Legend has it that he sold his soul to the devil to become the best blues singer and guitarist of his time. Whether or not such a Faustian agreement occurred is unknown, but one thing is for sure. Despite knowing of his untimely death at age 27, Robert Johnson was and continues to be one of the most influential American musicians of all time. Many great rock and blues acts have recorded his material, and the supposed deal with the devil only adds to the mystique.
It is not very clear when Robert Johnson was born, but the most likely date would have been May 8, 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. As was the case with most African Americans at the time, Johnson grew up poor in a segregated society. He would continue to be poor for years to come, living the life of a “traveling bluesman”, traveling from city to city, playing his songs wherever and whenever he could, mainly in bars, music venues and even on street corners.
Some of these songs include “Terraplane Blues”, “Cross Road Blues”, “(I Believe I’ll) Dust My Broom” and “Me and the Devil Blues”. These songs, and many others, were recorded between 1934 and 1938 in various crude and inexpensive studios in Texas.
The accounts vary when it comes to Johnson’s alleged deal with the Devil. Most of them, particularly blues legend Son House, used it to validate Johnson’s rapid improvement as a guitarist.
However, there are others who believe that such an agreement had not been carried out. While Johnson wrote quite a few songs that mentioned the devil by name, most of his contemporaries attest that he had never spoken of such a pact. In fact, the song most associated with the legend (“Cross Road Blues”) sounds more like an ode to the life of a traveling bluesman than a song about meeting Satan at an intersection.
The exact circumstances of Johnson’s death remain a mystery even to this day. Most accounts put the blame on a tainted whiskey bottle, causing Johnson to suffer extreme pain for three days and eventually die on August 16, 1938.
Some have said that Johnson was poisoned with strychnine, but this has been disputed by both contemporaries and researchers. There are even some who believe that Johnson’s pact with the Man Below, if true, resulted in Johnson becoming so powerful that it took him a good three days to expire – a lesser man would have died almost instantly.
It’s no wonder why “(I Believe I’ll) Dust My Broom” became a garage band standard in the 1960s, or why artists like Cream and Led Zeppelin made last-day classics or were based on on Johnson’s recordings.
In the 1930s, he was influencing present and future generations of blues musicians with his innovative way of playing the guitar and his emotional blues wailing. And unbeknownst to him, he was helping lay the foundation for rock ‘n’ roll at a time when many of the genre’s best performers had yet to be born.
Robert Johnson may or may not have sold his soul at the crossroads, but the soul of his music lives on.
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