BOBBY BLAND
When 15-year-old Robert Calvin Brooks moved with his family to Memphis in 1945, he had a decision to make. Coming from the nearby rural towns of Rosemark and Barretville with only a third grade education, he could either enroll in high school and attempt to make up for lost time or find work and try to achieve some measure of independence in the bigger city. Rather than face embarrassment in school, as his reading and writing skills were marginal, he chose the latter. No job was off-limits; for a time he delivered groceries and later he obtained a drivers' license and made better money parking cars, a somewhat prestigious position as most of his friends hadn't learned to drive. During this time he sang in gospel groups and plotted the path he would take in life. Singing won out...and we're all the better for it. In 1950, his mother and stepfather opened a restaurant called ... MORE ››
