1. An American… Read Full Bio ↴There are several artists by the name Robert Johnson:
1. An American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter (1911-1938) amongst the most famous of Delta blues musicians; ranked fifth in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time; considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll"
2. An English lutenist and composer of the late Tudorian and early Jacobean eras (c.1580-c.1634)
3. A 1970s Memphis-based American guitarist
4. A former drummer for KC and the Sunshine Band
1. Robert Johnson (Robert Leroy Johnson, Hazlehurst, Mississippi, May 8, 1911- Greenwood, Mississippi, August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter, among the most famous of Delta blues musicians.
His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend.
The first songs to appear were Terraplane Blues and Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Terraplane Blues became a moderate regional hit, selling 5,000 copies.
Other songs Johnson recorded were Come On In My Kitchen, Kind Hearted Woman Blues, I Believe I'll Dust My Broom, and Cross Road Blues.
Come on in My Kitchen included the lines:
"The woman I love took from my best friend / Some joker got lucky, stole her back again / You better come on in my kitchen, it's going to be rainin' outdoors."
In Crossroad Blues, another of his songs, he sang:
"I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees / I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees / I asked the Lord above, have mercy, save poor Bob if you please / Uumb, standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride / Standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride / Ain't nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by."
Stones In My Passway and Me And The Devil are both about betrayal, a recurrent theme in country blues. Hell Hound On My Trail utilises another common theme: fear of the Devil. Other themes in Johnson's music include impotence (Dead Shrimp Blues and Phonograph Blues) and infidelity (Terraplane Blues, If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day and Love in Vain).
The most widely-known legend surrounding Robert Johnson says that he sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 61 and U.S. Highway 49 in Clarksdale, Mississippi in exchange for prowess in playing the guitar. Actually, the location Johnson made reference to is a short distance away from that intersection. The Faustian legend was told mainly by Son House, but finds no corroboration in any of Johnson's work, despite titles like Me and the Devil Blues and Hellhound on My Trail. With this said, the song Cross Road Blues is both widely and loosely interpreted by many as a descriptive encounter of Johnson selling his soul.
The older Tommy Johnson (no relation, although it is speculated that they were cousins), by contrast, also claimed to have sold his soul to the Devil. The story goes that if one would go to the crossroads a little before midnight and begin to play the guitar, a large black man would come up to the aspiring guitarist, retune his guitar and then hand it back. At this point (so the legend goes) the guitarist had sold his soul to become a virtuoso (A similar legend even surrounded virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini a century before.
His death remains a matter of controversy. Some accounts state that he was given poisoned whiskey at a dance by the husband of a woman he had been secretly seeing. Others claim that it was just The Devil collecting his debt after the old legend of Robert Johnson dealing with the devil.
However, the latest, and unfortunately less dramatic and more plausible theory (published by David Connell in the British Medical Journal) is that Robert Johnson suffered from Marfan's Syndrome. Marfan's is a genetic disorder characterized by disproportionately long limbs, long thin fingers, a tall stature — all of which can be seen in the two photos that exist of Robert Johnson. Marfan's Syndrome is a cause of heart defects, and a complication such as an aortic dissection could lead to Robert Johnson's excruciatingly painful death.
Eleven 78s were released on the Vocalion label during his lifetime, with a twelfth issued posthumously. All songs are copyrighted to Robert Johnson, and his estate.
The Complete Recordings: A double-disc box set was released on August 28, 1990, containing almost everything Robert Johnson ever recorded, with all 29 recordings, and 12 alternate takes. (There is one further alternate, of
Traveling Riverside Blues which was released on Sony's King of the Delta Blues Singers CD and also as an extra in early printings of the paperback edition of Elijah Wald's "Escaping the Delta."
Grammy Awards:
1990 — Best Historical Album The Complete Recordings (Sony/Columbia) Legacy Winner
Grammy Hall of Fame:
1998 — Cross Road Blues (Single) (1936, Vocalion)
National Recording Registry:
The Complete Recordings of Robert Johnson (1936-1937) was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2003.
