Arkansas - My Family's Second Home

[giradman]

Arkansas Musical Contributions & Some Performers

In looking at the location of Arkansas on the map below, the state is surrounded by others, such as Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana, which were seminal in the development numerous musical genres unique to the United States - early, ragtime, blues, jazz, & gospel, then country, mountain/bluegrass, rockabilly, R&B, and Rock & Roll - Arkansas has contributed substantially to this Musical Heritage. On my visit to the gift shop of the Old State House, I purchased the book 'Our Own Sweet Sounds' shown below, which is a brief read by Robert Cochran, who has put on two exhibits of 'A Celebration of Popular Music in Arkansas' at the state house.

The geography of the state has impacted on the emergence of these various genres, e.g. mountain/string music in the Ozark Mountains and the blues heritage along the Mississippi Delta - back around 1990, my son & I flew into Memphis, TN, picked up a rental car and headed into Mississippi to explore the Delta Blues (an area of interest to us); we drove down to Vicksburg and back up to Clarksdale (w/ several one-night motel stays) - crossed the river to visit Helena, AR and the Delta Cultural Center - back in 1941, the King Biscuit Time was first broadcasted w/ Sonny Boy Williamson II on harmonica & Robert Jr Lockwood on guitar; so, just one aspect of Arkansas' musical diversity; we were on our own but now a Mississippi Blues Trail w/ multiple road plaques (and a map) greatly aids this type of musical exploration.

There are many important Arkansas native musical performers (if interested, check the first link above and the Arkansas Entertainer's HOF), so let me just mention a few w/ accompanying pics: 1) Alexander ‘Eck’ Robertson (1887-1975) - in 1922, he recorded the Arkansas Traveler & Sally Gooden, considered the first commercial country music record; 2) Patsy Montana (1908-1996) - her I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart released in 1935 was the first record by a female country music star to sell over a million copies; 3) Big Bill Broonzy (1893-1958) - great blues guitarist and singer; 4) Roosevelt Sykes (1906-1983) - blues pianist and singer; 5) Louis Jordan (1908-1975) - popular swing artist and band leader; important in the start of R & B; 6) Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973) - gospel & blues singer; 7) Conway Twitty (1933-1993); 8) Glen Campbell (1936-Present); and 9) Johnny Cash (1932-2003) - the last three country music legends and including Patsy Montana, all in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN (also, Jim Ed Brown, Floyd Cramer, & Lefty Frizzell). Below are pics of each of these 'highlighted' artists, and overall just a brief introduction to the music of Arkansas. Dave
.

 

[suenc]

Central High School - Little Rock Nine - Racial Integration - 1957

After visiting the Old State House, I returned to pick up Susan - we lunched across the street at the Marriott Hotel, then drove to the Little Rock Central HS National Historic Site, which is near the State Capitol - as discussed in the quotes below, in September of 1957, the school gained national prominence over racial integration. President Eisenhower had to send in federal troops - see the video below, if interested.

In 1998, Congress established the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, which is across the street from the historic Mobil gas station, the 'news center' for the events that occurred. The pics below show the school, some of the many photos taken during the crisis, the visitor's center/gas station, and a few w/ the local Civil Rights activist, Daisy Bates. Next post on the Arkansas History Museum in the downtown area. Dave

P.S. Central High School is still active w/ over 2400 students in 2011 (Source above quotes) - the school is not open for touring unless scheduled. Also, "the American Institute of Architects named it “America’s Most Beautiful High School.” (Source).

Thank
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The US has made great strides in civil rights in our lifetime, but I’m afraid we ma

Thanks Scifan.. - a lot of interest to see there, and more to come - also missed a number of attractions which I may just mention for anyone who may be reading this thread and plan to visit the area. Dave [/QUOTE/]

In the early 1970s, just after I graduated from medical school from the University of Michigan (my home state then), and moved w/ Susan to North Carolina, my father decided to retire early and picked the state of Arkansas - he moved there w/ my mother and two younger brothers - first to a rural community north of Little Rock near Conway - he built a house - we first visited in 1972 - later he relocated to Hot Springs in the southwest area of the state and a popular tourist attraction; again he built another house. We just returned from a family visit, and I've never discussed this interesting state although I've been there dozens of times over 4 decades.

