A song in which the singer falls to his knees where two highways meet, asks for mercy and cannot flag a ride before sundown (1936)
'Cross Road Blues' — the source of the devil-bargain legend and of Cream's 1968 hit 'Crossroads'.
Popular music · Jazz & blues
Robert Johnson
c. 1911–1938 · American
Delta blues
Robert Johnson recorded twenty-nine songs in two sessions in Texas in 1936 and 1937, died at about 27 in the Mississippi Delta, and left behind the most influential body of country blues ever cut. The legend that he sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads in exchange for his guitar technique has proved as durable as the records.
How to spot them
- ▸Twenty-nine songs, two sessions, three surviving photographs and no film
- ▸The crossroads bargain with the devil, traditionally placed at the meeting of Highways 61 and 49
- ▸A falsetto moan, a walking bass thumbed on the low strings, and a bottleneck slide
- ▸Died at about 27 near Greenwood, Mississippi, possibly poisoned with whisky
- ▸Rediscovered by a 1961 Columbia LP that made him a hero of the 1960s blues revival
Songs & albums
A 1936 blues that turns a make of motor car into an extended sexual metaphor (1936)
'Terraplane Blues' — the Hudson Terraplane; his only record to sell in any quantity in his lifetime.
A song urging a woman back to a Midwestern city, 'the land of California' (1936)
'Sweet Home Chicago' — now the most played song in the blues repertoire.
A song in which a tremble and a hail of blues accompany a supernatural hound on the singer's tracks (1937)
'Hellhound on My Trail' — often called the greatest of all Delta blues recordings.
A song in which the singer watches a woman's train pull out and sees two lights on the back of the last carriage (1937)
'Love in Vain', closing the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed in 1969.
A song asking that the singer's body be buried beside the highway so his spirit can catch a Greyhound bus (1937)
'Me and the Devil Blues' — the other pillar of the diabolical legend.
A 1961 Columbia compilation, assembled by John Hammond's label two decades after his death, that launched the blues revival (1961)
King of the Delta Blues Singers — the record Keith Richards heard at Brian Jones's flat.
Quick-fire facts
- •He was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, around 1911 and died near Greenwood on 16 August 1938, making him a founding member of the so-called 27 Club
- •All his recordings come from two sittings: the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio in November 1936 and a Dallas warehouse in June 1937, produced by Don Law for the ARC labels
- •Twenty-nine distinct songs survive, with alternate takes making forty-two recordings in total
- •The talent scout John Hammond wanted him for the 1938 'From Spirituals to Swing' concert at Carnegie Hall and discovered he had just died
- •Three separate churchyards near Greenwood claim his grave
- •He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 in the Musical Influence category, inducted by the writer Robert Palmer
- •The 1990 box set The Complete Recordings sold over a million copies and won a Grammy
- •Eric Clapton devoted an entire 2004 album, Me and Mr. Johnson, to his songs
- •The bluesman Son House was one of his teachers, and Johnson's sudden leap in skill after a long absence fed the crossroads story
Drill it — 8 cards
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Sources
- Robert Johnson — Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
- Elijah Wald — Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues