Robert johnson biography blues music

He noted the "personal and creative way" Johnson approached the song's harmony. In a review, he compared elements of John Lee Hooker 's recent debut " Boogie Chillen ": "His [Hooker's] dynamic rhythms and subtle nuances on the guitar and his startling disregard for familiar scale and harmony patterns show similarity to the work of Robert Johnson, who made many fine records in this vein.

Samuel Charters drew further attention to Johnson in a five-page section in his book, The Country Blues. He focused on the two Johnson recordings that referred to images of the devil or hell — "Hellhound on My Trail" and "Me and the Devil Blues" — to suggest that Johnson was a deeply troubled individual. Charters also included Johnson's "Preachin' Blues" on the album published alongside his book.

Johnson is mentioned as one of the Delta artists who was a strong influence on blues singers in post-war styles. The execution of a driving bass beat on a plectrum instrument like the guitar instead of the piano is Johnson's most influential accomplishment This is the aspect of his music that most changed the Delta blues practice and is most retained in the blues guitar tradition.

This technique has been called a "boogie bass pattern" or "boogie shuffle" and is described as a "fifth—sixth [ degrees of a major scale ] oscillation above the root chord ". It was similar to a piano boogie bass [which] I learned from R. In the early thirties, boogie was rare on the guitar, something to be heard. Johnson's influence upon Elmore James's music always remained powerful: his falsetto voice, almost shrill, and the intensive use of the "walking" bass notes of the boogie-woogie, several pieces of James' repertoire were borrowed from Johnson e.

James' version is identified as "one of the first recorded examples of what was to become the classic Chicago shuffle beat". Several of Johnson's songs became blues standardswhich is used to describe blues songs that have been widely performed and recorded over a period of time and are seen as having a lasting quality. In the mids, rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry adapted the boogie pattern on guitar for his songs " Roll Over Beethoven " and " Johnny B.

Goode ". The pattern "became one of the signature figures in early electric guitar-based rock and roll, such as that of Chuck Berry and the numerous rock musicians of the s who were influenced by Berry", according to Perone. Two marriage licenses for Johnson have been located in county records offices. The ages given in these certificates point to different birth dates, but Conforth and Wardlow suggest that Johnson lied about his age in order to obtain a marriage license.

Robert johnson biography blues music: Robert Johnson, an itinerant blues

He was not listed among his mother's children in the census giving further credence to a birthdate. Although the census gives his age as 7, suggesting he was born in orthe entry showing his attendance at Indian Creek School, in Tunica, Mississippi [ when? Five significant dates from his career are documented: Monday, Thursday and Friday, November 23, 26 and 27,at a recording session in San Antonio, Texas; and Saturday and Sunday, June 19 and 20,at a recording session in Dallas.

His death certificate, discovered inlists the date and location of his death. Record collectors admired Johnson's records from the time of their first release, and efforts were made to discover information about him, with virtually no success. Inthe sleeve notes to the album King of the Delta Blues Singers included reminiscences by Don Law who had recorded Johnson in Law added to the mystique surrounding Johnson, representing him as very young and extraordinarily shy.

The blues researcher Mack McCormick began researching Johnson's family background inbut died in without publishing his findings. McCormick's research eventually became as much a legend as Johnson himself. A revised summary acknowledging major contributors was written by Stephen LaVere for the booklet accompanying Robert Johnson, The Complete Recordings box set The documentary film The Search for Robert Johnson contains accounts by McCormick and Wardlow of what informants have told them: long interviews of David "Honeyboy" Edwards and Johnny Shines and short interviews of surviving friends and family.

Shines, Edwards and Robert Jr. Lockwood contribute interviews. These published biographical sketches achieve coherent narratives, partly by ignoring reminiscences and hearsay accounts which contradict or conflict with their accounts. Until the s, it was believed that no images of Johnson had survived. However, three images of Johnson were located in andin the possession of his half-sister Carrie Thompson.