Arkansas, name derived from a regional American Indian language, is surrounded by a half dozen states (Missouri north, Louisiana south, Oklahoma & Texas west, and Tennessee & Mississippi east) - see the maps below. Arkansas entered the Union in 1836 as the 25th state - the state flag uses the colors of the USA flag - the outer stars add up to 25; the inner stars represent the countries/governments that controlled the land, i.e. the lower three represent Spain, France, and the USA, and the upper single one the Confederate States during the Civil War. The other images show various sites in the state that we've visited over many years and also the Hot Springs area where my family has lived for a long time. Upcoming posts will concentrate on Hot Springs, Little Rock, and a number of other towns and attractions. This is a travelogue long in coming - the number of posts will depend on input from others and I hope there are some members living in the state who will contribute? Dave
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Arkansas is picturesque, largely rural. Hot Springs downtown has the quaint, historical bathhouses.

 

[suenc]

Dome - Arkansas State Capitol

Just wanted to add a few comments about the beautiful dome (213 ft from the ground floor w/ gold leaf on the cupola) - just a web pic w/ a different color emphasis - Dave


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Dramatically lovely building. Unfortunately I had a cough and cold during the whole Little Rock/Hot Springs visit, so I didn’t have as much energy as Dave.

 

[suenc]

Arkansas Musical Contributions & Some Performers

In looking at the location of Arkansas on the map below, the state is surrounded by others, such as Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana, which were seminal in the development numerous musical genres unique to the United States - early, ragtime, blues, jazz, & gospel, then country, mountain/bluegrass, rockabilly, R&B, and Rock & Roll - Arkansas has contributed substantially to this Musical Heritage. On my visit to the gift shop of the Old State House, I purchased the book 'Our Own Sweet Sounds' shown below, which is a brief read by Robert Cochran, who has put on two exhibits of 'A Celebration of Popular Music in Arkansas' at the state house.

The geography of the state has impacted on the emergence of these various genres, e.g. mountain/string music in the Ozark Mountains and the blues heritage along the Mississippi Delta - back around 1990, my son & I flew into Memphis, TN, picked up a rental car and headed into Mississippi to explore the Delta Blues (an area of interest to us); we drove down to Vicksburg and back up to Clarksdale (w/ several one-night motel stays) - crossed the river to visit Helena, AR and the Delta Cultural Center - back in 1941, the King Biscuit Time was first broadcasted w/ Sonny Boy Williamson II on harmonica & Robert Jr Lockwood on guitar; so, just one aspect of Arkansas' musical diversity; we were on our own but now a Mississippi Blues Trail w/ multiple road plaques (and a map) greatly aids this type of musical exploration.

There are many important Arkansas native musical performers (if interested, check the first link above and the Arkansas Entertainer's HOF), so let me just mention a few w/ accompanying pics: 1) Alexander ‘Eck’ Robertson (1887-1975) - in 1922, he recorded the Arkansas Traveler & Sally Gooden, considered the first commercial country music record; 2) Patsy Montana (1908-1996) - her I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart released in 1935 was the first record by a female country music star to sell over a million copies; 3) Big Bill Broonzy (1893-1958) - great blues guitarist and singer; 4) Roosevelt Sykes (1906-1983) - blues pianist and singer; 5) Louis Jordan (1908-1975) - popular swing artist and band leader; important in the start of R & B; 6) Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973) - gospel & blues singer; 7) Conway Twitty (1933-1993); 8) Glen Campbell (1936-Present); and 9) Johnny Cash (1932-2003) - the last three country music legends and including Patsy Montana, all in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN (also, Jim Ed Brown, Floyd Cramer, & Lefty Frizzell). Below are pics of each of these 'highlighted' artists, and overall just a brief introduction to the music of Arkansas. Dave
.
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[suenc]

I didn’t remember that so many musicians were from Arkansas. We saw a Glen Campbell show a few years ago. Unfortunately, he already had dementia, so he apparently forgot words and relied on several of his children to back him up. A very candid documentary was later made about his decline--“Glen Campbell--I’ll Be Me.” Included is a poignant song he-co-wrote, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You.” Glen Campbell Shares Poignant 'I'm Not Gonna Miss You' Video