robert johnson hellhound on my trail

[35] In the last year of his life, Johnson is believed to have traveled to St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, and New York City. During this time Johnson established what would be a relatively long-term relationship with Estella Coleman, a woman about 15 years his senior and the mother of the blues musician Robert Lockwood, Jr. Johnson reportedly cultivated a woman to look after him in each town he played in. In the 1920 census, he is listed as Robert Spencer, living in Lucas, Arkansas, with Will and Julia Willis. In 1936–37 he made a series of recordings in a hotel room in San Antonio, Texas, and a warehouse in Dallas. Robert Leroy Johnson (Hazlehurst, Mississippi, ... "Me And The Devil Blues" e "Hellhound On My Trail". [65], The musicologist Alan Lomax dismissed the myth, stating, "In fact, every blues fiddler, banjo picker, harp blower, piano strummer and guitar framer was, in the opinion of both himself and his peers, a child of the Devil, a consequence of the black view of the European dance embrace as sinful in the extreme". Much in the manner of his masterful biographies of Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke, Peter Guralnick here gives readers an insightful, thought-provoking, and deeply felt picture, removing much of the obscurity that once surrounded ... Julia left Hazlehurst with baby Robert, but in less than two years she brought the boy to Memphis to live with her husband, who had changed his name to Charles Spencer. The thing about Robert Johnson was that he only existed on his records. The first to be released was "Terraplane Blues", backed with "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", which sold as many as 10,000 copies. This was "a common way of poisoning people in the rural South", but was rarely fatal. Facial recognition software concluded that neither man was Johnson or Shines. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Johnson was the product of a confusing childhood, with three men serving as his father before he reached age seven. Welding reported it as a serious belief in a widely read article in Down Beat in 1966. Found inside – Page 62Robert Johnson: 'Hellhound on my Trail' Robert Johnson was an auteur who posthumously became a star. He is regarded as 'the key transitional figure working ... Found insideI believe to my soul That your daddy's Gulfport bound From Memphis to Norfolk ... Hell-hound On My Trail I got to keep movin' I've got to keep movin' Blues ... In 1932, the couple settled for a while in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in the Delta, but Johnson soon left for a career as a "walking" or itinerant musician, and Caletta died in early 1933. [2] Music historian Samuel Charters believes the first and last verses may be the finest found in the blues. He had only one moderate hit song during his lifetime (“Terraplane Blues”), but, after Columbia Records released a collection of his recordings, King of the Delta Blues (1961), the man and his music both achieved near-mythic status. "Hellhound on My Trail" (1937) "Love in Vain" (1937) Johnson recorded these songs a decade and a half before the advent of rock and roll, dying a year or two later. L'album Hellhound on My Trail: Songs of Robert Johnson en 2001 réunit différents artistes tels que Taj Mahal , Clarence Gatemouth Brown ou Joe Louis Walker [ 13 ] . [111], For other people named Robert Johnson, see, sfn error: no target: CITEREFPearsonMcCulloch2008 (, Robert Johnson recordings § Sessionography, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Robert Johnson Biography Takes Penderyn Music Book Prize", "Dallas Church Preserving the Legacy of Robert Johnson", "The Devil's Music: The Life and Legacy of Robert Johnson", "The Grandfather of Rock'n'Roll: The Devil's Instrument", "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll G-J", "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time – 10 to 1", "Overlooked No More: Robert Johnson, Bluesman Whose Life Was a Riddle", "Hellhound on the Money Trail (updated from original appearance in, "Annye C. Anderson v. Stephen C. LaVere, 2012-CA-00601-SCT (Miss. Found inside – Page 257For a similar metaphor referring to another atmospheric phenomenon, see Robert Johnson's “Hellhound on My Trail” (Vocalion 03623) on The Complete Re— ... Found inside – Page 17Johnson had grabbed a ride west from his native Mississippi to make it to the ... Robert Johnson , ' Hellhound on my Trail , Robert Johnson : the Complete ... Son House rawness", but the train imitation on the bridge is not at all typical of Delta blues—it is more like something out of minstrel show music or vaudeville. Much of what is known about him was reconstructed by researchers such as Gayle Dean Wardlow and Bruce Conforth, especially in their 2019 award-winning biography[2] of Johnson: Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson (Chicago Review Press). [84] Columbia Records released the album King of the Delta Blues Singers, a compilation of Johnson's recordings, in 1961, which introduced his work to a much wider audience—fame and recognition he received only long after his death. [73], An important aspect of Johnson's singing was his use of microtonality. These published biographical sketches achieve coherent narratives, partly by ignoring reminiscences and hearsay accounts which contradict or conflict with other accounts. It is said that the Blues singer could possess women and have any woman they wanted. This view that the devil in Johnson's songs is derived from an African deity was disputed by the blues scholar David Evans in an essay published in 1999, "Demythologizing the Blues": There are ... several serious problems with this crossroads myth. Here he perfected the guitar style of House and learned other styles from Isaiah "Ike" Zimmerman. "Devil Got My Woman" shares the tuning and vocal styles that Johnson displayed, but the "Hellhound" melody is closer to "Yola" than to "Devil". [106] Claud Johnson died, aged 83, on June 30, 2015, leaving six children.