The Complete Recordings - Robert Johnson

The subject of selling one's soul to the Devil has prevailed in American culture since the mid nineteenth century but is no more well known than in the case of blues man Robert Johnson. There is little information as to his life and only 2 photographs exist of him. As a young man, it has been told, he went to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil in exchange for mastery of the guitar. Johnson died at 27 from an apparent poisoning from a bottle of whiskey. Rumour has circulated as to the identity and motivation of the alleged killer: jilted lover, scorned husband victim of Johnson's philandering, or the devil coming to collect. Johnson has influenced ...  Read the complete review

Although Robert Johnson is now considered perhaps the most significant blues guitarist ever to have cut a record, a single version of his life does not exist. Indeed, some versions are contradictory or grounded solely in myth. The most pervasive story about Johnson is that he sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads of highways 64 and 49 in exchange for his prolific guitar talent. However, this tale has no grounding in fact and was first told some time after Johnson’s death by fellow bluesman Son House. It is impossible to establish the origins of the legend but it is most likely to have been inspired by Johnson’s references to the Devil in his songs, as well as his ...  Read the complete review