Remembering Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson was born May 8, 1911 in Nutsack, Mississippi. Robert had 10 or 11 siblings and his parents were probably sharecroppers or slaves or wealthy landowners. No one really knows. They did not keep the best records in Nutsack during the turn of the century.
From 1932 until his death in 1938, Johnson walked the earth as an itinerant musician. Johnson would play guitar for 5 cents and stop playing for 25 cents.
According to legend, as a young man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Johnson had a tremendous desire to become a great blues musician. He was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight. There he was met by a large black man (the Devil) who took the guitar and tuned it. The Devil played a few songs and then wiped his butt on the guitar before returning it to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. In exchange for his soul, Johnson was able to create the blues for which he became famous.
Johnson died on August 16, 1938, at the age of 27. He was the first member of the ’27’ club. No one knows the exact cause of death, some say it was poison Whisky, others say it was syphilis and still others say it was Covid-19. There is no doubt that he paved the way for the blues and Rock n Roll and left an incredible legacy.