[107]. His impact on these musicians, who contributed to and helped to define rock and roll and rock music, came from the compilation of his works released in 1961 by Columbia Records (King of the Delta Blues Singers). II. Johnson is reported to have begun feeling ill the evening after and had to be helped back to his room in the early morning hours. The plantation owner said the negro man, seemingly about 26 years old, came from Tunica two or three weeks before he died to play banjo at a negro dance given there on the plantation. [38], Johnson traveled to Dallas, Texas, for another recording session with Don Law in a makeshift studio at the Vitagraph (Warner Bros.) Building,[39] on June 19–20, 1937. In the 1980s, however, another James record "Yola My Blues Away" (1931)[12] became widely available on reissue recordings. He used an open E minor guitar tuning with the lower strings providing a droning accompaniment; Charles Shaar Murray describes "the bottleneck ... mak[ing] the treble strings of his guitar moan like wind through dead trees". Robert Leroy Johnson (Hazlehurst, Misisipi; 8 de mayo de 1911-Greenwood, Misisipi; 16 de agosto de 1938) fue un cantante, compositor y guitarrista estadounidense de blues, conocido como el Rey del Blues del Delta.Sus grabaciones de 1936 a 1937 muestran una notable combinación de talento para cantar, tocar la guitarra y componer canciones (a pesar de haber dejado grabadas … Hellhound on My Trail (Remastered) 08. They lived on the Abbay & Leatherman Plantation. Well, this is it". Because Mississippi courts in 1998 determined that Robert Johnson's heir was Claud Johnson, a son born out of wedlock, the "estate share" of all monies paid to LaVere by CBS and others ended up going to Claud Johnson, and attempts by the heirs of Carrie Thompson to obtain a ruling that the photographs were her personal property and not part of the estate were dismissed. Found insideExploring the stories and legends that surround his life and death - his childhood, his womanising, his pact with the devil at the crossroads - Mezzo and DuPont have produced a fittingly creative and beautiful depiction of this most ... …influenced rural performers, most notably. Law, who by then worked for Columbia Records, assembled a collection of Johnson's recordings titled King of the Delta Blues Singers that was released by Columbia in 1961. En 1982, Robert Lockwood Jr. publie l'album Robert Lockwood plays Robert & Robert [12], comprenant des reprises de Johnson et des compositions personnelles. Omissions? In Robinsonville he came in contact with masters of the Mississippi Delta blues Willie Brown, Charley Patton, and Son House—all of whom influenced his playing and none of whom was particularly impressed by his talent. He was buried in a homemade coffin furnished by the county. [8] The quality of his signature on his marriage certificate[9] suggests that he was relatively well educated for a boy of his background. Robert Leroy Johnson (Hazlehurst, Mississippi, 8 de maio de 1911 – Greenwood, Mississippi, 16 de agosto de 1938) foi um cantor, compositor e guitarrista norte-americano de blues.. Johnson é um dos músicos mais influentes do Mississippi Delta Blues e é uma importante referência para a padronização do consagrado formato de doze compassos para o blues. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included four of his songs in a set of 500[87] they deemed to have shaped the genre: Johnson recorded these songs a decade and a half before the advent of rock and roll, dying a year or two later. A school friend, Willie Coffee, who was interviewed and filmed in later life, recalled that as a youth Robert was already noted for playing the harmonica and jaw harp. In two takes of "Me and the Devil Blues" he shows a high degree of precision in the complex vocal delivery of the last verse: "The range of tone he can pack into a few lines is astonishing. His death was not reported publicly; he merely disappeared from the historical record and it was not until almost 30 years later, when Gayle Dean Wardlow, a Mississippi-based musicologist researching Johnson's life, found his death certificate, which listed only the date and location, with no official cause of death. Graves also claims that a significant amount of strychnine would have to be consumed in one sitting to be fatal, and that death from the poison would occur within hours, not days. Found inside – Page 325Roebuck Staples , quoted in Robert Palmer , Deep Blues ( New York , 1981 ) , 44 ; Booker T. ... 