Corrected version
A hearty crowd of 75 honored Greenwood native Walter “Furry” Lewis at the dedication of the 150th Mississippi Blues Trail marker Tuesday on Carrollton Avenue.
“It is certainly generating interest. That was the goal of the Mississippi Blues Trail through the Blues Commission and the Mississippi Development Authority. ... to share our incredible musical heritage and blues heritage,” said Mary Beth Wilkerson, director of tourism for the Mississippi Development Authority.
Lewis, a longtime Memphis resident who died in 1981, made his first recordings in 1927 and later became a favorite of the blues revival scene in the 1960s and 1970s.
Bluesman Ben Wiley Payton set the tone Tuesday with a serenade of blues music from an acoustic guitar.
Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams said the weather for the marker unveiling was promising.
“What a fabulous morning. I woke up this morning to rain outside and I thought, ‘Oh no, it is going to rain.’ Thanks be to God that it did not,” she said.
The location of the Lewis marker is also slated to see better days ahead.
The marker is located on the former rail bed of the Columbus & Greenville Railway. The rail bed area will soon be transformed into a “linear park,” a green space which will run from the marker westward to the U.S. 82-49 bypass.
The unveiling, she noted, fell on Mardi Gras.
“Today is a no calorie day and you know why? Because it is Fat Tuesday and on Fat Tuesday you can eat anything you want,” McAdams said.
Sam Wooden, himself a bluesman from Carroll County, was impressed by the event and the turnout.
“I think it is fantastic. I think they did a wonderful job of putting it together.,” he said.
Lewis’ marker is the 141st located in Mississippi. Nine markers are in other states where the blues played a significant role.
Lewis’ marker is the eighth in Leflore County.
Others include:
• The WGRM radio station on Howard Street;
• The Elks Lodge on Scott Street;
• The Robert Johnson gravesite at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church;
• The Baptist Town community;
• The B.B. King Birthplace in Berclair;
• And markers honoring bluesmen Guitar Slim and Hubert Sumlin.
Lewis was one of the first blues guitarists from Mississippi to travel to Chicago to record music. He recorded six songs for the Vocalion label in April 1927.
His life in Greenwood was brief. He was listed as a 1-year-old living in the city in the 1900 census, but he was living with his mother in Memphis in 1901.
Lewis often told stories of playing with well-known blues legend W.C. Handy.
He lost a leg attempting to hop a freight train at a young age and wore a prosthetic during his day job as a street sweeper, garbage man and night watchman for the city of Memphis.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
