Possibly the least likely thing we anticipated we'd do on this trip along the Blues Highway was to be interviewed on Blues Radio. I managed to stay off the air but both Sue and Margie were interviewed by Sunshine Sonny Payne who broadcasts each weekday on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. The King Biscuit Time radio show was founded in 1941 with the first ever live broadcast of blues music and the daily programming of Sonny Boy Williamson, Pinetop Perkins, Robert Lockwood Jr. and other blues legends throughout the delta. The program is obviously still broadcast otherwise how could Sue and Margie (from then on for the rest of the day known as Marjie) have been interviewed on air. With more than 14,000 broadcasts, King Biscuit Time has had an influence on several generations of blues, rock, and pop trend setters. Sonny Payne has hosted the show since 1951, and has been a presence on the program since its inception in 1941 focusing on a Delta blues format.
The radio station is in part of the Blues Museum in Helena Arkansas. We visited there mainly to see the Mississippi River. People in Clarksdale said there was nothing in Helena- they were wrong. We had a nice time in the museum learning more about the Blues and musicians.
After Sue and Marjie had talked about why we were in Helena and they listened to our "purdy" accents we walked up to the levee (across the road) and saw the polluting and poorer part of life on the river.
Lunch and then a drive along old highway 61 in to Memphis and the Peabody.
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