Cemeteries/Graves
Mulatto Bend - This is where Slim Harpo is buried. Just
west of the "Old Bridge" on the southside of US 190
(More details here)
Roselawn
Cemetery - This is where Raful and Jackie Neal are buried.
Located at 4045 North St. (between Acadian and Foster) (More
details here)
Southern Memorial - Far
as I know several Baton Rouge bluesmen are buried here (Robert
Pete Williams, Chuck Mitchell, Arthur "Guitar" Kelly,
Silas Hogan, and Herman Johnson). I have located the headstone
for Robert Pete, but have yet to locate a headstone for the others.
So any assistance here would be appreciated. Southern Memorial
is located at 3012 Blount Rd (a mile or so east of LA 19, behind
the Baton Rouge Metro Airport)
They Performed Here....
Neal Family Restaurant - 3827 Plank Rd. The Neal
family of blues musicians owned three or four different restaurants
over the course of time. The Plank Road location was the last
location they were stationed at before Raful passed away. Nowadays
the place is opened under the title of The Boss Lady Club and
they host a Monday Night Blues/ R&B and Tuesday night Jazz
jams. Stylish interior and nice people, check it out.
Masonic
Temple - Back in the day, the biggest dance hall in Baton
Rouge was the Temple Ballroom on the top floor of the Masonic
Temple. Little Richard, James Brown, BB King and others played
here. It still stands, offices the first two floors and the dance
hall at the top, but it is now obscured by a railroad overpass
that the local politicians deemed necessary (The original Tabby's
Blues Box used to stand across the street from the Masonic Temple.
It was demolished for a railroad bridge) Head out to 1335 North
Blvd (Not to be confused with North St!), just as you start to
go over the railroad (Photos Here)
Tabby's Blues Box (Version 2) - I list version
2 because there is nothing left to give any clue of the existence
of the first Blues Box (besides old photos and video tape). At
least the building where the second Blues Box was is still standing
(though there is nothing left behind to give a sense of Tabby
Thomas's occupation) You can see the, now, non-descript building
that Tabby tried to make home at 244 Lafayette St in downtown
Baton Rouge
What Tabby's looked like before it
closed (Photo taken in October, 2004)
It can't all be buried under...can it? If you
know of any other locations that are of significance concerning
Baton Rouge Music history,
please contact
me and I'll add it to this list.
Questions, comments, and submissions can be sent to Sandor Gulyas
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