In Memoriam

“Rat” Ratliff

The sign out front reads, “Home of the Delta Blues,” but the home is quiet and the blues community mourns this week without the presence of Frank “Rat” Ratliff, who died on March 28, 2013. Ratliff had welcomed many guests to Clarksdale’s famed Riverside Hotel, including John F. Kennedy, Jr., after it was converted from the hospital where blues singer Bessie Smith died. A Blues Trail marker celebrating the history of the hotel was unveiled on January 18, 2007.

[ BACK TO TOP ]