John Lee Hooker's Detroit is profiled in a new article in the music magazine
Fretboard Journal. Excerpt:
One North End business that survives is the Apex Bar, the same club that once hosted blues greats like Hooker, Little Sonny and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Disco and disc jockeys pretty much killed off Detroit's live blues scene by the 1980s, but the Apex withstood the surrounding blight, and it continues to serve a regular clientele — an oasis of sorts for a neighborhood that has seen better days.
"The best thing about running this bar is the people," says Apex owner Marvelous Persell. She and her husband, Charles, bought the bar in 1989, and she took over the business after he died in 1995. "It's a real friendly crowd. Everyone is welcome here, as long as they're orderly and behave themselves."
Persell is fond of saying she runs the "cleanest bar in Detroit," and I don't doubt it. The exterior looks as if it hasn't changed a bit since the days when people lined around the block to see Hooker play for a $1.50 cover. The interior's a different story. Newer red-and-black-tiled floors shine immaculately thanks to regular waxing; clean mirrors line the walls. The chairs are freshly upholstered, and the tables sport bright red tablecloths.
The magazine can be found at bookstores.
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