The Devil vs. Robert Johnson: Did the blues legend really betray his soul? What really happened at the crossroads of Robert Johnson's real education under the crossroads

Robert Johnson, one of the world's foremost blues pioneers, died at the age of 27. RAY MACLEAN/FLCKR/CC BY-2.0

It was 1930, in Robinsonville, Mississippi, where 19-year-old Robert Johnson, an aspiring blues musician, was wandering around a tavern with a jukebox, and it happened that Delta Blues (aka Street Blues) legends San House and Willie Brown were playing in a crowded house. In between performances, Johnson dared to pick up one of the musicians' guitar and play his own thing, but the audience didn't pay for it.

Son House said in a Robert Johnson documentary on Netflix: "He started playing it and it was just harassing people. "Then the folks came out and said, 'Why don't all of you come down and let that boy put that thing down, he drove us crazy!'"

The club owner threw Johnson out of the Tavern in Robinsonville, and no one heard about him for a whole year after that. Johnson simply disappeared from the Delta.

Then one night, while House and Brown were walking in Banks, Mississippi, they met Johnson carrying a guitar case. House elbowed Brown and pointed mockingly at "Robert Jr."

"Child, where are you going with that thing now?" House asked Johnson. "Are you going to make noise to kill someone?"

But this time, things are different. Johnson took out his instrument, a regular six-string guitar, but added an extra seventh string, something House or Brown had never seen before. But that's not the only new thing.

Johnson acquired an insane level of skill and extraordinary skill, playing a series of rapid chords that made the guitar sound almost like a piano—a piano played with three hands.

How could this kid, clumsy enough to be kicked off the stage in Robinsonville, return to delta a year later and become the most talented guitarist? In the shocked crowd in Banks, Mississippi, there was only one explanation — Johnson made a deal with the devil.

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For the God-fearing blacks who lived in the Southern states of the 1920s, the blues were clearly "devil's music." It lures good men and women to taverns where they dance, drink and share evil feelings. Therefore, Johnson's extraordinary talent is conferred by Satan, which would be entirely reasonable.

In fact, Johnson is reportedly not the first blues musician to hone his skills with the help of the Prince of Darkness. There was an early guitar hero, Tommy Johnson, who was not related by blood to Robert Johnson but grew up in the same Mississippi state, and was rumored to have reached a crossroads and was taught music by the devil himself. (Tommy Johnson's biography includes an interview with his brother, who says Tommy himself told him the story of the meeting.) ）

In the Coen Brothers film Brothers, Where Are You? A character named Tommy Johnson tells his traveling companion that he just sold his soul at the crossroads in exchange for some evil new guitar skills.

"Oh, son, you exchanged eternal souls for this?" Clumsy Delmar asked.

"All right." Tommy replied. "It didn't work for me."

When Robert Johnson published his best-selling novel, he barely dispelled the rumors. In fact, he may have made a diabolical connection. Among the 29 songs Johnson recorded before his death at the age of 27 were "Crossing the Blues," "Hellhound," "Me and the Devil Blues, and "Jumping the Devil."

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Steven Johnson, singer, missionary and vice president of the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation, seems to have transformed himself from a clumsy amateur to a guitar playing genius overnight, inspiring generations of musicians including Bob Dylan, Keith Richards and Eric Clapton.

Johnson said in an interview: "I suggest people get out of the myth and try to understand talent. "Just because he's as good on the pitch as Michael Jordan, does that mean he sold his soul to the devil?" No, he practiced. He practiced twice as much as the others. ”

According to Stephen's calculations, his grandfather's mysterious absence from the Delta music scene lasted nearly three years, not just a year. During those years, he returned to his hometown of Hazelhurst, Mississippi, where he practiced hard under guitar master Ike Zimmerman.

Robert returns to Hazelhurst to look for his biological father, Noah Johnson, but finds Zimmerman. Zimmerman would take Johnson to the local cemetery at midnight to play with tombstones and undead.

The cemetery story may have been forged, but it adds to Johnson's legendary dealings with ghosts. Zimmerman's true apprenticeship was probably much more ordinary. Stephen Johnson said he met Zimmerman's daughter when her father opened the door for young Robert when she was a little girl.

Stephen recalled: "She said, 'Your grandfather was in our house for so long that I thought he was our brother.' She asked her father, 'Is RL (so they call Robert) our brother?' Ike said, 'No, he's not your brother. He's just my musician and good friend. He was there for a long time. ”

This will certainly work. According to Vanity Fair magazine, Eric Clapton exclaimed in his autobiography: "Johnson played intermittent bass on the low strings at the same time in the recording, played the rhythm on the center string, and played on the high note while singing alongside". It sounds as if there are several people playing at the same time. Johnson's picky style sets the stage for the Blues.

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Robert Johnson lived a difficult life. From an early age, he moved from one family to another for foster care and was abused by his stepfather. He was young and married to his lover Virginia, who died in childbirth. Johnson discovers and loses other lovers, then goes on the road full-time and enjoys a reputation among a group of alcoholic women. The husband of one of Johnson's mistresses is believed to have poisoned him at the age of 27. Johnson remained obscure until the re-release of his album King of the Delta Blues singers in 1961.

But when Stephen Johnson listens to his grandfather's music, he hears no cold pagan, but the voice of a man who wants to do better, does better, but is heavy with painful memories, guilt and self-esteem. The average listener might think that the song "Cross Road Blues" recounts the fate of Robert's encounter with the devil, which is completely different from Stephen's understanding.

"I went to the crossroads and got down on my knees," Johnson sang in a strange and cool voice. "Ask the Lord, 'Mercy, please save poor Bob.'

"Does that sound like a man who is dealing with the devil?" Steven asked. "He was at a crossroads all his life. That's what my grandfather did at the intersection. He is looking for and trying to do good. ”

Author/DAVE ROOS

Translator/Lancelot

Original/entertainment.howstuffworks.com/devil-and-robert-johnson.htm

This article is published under a Common Authors License (BY-NC) and is the opinion of the author only and does not necessarily represent Zeroorez's position