The legend of the musician has survived for decades.
You may not have heard of him, but this man has been the inspiration for great music legends ranging from Keith Richards to Bob Dylan, including B.B. King and Nick Cave. We are talking about Robert Johnson.
Considered the true father of modern blues and rock and roll, there are numerous legends surrounding the life and work of this musician, originally from Mississippi, who is regarded as both mediocre and outstanding.
His life, marked by numerous tragedies, the story of his death, which was not clarified until almost three decades later, and his appearances and disappearances from the stage gave him an air of supernatural legend.
However, one particular legend explaining the incredible transformation that led him to become one of the greatest musicians of all time is what has made him truly immortal. Almost as if he had sold his soul to the Devil.
A tragic life
Robert Johnson was an African American born in 1911 in the Mississippi Delta, just years after slavery was abolished in the United States. He lived in extreme poverty with his parents; in fact, his family had to flee their hometown to prevent his father from being lynched.
From a very young age, Robert did not want to be just another farm worker, so he tried to learn to play music. While working in the fields, he met a young woman who was expecting his child.
She returned to her parents’ house to have her child, while he earned a little more money for the birth expenses. According to most of his biographers, it was there that he began playing in bars and shacks in the area.
However, when he arrived at his parents’ house, in-laws he found that his fiancée was already dead and buried, as was his young son. But the tragic life Robert Johnson had only just begun.
A diabolical deal
No longer major motivation In life, Johnson devoted himself to playing in seedy dive bars located in this area of southern United States, but his performances weren’t just bad, they were so terrible that he was banned from most establishments. Then it happened. After disappearing for 18 months, Johnson reappeared with a guitar behind his back to surprise local musicians with harmonies never heard before, which brought him immediate fame and fortune. Legend has it that the young man prostrated himself at a crossroads, close to midnight, and invoked the devil He offered his soul and his guitar in exchange for musical talent, and it seems that the Master of Darkness listened to him. The lyrics of the 29 songs that survived from his repertoire talk about diabolical apparitions and soul sales, which helped forge his legend among the people of the time. But his life would not last long.
Founder of modern blues, rock… and the 27 ClubFounder of modern blues, rock… and the 27 Club
Diabolical or not, the rhythm Johnson imposed with his guitar captivated musicians and the audience of the era, inspiring several generations of artists who do not hesitate to pay tribute to him. Johnson fell in love twice: the second time, with a teenager from a religious family who, upon learning that they would have a child out of wedlock, decided to separate her from him forever. This devastated him. He began to drink excessively, dating as many women as he could, which earned him many enemies, including that of the owners of some of the places he filled with his talent. Just like Kurt Cobain , Amy Winehouse, Jimmy Hendrix or Janis Joplin.
Robert Johnson died at the age of 27, becoming the founder of the so-called 27 Club. Officially, it is said that he died of syphilis, but rumor has it that a cuckolded husband poisoned him. Legend has it that the Devil collected his debt.
