A newly found photo has the music world buzzing with excitement. Could this be a picture of the legendary music genius Robert Johnson? Even though bands including The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and The White Strips have covered Johnson’s music, there are only two other confirmed photos of the musician in existence. But who exactly is this guy?
Though his impact on the music industry is unquestionable, we actually know very little about Robert Johnson. Of the few things we know, Johnson was born in 1911 to impoverished parents on a plantation in the Mississippi Delta. And from there, much is legend. The stories go that Johnson loved to play music but was so terrible he’d annoy anyone in the vicinity of his playing. When Johnson was a teen, he ran away to Arkansas for six months, and when he returned, was suddenly a master of the guitar. Though it’s most likely that he devoted himself to learning the intricacies of the guitar from various teachers or mentors while he was away from home, a much more alluring myth has sprung up to explain the transformation.
Legend has it that one evening after fleeing home, Johnson met the devil at the crossroads of U.S. Highways 49 and 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi at midnight. Wanting nothing more than to have the sharpest skills possible, he traded his soul to the devil in return for musical genius on the guitar. From that moment on, Johnson had an uncanny talent that allowed him to travel around the U.S. as an itinerant musician, playing on street corners and crummy joints. In 1936, he finally recorded an album in San Antonio and then another in Dallas the following year. In total, he recorded only 29 songs, but he laid so many of the foundations for rock ‘n’ roll as it would become.
Part of Robert Johnson’s revolutionary impact was the way he played the guitar, making it sound like he was actually playing two guitars instead of one. He did so by partially playing the driving rhythms on the guitar’s lower strings and the melodic chords on higher strings. His hallmark technique was the turnaround but he also used up-the-neck chords, chromatic movement, melodic fills between vocals and a host of others. Johnson was versatile, using both classical methods and twangy improvisations of his own in order to create the haunting sound that influenced everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Jack White. His tunings, though, continue to create the strongest fodder for debate. Because Johnson’s records were sped up when they were first released, it makes it impossible to truly analyze Johnson’s tunings and capo positions, but that doesn’t stop continued fierce debate.
During his lifetime only one of his songs, “Terraplane Blues,” caught anyone’s attention. It was only in 1961 when Johnson’s first LP was reissued that his music took flight. The driving force behind releasing the LP was John Hammond, the same talent scout who discovered Billie Holiday in the early ’30s. In 1938, Hammond sought out the genius blues player to participate in his “Spirituals to Swing” concert at Carnegie, a show comprised of all black musicians and some of the greatest blues and jazz musicians of the time. Tragically, Johnson died right before, at the young age of 27. Unfortunately, just like so much of Johnson’s life the details of his untimely death remain mostly a mystery.
Despite Johnson’s death, Hammond didn’t forget Johnson’s talent. As he pushed for Johnson’s music to be released over 20 years after the blues musician’s death, Hammond ensured that Johnson’s legacy live on. As that LP was played on the radio, it inspired an untold number of artists and eventually landed Robert Johnson the number five position in Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists. Many would agree with Eric Clapton who said, “Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician who ever lived…I have never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson. His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice.”
Take a minute to listen to Johnson’s twangy blues, and see if you can spot his influence on your favorite rock ‘n’ roll artist. Pay special attention to “Cross Roads Blues,” “Sweet Home Chicago” and “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” which Rolling Stone says are among the most popular blues songs of all time.
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