15th May 2002

Celebrating Robert Johnson I caught

Celebrating Robert Johnson

I got to keep movin'<br /> I got to keep movin’<br /> blues fallin’ down like hail<br /> blues fallin’ down like hail<br /> Umm mmm mmm mmm<br /> blues fallin’ down like hail<br /> blues fallin’ down like hail<br /> And the days keeps on worryin’ me<br /> there’s a hellhound on my trail<br /> hellhound on my trail<br /> hellhound on my trail<br /> If today was Christmas Eve </p> <p>If today was Christmas Eve<br /> and tomorrow was Christmas Day<br /> If today was Christmas Eve<br /> and tomorrow was Christmas Day<br /> spoken: Aow, wouldn’t we have a time, baby?<br /> All I would need my little sweet rider just </p> <p>to pass the time away, huh huh<br /> to pass the time away<br /> You sprinkled hot foot powder, mmm </p> <p>mmm, around my door<br /> all around my door<br /> You sprinkled hot foot powder<br /> all around your daddy’s door, hmm hmm hmm<br /> It keep me with ramblin’ mind, rider<br /> every old place I go<br /> every old place I go<br /> I can tell the wind is risin’ </p> <p>the leaves tremblin’ on the tree<br /> Tremblin’ on the tree<br /> I can tell the wind is risin’<br /> leaves tremblin’ on the tree<br /> hmm hmm hmm mmm<br /> All I need’s my little sweet woman<br /> and to keep my company, hey hey hey hey<br /> my company”></a>I caught a couple of references in the past few days to the fact that May 8 was the birthday of Robert Johnson. If that name doesn’t jump out at you, you’re clearly not a student of the Blues. The “King of the Detla Blues” and one of the all-time guitar masters, Johnson was a hugely influential figure in shaping the sound of blues throughout this century. Considering the direct link between the blues and arguably the two most important musical trends of the 20th Century — jazz and rock — the ripple of Johnson’s influence can still be heard in much of contemporary popular music. </p> <p> His influence is that much more remarkable considering that he died at age 27 in 1938 after recording only 29 songs in two separate sessions. (I can’t help thinking that his spirit attempted to come back in Jimi Hendrix, another guitar master who died at the same tragically young age.) Johnson’s mystique is also preserved in part through a persistent legend that he sold his soul to the devil in order to play so well, and was struck down in his prime either by a voodoo curse or poison at the hand of a lover’s husband. </p> <p> The always great <b>Prairie Home Companion</b> featued the best tribute to Johnson that I heard, with the brilliant guitarist Pat Donohue (of the house band, The Guys All-Star Shoe Band) giving a short biography of Johnson and accompanying himself with some magnificent renditions of Johnson’s classic songs. (They only just now updated the sound files to the Web, hence my delay in posting on this.) </p> <ul> <li><a href=Click here to hear a clip of Pat Donohue playing Robert Johnson on PHC; scroll down to “44:04 Robert Johnson segment.”

  • Here are lots more links on Robert Johnson
  • The complete box set of all his recordings on Amazon.

    Happy birthday, Robert Johnson.


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