Robert Johnson

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is probably the most famous Delta blues singer and guitarist in history. He is also generally regarded (somewhat problematically) as the most influential one.

Influence

Johnson is frequently cited as "the greatest blues singer of all time" or even the most important musician of the 20th century, but many listeners are disappointed by their first encounter with his work. This reaction may be because of their unfamiliarity with the raw emotion and sparse form of the Delta style or because of the thin sound of the recordings when compared to modern music production standards. Johnson's guitar work was adroit but his voice was high-pitched.

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Exaggerated claims are sometimes made for Johnson's originality. He certainly did not invent the blues, which had existed on record for over fifteen years before he recorded. His primary influence was the inimitable Son House, who more than anyone else (except his friend Charley Patton) can claim to have invented what is now considered the mainstream of the Delta blues, with his rough voice and searing slide guitar riffs played on a steel-bodied National guitar.

Related Topics:
Son House - Charley Patton - Delta blues

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But Johnson added to this the keening whimsy of then-obscure Skip James and the jazzy inventiveness of Lonnie Johnson. Indeed, a couple of his songs are nothing other than imitations of his famous namesake. Johnson had also listened to Leroy Carr, who was probably the most popular male blues singer of the time, and based several songs on the records of the urban blues recording stars Kokomo Arnold (source for both "Sweet Home Chicago" and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom") and Peetie Wheatstraw.

Related Topics:
Skip James - Jazz - Lonnie Johnson - Leroy Carr - Kokomo Arnold - Peetie Wheatstraw

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What Johnson did with these and other diverse influences was create a new sound that was at once immediate and artful. His use of the bass strings to create a steady, rolling rhythm can be heard on songs like "Sweet Home Chicago". His penchant for strange snatches of melodic invention on the upper strings, mingling with a quite different vocal line, appears on "Walking Blues". Johnson played with the young Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson II (who claimed to be present at the fateful night when Johnson was poisoned, and even warned him against taking an open bottle of whiskey!). He trained his stepson as well, Robert "Junior" Lockwood. He also acted as mentor to Elmore James, and inspired the young Muddy Waters to take up the blues. All of these musicians and others who created the Chicago style of electric blues in the 1950s were essentially playing the music of Robert Johnson, plugged in. There is thus a direct line of influence from the early blues to post-war blues to early rock and roll and later rock music. "All blues seem to revolve around Robert Johnson", according to modern bluesman Keb' Mo'.

Related Topics:
Howlin' Wolf - Sonny Boy Williamson II - Robert "Junior" Lockwood - Elmore James - Muddy Waters - Rock and roll - Keb' Mo'

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Years after his death, Johnson's fan club grew to include rock stars such as Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. When Keith Richards was first introduced to Johnson's music by his bandmate Brian Jones, he replied, "Who is the other guy playing with him?", not realizing it was all Johnson playing on one guitar. Clapton described Johnson as "the most important blues musician who ever lived. ... His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice". The song "Crossroads" by British blues rock/psychedelic band Cream is a cover version of Johnson's "Cross Road Blues", about the legend of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil at the crossroads, although Johnson's original lyrics ("Standin' at the crossroads, tried to flag a ride") suggest he was merely hitchhiking rather than signing away his soul to Lucifer in exchange for supernatural guitar technique.

Related Topics:
Keith Richards - The Rolling Stones - Eric Clapton - Brian Jones - Cream - Cover version

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Johnson's recordings have remained continuously available since John Hammond convinced Columbia Records to compile the first Johnson LP, King of the Delta Blues Singers, in 1961. A sequel LP, assembling all that could be found of Johnson's surviving efforts, was issued later in the decade. An omnibus CD set was released in the early 1990s.

Related Topics:
John Hammond - Columbia Records - King of the Delta Blues Singers

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John P. Hammond (the son of John Hammond) also produced a documentary in the early 1990s about Johnson's life in the Delta area.

Related Topics:
John P. Hammond - John Hammond

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