HAROLD “HARDFACE” CLANTON HONORED WITH BLUES TRAIL MARKER

 People gathered in Downtown Tunica to get the first glimpse of the Harold ‘Hardface’ Clanton marker that was unveiled recently.

TUNICA, Mississippi (October 8, 2008)—Harold “Hardface” Clanton was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Downtown Tunica.  The trail was developed by Governor Haley Barbour and is designed to preserve the state’s musical heritage through more than 150 historical markers and interpretive sites.

"I am pleased to honor such a strong entrepreneurial spirit like Harold ‘Hardface’ Clanton," Governor Haley Barbour said. "His clubs and restaurants are part of the fabric of Tunica's history. His deserves this honor on the Mississippi Blues Trail not only for his support of Blues musicians, but for his colorful life as a businessman and community member."

Long before casinos brought legalized gambling and big-name entertainment to Tunica County, legendary African American entrepreneur Harold “Hardface” Clanton (1916-1982) controlled a flourishing local operation that offered games of chance, bootleg liquor, and the best in blues music. Clanton owned several businesses, including Harold's Cafe on Magnolia Street in downtown Tunica and “The Barn” outside of town on Old Mhoon Landing Road, where most of the action took place. B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Ike Turner, Albert King, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, Frank Frost, Sam Carr, and many other legendary blues artists provided music for Hardface and his clientele. Tunica bluesman Roosevelt “Barber” Parker and his Silver King Band were regulars at Clanton's establishments.

Clanton was never elected to office, but he was called “the black sheriff” of Tunica County and was reputed to be Tunica's first black millionaire as well. Well-liked and respected by both blacks and whites in Tunica, Clanton loved to work on his collection of antique cars when at home, and traveled often to gamble himself.

Dice games brought in the money for him in Tunica, but Clanton loved to play a three-card game called kotch. Some say the nickname Hardface came from his ability to maintain a stone face during games, while another story has it that during his younger days, he sometimes lived the gambling life 24 hours a day and slept in the gambling joints where he worked with his face against the hard surface of the craps tables.

When Clanton died in 1982 at the age of 66, so many people turned out to pay their respects that his funeral had to be moved from a Baptist auditorium to the Rosa Fort High School gymnasium. The club he operated in Tunica, Harold's Cafe, is still in business as Nickson’s Disco Club under the management of his former employee Hosia Nickson.

For more information on the musicians and promoters honored by the Mississippi Blues Trail, or to submit information on blues artists, contact:

Jim O’Neal, Mississippi Blues Trail Research Director (816-931-0383, ).

To reach the Mississippi Blues Trail office in Jackson, contact Alex Thomas (601-359-3297, ) or Leigh Portwood (601-359-3061,  ).

The Mississippi Blues Trail markers are funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and by support from the Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Mississippi Department of Transportation, Delta State University and the Mississippi Development Authority.