GULFPORT, Miss. – There is a new place to stop on the Mississippi Blues trail in Gulfport. The marker is located at the “Four Corners” intersection of Arkansas Avenue, and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and meant to honor all the musicians important to the area.
The maker is titled “Gulfport Boogie” named after a song recorded by Blues Hall of Fame pianist Roosevelt Sykes, who lived in Gulfport in the 1950s.
During the mid-1900s the “Four Corners” intersection just outside of the city limits and was the hotbed of nightclubs in the African American community. Artist like Drummer Johnnie “Jaimoe” Lee Johnson, better known as drummer for the Allman Brothers, took the stage during his early music career and was raised in Mississippi City.
The roster of local blues, jazz and soul performers has included brothers Cleve and Clezell Booth, Sugar Billy, Yvonne Tims (who had the Blues Evolution band with her brother Johnny Jefferson), Buster Teague, Charles and Ruby Wheeler, Jabo Walker, Billy Gray, and more recently acts such as Dr. G.L. John. Cozy Corley, who relocated to Gulfport from Hattiesburg, was the first artist to have a record released on the Malaco label in Jackson. Another blues personality of note, radio broadcaster and club owner Rip Daniels, was born in Gulfport.
