When in 1961, “King Of The Delta Blues Singers” was published, few realized the significance of those recordings. John Hammond had unearthed the Rosetta Stone of rock, but it would still be a few years before its true value was recognized, and more before anyone was able to decipher it.
Throughout the sixties, Robert Johnson's rise knew no halt, yet much of his catalog was still only available on 78 rpm records. In 1970, Columbia finally decided to release the remaining part of those recordings on a single album, "King Of The Delta Blues Singers, Volume II," addressing the true cult that had arisen around his figure over the years. Thus, sixteen blues tracks were pressed on vinyl (three of which were previously unreleased), adding nothing and taking nothing away from the immense influence that Johnson exerted on the evolution of rural blues and the birth of rock.
His musical output thus extended to a mere twenty-nine tracks, twenty-nine recordings in which the prophecy of rock and with it its curse are indelibly imprinted. Twenty-nine desperate chants in which Johnson raves about a universe of solitude and perdition, where the highway is the boundary between the world of the living and the dead. A boundary so thin that once at the crossroads, it's no longer possible to distinguish between the two; it's no longer possible to turn back. It is there that Robert Johnson sells his soul to the devil. It is then that he receives talent in exchange for eternal damnation.
His are desperate litanies that seamlessly blend the world of the living, where skin color makes all the difference, with that of the dead, where only the color of the soul matters. There is no redemption for Robert Johnson. Everything is black. In his voice, there is no hope, only resignation, restlessness, fear. His lyrics are obscene, violent; sex and the devil are his obsessions. His are jagged, claustrophobic, sometimes disturbing blues, in which Johnson first embodies the sound of future rock bands, combining the intensive and evocative use of the slide guitar with actual bass patterns on the first two strings and completely unrelated melodic lines on the others, while foot and thumb keep the time. An elaborate yet impressive guitar solution that more than once deceives the listener.
When Robert Johnson's name will be uttered again after decades of silence, his story will not take long to repeat itself, claiming illustrious victims. His scant corpus of music will become a crucial crossroads from which rock history will pass and never return. His life, shrouded in mystery, will fuel legends and morbidity, and many musicians will, directly or indirectly, pay tribute to the most innovative pre-war bluesman. His unsettling presence will be felt in countless upcoming records.
If you recognize some of these covers, Robert Johnson is already part of your genetic heritage without you even realizing it. If you recognize these covers, "King Of The Delta Blues Singers" and "King Of The Delta Blues Singers, Volume II" are already your favorite albums, you just haven't listened to them yet.
A sincere tip. Today you can find remastered versions where the sound has been digitally repaired and cleaned of noise and hiss. Avoid them like the plague.
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