The board selects songs in an annual basis that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included four songs by Robert Johnson in the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll:
Sweet Home Chicago (1936),
Cross Road Blues (1936),
Hellhound on My Trail (1937),
Love in Vain (1937)
The Blues Foundation Awards:
Robert Johnson: Blues Music Awards
1991 Vintage or Reissue Album The Complete Recordings Winner
Honors and inductions
On September 17, 1994 the U.S. Post Office issues a Robert Johnson 29-cent commemorative postage stamp.
2006 — Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Winner accepted by son Claud Johnson
2000 — Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame Inducted
1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducted Early Influences
1980 — Blues Hall of Fame Inducted
He was also ranked fifth in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll", his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians, including Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton.
2. Robert Johnson (c.1580-c.1634) was an English lutenist and composer of the late Tudorian and early Jacobean eras. He was the son of John Johnson.
3. Memphis-based Robert Johnson has been recording since the early '70s. Some early appearances were on recordings by the Hot Dogs, a band that featured Jack Holder and Greg Reding, later to cross the Mississippi River and become members of the raunchy hard-rocking Black Oak Arkansas.
By the late '70s, Johnson had recorded a single with the Bell Heirs and had established a somewhat regular playing relationship with a rhythm section featuring bassist Dave Cochran and drummer Blair Cunningham. The Infinity label released the premier Johnson effort as a leader, an album entitled Close Personal Friend, yet a collection entitled The Memphis Demos, which came out the following year, is considered to be a much better representation of his work, not the first time a musician's more casual performances beat out a supposedly more serious album project.
4) Robert Johnson was a former drummer for KC and the Sunshine Band
Up Country Blues
Robert Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I's up this mornin'
Ah, blues walkin' like a man
I's up this mornin'
Ah, blues walkin' like a man
Worried blues
Give me your right hand
Tore me all upside-down
Blues fell, mam's child
And it tore me all upside down
Travel on, poor Bob
Just can't turn you 'round
The blues
Is a low-down shakin' chill
Yes, preach 'em now
Mmmmm-mmmmm
Is a low-down shakin' chill
You ain't never had 'em, I
Hope you never will
Well, the blues
Is a achin' old heart disease
Do it, now
You gon' do it?
Tell me all about it
Said the blues
Is a low-down achin' heart disease
Like consumption
Killing me by degrees
I can study rain
Oh, oh drive, oh, oh, drive my blues
I been studyin' the rain and
I'm gon drive my blues away
Goin' to the 'stil'ry
Stay out there all day
Robert Johnson's song "Preaching Blues" is a classic blues number that exemplifies the style of the Delta blues. The song is about an individual who is "up this morning" and is encountering the blues "walking like a man." The blues is personified as a malevolent entity that an individual feels they can't escape. There's a sense of desperation in the lyrics, as the singer says "worried blues, give me your right hand," which can be seen as a plea for the blues to stop plaguing him. Johnson then goes on to say that the blues "fell, mama's child" and "tore me all upside down." The imagery of the blues as something that grips someone and shakes them until they're upside down is a powerful metaphor for the emotional and psychological affect the blues has on individuals.
The song then moves into a call-and-response segment where Johnson laments the blues as a "low-down shakin' chill" that is like an "achin' old heart disease." He furthers the parallel by saying, "Like consumption, killing me by degrees." Johnson is painting a bleak picture of the effect the blues can have on an individual. The song ends with Johnson saying he's "gonna drive my blues away" by going to the "stil'ry" and staying there all day. The song's message is clear: the blues are something that can grip someone completely and totally, to the point where they feel like they can't escape its clutches.
Line by Line Meaning
Mmmmm-mmmmm
The singer is making a sound to express the feeling of the blues.
I's up this mornin'
The singer woke up this morning.
