Robert Johnson - Biography

Last Editor: cornhillbob				Robert Johnson Biography -   Name : Robert Johnson Profession : Singer

Robert Johnson Trivia -

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Robert Johnson Detailed Biography -

Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. The commonly accepted birth year of 1911 is almost certainly in error. School and marriage records, and his death certificate, suggest various dates including 1909 and 1912. 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. Many people think that the lyrics "Back to the land of California, to my sweet home Chicago", in "Sweet Home Chicago" are rather strange. There have been two theories proposed for this wording: 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 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. Fellow Blues singer David Honeyboy Edwards is alleged to have been present the night of Johnson's death. Johnson may have recovered from the poisoning initially, only to contract pneumonia and die three days later on the 16 August 1938 in Greenwood, Mississippi. It is rumored that Johnson may have died from syphilis which he would have contracted from his "Bluesman" lifestyle. The precise cause of death remains unknown—his death certificate simply states "no doctor" under cause of death. 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. Actually, the location Johnson made reference to is a short distance away from that intersection. 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 (no relation), by contrast, actually did claim to have sold his soul to the Devil. (A similar legend even surrounded virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini a century before.) There are very few images of Johnson; only two confirmed photographs exist. A three-second film, which was claimed to show Robert Johnson, was proved to be a fake, as there was an image of a film poster in the background that advertises a film released two years after his death. 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 and his voice was high-pitched. 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. 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. 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). Johnson trained his own stepson, Robert "Junior" Lockwood, as well. 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'. 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. An important aspect of Johnson's singing, and indeed of all Delta Blues singing styles, and also of Chicago blues guitar playing, is the use of microtonality -- his subtle inflections of pitch are part of the reason why his singing conveys such powerful emotion. 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. John P. Hammond (the son of the aforementioned John Hammond) produced a documentary in the early 1990s about Johnson's life in the Delta area. In the summer of 2003, Rolling Stone magazine listed Johnson at number five in their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time Major artist recordings of Johnson Many artists have recorded Johnson's songs. The following musicians have been heavily influenced by him, as evidenced by recording several of his songs: Eric Clapton (Love In Vain, Hell Hound On My Trail, 32-20 Blues, Steady Rollin' Man, If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day, Come On In My Kitchen, Kind Hearted Woman Blues, Milkcow's Calf Blues, Stop Breakin' Down Blues, Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Traveling Riverside Blues, Me And The Devil Blues, They're Red Hot, Little Queen Of Spades, When You Got A Good Friend, Walkin' Blues, Malted Milk, Sweet Home Chicago, From Four Until Late, Ramblin' On My Mind, Stones in My Passway, Terraplane Blues) The Rolling Stones (Love in Vain, Stop Breaking Down) Bob Dylan (Kindhearted Woman Blues, Milk Cow's Calf Blues, Rambling On My Mind, I'm A Steady Rolling Man) Fleetwood Mac (Hell Hound On My Trail, Kind Hearted Woman, Preachin' Blues, Dust My Broom, Sweet Home Chicago) Peter Green Splinter Group (all 29 songs) Keb' Mo (Come On In My Kitchen, Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Kindhearted Woman Blues, Love In Vain) John Hammond Jr. (32-20 Blues, Milkcow's Calf Blues, Traveling Riverside Blues, Stones In My Passway, Crossroads Blues, Hellbound Blues , Me And The Devil Blues, Walking Blues, Come On In My Kitchen, Preaching Blues, Sweet Home Chicago, When You Got A Good Friend, Judgement Day, Rambling Blues) Robert Junior Lockwood (32-20 Blues, Stop Breakin’ Down Blues, Little Queen Of Spades, I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom, Ramblin’ On My Mind, Love In Vain Blues, Kind Hearted Woman Blues, Walking Blues, I’m A Steady Rollin’ Man, Sweet Home Chicago) Led Zeppelin (Travelling Riverside Blues) The White Stripes (Stop Breaking Down) "Cross Road Blues" (file info) Sample of the song Problems listening to the file? See media help. "Traveling Riverside Blues" (file info) 29 second sample of the song Problems listening to the file? See media help.