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.

Life

Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. The commonly accepted birthdate is almost certainly in error. Records from during his lifetime (school and marriage records) or immediately thereafter (a death certificate) suggest various dates including 1909 and 1912, although none support the 1911 date.

Related Topics:
Hazlehurst, Mississippi - 1909 - 1912

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Robert Johnson recorded only 29 songs on a total of 42 tracks in two recording sessions in San Antonio, Texas in November 1936 and Dallas, Texas in June 1937. Thirteen of the songs were recorded twice. Notable among these tracks were "Come on in My Kitchen", "Love in Vain", "Sweet Home Chicago", "Cross Road Blues", "Terraplane Blues", and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", all frequently remade and imitated by other artists.

Related Topics:
29 songs - San Antonio, Texas - 1936 - Dallas, Texas - 1937 - Love in Vain

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Many people think that the lyrics "Back to the land of California, to my sweet home Chicago", in "Sweet Home Chicago" was rather strange. There have been two theories proposed for this wording:

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• When Johnson wrote this, he was not well travelled (he would later go to Chicago), and may have not understood geography of other parts of the country, or
• "California" was not meant literally, but was was meant as a metaphor for a land of great riches, which Chicago was at the time for a Blues musician.

Popular legend says that Johnson died after drinking whiskey poisoned with strychnine, supposedly given to him by the jealous husband of a lover. Actually, he recovered from the poisoning initially, only to contract pneumonia and die three days later on the 16 August 1938 in Greenwood, Mississippi. It is also rumored that Johnson may have died from syphilis which he would have contracted from his "Bluesman" lifestyle. It has also been said that Johnson was simply shot. His death certificate simply states "No doctor" under cause of death.

Related Topics:
Whiskey - Poison - Strychnine - Pneumonia - 16 August - 1938 - Greenwood, Mississippi - Syphilis

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A recurring legend says that Johnson sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 61 and U.S. Highway 49 in Clarksdale, Mississippi in exchange for prowess in playing the guitar. The legend was told mainly by Son House, but finds no corroboration in any of Johnson's work, despite titles like "Me and the Devil Blues" and "Hellhound on My Trail". The older Tommy Johnson, by contrast, actually did claim to have sold his soul to the Devil.

Related Topics:
Legend - Soul - Devil - U.S. Highway 61 - U.S. Highway 49 - Clarksdale, Mississippi - Guitar - Son House - Tommy Johnson

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