The Roots of Robert Johnson

By the mid-thirties Delta blues singers such as Tommy Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Willie Brown, Kokomo Arnold and Skip James played regularly on the street corners and in the juke joints throughout the Deep South. It was Tommy Johnson himself who may have fomented the tale that he had sold his soul to the devil - he shows up in the recent film "O Brother Where Art Thou", spreading this very rumor. Johnson's affection for all forms of intoxication, including the fire-starter known as Sterno, is documented in one of his most famous tunes, "Canned Heat Blues," which gave the name to one of the most respected blues revival bands of the 1960s. Tommy Johnson recorded but 17 songs, recently compiled for the first time; his plaintive falsetto is his signature, and an affecting one it is. Despite his preference in intoxicants, he lived until 1956, though he never recorded again.

From the vantage point of the present era, however, it was a young roustabout named Robert Johnson who was to prove the most influential of the lot. His idiosyncratic yet driving sense of rhythm, virtuoso guitar work and manic personality make his songs at once traditional yet original. One can hear the influence of Son House in Johnson's "Preachin' Blues," of Skip James in his "32-20 Blues," of Charlie Patton or Kokomo Arnold, but once Robert Johnson is done with them, they're his songs. Johnson's originals include "Crossroads Blues," "Dust My Broom," "Sweet Home Chicago" and countless other songs that form the core of many a bar band's repertoire even today, but it's the haunting, autobiographical songs such as "Hellhound on My Trail" that speak across the years.

Much has been written about Robert Johnson, and his brief life has become the stuff of legend. With all the blues musicians working the streets of the South during the 20s and 30s, this legend raises more questions than it answers. Surely his guitar playing is technically interesting, his rhythm driving, his voice affecting; but others had similar skills. What made Robert Johnson so appealing to the rock'n'roll generations that followed may be his very youth - he died at 27 - and his "soul," for lack of a better word.

He brought a youthful exuberance to the blues: he made having "that low-down heart disease" sound like fun. He was, in short, a romantic, and in some way inhabits his music - or is possessed by it - in a way that Charlie Patton or Tommy Johnson is not. You could say this makes Robert Johnson a "method" musician, and perhaps the first "beat" artist - like Kerouac, Brando and Dylan to follow.

Johnson's playing and vocals were extraordinary, but his career was all too brief: he died in 1938, probably poisoned by a jealous husband. Forty years later, Robert Johnson became the first blues artist to "go platinum" when the double-CD box set of all his recordings was released.

 Birth of the Blues

 Early Delta Blues

 Sweet Home Chicago

 The Kings of the Blues

 Women, Texans and World Blues

© 2003 by Christian Kallen

Resources

Roots of Robert Johnson: Various Artists

Many of the artists and their songs that influenced the legendary bluesman.

Tommy Johnson: Complete
Recorded Works

Just 17 songs from the guy who really sold his soul to the devil - and 'canned heat.'

Robert Johnson: Complete Recordings

Box set of his entire recorded work on two CDs - 29 songs, 41 tracks.