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in: Artists, Covered

Robert Johnson

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(This page is about the blues musician. For the pop rock artist of the same name, see Robert Johnson(2)).
Robert-Johnson

"I don't suppose anything's ever written anything about Robert Johnson without using the word 'tormented'. [1]

"The very best there ever was, probably." [2]

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. He is now recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style.

As an itinerant performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime. He participated in only two recording sessions, one in San Antonio in 1936, and one in Dallas in 1937, that produced 29 distinct songs (with 13 surviving alternate takes) recorded by famed Country Music Hall of Fame producer Don Law. These songs, recorded at low fidelity in improvised studios, were the totality of his recorded output. Most were released as 10-inch, 78 rpm singles from 1937–1938, with a few released. Other than these recordings, very little was known of him during his life outside of the small musical circuit in the Mississippi Delta where he spent most of his life; much of his story has been reconstructed after his death by researchers. Johnson's poorly documented life and death have given rise to much legend. The one most closely associated with his life is that he sold his soul to the devil at a local crossroads to achieve musical success.

His music had a small, but influential, following during his life and in the two decades after his death. In late 1938 John Hammond sought him out for a concert at Carnegie Hall, From Spirituals to Swing, only to discover he did not have money. Brunswick Records, which owned the original recordings, was bought by Columbia Records, where Hammond was employed. Musicologist Alan Lomax went to Mississippi in 1941 to record Johnson, also not knowing of his death. Law, who by then worked for Columbia Records, assembled a collection of Johnson's recordings titled King of the Delta Blues Singers that was released by Columbia in 1961. It is widely credited with finally bringing Johnson's work to a wider audience. The album would become influential, especially on the nascent British blues movement; Eric Clapton has called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived." Musicians such as Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, and Robert Plant have cited both Johnson's lyrics and musicianship as key influences on their own work. Many of Johnson's songs have been covered over the years, becoming hits for other artists, and his guitar licks and lyrics have been borrowed by many later musicians....(Read more)

Links to Peel[]

Peel played Johnson's music throughout his career, although in his early years at Radio 1 mostly in cover versions. In the late 1960s both he and fellow DJ Mike Raven would feature pre-war country blues tracks, but often by earlier Mississippi bluesmen like Son House, Bukka White, Skip James and Charley Patton. Indeed, for many blues record colectors of the time, Johnson was not the "king of the Delta blues singers" as the CBS LP title had claimed. Nevertheless, his music was more "modern" and thus more influential on later artists - as mentioned above. In 1968-69 JP played a couple of rare Johnson tracks which had been included on anthology albums of vintage Mississippi blues, and when, in 1970, a second volume of Johnson's recordings was issued on LP, Peel played "Love In Vain" from it. The song had recently been covered by the Rolling Stones on their live album Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!

Peel included two cuts in successive years of the Peelenium. He obviously had a high regard for Johnson's musicianship and cited 32-20 Blues as his personal favourite. When the King Of The Delta Blues LPs were superseded by Columbia's remastered double CD set in 1990, JP took the opportunity to revisit Johnson's material, especially if the songs had notable covers or referenced his titles (for example, Half Man Half Biscuit's reworking of If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day as If I Had Possession Over Pancake Day).

A 1970 session by Johnny Shines, who had toured with Johnson, contained a cover of Kind Hearted Woman in the style of the original: "that's what it should sound like", as JP said.

Festive Fifty Entries[]

  • None
    Robert_Johnson_-_Come_on_in_my_Kitchen

Peelenium[]

Sessions[]

  • None

Shows Played[]

1968
  • 10 April 1968: I Believe I'll Dust My Broom (probably from v/a anthology Blues Roots, Mississippi (RBF 14) praised by JP in International Times - track was unavailable elswehere)
1969
  • 22 June 1969: Sweet Home Chicago (track not yet available on an official Robert Johnson LP release, so possibly from v/a album issued in 1969: The Mississippi Blues, No.3: Transition, 1926-1937) Origin Jazz Library OJL-17
1970
  • 05 December 1970: Love In Vain (LP - The King Of The Delta Blues Singers Vol.2) CBS
1977
1978
  • 17 May 1978: I Believe I'll Dust My Broom (LP - King Of The Delta Blues Singers Vol. II) Columbia
1979
1980
  • 21 July 1980: Terraplane Blues (album - King Of The Delta Blues Singers)
1981
1983
1984
1986
  • 17 March 1986: 32-20 Blues (LP - King Of The Delta Blues Singers) columbia
  • 18 March 1986: If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day (album - King Of The Delta Blues Singers) CBS (JP: 'You may see it of course as being rather foolish trying to revive someone who's been dead for nearly 50 years, but there are people still making records who have been dead that long, I think.')
  • 19 March 1986: Walking Blues (LP - King Of The Delta Blues Singers) Columbia
  • 22 March 1986 (BFBS): 32-20 Blues (album - King Of The Delta Blues Singers)
1989
1990
  • 07 February 1990: 'Hellhound On My Trail (CD-Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings)' (CBS) (JP: 'One of his more tormented performances.')
1991
  • 27 July 1991: Crossroad Blues (album - King Of The Delta Blues Singers)
1992
  • 13 March 1992: '32-20 Blues (2xCD-The Complete Recordings)' (CBS)
1999
2000
  • 09 March 2000: '32-30 Blues (2xCD-The Complete Recordings)' (Columbia) (JP: 'My favourite Robert Johnson tune.')
  • 26 April 2000: 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2x Compilation CD-Harry Smith's Anthology Of American Folk Music, Volume Four)' (Revenant)
  • 12 December 2000: Come On In My Kitchen Pig's Big 78 2000
2001
2002
2003

Covered[]

(The list below was compiled only from the Cover Versions page of this site. Please add more information if known.)

Artist | Track | First Known Play

See Also[]

External Links[]

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