Today at work while searching through a new boss' music collection I spotted one of my favorites: Robert Johnson. I put it on the stereo partially to test the boss, to see if it was his (it's a shared studio space) as a person's music collection is very important to me...very revealing. [Quick digression: I once went to the house of a classmate and upon asking to see her music collection I immediately knew we could never be friends as she had only 2 CD's: The soundtrack to The Titanic and one very lame country compilation CD]Anyway, I really dig New Boss so I wanted this to go a certain way. I put the CD on and walked over to stand beside him then waited while watching the profile of his face as he worked on an image. Then suddenly he jerked and smiled saying "Ahhh - you like the bluuues" while peering up at me over the rim of his glasses. "Precisely..." I nodded slowly with the music "...precisely" ...smiling all the while.
Not familiar with Robert? Legend has it that he went to the crossroads where he met with the Devil and sold his soul to him in exchange for musical talent (guitar namely) and fame. My brother passed that information down to me when I was young and it instantly captivated me, that may have been one of the catalysts for my adult obsession with the American South (it's voodoo/religion/soul/blues/music). Anyway, you can have a listen here if you'd like.
3 comments:
yup yup and ive passed by them old crossroads in mississippi several times. there were so many great southern blues musicians that came from the area i grew up. ledbetter was arrested a few towns over from where i grew up. robert johnson has a unique picking style that can never be duplicated or replicated because its just the way he plays. some say cause he has no soul!
Have you seen the movie "O Brother Where art Thou"? It's set in the deep south in the 1930's and the story of Robert Johnson is included. The movie also has a great soundtrack. Great movie!
C - no soul, yeah right.
SA - yes, I love that movie, I have and love the soundtrack too. The love for the film was instantly cemented when Tommy Johnson appeared in it. I was grabbing Hubby's arm and squeezing it while whispering and repeating "that's Robert J - that's Robert J! teehee"
WB - so true, although Robert is more blues in my book and great R&B DOES exist.
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