Robert Karriem 1934-2004

Robert Karriem 1934-2004 is a Tennessee historical marker in Shelby County.

Shelby Co., 726 McClemore Avenue,1934-2004 Memphis

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Born in 1934, Robert Catron, who later changed his name to Robert Karriem, was a native Memphian. A musician and businessman, he was better known as "Boss Ugly Bob.” In the 1950s he played music with a group called the Beale Streeters, who played behind such notables as B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, and Roscoe Gordon. An African American, Karriem was a DJ on WLOK Radio in the 1960s. He saw the need for a black music distribution network, which led him and his wife Claudette Karriem to open on this site a record distributorship named Boss Ugly Bob Records.

TodayHistorical map

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USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection

Historical maps covering this location

1909 · Arkansas. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1916 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1925 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1927 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1939 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

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