It's May, which means the Mississippi is rising and it's time for a month's worth of flood songs. We're going to kick it off with a classic from Bessie Smith: Backwater Blues. A lot of people associate this song with the 1927 flood, but it was actually recorded in February of 1927, several weeks before
Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie The great Mississippi River flood of 1927 inspired dozens of songs. Among those recorded a bit later was a tune from Kansas Joe (born Wilber McCoy) and Memphis Minnie (born Lizzie Douglas), a husband and wife team, called When the Levee Breaks that they recorded in 1929. The song
Changing channels for the Red, Mississippi, and Atchafalaya Rivers In 1831, Henry Shreve, a riverboat captain who was always looking for ways to make it easier to navigate the Mississippi River, saw a bottleneck on the lower Mississippi and wanted to do something about it. At Turnbull’s Bend, the river made an
April may have been flood month at the Song of the Day, but the rains are back and the river is rising again. The Mississippi River at St. Louis, already near flood stage, rose 5 feet in the last 24 hours, with another 5-6 foot rise projected in the next 3 days. So rather than
Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge, near Annada, MO. This spot is normally about 1 1/2 miles from the river channel. (Picture taken May 2013) See more Pictures here.
The river may be slowly going down, but the smart folks in Clarksville (Missouri) are waiting a little while longer before dismantling the temporary flood wall that protected downtown from recent high water. In spite of the street closures around the flood wall, businesses are open and sure would be grateful if you'd pay them
