Album: King of the Delta Blues Singers
Artist: Robert Johnson
Born: Hazlehurst, Mississippi
Released: January 1961
Genre: Blues
Influenced: Bob Dylan, Cream, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin
For most people that love guitar-based rock & blues music, the guy you always work back towards is Robert Johnson. Though active in the 1930s, his influence wasn't really felt until the early 60s, when this album was released by Columbia. Like the Hank Williams album on this list, King of the Delta Blues Singers was issued posthumously, but in this case many years (23, to be precise) after Robert Johnson's death at the age of 27, making him one of the founding members of the mythical 27 Club. Columbia's legendary producer John Hammond, who kickstarted the careers of Billie Holiday and Bob Dylan among others, was largely responsible for the revival of Mississippi delta blues man Robert Johnson. A copy of the album would be passed to Bob Dylan and appear on the record sleeve of Bringing It All Back Home, a mark of its influence on Dylan's electric phase.
There's just so much to love about this album, not just the guitar playing (though that is its primary influence) but also the songwriting and the singing. The only criticism of the album is that it omits two of Robert Johnson's finest songs, Sweet Home Chicago and Love In Vain, both of which have been covered widely (most famously, in the latter case, by the Rolling Stones on Let It Bleed). Two of my favourite tracks on King of the Delta Blues Singers, Cross Road Blues and Me and the Devil Blues, are partly responsible for the myth that still surrounds Robert Johnson, fuelling the idea that he must have made a Faustian pact at the crossroads to have been so good. Keith Richards was convinced, on first hearing Johnson, that there were at least two guitars being played. If I had to pick one track from the album for posterity it would be Travelling Riverside Blues, not just because of the amazing guitar sound and the way Johnson delivers the lyrics ("squeeze my lemon"), but also because it inspired this Led Zeppeling song, which is more a tribute to the king of the delta blues than a cover version.
Artist: Robert Johnson
Born: Hazlehurst, Mississippi
Released: January 1961
Genre: Blues
Influenced: Bob Dylan, Cream, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin
For most people that love guitar-based rock & blues music, the guy you always work back towards is Robert Johnson. Though active in the 1930s, his influence wasn't really felt until the early 60s, when this album was released by Columbia. Like the Hank Williams album on this list, King of the Delta Blues Singers was issued posthumously, but in this case many years (23, to be precise) after Robert Johnson's death at the age of 27, making him one of the founding members of the mythical 27 Club. Columbia's legendary producer John Hammond, who kickstarted the careers of Billie Holiday and Bob Dylan among others, was largely responsible for the revival of Mississippi delta blues man Robert Johnson. A copy of the album would be passed to Bob Dylan and appear on the record sleeve of Bringing It All Back Home, a mark of its influence on Dylan's electric phase.
There's just so much to love about this album, not just the guitar playing (though that is its primary influence) but also the songwriting and the singing. The only criticism of the album is that it omits two of Robert Johnson's finest songs, Sweet Home Chicago and Love In Vain, both of which have been covered widely (most famously, in the latter case, by the Rolling Stones on Let It Bleed). Two of my favourite tracks on King of the Delta Blues Singers, Cross Road Blues and Me and the Devil Blues, are partly responsible for the myth that still surrounds Robert Johnson, fuelling the idea that he must have made a Faustian pact at the crossroads to have been so good. Keith Richards was convinced, on first hearing Johnson, that there were at least two guitars being played. If I had to pick one track from the album for posterity it would be Travelling Riverside Blues, not just because of the amazing guitar sound and the way Johnson delivers the lyrics ("squeeze my lemon"), but also because it inspired this Led Zeppeling song, which is more a tribute to the king of the delta blues than a cover version.
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