Ah, blues walkin' like a man
The singer feels like the blues are a person walking around, perhaps indicating that they are pervasive in the singer's life.
Worried blues
The blues are causing the artist to worry.
Give me your right hand
The blues seem to be calling out to the artist for help or comfort.
And the blues fell, mama's child
The blues seem to have afflicted the singer from a young age, as if they were passed on to the singer from their mother.
Tore me all upside-down
The blues have a disruptive effect on the singer's life and emotions.
Travel on, poor Bob
The artist, who refers to himself as 'poor Bob,' can't seem to escape the influence of the blues.
Just can't turn you 'round
Despite the artist's efforts, the blues keep coming back and causing disruptions in the artist's life.
The blues
Referring to the same pervasive feeling of sadness and worry throughout the song.
Is a low-down shakin' chill
The blues are an uncomfortable, even painful feeling.
Yes, preach 'em now
Indicates agreement or encouragement, perhaps egging on the person preaching the blues to continue.
You ain't never had 'em, I
The singer hopes the listener has never had to experience the blues.
Hope you never will
The singer wishes for the listener to never feel the blues, suggesting that the feeling is burdensome or hard to overcome.
Well, the blues
The singer is introducing another point about the blues.
Is a achin' old heart disease
The feeling of the blues is like a disease that affects the heart, causing emotional pain and discomfort.
Do it, now
A command or encouragement to take action, perhaps to overcome the blues.
You gon' do it?
A question to the listener, asking whether they will take action to alleviate their own blues.
Tell me all about it
An invitation to the listener to share their experience with the blues and seek advice or comfort.
Said the blues
The artist is referring back to the blues.
Is a low-down achin' heart disease
Repeating earlier sentiments that the blues cause emotional pain and discomfort like a disease.
Like consumption
Drawing a comparison to tuberculosis, a disease that often causes wasting away of the body and mind.
Killing me by degrees
The singer is suggesting that the emotional pain of the blues is slowly killing them.
I can study rain
The artist is suggesting that they have researched or tried various methods to overcome the blues, perhaps indicating a sense of desperation.
Oh, oh drive, oh, oh, drive my blues
The singer is trying to drive their blues away through some action, leaving the specifics open-ended.
I been studyin' the rain and
Repeating earlier sentiments and perhaps indicating a lack of progress in overcoming the blues.
I'm gon drive my blues away
Reiterating the goal to overcome the blues.
Goin' to the 'stil'ry
The artist is going to a place called the 'stillery,' which could be interpreted as seeking alcohol for solace or indulging in a habit that might worsen the situation.
Stay out there all day
Implies that the artist will be at the stillery all day, suggesting a potentially dangerous or unproductive response to the blues.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Brownie Mc Ghee
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Keb Mo and get it bluesy
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@pimslickins710
I'm 59 years old & was raised in Mississippi. I lived on a soybean & cattle farm. I worked with black farmhands whose ancestors worked the same land as slaves. For the same family. I got to experience first hand the drinking and blues playing in old electrified slave quarters. No running water. Just power. Tin roofs that would lull you to sleep at night if it was "drizzling". My alcoholic father had thrown me out at 16 & I went to work on that farm. The old shack I lived in still had newspapers on the wall from 1913 that was used as insulation. Complete with an outhouse. Labor laws were a joke & I'm grateful for it. I lived in a house that slaves built, worked and lived in. I didn't realize it at the time because of being young but I lived in a real part of history. I took a google walk around the edges of the old place a few days ago & though it's gravel roads are gone & it's been bulldozed and lies underneath overgrowth, I can pin point the exact spot where my beautiful little home was. I became a man there & learned so much from those old, black gentlemen. I miss the crap out of it. Hard work and all.
@ricknielsen3660
It touches your soul doesn’t it ❤
@shaserv
Oh, man best comment I ever read. Thanks my brother.
@tinapippiditlevsen4796
Wooow thank you sooo much for telling you story! ❤