The "dime-store photo" was first published, almost in passing, in an issue of Rolling Stone magazine inand the studio portrait in a article by Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow in 78 Quarterly. Because Mississippi courts in determined that Robert Johnson's heir was Claud Johnson, a son born out of wedlock, the estate share of all monies paid to LaVere by CBS and others ended up going to Claud Johnson, and attempts by the heirs of Carrie Thompson to obtain a ruling that the photographs were her personal property and not part of the estate were dismissed.

McCormick's daughter donated the archive to the Smithsonian Institution in and encouraged museum staff to facilitate the return of the photograph to Johnson's descendants; as ofThe Washington Post reported that the museum had agreed to return the photograph and was awaiting instructions from the Johnson family. Another photograph, purporting to show Johnson posing with the blues musician Johnny Shineswas published in the November issue of Vanity Fair magazine.

Robert johnson biography blues music: Robert Johnson (born c. , Hazlehurst,

Further, both "Honeyboy" Edwards and Robert Jr. Lockwood failed to identify either man in the photo. Facial recognition software concluded that neither man was Johnson or Shines. Finally, Gibson claimed the photo was from to but it is known that Johnson did not meet Shines until early There are a number of reasons why the photograph is unlikely to be Johnson: it has been proven that Craft died before Johnson met Coleman, the clothing could not be prior to the late s, the furniture is from the s, the Coca-Cola bottle cannot be from prior toetc.

A third photograph of Johnson, this time smiling, was published in It is believed to have been taken in Memphis on the same occasion as the verified photograph of him with a guitar and cigarette part of the "dime-store" setand is in the possession of Annye Anderson, Johnson's step-sister Anderson is the daughter of Charles Dodds, later Spencer, who was married to Robert's mother but was not his father.

As a child, Anderson grew up in the same family as Johnson and has claimed to have been present, aged 10 or 11, on the occasion the photograph was taken. This photograph was published in Vanity Fair in Mayas the cover image for a book, Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnsonwritten by Anderson in collaboration with author Preston Lauterbach, [ ] and is considered to be authentic by Johnson scholar Elijah Wald.

Johnson left no will. The relationship was attested to by a friend, Eula Mae Williams, but other relatives descended from Robert Johnson's half-sister, Carrie Harris Thompson, contested Claud Johnson's claim. Eleven rpm records by Johnson were released by Vocalion Records in andwith additional pressings by ARC budget labels. Ina twelfth was issued posthumously.

The Complete Recordingsa two-disc set, released on August 28,contains almost everything Johnson recorded, with all 29 recordings, and 12 alternate takes. To celebrate the th anniversary of Johnson's birth, May 8,Sony Legacy released Robert Johnson: The Centennial Collectiona re-mastered 2-CD set of all 42 of his recordings [ ] and two brief fragments, one of Johnson practicing a guitar figure and the other of Johnson saying, presumably to engineer Don Law, "I wanna go on with our next one myself.

He is often considered the first member of the so-called " 27 Club ," a group of musicians who have died at that age. InJohnson was featured on a U. The episode incorporates a bit of Johnson's singing and playing. Me and the Devil Bluesa Japanese manga series that takes its title from the song of the same name by Robert Johnson, chronicles a fictional version of Johnson's life, as a man called "RJ" who sells his soul to the devil for a talent for playing the blues.

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Robert johnson biography blues music: Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, –

Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. American blues musician — For other people named Robert Johnson, see Robert Johnson disambiguation. Not to be confused with Lonnie Johnson. Musical artist. Life and career [ edit ]. Early life [ edit ]. Itinerant musician [ edit ].

Recording sessions [ edit ]. Death [ edit ]. Gravesite [ edit ]. Devil legend [ edit ]. Various accounts [ edit ]. Interpretations [ edit ]. Musical style [ edit ]. Voice [ edit ]. Instrument [ edit ]. Lyrics [ edit ]. Influences [ edit ]. Legacy [ edit ]. Early recognition and reviews [ edit ]. Musicianship [ edit ]. Contemporaries [ edit ].

