Avoyelles singers in proposed state Blues Trail

    Two Blues legends --  Marksville cousins who began their careers in the middle of the last century -- may put their hometown “on the map.”

    Kirby and Lesli Rambin are criss-crossing the state and committing hours of time researching possible sites for a Louisiana Blues Trail -- modeled after the highly successful Mississippi Blues Trail.

    “We want to have two sites on the trail in Marksville,” Kirby said, noting that two giants of Bayou Blues called the Broken Wheel City home -- Marion “Little Walter” Jacobs and his lesser-known but highly respected second cousin, Matthew “Boogie Jake” Jacobs.

   Giving recognition to musicians who helped define and enrich a uniquely American type of music is the obvious goal of an effort to create a Louisiana Blues Trail. The fact that the Blues Trail would potentially create a popular tourist attraction for communities throughout the state is just an added benefit, organizers of the effort said.

     “Louisiana Blues is different from Mississippi Blues,” Leslie said. “It has some zydeco and Cajun influence to it.”

    The Louisiana brand of the Blues had a large impact on the overall music genre -- up the Mississippi to Memphis and St. Louis and eventually  over to the Windy City of Chicago, where a young harmonica player set the music world on its ear by plugging an amplifier into his harmonica.  His name was Little Walter.

    “Little Walter was Muddy Waters sideman in Chicago,” Kirby said. “He played harmonica and eventually launched out on his own.”

   Little Walter was born in Marksville sometime between 1925 and 1930. He claimed 1930, but Census records indicate an earlier birth date. He is in the Blues Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

    Boogie Jake was born around 1929. Again, an exact birth year is disputed, with some sources saying 1928 or 1927.

   His first public performance was with his cousin at the Golden Lantern Club just outside of Marksville off La. Hwy 1 North, on Mayeaux Road. Boogie Jake moved to Baton Rouge shortly after that and recorded several records.

He became disillusioned and moved to California, dropping out of the music scene throughout the 1960s. He was “rediscovered” in the 1970s and recorded several more records.

    “Little Walter” died in February 1968 following a fight in Chicago. He had minimal injuries from the fight.

   Boogie Jake was inducted into the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame in March 2013 and died in December 2013 in New Orleans.

   “One of the the main things we are trying to do is to find physical locations associated with these Blues greats -- the house where they were born, where they performed, sites important in their lives,” Kirby continued. “To do that, we need help from the local community. We need boots on the ground.”

   Leslie said that sadly, many of the great old-school Blues musicians had to leave their home towns to make a living. This is particularly true of those in small, rural communities. They grew old and died, possibly leaving no ties to the communities available today.

   “If nothing else, we can have a marker that draws visitors to Main Street of a small town that can tell the story of the individual and the town’s role in his life,” Leslie noted.

 

    Kirby said the Mississippi Blues Trail has resulted in entire towns being rejuvenated due to tourism.

   “Towns that were almost dead have come back to life with new restaurants, hotels, bed-and-breakfasts,” he said. “People who moved away as young adults are coming home and the community’s young people are staying because they have an opportunity due to the increase in tourism.”

    He said the Louisiana Blues Trail could yield similar results.

   “When people think music in Louisiana, they think about jazz and New Orleans,” he said. “We are so much more than New Orleans and jazz.”

  The Rambins are from Monroe, where Lesli is an English instructor at the University of La.-Monroe and Kirby is a 911 dispatcher and professional violinist.

   “That’s a big difference,” Lesli said with a laugh.

   Asked if he really plays “violin” or “fiddle,” Kirby quipped, “It depends on whose paying.”

   The Rambins love the Blues and hope the dream of a Bayou State Blues Trail comes true.

  “We have identified 104 sites so far, and the number grows daily,” Kirby said.  “We’ll be in a town and be talking about a site and someone will say, ‘Oh, you’ve got to include this one,’ and tell us a fascinating story of another Blues musician from there.”

   One person in the parish with plenty of memories and stories to tell about the two local Blues legends is Howard Desselle.

Desselle, 90, said he heard about Boogie Jake’s death after the funeral and would’ve loved to attend, to share memories with other friends of the musician. 

  “If he were alive today, he’d be 88,” Desselle said, giving support to the 1927 birthdate. “Little Walter was younger than me.” That would support the 1930 theory of his birthdate.

   Desselle spent more time with Little Walter, including driving him to gigs in the Midwest.

  The Rambins urge anyone with information on Little Walter, Boogie Jake or other local Blues greats to contact the Monroe Blues Society at monroebluessociety @gmail.com. 

  If the Blues Trail is established, the intent is to lead visitors from across the nation and from around the world out of the state’s large cities and into the heart of Louisiana -- in more ways than one.