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Robert Johnson
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Robert Johnson was an American blues musician from the Mississippi Delta, probably born in May 1911 in Hazlehurst. He travelled through the South as a singer and guitarist and played on the street, in juke joints and at parties. He has become the best-known Delta blues musician, above all thanks to the rock musicians who discovered him in the 1960s.
Music and breakthrough
Johnson recorded a total of 29 songs in San Antonio in November 1936 and in Dallas in June 1937, with the producer Don Law. He played alone, on an acoustic guitar, often with a bottleneck or slide and in an open tuning. His guitar plays a bass line, a rhythm and melody lines that answer the voice, all at the same time. He recorded Cross Road Blues on 27 November 1936 at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio. It was released in 1937 as a 78 rpm record on Vocalion. The song is about a man who kneels at a crossroads and cannot get a ride as evening falls. Johnson died in August 1938 near Greenwood, aged 27, of a cause that has never been established.
Influence
The story that he sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads actually belongs to another bluesman, Tommy Johnson. It was later pinned on Robert. In 1961 Columbia released the compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers. That record found its way to British and American rock musicians. The Rolling Stones recorded Love in Vain, Led Zeppelin Traveling Riverside Blues, and Cream played Crossroads (1968) with Eric Clapton. In 1986 Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence.
Listening
Cross Road Blues · Robert Johnson, 1936Apple Music ↗
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 1: The Origins of Pop MusicNL Reader
- Mixtape 10: Women in Pop MusicNL Reader
- After Hours: Session 4NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Delta blues Genre
In 1936 and 1937 Robert Johnson recorded 29 songs in all.