Robert Johnson

Swpp

100 years to the day!

I figured we'd have a celebration thread for this keystone in delta blues. Although I haven't gone through much of his music it'd be foolish to deny his influence and enigma. As the guy who spawned the myth of selling your soul to the devil for music he sure has my respect.





What do you have to add?

pickwick33

That live album he recorded at the Fillmore East in 1970 backed by Savoy Brown was surprisingly good.

Rockadelic

The stuff he did with Robert Cray sucks!

LaserWolf

He was a great lyricist.
Often forgotten, ignored, discounted.

b/w

I love Robert Cray.

f/w

He set the table for Eric Clapton.

Bon Vivant

Those songs he wrote for Zeppelin were awesome.

motown67

NPR ran two great pieces about him today. One was an hour long. They said when he first started playing clubs he was told to quit because his guitar playing was so bad. He ended up leaving the scene for a while so he could learn how to play better. One of the stories was good at laying the social setting of the times when Johnson was coming up and the Blues players of the time. They said hardly any of them worked, and would wait until Friday and Saturday nights to make their money from the farm workers at the clubs. They also said they needed to find places to shack up for the rest of the week because there were laws against vagrancy by blacks, which were basically used to round up people that didn't look like they were working, and forcing them into the cotton fields. There was also a segment that claimed Johnson was part of a new generation of Blues players that was shaped by listening to the radio. They played one song where he whispered a lyric and then played a quite part on his guitar, which would not work at a club, but would on a record or radio.

Unknown

Whatever happened to that supposed sale of his guitar a few years back? I never heard a follow-up and can't find it online.

leon

NomoreGarciaparra said:

Whatever happened to that supposed sale of his guitar a few years back? I never heard a follow-up and can't find it online.

I heard some Russian burned it, together with his stack of OG Verocai's...



just rumours tho.

LaserWolf

motown67 said:

NPR ran two great pieces about him today. One was an hour long. They said when he first started playing clubs he was told to quit because his guitar playing was so bad. He ended up leaving the scene for a while so he could learn how to play better. One of the stories was good at laying the social setting of the times when Johnson was coming up and the Blues players of the time. They said hardly any of them worked, and would wait until Friday and Saturday nights to make their money from the farm workers at the clubs. They also said they needed to find places to shack up for the rest of the week because there were laws against vagrancy by blacks, which were basically used to round up people that didn't look like they were working, and forcing them into the cotton fields. There was also a segment that claimed Johnson was part of a new generation of Blues players that was shaped by listening to the radio. They played one song where he whispered a lyric and then played a quite part on his guitar, which would not work at a club, but would on a record or radio.

While forced work in cotton fields may have been going on, more commonly a person would be put on a railroad or levee gang. building railroads and levees. The levee and railroad workers lived in isolated camps. Workers could by supplies from company stores, and housing was provided. Leaving was difficult because camps were often isolated, plus, as you said vagrancy laws. Which is one reason you did not want to get stranded at a crossroad at night. The other was lynchings. The devil takes many forms. Guitar teacher typically is not one.