No other artist has influenced modern music with so few songs as the enigmatic Robert Johnson. In just two recording sessions, one in 1936 in San Antonio, Texas and one in 1937 in Dallas, Texas, he cut 29 songs. That's all it took to make him a cultural legend.
Johnson reportedly went down to the "Crossroads" and made a deal with the Devil. When he returned, he was able to play anything he wanted on the guitar. To local folks, going to any crossroad was just asking for trouble, as the intersection of two roads was considered a bad place.
Johnson married young and his bride tragically died in childbirth
Among his gems are: I Believe I'll Dust My Broom, Terraplane Blues, Sweet Home Chicago, Cross Road Blues, Come on in My Kitchen, Stones In My Passway and Walkin' Blues.
Johnson picked up music working on a cotton plantation and later hit the highway to make his way as a musician. He hung out with other Blues pioneers Son House, Charlie Patton, and Sonny Boy Williamson and traveled the American South playing juke joints. His hard past and his association with other Blues giants probably was a greater influence on his incredible musical ablilities than any rendez-vous with the Devil.
In Greenwood, Mississippi, Johnson messed with the wrong man's woman and was murdered by strychnine placed in his whiskey by the jealous husband.
If you dare, you can go down to the "Crossroads" too! Just show up at a lonesome highway junction just before midnight and start to play your guitar. A tall black man will come up behind you. Give him your guitar. He will play it and give it back to you. You will then be able to play anything you wish on that guitar. So they say.