1990 ) , xiii ; Robert Johnson , " Hellhound on My Trail ... [34] By 1959, the historian Samuel Charters could add only that Will Shade, of the Memphis Jug Band, remembered Johnson had once briefly played with him in West Memphis, Arkansas. These subtle inflections of pitch help explain why his singing conveys such powerful emotion. [63], The Blues and the Blues singer has really special powers over women, especially. However, Johnson had been diagnosed with an ulcer and with esophageal varices, and the poison was sufficient to cause them to hemorrhage. Found inside15 Blues Classics Arranged for 5-String Banjo Robert Johnson. Hell Hound On My Trail Words and Music by Robert Johnson Copyright © (1978), 1990, ... Kind Hearted Woman Blues (Remastered) 04. His repertoire included several blues songs by House and others, but Johnson’s original numbers—such as “Me and the Devil Blues,” “Hellhound on My Trail,” “Sweet Home Chicago,” “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” “Ramblin’ on My Mind,” and “Love in Vain”—are his most compelling pieces. [44], Several differing accounts have described the events preceding his death. In fact, he may have cultivated the devilish connection. He stayed in the house with some of the negroes saying he wanted to pick cotton. "Hellhound on My Trail" (1937) "Love in Vain" (1937) Johnson recorded these songs a decade and a half before the advent of rock and roll, dying a year or two later. [27] From a mass of partial, conflicting, and inconsistent eyewitness accounts,[28] biographers have attempted to summarize Johnson's character. 02. The form, including the wordless last verse, follows Leroy Carr's last hit "When the Sun Goes Down"; the words of the last sung verse come directly from a song Blind Lemon Jefferson recorded in 1926. Others. The album would become influential, especially on the nascent British blues movement; Eric Clapton has called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived. He is now recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style. However, 30 years of local legend and oral tradition had, like the rest of his life story, built a legend which has filled in gaps in the scant historical record. [15] Two of these, known as the "dime-store photo" (December 1937 or January 1938) and the "studio portrait" (summer 1936), were copyrighted by Stephen LaVere (who had obtained them from the Thompson family) in 1986 and 1989, respectively, with an agreement to share any ensuing royalties 50% with the Johnson estate, at that time administered by Thompson. They originally settled on a plantation in Lucas Township in Crittenden County, Arkansas, but soon moved across the Mississippi River to Commerce in the Mississippi Delta, near Tunica and Robinsonville. It was inspired by earlier blues songs[1] and blues historian Ted Gioia describes it as one of Johnson's "best known and most admired performances—many would say it is his greatest". [43], Johnson died on August 16, 1938, at the age of 27, near Greenwood, Mississippi, of unknown causes. [24][25] In each location, Johnson's hosts were largely ignorant of his life elsewhere. [55] Most significantly, the detail was added that Johnson received his gift from a large black man at a crossroads. [21] Henry Townsend shared a musical engagement with him in St. The Complete Recordings, a two-disc set, released on August 28, 1990, contains almost everything Johnson recorded, with all 29 recordings, and 12 alternate takes. Over the next three days his condition steadily worsened. [19][20] On occasion, he traveled much further. Kind Hearted Woman Blues (Remastered) 04. "[74] The song's "hip humor and sophistication" is often overlooked. Further, both David "Honeyboy" Edwards and Robert Lockwood failed to identify either man in the photo. [67] But according to Elijah Wald, in his book Escaping the Delta, Johnson in his own time was most respected for his ability to play in a wide range of styles, from raw country slide guitar to jazz and pop licks, and for his ability to pick up guitar parts almost instantly upon hearing a song. "[64], When Johnson started singing, he seemed like a guy who could have sprung from the head of Zeus in full armor. In 1939, a twelfth was issued posthumously. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him as an early influence in its first induction ceremony, in 1986, almost a half century after his death. [5] It was in Memphis that he acquired his love for, and knowledge of, the blues and popular music. Most of Johnson's "somber and introspective" songs and performances come from his second recording session. But a careful listen reveals that Johnson was a revisionist in his time ... Johnson's tortured soul vocals and anxiety-ridden guitar playing aren't found in the cotton-field blues of his contemporaries. My Back Pages 和訳/歌詞 – ボブ・ディラン (Bob Dylan) Another Side of Bob Dylan. Terraplane Blues (Remastered) 09. Hellhound on My Trail (Remastered) 08. The Devil played a few songs and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. Robert Johnson’s immortal “Dust My Broom,” the first of only two covers, references Elmore James’ electric guitar-driven version of the tune. Of the 29 songs Johnson recorded before his untimely death at only 27 years old, there were "Cross Road Blues," "Hellhound on My Trail," "Me and the Devil Blues" and "Up Jumped the Devil." 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Hell Hound on My Trail lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox you! Of Robert Johnson: Hellhound on My Trail '' is a solo performance by were... Session, Johnson took the device of repeating the end of lines with an ulcer and with esophageal varices and! My hand. Johnson had been playing for a few released after his death. [ 95 ] as. ] Zimmerman was rumored to have influenced the playing of the Delta blues to those from the latter, took... Pressings by ARC budget labels original recordings, was published in 2020 was... Reported it as a pleasure this was `` a common way of poisoning people in the two decades after death. Often told says that Johnson was able to seduce at his performance as key..., he seemed to have learned supernaturally to play guitar by visiting graveyards at midnight 16. Further details were absorbed from the latter, Johnson was actually four years older ) in improvised,... 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