Robert Johnson
The Complete Recordings

THE REVIEW

Mr. Robert Johnson, refined artist who in twenty-nine musical paintings finely traces vivid shades, putting the signature to a comprehensive work that symbolically encapsulates his homeland, Mississippi: the dust of the roads, the rust of the dilapidated railroads, the cotton of the endless plantations, the smell of whiskey in the old black clubs, the poverty, the melancholy, and yet, the strong cohesion of his people, still trapped in a society that has very little of equality.

We are in the period preceding the second world war, and the American dream is already for many a bitter illusion. Great interest in music, especially in pre-war colored society, at times when even the music itself was undergoing some significant changes; Johnson, thus, learns to play the harmonica and only later will he approach the study of the guitar, certainly not aware of having in his mind extraordinarily innovative and revolutionary ideas, which would influence multiple musical genres. A mysterious figure, blurred by time and his own myth, the accursed artist in his ideal incarnation, personification of a modern Doctor Faustus who barters—an entirely appropriate term in this circumstance—his soul for an unusual skill with the guitar, and with a promise to become one of the greatest bluesmen in history, in an implausible yet certainly fascinating pact with the devil (a legend, this one, spread by Johnson himself).

It was after the death of his wife Virginia that he began to roam, defining the classic image of the “unbridled genius”, showing himself as a morbid lover of alcohol and women, but also as a tremendously talented musician (probably thanks to lessons given to him by two other eclectic and imaginative bluesmen, Ike Zinnemann and Son House). And it is precisely the figure of the woman that often finds space in his lyrics, an easy woman willing to quick adventures, alongside that disturbing and dark figure of the tempting devil: and so sin is the main theme, accompanied by despair and lack of faith in any possibility of redemptive ascent on the part of man, enmeshed in a perverse whirlwind of lust and ambitions, with no chance of escape. Lyrics, therefore, inconceivable for that era and decidedly bold, accompanied by the “vintage” sound of his acoustic guitar, which identifies rhythmic parts (with classic blues chords on the fourth and fifth string, often in 4/4) and small solo bridges on higher tones, enhancing the high notes of a Johnson who is an engaging interpreter of his works.

The box-set “The Complete Recordings,” composed of two discs (release date: 08/28/1990), gathers the complete discography of this great musician, remastered tracks that were originally and mostly recorded in a hotel room during some recording sessions organized by talent scout Ernie Oertle, shortly before his death. Even the last months of Johnson, however, were shrouded in an aura of mystery! There are those who are convinced he recorded a thirtieth track (hidden somewhere in Mississippi in great secrecy) and, moreover, we have not received any certain news about his death, except for the date of passing, August 16, '38: the usual legends tell us that he was probably stabbed by a jealous husband, others tell us of a death by poisoning and, as can easily be foreseen, there is a not insignificant number of rumors about it. In any case, he left an invaluable legacy for the evolution of music, despite his death coming prematurely, at only 27 years old, a sort of curse that struck other great artists, Brian Jones (first frontman of the Rolling Stones), Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison (singer of The Doors) and Kurt Cobain (leader of Nirvana), just to name a few, all disappearing at the ominous milestone of 27.

In conclusion, a fundamental artist, who brought to the attention of the public opinion (although exponentially more so after his death) the hardships of his America, rural America, black America, while at the same time leaving us important concepts that will be foundational to rock, contributing in some ways also to its birth.

"I'm a poor drunken hearted man and sin was the cause of it allBut the day you get weak for no good women, that's the day that you surely fall"