Blues standards [ edit ]. Rock music [ edit ]. Problems of biography [ edit ]. The thing about Robert Johnson was that he only existed on his records. He was pure legend. Photographs [ edit ]. Descendants [ edit ]. Discography [ edit ]. Awards and recognition [ edit ]. In popular culture [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Retrieved September 25, Retrieved May 18, Mississippi Blues Trail. Living Blues. ISSN Retrieved May 22, Retrieved April 15, Retrieved April 2, Retrieved December 5, — via YouTube. US National Park Service. October 25, Retrieved February 21, Shortly after joining his mother in Arkansas, the family moved across the Mississippi river to trade in the Mississippi Delta region near Robinsonville and Tunica.

It was during this period that Johnson began learning how to play the jaw harp and the harmonica, soon becoming quite good at them. What would set Johnson apart from his contemporary blues musicians was the relatively good education he received in Memphis and Tunica. For a boy of his background, he was surprisingly literate and well-educated, something that might have probably helped him as a songwriter in the future.

Robert Johnson was eventually informed by his mother of his biological father, Noah Johnson. Willis was an abusive husband and father and he forced Johnson to work with him on the field. He soon left Robinsonville for the region around Martinsville, which was close to his place of birth, in search of his real father. It is said that when Robert Johnson robert johnson biography blues music Robinsonville, he was a good harmonica and jaw harp player but a very bad guitar player.

Upon arriving at Martinsville, Johnson set about trying to master the guitar. He aspired to become a great blues guitarist like blues musician Son Housewhom he had met in Robinsonville. Son House would later remember Johnson as a little boy who was a good harmonica player but an embarrassingly bad guitarist. Zimmerman was so good at playing the guitar that he was rumored to have learned and mastered the instrument supernaturally by visiting graveyards at midnight and practicing and playing as spirits took over control of his fingers.

Legend has it that every midnight, Zimmerman and Johnson visited a graveyard, sat on the tombstones, and played and practiced the guitar, learning and mastering the instrument supernaturally. His sudden mastery over the guitar took everyone by surprise, even compelling his more established contemporaries in Robinsonville like Son House to be in awe of him.

It was then that rumors began circulating of his pact with the devil, a rumor that would go on to become the most famous, mysterious, and iconic legend in music history. According to this legend, Johnson had a deep desire to become a great blues musician and was told to go with his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation in Mississippi at midnight.

Johnson did as he was told, and at the crossroad, he got down on his knees and was met by a large black man the Devil who took his guitar, tuned it, played a few songs, and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. It was at that moment, the legend goes, that Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for mastery over the instrument.

The exact location of the crossroad is still uncertain and debated, with several different accounts claiming several different locations. By then Johnson was trying to make a career out of being a blues musician by playing in juke joints, street corners, dances, etc. Johnson and Virginia married nonetheless against the wishes of her family, and Virginia died in childbirth soon after.

Even though he had decided to dedicate his life to becoming a traveling blues musician and abandon the conventional family life, Robert Johnson could not help but marry a woman named Caletta Craft in May He even settled down with Caletta briefly in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Robert Johnson is considered to be one of the greatest blues performers of all time.

Part of his mythology is a story of how he gained his musical talents by making a bargain with the devil. He died at age 27 as the suspected victim of a deliberate poisoning. A singer and guitarist, Johnson is considered to be one of the greatest blues performers of all time. But this recognition came to him largely after his death. During his brief career, Johnson traveled around, playing wherever he could.

The acclaim for Johnson's work is based on the 29 songs that he wrote and recorded in Dallas and San Antonio from to Johnson came to the attention of many musicians and won over new fans with a reissue of his work in the s. His influence extends to countless musicians and the genre as a whole. Despite the brevity of his career, Johnson's music has left an enduring mark on American culture.

The reissue of his complete recordings in the s ensured that his legacy would continue to inspire generations to come. Robert Johnson American singer, bluesman, guitarist and songwriter Date of Birth: Contact About Privacy. James Morrison. Freddie King.