Mel’s Reviews > The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll > Status Update

I had B.B. King on a Sunday night, place was packed. I had sold out of tables, chairs. so we stacked Coca Cola crates. [We] made money" Barnes earned his from the door. Barnes built the Hi-Hat club in Hattiesburg around 1950, and in no time he was running joints, down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, on similar principles. The presence of Sunbeam's wife, Ernestine, suggests that more than whiskey could be obtained……"

This is just filled with great quotes, like this one about Little Richard then known as Richard Penniman. "He once defecated in a box and gave it to a neighborhood lady called Miz Ola for a birthday gift. The crippled woman was so incensed that she jumped off her porch to go after Richard without her walking stick…." Not sure if this is true or not but these types of stories keep this book from being boring and dry.

Of the heady days at the Downbeat, Roy recalled, "I was getting ten dollars, my own room, I was a big shot- all the girls I need and my blackberry wine."

Very interesting story of early swing music, and early rock n roll and how it relates to black history. Great read so far!

Zoot suits bloomed along the treeless street,draped over lean brown frames,shading every corner,and flapping in the breeze from pawnshop awnings.