Will The Real Robert Johnson Please Stand Up?

In a manner of speaking, Robert Johnson was the Ozzy Osborne of Delta Blues singers, claiming to be in league with the Devil. Musicologists and blues historians like Ted Gioia ( Read his excellent book “Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music”) all agree on that aspect of Johnson’s brief existence but not too much else.

The facts of his life are sparse: born in Hazleton, Mississippi in May, 1911; married twice, cultivating women in every town Johnson played in, finally poisoned to death - supposedly - by drinking a bottle of whiskey laced with strychnine given to him by a revenge-minded club owner at the age of 27 near Greenwood, Mississippi. Gioia’s Delta Blues devotes a whole chapter to Johnson, documenting the stories passed down about his agonizing death, howling with pain as he slowly died from the strychnine on the floor of a fleabag rooming house. Nobody really knows where he was buried - there are three different markers for Johnson.

The myth of Robert Johnson revolves around a story that he cultivated, at least according to his fellow musician Johnny Shines. Johnson went to a crossroads at midnight to meet up with the devil, and handed his guitar over to Satan. The devil tuned it so Robert could play anything he wanted and then handed it back to Johnson in exchange for his soul. It is known that he started playing the guitar at the tender age of three and was also proficient on the harmonica.

Whether he took music lessons from Beezlebub or not,there is no question in my mind that Robert Johnson coaxed sounds out of his Gibson guitar that still resonate strongly from the grainy recordings he made in 1936 and 1937 at two different sessions in a Texas hotel. His biggest "hit" - Terraplane Blues" - sold about 5,000 copies. His ability to play rthymn and melody at the same time, coupled with sliding up and down the neck, create a unique, spellbinding sound, combining with Johnson's mournful wail to define Delta blues, at least for a generation of 60s and 70s musicians. His lyrics - as in "Stones in My Passway" - "Where did you stay last night? / Your hair's all messed up and you ain't talkin' right" - or "Come On In My Kitchen" - "The woman I love took her from my best friend/Some joker got lucky, stole her back again" - are just a few of the verses that have been incorporated into countless blues tunes.

Some blues purists contend that Robert Johnson would have faded into obscurity were it not for English musicians like Eric Clapton and Keith Richards discovering his 78s. Whoever – or whatever – he was, Robert Johnson’s unique musical style always casts a spell on you – just listen to “Hellhound On My Trail” or “Me and The Devil” and you’ll see what I mean.