Little Milton — Inverness, Mississippi

Little Milton — James Milton Campbell Jr. — was born on September 7, 1934, in Inverness, Mississippi, in Sunflower County, and became one of the most commercially successful blues and soul artists of the post-war era. He moved to Memphis as a teenager and recorded for Sun Records in 1953 — one of the earliest artists to record there — before finding his greatest success with Chess Records in the 1960s and 1970s. His hits 'We're Gonna Make It,' 'Blind Man,' and 'If Walls Could Talk' crossed over to mainstream R&B charts and established him as a major figure in soul-blues.

Little Milton's guitar style synthesised Delta blues, electric Chicago blues, and soul music, and his smooth, authoritative voice was equally at home on ballads and up-tempo numbers. He was a mentor to younger musicians in the Mississippi and Memphis area, and his long residency at the Bea & Baby club in Greenville, Mississippi, made him a regional institution. His later recordings for Malaco Records, based in Jackson, helped define the 'Southern soul' sound of the 1970s and 1980s.

Inverness is a small community in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. A Mississippi Blues Trail marker acknowledges Little Milton's birth there. Sunflower County is also home to B.B. King's birthplace in Itta Bena and Fannie Lou Hamer's legacy in Ruleville, making it one of the most historically significant counties in Mississippi.