Junior Kimbrough

Chulahoma, MS 1995

With his hypnotic, droning Mississippi Hill Country rhythms, Junior Kimbrough created some of the most important and original blues of the post-war era from his home base near Holly Springs, MS. For decades, Kimbrough played for weekend parties at his home where the music and moonshine flowed till the wee hours. In the early 1990s he moved the operation to a former rib joint located in a log house, the Chewalla Rib Shack in Holly Springs, before moving once again in 1992 to a remote juke joint 10 miles away in near Chulahoma. It was at this last location, a veritable Chartres Cathedral of blues with exuberant folk art murals and architectural filigrees, that Kimbrough’s music reached a world audience following the release of his first CD, 1992’s “All Night Long” (a title based on his signature tune). Fans from all over the world, including members of the Rolling Stones and U2, made pilgrimages to Junior’s on Sunday nights to mix with locals and hear Kimbrough’s distinctive sound. When he wasn’t on a rare road tour opening for the likes of Iggy Pop, Kimbrough could usually be found at his place holding court every Sunday night until his death in 1998 at age 68. The famous club was burned by an arsonist 2 years later and now a concrete slab and ashes are all that remain of Mississippi’s greatest juke joint.