Some roads are meant to be driven. Others are meant to be heard. U.S. Route 61 belongs to the second kind. Journalist Elena Ortega Mateos knows this well; she followed it from end to end for her book Ruta 61. Un viaje sonoro siguiendo el Misisipi (available in Spanish).
This November marks 100 years since its official birth in 1926, on the very same day as its more famous sibling, Route 66. But while 66 became the emblem of the escape west, 61 was the main artery of the Great Migration: thousands of families heading from the South to the North, carrying their songs with them.
That is why it is known as the Blues Highway. Few roads anywhere hold so much musical history in every mile.
The South That Sings: Where the Blues Highway Begins
The journey begins in New Orleans, where African drums still echo alongside the spirituals that shaped jazz.
From there, the asphalt follows the Mississippi north into the Delta, the cotton country where the blues was born.
In Clarksdale, the junction of Routes 61 and 49, known as the Crossroads, is where legend says Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for mastery of the guitar.
The Electric North
Farther upriver, Memphis lays claim to rock ‘n’ roll and soul, and Nashville, a short detour away, to country. Chicago, meanwhile, electrified the blues that had made its way north from the Delta.
Along the way, the road crosses paths with Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Tina Turner and Bob Dylan, as well as William Faulkner and Mark Twain, whose birthday is celebrated Nov. 30 in Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the river.
There is even a Spanish footprint. Several stretches of Route 61 in Missouri trace the path of the old colonial Camino Real.
A Book for Traveling Route 61 (or Dreaming of It)
For the centennial, Ortega Mateos maps out the entire journey in Ruta 61. Un viaje sonoro siguiendo el Misisipi (Anaya Touring).
The book covers 3,100 miles in eight stages, from New Orleans to the river’s source. Along the way are conversations with musicians (some of whom appear in the film Sinners), practical itineraries and a QR code that unlocks a soundtrack, so the pages can be read with the ears as well as the eyes.
The book has spent four months as the No. 1 title in its category on Amazon, and it will be featured Nov. 17 at the Barcelona Jazz Festival.
A century on, Route 61 is still waiting for travelers. And if the trip has to wait, just open the book, put on a blues record and let the Mississippi do the rest.
