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Clarksdale gets the blues

Clarksdale, Mississippi is known to many music fans as the home of the Delta blues. It also has the less welcome reputation as the poorest town in the poorest state in America, and it's facing a spate of gang violence. The local authorities, desperate to improve the situation, are turning to their music heritage to see whether it can help lift Clarksdale out of the doldrums. Patrick Bodenham reports.

(Photo: The crossroads of Highways 61 and 49 in Clarksdale where, according to legend, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his mastery of the blues guitar. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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5 minutes