Son House, John Lee Hooker, Sippie Wallace~ Honoring The Legends

Son House

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Sonhouse3.jpg
John Lee Hooker

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Hello,

My name is Nikki James I am an At Large elected Board Member for the Detroit Blues Society of Detroit Mich. I am preparing this petition to have three street names in Detroit dedicated to (3) Detroit Blues Legends: Son House, John Lee Hooker and Sippie Wallace. These national blues artists although not born here. Lived here, performed here, worked here, Son House is buried here and they all credited Detroit as being Home.

It is my hope to honor these Blues legends and thier affiliation with Detroit and have street names serve not only as a dedication to them but to show that Detroit takes "great pride in" and an "interest in" educating it's citizens in one of it's very positive assests of Detroit's American History, it's rich Blues History.

The blues not only has rich history in Detroit. It is another from of creative and entertaining revenue to the city and it's arts. I truly believe that this beautifully forgotton art form and music industry deserves wider recognition and will flourish.

I am proposing that Duboise, Orleans,  Riopelle or Walker be considered.  These streets are located in the area code of 48226 on the (east) water side of Jefferson. Reason for selection? Detroit was done a great dis-service when it's  Home Of The Blues was torn down in an effort to build a gambling facility that never took place. The following article explains.

 

Soup Kitchen Bluesberry


Detroit's famed Soup Kitchen Saloon closed in 1999, the victim of a controversial casino riverfront plan. Thought to have been the oldest bar in the city, the Soup Kitchen had been home to a roster of legendary names in music, both local and national, since its rebirth as Detroit's Home of the Blues in 1974.


A bar had been in operation at the corner of Franklin and Orleans at least since the 1850s, and the cozily dark dining room and bar area of the Soup Kitchen dated back to 1883. It was a friendly tavern for sailors debarked from ships that plied the once-busy Detroit River, and was popular with workers from the small industrial workshops in the area.


Brian McDonald bought the rundown place in 1974, determined to make it the city's top blues venue. He was also a visionary, for Detroit was in rather dismal shape at the time, and many places were going under. But McDonald's idea clicked, and the Soup Kitchen began to draw an integrated crowd at a time when many suburbanites feared to venture into the city.


The Soup Kitchen hosted nationally renowned acts like John Lee Hooker and Mose Allison, and its Tuesday-night open-jam sessions were legendary among the local music elite. Despite the bar's success, it was not without its share of nearby trouble, including a notorious 1979 slaying of a Grosse Pointe promoter linked to drug-dealing. Still, the Soup Kitchen helped make what became known as the Warehouse District a thriving entertainment hub by the early 1990s, with several bars and restaurants doing excellent and trouble-free business.


That era ended in 1998, when Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer strong-armed local business owners like McDonald into shuttering their flourishing establishments to make way for a riverfront casino scheme that ultimately went nowhere. McDonald supported the idea, believing that any influx would serve the city's ultimate good, and auctioned off the Soup Kitchen's historic bar that served so many for so long.


Abandoned, and after several fires, the Soup Kitchen Saloon was demolished in 2006.

By: Candleworks

The Detroit Blues Society (DBS) is a registered federal 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, education, and advancement of the blues tradition, as it relates to the Metro-Detroit area. It has as its primary goals, to promote a wider appreciation for the Blues by the general public and to serve the members of the Society.
http://www.detroitbluessociety.org/

 

Please support this petition. Nikki James~