For today's offering we're headed to the Mississippi delta for a little delta blues. Cross Road Blues was recorded by Robert Johnson in 1936 and is considered to be somewhat autobiographical - legend has it, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his wicked prowess on the guitar. And prowess it was - guitar powerhouses such as Brian Jones (Rolling Stones), Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac), John Mayall and the divine Jimmy Page all credit Johnson as being a major influence on their style and career. Eric Clapton said that Johnson is the most important bluesman who ever lived, even 'plugging in' his own version of the song with Ginger Baker and the late great Jack Bruce as part of their repertoire with Cream (heard here).
No one really knows too much about Robert Johnson, he was a bit of a mysterious and shady character, which adds the whole Faustian mysticism. No one is quite sure when he was born, but they know that when he left his hometown he was a mediocre musician and when he returned, he was the Robert Johnson we know today, adding fuel to the 'deal with the devil' fire. Unfortunately, Johnson's life was cut short when it is believed he was poisoned by the jealous husband of a girl with whom he had an affair, making him the first member of the '27 club'.
Go Holly go!
Cross Road Blues (Robert Johnson): 5/5 Wait a minute, this is an Eric Clapton song! This was my very anachronistic first thought. Obviously, it’s been around much longer than Clapton! Robert Johnson looks like and sings like a total badass. I really like his voice, and I love blues that sounds so high energy and kind of grinding like his voice sometimes gets. His guitar playing sounds so ahead of its time too. So much intensity in this song. Robert Johnson died at 27, he was poisoned by a jealous boyfriend of one of his many lady friends. It’s sad to imagine all of the innovation to the blues he could have brought had he lived longer. Before listening to this song, I knew of Robert Johnson, but had never really sat down and listened to anything he’d done. He definitely has one new fan now.
Kelly time!
Being the nerdy rock guitar fangirl that I am and have been since my early teens, I've known about Johnson for quite a long time, I just never took the time to listen to any of his stuff. In this recording his guitar sounds ENORMOUS, with like, 96 strings and a great big resonating chamber, and the way he just clunks away at it when he strums is SO bluesy. Apparently his hands we gigantic, which is probably how he gets such breadth in his sound. His voice is so wail-y and grind-y and so good! So good. I can imagine a very young Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton hearing this for the first time in their native England and losing their shit. Great stuff. 4.5/5
Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson universally regarded as king of the blues left an amazing legacy when you consider he only recorded 29 tunes. Among his biggest admirers are Page and Clapton which tells you something. Clapton has recorded Cross Road Blues a number of times, probably the purest rendition is his instrumental homage with John Mayal and the Blues Breakers. However Crossroads holds a special spot in my heart , it being one of the about three songs Cream played in an over 2 hour concert in Vancouver in 1969 ( I think it was 69 that memory thing. I do remember it was the Pacific Coliseum and the cost was around $5) My favourite Robert Johnson anecdote was when Brian Jones played a RJ record for the first time for Keith Richards, Keef asked who the other guitar player was.
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On sober (er) reflexion the aforementioned Cream concert was June 68, it was the same month I started my overlong career.
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