The most mysterious man in the history of the blues is probably Robert Johnson, a musician who claimed to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his talent, and who died violently at an early age. The countless colourful rumours surrounding Johnson only contributed to his legend, and many consider him to be the most influential blues-man of all, helping in the complex process of transforming the old country-rooted blues of artists such as Charley PATTON into the more modern idiom of Muddy WATERS and B. B. KING. Major rock performers who owe an artistic debt to Johnson, or have recorded some of his numbers, include Eric Clapton, CREAM, Jimi HENDRIX, and the ROLLING STONES.
Robert Johnson was born on May 8, 1911, in Hazelhurst, Mississippi, and around 1918 moved to a plantation near the delta town of Robinsonville to live with his mother. Johnson went on to live a nomadic life, travelling widely under various names and rarely staying in any one place too long. He learned the harmonica as a teenager, and then followed blues guitarists Willie Brown and Charley Patton around, gleaning what he could from them. He met Son HOUSE when this charismatic Mississippi Delta blues master moved to Robinsonville in 1930, and House later recalled that musicians listening to Johnson around this time would laugh at his meagre guitar-playing abilities.
Around 1931 Johnson left the Robinsonville area. When he returned, about a year later, his playing had improved to a miraculous degree, leading to extravagant rumours that he had made a “deal” with Satan. Johnson actively encouraged the legend, enhancing it further by writing songs about meeting the Devil, such as “Cross Road Blues” and “Me and the Devil Blues.” In reality, Johnson probably derived much of his ability from emulating other musicians he had heard perform live during his travels and on records. Johnson’s guitar work was undoubtedly accomplished, especially on percussive “bottleneck” pieces (pressing a glass or metal tube hard against the strings and sliding it up and down) that were updated reworkings of the older Delta blues of Son House and Charley Patton. Using techniques that brought to mind the blues guitar virtuoso, Lonnie JOHNSON, he managed to coax from his instrument the rich sound of guitar-piano duets or larger blues combos.
Johnson was one of the first guitarists to use his instrument as a “voice”—as one-time partner Johnny Shines recalled, “His guitar seemed to talk.” Although many of his songs were based on those of other musicians, Johnson honed them until they became finely crafted poems, supported by haunting melodies and by his loud, high-pitched singing voice, with its distinctively anguished, passionate tone. Some of the themes of the songs were angry or obsessional; others had a potently sexual edge.
In 1936, Johnson attended an audition at Jackson, Mississippi, and soon found himself cutting records for the American Record Company—a total of 29 songs in all. The recordings brought him little reward. While Johnson was alive, only “Terraplane Blues” proved successful, selling in the region of 4,000 copies on its initial release.
Johnson’s untimely death came on August l6, 1938, most likely from poisoning by a jealous husband—he was reputed to have a woman in every town. But his work has lived on in the many musicians he influenced and the songs he penned, including “Sweet Home Chicago,” “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” and “Love in Vain.” In 199O, Columbia issued Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings. This compilation was to sell 400,000 copies within just six months of its release.
Stan Hieronymus
SEE ALSO:
BLUES; CREAM; GUTHRIE, WOODY; ROCK MUSIC.
FURTHER READING
Guralnick, Peter. Searching for Robert Johnson (London: Seeker & Warburg, 1990);
Palmer, Robert. Deep Blues (New York: Penguin Books, 1981).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
King of the Delta Blues Singers; Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings.