The enigmatic King of The Delta Blues
The everlasting image of Robert Johnson comes from the classic 1961 album King Of The Delta Blues Singers. It’s an above-shot of Johnson sitting in an old wooden chair while hunched over his guitar.The shadow cast toward the bottom of the image is harrowing enough to set the vibe of an album that includes bewitching classics Cross Road Blues, Terraplane Blues, Walkin’Blues, and Kind Hearted Woman Blues.With titles like that, what’s obvious is that Johnson, while inventive and ahead of his time, liked to keep it simple.
Beyond that image and the more jovial black-and-white picture from 1936 that you might have seen via Johnson’s Wikipedia page, the reality is that we know very little about his life. Sure, Johnson was iconic – a master of the Delta blues, and one of the most impactful guitarists ever. Hell, he might even have been the rst ever rock star. At least, that’s what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as.Setting aside the mystery, though, what we do know is that Johnson was a roving six-stringer akin to a walking jukebox.
Ramblin’ man
Residents of New York City, for example, know these types of performers as ‘buskers’, and Johnson was a damn good one. Be it local saloons, weekend dances, or seedy street corners, Johnson spread his message via guitar the only way he knew how, and, in the process, gained a cult following. Though any following he might have claimed didn’t come via recording sessions, as he only participated in two, one in San Antonio, Texas, in 1936 and another in Dallas, Texas, in 1937.
These songs, which can be found on King of The Delta Blues Singers and the subsequent Vol. II are all we have. Beyond that, the man with a guitar, who spe
