Robert Johnson
Twenty-nine songs that became the foundation stone of rock guitar
Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, in 1911 and spent a restless childhood moving between Memphis and the Mississippi Delta, for a time using the surname Spencer after his stepfather. As a young man in Robinsonville he hung around older bluesmen such as Son House and Willie Brown, who were reportedly unimpressed with his guitar playing. After the death of his young first wife in childbirth, he drifted south, where he found a new mentor in guitarist Ike Zimmerman.
When he returned to the Delta his skill had grown so dramatically that it gave rise to the enduring legend that he had traded his soul at a crossroads. Johnson lived as an itinerant musician, traveling widely through the South and beyond, playing street corners, juke joints and Saturday-night dances. He was a sharp listener who could reproduce songs after hearing them once, and his repertoire mixed his own blues with popular tunes by Leroy Carr, Lonnie Johnson and Kokomo Arnold.
In November 1936 he recorded sixteen selections in San Antonio, Texas, for producer Don Law, and in June 1937 he cut more sides in Dallas. Across the two sessions he left twenty-nine songs, plus surviving alternate takes. Terraplane Blues sold well in the region, but his records made little national impact during his life. In August 1938 he died near Greenwood, Mississippi, at the age of twenty-seven, and the cause of his death has never been conclusively established.
John Hammond wanted Johnson for his From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in December 1938, only to learn he had died months earlier. Columbia's 1961 album King of the Delta Blues Singers sparked a rediscovery that reached Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan, and cover versions by Cream and the Rolling Stones spread his songs worldwide. The 1990 complete recordings set won a Grammy, and he entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence in 1986.
The 10 greatest Robert Johnson solos
- 1Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1937
- 2Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1937
- 3Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1937
- 4Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1937
- 5Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1937
- 6Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1937
- 7Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1937
- 8Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1937
- 9Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1936
- 10Robert Johnson · solo by Robert Johnson · 1938
The sound
Johnson's playing sounds like more than one guitarist. He combined a steady, walking boogie bass pattern on the low strings with slide phrases or treble fills on top, anticipating the role of a full band on a single acoustic guitar. He used open tunings for his slide pieces and moved fluidly between bottleneck and fretted playing, often with a capo raising the pitch. His rhythmic feel is restless, with sudden accents and turnarounds that became standard blues vocabulary, while his high, urgent vocals and guitar answer each other in a tense, intimate conversation.
- Gibson L-1 flat-top (guitar) The small-bodied acoustic he holds in his best-known studio portrait.
- Bottleneck slide (effect) Used on songs such as Come On in My Kitchen and Travelling Riverside Blues for moaning, vocal lines.
- Open G tuning (effect) A tuning rather than a device, it underpins many of his slide pieces and droning bass figures.
- Open D and open E tunings (effect) Another tuning family he used for slide songs, giving a darker, fuller resonance.
- Capo (effect) Many of his recordings appear to have been played with the capo raised, shifting keys and brightening the tone.
Covers
- Preachin' Blues, originally by Son House (Preachin' the Blues) He sped up and sharpened his mentor's song into something wilder and more personal.
- Walkin' Blues, originally by Son House A reworking of a Son House piece that later passed through Muddy Waters to countless rock bands.
- Milkcow's Calf Blues, originally by Kokomo Arnold (Milk Cow Blues) He answered Arnold's popular hit with his own tightly rhythmic variation.
- Sweet Home Chicago, originally by Kokomo Arnold (Old Original Kokomo Blues) Borrowing Arnold's melody, he created what became perhaps the most-played blues standard of all.
- Love in Vain, originally by Leroy Carr (When the Sun Goes Down) He drew on Carr's gentle melody for one of his most tender and resigned performances.
- Come On in My Kitchen, originally by Mississippi Sheiks (Sitting on Top of the World) A familiar melody slowed into a whispered, slide-haunted invitation.
Timeline
- 1911 Born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi
- 1930 Falls in with Son House and Willie Brown around Robinsonville
- 1936 Records sixteen songs for Don Law in San Antonio
- 1937 Final recording session in Dallas
- 1938 Dies near Greenwood, Mississippi, aged 27
- 1961 Columbia releases King of the Delta Blues Singers, sparking his rediscovery
- 1980 Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
- 1986 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence
- 1991 The Complete Recordings wins the Grammy for Best Historical Album
- 2006 Receives a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Facts
- His entire recorded legacy consists of 29 distinct songs, cut in just two sessions.
- His first session took place in a hotel in San Antonio rather than a purpose-built studio.
- For part of his youth he went by the surname Spencer, after his stepfather.
- Son House and Willie Brown reportedly found his early guitar playing unremarkable.
- Guitarist Ike Zimmerman is credited as an important teacher during his time away from the Delta.
- Only a very small number of photographs of him are known to exist.
- John Hammond tried to book him for Carnegie Hall in 1938, not knowing he had already died.
- Cream's Crossroads, recorded live for Wheels of Fire, is an adaptation of his Cross Road Blues.
- The Rolling Stones recorded his Love in Vain for their 1969 album Let It Bleed.
- Eric Clapton devoted an entire 2004 album, Me and Mr. Johnson, to his songs.