DELTA BLUES AND THE LEGEND OF ROBERT JOHNSON

Hi everyone and welcome back. Today I’m going to talk about an interesting story,  the legend of Robert Johnson and Delta Blues.

Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues; it originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is a regional variation of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments and a slide was usually used. In 1930s there weren’t steel slides so bluesmen used bottlenecks to play their guitars. Vocal styles in Delta blues range from introspective and soulful to passionate and fiery.

 

It was first recorded in the late 1920s, when record companies realized the potential African-American market for "race records". The major labels produced the earliest recordings, consisting mostly of one person singing and playing an instrument. Live performance instead were organized in groups of musician that performed in bars.

Robert Johnson was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter; his first recordings were dated 1936 and 1937, which consists in a display of combination of singing, guitar skills, and song writing talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. He is now recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style. 

He had a short career, he died in 1938, when he was only 27 (it is said that he was the first member of the 27’s club) and after this, he became famous in the entire world, his recordings were bought and listened to everywhere and he became the king of delta blues. It is said a man poisoned him because he had a flirt with  his  girlfriend.

 

Many stories  are often associated with the figure of Johnson, but the most famous is the  Crossroad  One and we can find this story  in one of his songs, “Crossroads”. It is said he sold his soul to the devil at the crossroad (today there’s  a memorial there)  to achieve musical success. Before becoming  The Bluesman, Johnson’s contemporaries described him as an ordinary guitarist, but after a year he came back with incredible skills as a guitarist, singer and songwriter, they said that none could become so skilful in only one year.

 

Today, Johnson’s  story remains convoluted and mysterious, all the researches  about him were done after his death. If you want to know more about his story, I suggest you to watch Netflix documentary “Devil at the Crossroads”.

Francesco P., 4sc