6.05 / May 2011

Why My Grandfather Had All Those Bessie Smith Records

He left school at thirteen and joined his brother’s jitney business, carrying passengers during the day. At night they delivered whiskey to juke joints in Deep Ellum. Laughter and her blues floated out into darkness, where he sat alone with the goods, listening, clutching a razor and his brother’s gun.


Barry Basden's writing has appeared in DecomP, Dogzplot, Emprise Review, Foundling Review, monkeybicycle, Northville Review, Staccato Fiction, and many other fine places. He is coauthor of CRACK! AND THUMP: WITH A COMBAT INFANTRY OFFICER IN WORLD WAR II and edits Camroc Press Review. He loves the blues and sleeps close to a .38 Special inherited from his father.
6.05 / May 2011

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