along Highway 61 blues came in the 30s and 40s from the south to the recording studios in Chicago, Memphis and New York and contributed to the foundations of jazz and rock and roll. Therefore 61 is also called the "Blues Highway".
In 2005, the Mississippi Blues Trail was created by placing display and information panels.

Visitors Center Highway 61 Tunica Mississippi (photo Sheila Scarborough)
Old Highway 61 Chatham Mississippi
The Old Highway 61 Mississippi

Old Highway 61

Route 61 runs through the states Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana; from Chicago to New Orleans.

usa_chicago_to_new_orleans

The Old Highway 61 is not the modern dual carriageway, but the old route; a paved two-lane road from Memphis (Tennessee), Clarksdale (The Crossroads, Mississippi) to Tunica (The Gateway to the Blues, Mississippi) and New Orleans (Louisiana).
Take Route 61 from Memphis and take the 161 direction Walls. After one and a half km turn right, then it is three blocks from The Old Highway.

John Lee Cole and his dog Bobo, outside Clarksdale (photo Tim Duffy)
Front Porch Blues (photo Tim Duffy)
Ground Zero Blues Club Tunica Mississippi
Ground Zero Blues Club Stage

Take a look in a southern district of Memphis (see slider below and wait for begin photo). To end up at Beale Street, Down Town.

US61 South Memphis, on the left (behind the building) we take a detour through E Waldorf Street
We follow the street eastward untill the T-junction on S Orleans Street. See the slider.There you take a left to Memphis Down Town. Get back on US 61, follow the road north and you pass on the right the side entrance of B.B.Kings Blues Club. The entree is on Beale Street (first right).

Sources 61: visittheusa.com, msbluestrail.org, travelnation.co.uk, bluefrontbluesroom.org, pbs.org, Streetview Google, Wikipedia