Yo OG Robert Johnson, i have his complete box set with his music and story. Its crazy how in the songs it really sounds like 2 guitar players, but its only him
Could it be there really was another player, a spiritual, invisible player...hmmm, hellhound on my trail! I think Robert was just so totally given to his music after marrying twice and losing both partners quickly, that the only way he knew how to life was as a rambling man, giving rise to hundreds/thousands of like minded musicians afterwards. Whatever the case, such great tunes he left behind, the legacy of the delta blues!
Robert Johnson was phenomenally talented and I'm glad you showcased his story here. I'd love it if you would do a piece on another great, and little known, American blues artist, Elizabeth Cotten. Listen to her song Freight Train sometime and notice that she plays a right hand guitar left handed. She taught herself on banjo at age 7 and played stringed instruments upside down all of her life. Thanks for the blues break, Simon. Blessings all!!
It's hard to imagine what else Robert Johnson could have achieved since he influenced all the iconic artists he did from only a few hours of recordings. If Johnson had lived and worked at the same place for another five or ten years... Hard to imagine!
Kind of funny that they named a character based on Robert Johnson Tommy Johnson since, around the same time, in Mississippi, there was another Delta blues musician who's name was Tommy Johnson.
That alleged footage of Johnson playing on the streets has been disproved. The movie theater in the background was advertising a film that was released a few years after his death.
I've been studying Blues for 50 years. His recordings are perfection. Blues isn't about hot licks and extraordinary technique, it's all about tone, phrasing, and timing. Granted, Johnson's techniques are not easy to master... but the man had a gift that blossomed. Sometimes, a properly placed rest (silence) is the hottest lick... and singing... so many guitarists ignore the power of the vocal instrument, and how difficult it is to master. This is the best bio on Johnson I've come across... short and sweet, to the point, no fluff. Blues is what feelings sound like...
She said "you don't see why That I will dog her 'round" Now baby you know you ain't doin' me right, now She say "you don't see why, hoo That I would dog her 'round" It must-a been that old evil spirit So deep down in the ground
Obviously I never met Robert Johnson. But I did meet the son of a legendary fife player and ultimately the legendary fife player himself, Otha Turner. Met him in 2002 or 2003 shortly before he passed. I use to play guitar after I would get of work when Mac came in and pointed at me saying "I knew you could play!" Told me about his dad who at the time I had no idea who he was. But he mentioned his dad had been acquainted with Robert Johnson when they were young. When I finally met Otha he had heard about me being a guitar player and said I should bring it down to his house sometime to play. I laughed. He shook my hand when he left and he said "The hand you just shook, shook the hand of Robert Johnson."...I was floored and it just felt surreal. Rest in peace.
@umbrellajax Yeah, it's either the prince of darkness or history forgot 2 poor, JIm Crow era, black people's names (coincidentally, it forgot 99.9% of all their names). STFU and quit running the name of someone you've never met through the dirt. That behavior sounds way more satanic to me than playing a guitar well. Hey, look. A black man was mysteriously found dead on the side of the road in Jim Crow Mississippi. It's obviously magic. Lol. You people are fucked in the head.
Like many, I had heard of the legend of Robert Johnson, but until recently, the legend was shrouded in mystery, and was somewhat murky. This episode has cleared a few things up.
I like how this channel feels like a very Proper documentary, whilst still keeping a lot of entertaining information to prevent the usual dryness history has.
I worked in Hollywood for a few years, and was on a crappy tv show that had some actors who had worked on the movie Crossroads...they hated, HATED the final result of that movie. It was supposed to be a lot darker, and much more mysterious and creepy, but after a few producers, writers and directors were done with it, it was lightweight, feel good stuff. I think it was Joe Morton who told me that he had originally been very excited to do the film, but it had completely changed...he was a very intense actor.
The writer of the original story said there were 3 different endings . None of which he wrote and they went with the lamest ending. I bought the vcr tape for $25.00. I thought it was a bargain.
@@thewalkingthrones9165 Joe was on this bad tv series called Equal Justice in 1990, I can't remember when I started on it but it only lasted a couple of seasons...the cool thing was that there were people like him and Sarah Jessica Parker on it too, a lot of them went on to have much better roles. The show was really bad...everyone was fun though...
10.47 didn't even realise he was a thing. A thing? He wasn't a thing, he was a person, a person with a great talent who died far to early but thankfully he left us 2 albums of his music to remember him by. This has quite probably given us the music we've got today, it's absolutely amazing how many musicians and how much music exists today because of those 2 Albums. However he was never, ever a thing!
That was tommy johnson. Real guy who wasnt robert johnson
4 года назад
Robert Johnson was the one who really got me into blues. Sure I'd often heard blues before, but his very unique style made me really dig deeper.. and now, many years later, I still find myself humming his tunes from time to time.
I live in the 'sip (Mississippi), and it's amazing how many people here don't know who RJ is. I play his records in my house every Sunday while we clean and he is a major part of our family's soundtrack. The pain in his voice captures the agony that was being a sharecropper in MS in the 30s (something that unfortunately has not changed much in the Delta). I found the crossroad where they alleged he sold his soul, and we will be making a road trip soon to visit it. Thank you for shining a light on Robert, he deserves every mention.
The movie Crossroads is a really good telling of what Robert Johnson means to what then became rock and roll. It also shows how music is transcendent from classical to modern music and Steve Vai is amazing in it. Great video Simon!
