Some Blues You Just have to Hear Series - Robert Johnson

Robert Leroy Johnson was among the most famous of the Mississippi Delta blues musicians. He was born on May 8, 1911 in Hazelhurst, Mississippi to Julia Major Dodds and Noah Johnson. Because they were not married he had his mother’s name, Dodds. His stepfather changed his name to match his, and he used Spencer until his late adolescence when he took the name of his birth father, even though he had never met him. He spent much of his early life in the northern delta region while his parents lived and worked on plantations and then lived in levee camps during construction of the levees.

The family spent four years in Memphis and at the age of seven his stepfather sent him to the Abbay and Leatherman Plantation near Robinsonville, Mississippi. There he learned how to play the Jew’s harp and the harmonica and started hanging around the older blues musicians. Johnson occasionally played with Willie Brown and his partner Charlie Patton. In 1930 Son House was released from Parchman Farm Prison where he served time for killing a man that he claimed was self defense. Johnson was so impressed by House’s guitar playing that he gave up his harmonica and took up the guitar.

He returned to Hazelhurst, married and kept practicing his guitar and learning new songs. He started imitating Ike Zinnerman, a local guitarist. Several months later he returned to Robinsonville playing a combination of shuffling rhythms and slide guitar leads that outshone other musicians. Some believed that he traded his soul for his new found musical ability. He was a traveler and played in many places including taverns, speakeasies, levee camps, and even coal yards. He traveled the Midwest, East Coast and Canada.

Johnson’s first recording was in San Antonio, Texas in November, 1936 and included the songs “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom”, “Sweet Home Chicago”, “Cross Road Blues” and Walkin’ Blues” as well as many others. His second recording was in Dallas, Texas in June, 1937. There were a total of twenty nine songs recorded during those two sessions.

His popularity grew quickly after the recordings. His success and his life were cut short after he died on August 16, 1938 from poison at the young age of 27. His music style and original songs have influenced such musicians as Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. Johnson was ranked fifth in the Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He is also an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.