Many of you know Webb's aunt Lillian McMurry started Trumpet Records. From 1950 to 1955 it was THE label for blues in the south... Sonny Boy Williamson II and Elmore James being just two of the artists to start out on the label. The link below shows the current state of the original building at 309 Farish Street in Jackson MS. Only wish I had deep pockets.... just sayin.

http://thomtblues.org/mississippi/jackson/trumpet-records-trail-marke.html

It WOULD be nice to see the old building preserved but, the issue may be sort of complicated. Here's what my cousin (Lillian;s daughter) Vitrice McMurry wrote in a letter to the Clarion Ledger, Jackson's daily newspaper of many years: Dear Editors,
I am Vitrice McMurry, daughter of Lillian and Willard McMurry of the 1950s record company Trumpet Records at 309 N. Farish St. I am writing about a recent letter in your paper about Sherman Lee Dillons campaign to raise funds to rebuild the building (and possibly the recording studio) there.

Shermans campaign came as news recently to me (and Greg Johnson of the Blues Archives at the University of Mississippi, which was given the papers, records and rights to the name, logo, and label). Sherman doesnt have the blessing, the rights or the permission to use any of these things.

Shermans heart may be in the right place like so many blues fans, but he is proceeding in a not-very-businesslike way. And my parents were, above all, businesslike.

There should be a museum of Farish Street about Trumpet Records and the whole complex cultural scene there. If officials of Jackson realized the potential of worldwide cultural tourism in their midsts, they would have funded such a thing years ago. In the '90s there actually was a small but heartfelt blues museum on Farish St. run by a devoted fan but, alas, without meaningful help from the city or the state, it closed. For Sherman to proceed with his half-baked plans would invite another failure. It is indeed time to reconsider such an enterprise but, it needs to be done with blues archivists and foundation/govermental help.

Thank you for bringing up the issue.

Vitrice McMurry

Thanx for that, Webb. Interesting letter.