Robert Johnson was born on the 8th May 1911, in Mississippi. Johnson was an African American blues singer and guitarist who became known as the King of the Delta Blues Singers. Like most Delta Blues players, as a boy Johnson travelled around the plantations and labour camps. According to Oxford Music Online, he used to play the jew’s harp and the harmonica having acquired a guitar around 1927. He married in 1929 but his wife died during childbirth in the following year. After that, he lived a wild life as a professional travelling musician, having passed away on the 16th August 1938.
As described in Robert Johnson’s official website, the power of his music has been amplified over the years by the fact that there is not a lot known about him. Several myths surrounding his life and death emerged. According to legend, he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the musical mastery that allowed him to create the blues, for which he became famous.
Between 1936 and 1937 he recorded 29 songs for the American Record Corporation. In addition to characterizing the Mississippi blues of the mid-1930s these songs are the link between this tradition and the modern Chicago Blues. Most of these songs have gained such recognition and status that they are now considered enduring anthems of the genre: “Cross Road Blues”, “Hellhound on My Trail”, “Walking Blues” and “Sweet Home Chicago” are just some of them. In 1990, Sony Legacy produced and released the 2-CD box set “Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings” which rapidly sold 500,000 copies, becoming the most successful blues issue to that date.
Johnson’s voice was taut and often strained, and an important aspect of his singing is his use of microtonality. The powerful emotion expressed in his singing is emphasized by subtle inflections of pitch. On the guitar he combined dramatic rhythms with agitated whining effects produced by a bottleneck slide, sometimes accompanied by a walking bass rhythm.
Robert Johnson’s music profoundly influenced the postwar generation of blues singers, those involved in the British blues-rock boom of the 1960s or rockstars of great magnitude such as Eric Clapton, John Mayall, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.
As described in Robert Johnson’s official website, the power of his music has been amplified over the years by the fact that there is not a lot known about him. Several myths surrounding his life and death emerged. According to legend, he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the musical mastery that allowed him to create the blues, for which he became famous.
Between 1936 and 1937 he recorded 29 songs for the American Record Corporation. In addition to characterizing the Mississippi blues of the mid-1930s these songs are the link between this tradition and the modern Chicago Blues. Most of these songs have gained such recognition and status that they are now considered enduring anthems of the genre: “Cross Road Blues”, “Hellhound on My Trail”, “Walking Blues” and “Sweet Home Chicago” are just some of them. In 1990, Sony Legacy produced and released the 2-CD box set “Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings” which rapidly sold 500,000 copies, becoming the most successful blues issue to that date.
Johnson’s voice was taut and often strained, and an important aspect of his singing is his use of microtonality. The powerful emotion expressed in his singing is emphasized by subtle inflections of pitch. On the guitar he combined dramatic rhythms with agitated whining effects produced by a bottleneck slide, sometimes accompanied by a walking bass rhythm.
Robert Johnson’s music profoundly influenced the postwar generation of blues singers, those involved in the British blues-rock boom of the 1960s or rockstars of great magnitude such as Eric Clapton, John Mayall, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.
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