Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues, died an untimely death 75 years ago. Dandy Ducks are remembering the great bluesman with this article, written as a modest attempt to introduce you to his lasting musical heritage.
Robert Johnson is the central figure of blues history and one of the most important 20th century artists. His name resounds among the musicians all around the world. If you are fan of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin or many other classic rock bands (without mentioning virtually every post-1930's blues player), you'll find out that he made a vast musical impact on their work and still remains a great influence on aspiring oncoming and current musicians. Also, he's one of the first to enter the so-called “27 Club“; he was born 1911 and died 27 years later, on August 16th, 1938.
Robert Johnson is the central figure of blues history and one of the most important 20th century artists. His name resounds among the musicians all around the world. If you are fan of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin or many other classic rock bands (without mentioning virtually every post-1930's blues player), you'll find out that he made a vast musical impact on their work and still remains a great influence on aspiring oncoming and current musicians. Also, he's one of the first to enter the so-called “27 Club“; he was born 1911 and died 27 years later, on August 16th, 1938.
His life was
surrounded in mystery and myth. The story tells that one midnight at crossroad Robert Johnson gave his guitar to the Devil. Devil tuned it and played a few songs, then returned it to Johnson, bestowing him a guitar mastery in exchange for his soul. Upon listening to his
music, his eerie voice and a spine-tingling guitar for the first time, you might easily suggest his music is coming from some other world. As digging deeper will prove nothing other than how great talent and musicianship stood behind him, discovering his musical opus can be highly rewarding.
Importance of his music lies not only in his astonishing technique but in a way of delivering old and familiar blues tunes. He gathered useful knowledge from his predecessors and renowned contemporaries, compiled numerous guitar figures and techniques and draw the best out of it. That's how Sweet Home Chicago is based on a common melody of Scrapper Blackwell's Kokomo Blues or how Love In Vain Blues borrows its chord structure from Leroy Carr's When the Sun Goes Down, yet Johnson's rendition feels like reinventing these tunes with the undeniable alluring quality and artistry.
Importance of his music lies not only in his astonishing technique but in a way of delivering old and familiar blues tunes. He gathered useful knowledge from his predecessors and renowned contemporaries, compiled numerous guitar figures and techniques and draw the best out of it. That's how Sweet Home Chicago is based on a common melody of Scrapper Blackwell's Kokomo Blues or how Love In Vain Blues borrows its chord structure from Leroy Carr's When the Sun Goes Down, yet Johnson's rendition feels like reinventing these tunes with the undeniable alluring quality and artistry.
One of the only two extant Johnson's photographs (or, maybe, there is a third one?)
Johnson recorded just 29 songs, every one of them in two different versions, except Milkcow's Calf Blues
which was recorded three times. That was a common practice at the time as the producers needed backup recordings in case of
technical problems with the “choice number
1“, version chosen for the release. Or sometimes it was just needed to improve the song quality a bit.
Unfortunately, 17 of total of 59 recordings still remain lost. Metal masters of 8 recordings are reported to be destroyed and donated to the army on the government's appeal during the WWII copper shortage in the United States. Still, there is no clue about the fortune of the remaining 9 masters. They could have been destroyed forever or they could still be hidden in someone's private collection. That was the case with the first take of Traveling Riverside Blues which was considered lost until it was discovered in the late 1990's.
Unfortunately, 17 of total of 59 recordings still remain lost. Metal masters of 8 recordings are reported to be destroyed and donated to the army on the government's appeal during the WWII copper shortage in the United States. Still, there is no clue about the fortune of the remaining 9 masters. They could have been destroyed forever or they could still be hidden in someone's private collection. That was the case with the first take of Traveling Riverside Blues which was considered lost until it was discovered in the late 1990's.
Songs were recorded in two sessions. The first session
was held in November 1936, in San Antonio, during the course of three days. Johnson stood alone behind the
microphone with a guitar and made some of his greatest recordings there: Sweet Home Chicago, Terraplane Blues, Come On In My Kitchen, Cross Road Blues etc. Terraplane
Blues was a hit among contemporary audience and it remained his best-selling single record.
The second session was held half a year later, in June 1937, in
Dallas, in two days. Johnson performed his magic once again with the guitar and the voice
only. This session provided a significant addition to his songbook: Love In Vain Blues, Stones In My Passway and Stop Breakin' Down Blues became favourites during the blues revival and rock-and-roll era in the late 50' and 60's. Me and the Devil Blues and Hellhound On My Trail helped spreading Robert Johnson myth with its mystical lyrical imagery.
I got to keep moving, I got to keep moving
Blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail
And the day keeps on remindin' me, there's a hellhound on my trail
Blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail
And the day keeps on remindin' me, there's a hellhound on my trail
His lyrics have often been overlooked but, nevertheless, stirred the imagination of many.
A brief history of Robert Johnson's releases
Robert Johnson died just a year later. Infamous ladies' man he was, one jealous husband had poured poison in his whiskey. He suffered illness for three days as his condition had worsened and medical state complicated. He died in the age of 27, leaving behind an invaluable contribution to future generations of musicians and listeners.
A brief history of Robert Johnson's releases
First collection of
Robert Johnson's material was released in 1961 on the LP called The King of the Delta Blues Singers. Interestingly, it made a
great commercial success in Europe. It raised interest in blues primarily among British bands who incorporated it into the newly born, popular musical genres. Second volume of the set was released in 1970 to satisfy their hunger for more Robert
Johnson's songs.
The Complete Recordings album was finally released in 1990 and it was introduced to and influenced a whole new generation of artists and musicians; it also gained wide public interest and reached Gold status in no time.
The Complete Recordings album was finally released in 1990 and it was introduced to and influenced a whole new generation of artists and musicians; it also gained wide public interest and reached Gold status in no time.
The Centennial Collection will certainly please your appetite for great music
Complete
remastering was done to commemorate Johnson's 100th birthday with The Complete Recordings - The Centennial Collection which was
released in 2011. The first disc presents all surviving material from the San
Antonio session with the second versions being included as bonus tracks. The
second disc covers Dallas session likewise. The album is
accompanied with the extensive booklet which contains a short biography of
Robert Johnson and an informative text about the history of Johnson's releases.
Remasters were done
by Steven Lasker, using the state-of-the-art technology and equipment and is the best one
could ask for at the moment. What remains is only the popular controversy about
the speed of the original recordings. Vocalion Records who originaly published
Johnson's recordings in 1930's were notorious for speeding up the compositions
up to 25% so they could fit on the record. The result was that the sound was higher
pitched than the natural recording. It still isn't confirmed was that the case
with Robert Johnson's material and all official releases still contain songs as
they were processed for the initial release.
Robert Johnson's life has been extensively studied and his music enjoyed for more than 75 years but he still remains almost a mythical figure; it is a treatment reserved only for the truly great ones.
Robert Johnson's life has been extensively studied and his music enjoyed for more than 75 years but he still remains almost a mythical figure; it is a treatment reserved only for the truly great ones.
Hal
"When the train, it left the station
with two lights on behind
Well, the blue light was my blues
and the red light was my mind"
with two lights on behind
Well, the blue light was my blues
and the red light was my mind"
- Robert Johnson, Love In Vain Blues
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