MY CONNECTION WITH MISSISSIPPI BLUES MAN, LITTLE MILTON

"Little Milton" (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005) was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness and raised in Greenville . By age twelve he had learned the guitar and was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock and roll contemporaries. He became an electric blues, rhythm and blues, and soul singer and guitarist, best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It."

 


Though I never met Little Milton personally, I am very close friends with his youngest brother, John Campbell, who I met when I was in high school. (early 80's).
We have a long history. John was very instrumental in encouraging and helping me to get my first book, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia, published. (2008) .
In the foreword of of the book, in describing how the published book finally came about...
I wrote: In my late teens. in the early 80's John Campbell came on the scene in my life , in the form of a coach and teacher with john Campbell Productions, a modeling troupe and sort of finishing school. John influenced and affected how I saw myself as far as the talent that I had inside , my potential and the heights to which I could soar. John saw greatness inside of me and encouraged me dream big ...really big and to go after those dreams . He even had his own dreams for me and would often convey them in long heartfelt rap sessions on his couch . He would tell me about his life growing up in the Delta, about ideas for inventions that he had, and about traveling on the road being the personal valet for his big brother Little Milton, a famous blues singer.
When John left Tupelo, many years elapsed and we lost contact. Fate saw fit that our paths should cross, again. After living in Memphis for almost 20 years , I moved back to Tupelo in August 2007. By chance, I saw a familiar face on a book signing announcement in the newspaper. It was my old friend John ! John and I reconnected at a book signing for his first book "Daydreaming On My Cotton Sack" at Reed's Gumtree Bookstore in Historic Downtown Tupelo. (December 2007) After the signing, I talked to John about my writings and showed him my folder full of poems the next day. He said that we should definitely do something with them . Only two months after that fateful meeting, I had a published book of my own! Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life In Poems was published in February 2008, exactly one year from the time that I wrote my first poem.
Here's a copy of Reflections displayed on the shelf after my first book signing signing at Reed's Gumtree Bookstore in Tupelo.

Reed's Gumtree Bookstore in Tupelo

Reflections and my second book, My Magnolia Memories and Musings In Poems are available at Reed's Gumtree Bookstore and Barnes and Noble in Tupelo.
They are also available online from Amazon and Barnes and Noble .
Of course, any local bookstore can order them for you !  

HERE ARE THE LINKS ON AMAZON:
http://tinyurl.com/reflections-pnd
http://tinyurl.com/magnolia-mem-pnd


FIND OUT A LITTLE MORE ABOUT JOHN AND HIS BOOK HERE:
http://www.shaverschoice.com/Day_Dreaming_Cottonsack.htm