{"id":26693,"date":"2024-05-28T13:54:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T18:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/%poi_type%\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T14:55:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:55:57","slug":"mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio","status":"publish","type":"poi","link":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Blues Trail &#8211; WROX Radio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull header-image\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-41561 size-large lazyload\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-1024x576.jpg\" style=\"object-position:49% 68%\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" data-object-position=\"49% 68%\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-41561 size-large lazyload\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-1024x576.jpg\" style=\"object-position:49% 68%\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" data-object-position=\"49% 68%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-540x304.jpg 540w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-500x281.jpg 500w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#636366\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-vms-lyellow-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\">\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mississippi Blues Trail &#8211; WROX Radio<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"trail-marker-location wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"trail-marker-location-grenada-794a85d2-8a52-49f9-8dc0-408343a307d5\">Trail Marker Location: Clarksdale<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Marker Front: <br><\/strong>WROX, Clarksdale\u2019s first radio station, went on the air on June 5, 1944, from studios at 321 Delta Avenue. From 1945 until 1955, the station was headquartered here at 257 Delta. Legendary disc jockey Early \u201cSoul Man\u201d Wright became the top personality in local broadcasting after joining the WROX staff. Among the notable blues artists who hosted programs or performed on the air at this site were Ike Turner, Robert Nighthawk, Sonny Boy Williamson No. 2, Raymond Hill, and Doctor Ross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Marker Back: <br><\/strong>WROX featured \u201cthe finest broadcast studios in the state of Mississippi\u201d when the station moved into this building in July of 1945, the&nbsp;<em>Clarksdale Daily Press<\/em>&nbsp;reported. Birney Imes, Sr., of Columbus purchased WROX in the fall of 1944 from founder Robin Weaver, and the station operated under the ownership of the Imes family until 1990, first at this location and later in the Alcazar Hotel building. WROX aired a variety of network and local programs, including drama, comedy, news, sports, commentary, big band, pop, classical, country, and religious, but it would be blues that brought the station widespread fame. &nbsp;Among the bluesmen who performed live from the studios here were Ike Turner, both on his own and as a member of Robert Nighthawk\u2019s band, one-man band Dr. Isaiah Ross, singer-saxophonist Jackie Brenston, and Sonny Boy Williamson &amp; the King Biscuit Entertainers. Williamson\u2019s \u201cKing Biscuit Time\u201d program originated at KFFA in Helena but was also added to WROX\u2019s regular weekday schedule in the 1940s when the two stations united in a \u201cDelta Network,\u201d providing the band with the option of broadcasting from either location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Early Wright was one of several key employees, including Helen Sugg, C.D. Graves, and Tom Reardon, who stayed at WROX for decades. Wright, an auto mechanic by trade, came to the station in 1945 as the manager of the Four Star Quartet, a gospel group that had a 15-minute Sunday morning program. &nbsp;Preston \u201cBuck\u201d Hinman, who came aboard as station manager in 1946, was so taken with Wright\u2019s down-to-earth charisma and wayward way with words that he soon broke the color line of segregated southern radio and offered Wright a regular show as WROX\u2019s first African American announcer. Wright, a born salesman known for his homespun, off-the-cuff advertising patter, sold a full slate of Sunday morning time slots to various local gospel groups and secured a multitude of eager sponsors for his own show among stores that catered to the African American trade \u201cacross the tracks.\u201d &nbsp;He developed a dual on-air persona as \u201cThe Soul Man\u201d when he played blues and R&amp;B records and \u201cBrother Early Wright\u201d when he switched back to gospel. Wright continued to broadcast to a devoted following on WROX until 1998. He died in 1999 at the age of 84.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wright\u2019s historic broadcasts paved the way for other African American deejays at WROX, including Roy Messenger, Clarence Monix, Ike Turner, who held court on a \u201cJive Till Five\u201d show, and saxophonist Raymond Hill, called \u201cchief of the hepcats\u201d by the&nbsp;<em>Press Register<\/em>. &nbsp;The studios were also used for after-hours recording sessions by various producers and station personnel, including Turner and the white deejay who taught him the ropes in the control room, John Friskillo. In 2004, Clarksdale businessman Kinchen \u201cBubba\u201d O\u2019Keefe opened a WROX Museum here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<div style=\"height:13px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41562 lazyload\" style=\"object-fit:cover\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41562 lazyload\" style=\"object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-1280x1280.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back-1920x1920.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker-Back.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:1rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mississippi Blues Trail &#8211; WROX Radio Trail Marker Location: Clarksdale Marker Front: WROX, Clarksdale\u2019s first radio station, went on the air on June 5, 1944, from studios at 321 Delta Avenue. From 1945 until 1955, the station was headquartered here [\u2026]<\/p>\n<p>\n","protected":false},"author":708,"featured_media":41561,"template":"","poi_type":[281,286],"class_list":["post-26693","poi","type-poi","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","poi_type-blues-trail","poi_type-cultural-trails"],"acf":{"details":[{"acf_fc_layout":"address_group","street_address":"257 3 Avenue","city":"Clarksdale","zip":""}],"search_image":false,"gallery":false,"location":{"address":"257 3 Avenue, Clarksdale","lat":"34.201546","lng":"-90.574818"},"region":"3","featured":false,"hide_hero":true},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mississippi Blues Trail - WROX Radio - Visit Mississippi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mississippi Blues Trail - WROX Radio - Visit Mississippi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mississippi Blues Trail &#8211; WROX Radio Trail Marker Location: Clarksdale Marker Front: WROX, Clarksdale\u2019s first radio station, went on the air on June 5, 1944, from studios at 321 Delta Avenue. 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From 1945 until 1955, the station was headquartered here [\u2026]","og_url":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/","og_site_name":"Visit Mississippi","article_modified_time":"2026-04-16T19:55:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/","url":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/","name":"Mississippi Blues Trail - WROX Radio - Visit Mississippi","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-28T18:54:38+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-16T19:55:57+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WROX-Radio-Trail-Marker.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/mississippi-blues-trail-wrox-radio\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"POIs","item":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"History","item":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/history\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Cultural Trails","item":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/cultural-trails\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Blues Trail","item":"https:\/\/visitmississippi.org\/things-to-do\/blues-trail\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Mississippi Blues Trail &#8211; 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