A lot of people who enjoyed the movie Last of the Mississippi Jukes ask me, What happened to the Subway? Well, it’s gone. There is a plaque at the site. And, in an even better and living tribute, owner Jimmy King is hosting Subway nights at Schimmel’s restaurant in Jackson, bringing the musicians, the menu items and some of the feel of the old Subway Lounge. This nice little video by Jukes director Robert Mugge will bring you up to date and give you a few tears.
28/12/2010 at 3:50 pm Permalink
I really wish they would have rebuilt the lounge. Have they thought about doing this at all?
30/12/2010 at 2:39 am Permalink
I know — you would think that with all the good will toward the Subway, and a documentary made about it, the effort to rebuild it would have succeeded. But what I’ve heard is that there was a scoundrel on the fundraising committee, who took a bunch of cash and took the wind out of the effort.
Even if that hadn’t happened, though, would anyone have raised enough money to rebuild the whole hotel, just so there could be a nightclub in the basement? Something seemed odd about the whole concept.
I think Jimmy King’s Subway nights at Schimmel’s are a fine and appropriate tribute — bringing back the music and the musicians and the host, without having to go through rebuilding a ruined hotel. It’s really the music, not the building, that was the important thing.