Ah, Crossroads ... the movie that teaches us the blues is all well & good, but you can't win a blues guitar shootout with the devil without playing the music of dead white classical composers.
I wish you would have mentioned John Fogerty or his band Credence Clearwater Revival. John himself has personally credited his musical career to Johnson. In fact, after not playing his own music from CCR at live shows for over 15 years due to the terrible personal and legal troubles culminating from the band's ultimate breakup, it took a 1990 visit to the place recognized as Johnson's grave to convince him to finally start playing them again. It resulted in a Grammy winning live album "Premonition" and a Grammy for album of the year in "Blue Moon Swamp" just a few years later.
I just wrote a term paper on Robert Johnson. Its twice as long as the recommended length and one of the best papers I've written. This video was my first encounter with Robert Johnson, so I want to thank you for introducing me to such fantastic musician.
Faustian deals are not new in music. Maybe a bio on Niccolo Paganini? He was claimed to be one of the people who sold their soul to the devil. Love it when you guys do musicians. Stay safe Simon and the rest of the Biographics team!
"The medium is the message" ~ Marshall McLuhan. In two recording sessions Robert Johnson changed pop music. But that change did not come about until decades later. And only then because young men who were by the late 1950's dedicated to understanding and deconstructing the influence of recorded music - pop, or popular music - of their day. Had it not been for Don Law's 1936/7 recordings the "folk music" revivalists of the mid 20th century would not have been able to find him. The portable device Law used was adapted from a surplus US Navy wire recording dictaphone since there were no electronic reel to reel tape recorders and Law did not travel with a portable direct-to-disk (not disc) lathe in order to "cut a record" which as an actual thing back then
I thoroughly enjoyed this biography. Pardon me for showing off with my contribution to the legend before I took the time to acknowledge the writing. Particularly appreciated was the exposition on how contemporary culture discovered and embraced Johnson's guitar virtuosity in the 90's
The blues is an amazing genre it wasn't started in high class recording studios or concert halls. No it was started in dive bars, down old country roads, on someones front porch. its obscure origins make it the ghost of the music family
Tommy Johnson was a real person and actually predates Robert Johnson as a recording artist. His most well known song is called 'Canned Heat Blues', which is where the band Canned Heat got their name. And Tommy Johnson was the one who was supposed to have sold his soul before Robert Johnson became the focus of that tale. The two were born about 20 miles from each other but they have completely different sounds. Robert Johnson would go on to influence people like Muddy Waters, Keith Richards, and Eric Clapton while Tommy Johnson is so obscure that I don't even blame people for not knowing that the character in Oh Brother wasn't based on Robert Johnson.
Good show today. When you said that he was 27 years old when he died, my mind immediately went back to the question, how many young musicians died at age 27? Think about it, there are several. Janis Joplin, Cass Eliot, Jimmy Hendrix and Robert Johnson. How many others were there, and why? Vaughn
Robert Johnson recorded his classics about 10 minutes from where I live. The hotel is haunted anyway, even before Robert did his thing, but the square of that area has always been known as the Devils Square. For some reason, there are hundreds of stories of demons or the big D himself, showing up and dancing with women who are smitten until they look down and see that their dance partner has hooves instead of regular feet. Canary Islanders had a cemetary there in the 1730s, so the spirits are probably restless since there are mercado and hotels built over them. There are also stories of people seeing grim reapers rising up and following late night revelers...
@@tdubya75 This is in San Antonio. Right near the Alamo. The Menger Hotel is also right next to the Alamo, been there since the Alamo fell, and was built on ground that had been fought over. That is one haunted hotel! Ghost tours practically guarantee you'll see paranormal activity because it's so common. Also, a lot of people used to move into the hotel when they were sick, coming in from their ranches miles away to be seen by the doctor and waited on by staff who could bring them food, etc. A lot of people naturally died there from different illnesses, so their spirits seem to be around too. I love the Menger, it feels very active, but not threatening or scary. I think people who die just don't want to leave. I'd haunt it, it's so beautiful and old fashioned!
christine paris No kidding? I was in San Antonio not too long ago with a few days to kill. Wish I had known about it. Definitely would have checked it out. Next time for sure.
I love all the songs of the most famous celebrities who died at the age of 27, such as: Robert Johnson (05/08/1911 - 08/16/1938), Brian Jones - the founder of The Rolling Stones (02/28/1942 - 07/03/1969), Jimi Hendrix (11/27/1942 - 09/18/1970), Janis Joplin (01/19/1943 - 10/04/1970), Jim Morrison - singer of The Doors (12/08/1943 - 07/03/1971), Kurt Cobain - the founder of Nirvana (02/20/1967 - 04/05/1994) and Amy Winehouse (09/14/1983 - 07/23/2011). There are so many others musicians who died at the age of 27 years old, but those I've mentioned, defenitely are the most famous!
Wonder if he's related to Eric Johnson (of Cliffs of Dover fame). I heard He also made a deal with the Devil. No one knows what Eric got, but the Devil got some guitar lessons.
There’s an excellent argument that his recordings were pitched too high in order to fit more on the old 78rpm records. People worked it out by trying to figure out the tuning on his guitar. Slowing down the recordings to make the guitar into a standard tuning also made his voice sound much more natural.
