New Robert Johnson Photo Found?
No less an authority than Eric Clapton once called him "the most important blues musician who ever lived." Blues artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and David "Honeyboy" Edwards were influenced by this guitarist, as were blues-rockers like Clapton, Peter Green, and the Rolling Stones. We're talking about, of course, the great enigma of blues music, Robert Johnson.
The good folks over at The Delta Blues blog turned us on to an interesting story in a recent issue of Vanity Fair magazine. As any fervent blues music fan knows, there are only two photos of Robert Johnson that have been revealed to the public…one taken by the Hooks Bros. photography studio in Memphis and used on the cover of Johnson's The Complete Recordings collection, and a so-called "photo booth" self-portrait of Johnson. Recently, however, vintage guitar expert Steven "Zeke" Schein discovered – on eBay of all places – what he believes to be a third photo of Robert Johnson, showing the mysterious bluesman standing alongside his protégé and traveling partner, Johnny Shines.
Frank Digiacomo's excellent Vanity Fair piece goes beyond Schein's resurrection of the photo (which cost him around $2,200, by the way) into the history of the first two Johnson photos, the phonographic collections released by Columbia Records, and the legal morass that surrounds the bluesman's estate, the rights to his images and recordings, and the ongoing battle to control the history of one of the most influential bluesmen, ever. It's a fascinating story, well-written and researched, and it sheds a little more light on the near-mythological past of bluesman Robert Johnson.
Photo courtesy of Price Grabber
Comments
It would be cool if this new photo looked a bit more like the known pics of Johnson, so
the guy could get some money off it. I think
I’ll dig up some old beat up photos and get
in on this money game. Hey! I just found a
fantastic picture of Blind Lemon Jefferson
driving a car. It’s him I know it is.
There are similarities and it is an interesting photo, no matter what. Nonetheless, I doubt it is RJ and Johnnie Shines. The guy who bought it on ebay went to ask Claude Johnson, RJ’s son (who had never met his father) if it looked like him. Absurd! The only person alive who could authenticate the photo is Honeyboy Edwards, and he is getting up there too.
What bothers me is the suits. Johnny Shines always described how they lived hand to mouth and did not have any money. The famous shot used on the Columbia boxset was taken when RJ borrowed a suit from his cousin. The alleged subject of this photo looks younger in the famous photo. So where do these guys get such spiffy duds?
OK, I am not a clairvoyant, and who knows. The hands look like RJ and it definitely could be him.Even if it is not RJ, who is it? Either way, it is intriguing.
You’ve got to be kidding, right? It’s a great pic, but I first saw it while researching a paper on the blues in college last semester and I believe the book it was printed in was published in the 1970’s. Catchy phrase though.
I apologize for previous comments and would like to retract them. I just looked up the photo and it is indeed quite a gem! What a find! I mistook the wrong photo. My bad.
BFW! LOL!!! I think you really hit a nail on the head and make a really valid point. He remotely resembles Johnson. ( I’d really love to see those pics of Blind Lemon Jefferson, by the way) (just kidding)
In response to Frank Matheis: You know Frank, about the suits. Johnson’s suit in the “new” photo is really not that much fancier than the one he’s wearing in the photo on his album cover. (Not to shoot your theory to shreds)but I think there’s a slight flaw there. The other points you make seem very valid.
That ain’t ROBERT JOHNSON man
umm, very interesting story and hype. it actually got me to register at vf…lol but I will say this Robert was not exactly poor nor was he really ever living hand to mouth. he had good parents and his father owned land and three horses. having said that, indeed honeyboy edwards for sure can tell you if its real. he can also validate many myths about robert including how and when he went to arkansas to get schooled. if iremember honeyboy correctly. robert was picked on but some of the greats he used to beg to join in with. honeyboy says roberts father just sent him to learn from a noted concert guitar player who lived in arkansas. his crossroads wer much like mine, a good teacher who had a price. he also returned with a new pricy guitar after his trip. hoenyboy plays middle and high schools currently….his schedule is on his very active web site. i have met him twice once when i was a first year teacher and again in 2007. hes a sharp mind with no probs with his vision…please just ask him.
Take a look at the fingers in each of the photos. R J has almost unnaturally long fingers, and so does this guy.
Just ask Honeyboy Edwards and you’ll know who it is.
I’ve studied old Folk, and Blues music for a very long time. I’ve mainly studied Robert Johnson. I’ve looked at all the photo work done with this, and the other two photos. Even the guy who had the photo thought it was B.B. King, then he thought “wait…it’s Robert Johnson”. I would say he was more right with the B.B. King idea. No way is that Johnson. Many have said that there is a third photo. This is not the one. Although you could think it is because the man has hands just like Johnsons “Spider like” hands but, alot of people have the same looking hands. This could be a very young B.B. King, but it’s no Robert Johnson. Maybe we’ll get the “Real” third photo (if there really is one) in a few years.
Other than the hands there is no proof.
Anyone can have the same size hands as the next.
My guess is that the photo in question is a forgotten love child of Robert Leroy Johnson.
C.D.
Having seen the high-quality version in Vanity Fair, I’m 95% sure it’s Johnson. The fingers and the eyes are the clincher – especially his bum right eye, which is obvious in the high-res picture.
Why don’t someone just contact B.B. King and ask him if this is him in the picture with Johnny Shines. I’m not sure, but if Johnny Shines is still alive contact him he would know or contact Robert Johnson’s serviving family of all people they would definately know if it was Robert. Nonetheless, I actually got out the 2 confirmed pics of Robert Johnson and a very young pic of B.B. King; I think it looks alot like B.B. King, rather than Robert Johnson.
I don’t know if this is Robert Johnson or not – but I do know one thing for sure. Honeyboy Edwards should NOT be used to validate any stories about Robert Johnson. Most intelligent blues scholars and researchers know this already of course. His stories have changed over the years, his details are all mixed up (did you know in his original account of Johnson’s death he said it happened at a cemetery and mot a bar?), and he is simply cashing in on the Johnson fame. But hey – so would I.
Before wild attacks start rolling in on me, I like Honeyboy. I own his albums. I’ve met him. Great guy. But he saw an opportunity when people starting asking about RJ, and he took it. No one can explain to me why when Don Law was searching for RJ in MS back in the day, and asked Honeyboy about him, Honeyboy had NO IDEA who Johnson was. To hear the stories today, they were best buds. I just don’t buy his stories at all.
The truth is, there is no one alive that can validate this picture for fact. Unfortunately, that is the case. Of course, Shines remembers a photo being taken of the two of therm – in suites – so something is to be said for that.
i wish Zeke all the luck in the world, and hope he has caught a winner.
Joe Fry: Johnny Shines is long dead.
Cat Greene: The owner of the first RJ photo that was published back in 1992 of RJ in the suit was owned by his aunt, who had it in a book for decades. She stated that RJ had borrowed the suit from his cousin in order to make the photo session. This is all part of well documented blues history.
Yes, the hands look like RJ, but nothing else does. In no way does it look like Johnny Shines. Not even close.
As far as this disputed image, I now firmly believe it is Tommy McLennan, and not RJ.
It looks EXACTLY like Tommy, but he is not famous or infamous, so it would have no commercial value.
On the other hand, according to copyright law, if the photo in question was actually a picture of RJ and JS, both of their estates would own the rights. In this case Zeke gave the rights to Claude, RJs son who never even met his dad. If it actually does get authenticated, nothing can be done with the image without BOTH estates consent. I saw it on ebay and did not bid. Sometimes I feel like a fool for not having bought it, and sometimes I feel glad that I did not.