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Robert Johnson is considered one
of the greatest blues artists of all time.
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There's just something sort of
supernatural about Robert.
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This is a level of genius
that maybe will only exist once.
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You can't hear a blues tune
or a rock tune that
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don't have some of Robert's
chords in it.
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You think you're hearing
two or three guys playing
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and it's just one guy.
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♪ I went to the crossroads ♪
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♪ Fell down on my knees ♪
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It's the template
for what became rock and roll.
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The songs and the subject matter,
let alone the guitar playing,
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which is very much like Bach,
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and the voice is so eerie...
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♪ Save poor Bob if you please ♪
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You put that in a class by itself,
you know, and Johnson is.
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♪ Standin' at the crossroads ♪
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Because there wasn't
that much known about Johnson,
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he came with mystery attached.
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The myth of Robert Johnson
still lives today,
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because there was so many
unsolved mysteries.
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The music drew us in,
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but it was the myth that made people
believe that there is magic out there.
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All of us have been trying to
figure out the mystery around the man.
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Robert was said to have been
a novice guitar player.
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Not very good.
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So he went away and came back
playing so good,
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that everybody says, "He did something."
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The legend is
he went to the crossroads,
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he met the devil there,
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he sold his soul,
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and then he became
the greatest guitar player in the world.
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But how much is myth
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and how much is real?
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There's very little known about
the life of Robert Johnson.
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In fact, there are only two known photos.
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And no footage.
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I've spent the last 50 years...
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studying the life and music
of Robert Johnson.
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Robert Johnson had a very short
recording career.
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We only have 29 compositions.
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And he died so young,
at the age of 27.
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I first found out that
Robert Johnson was my grandfather
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when I was about 15 years old.
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When I first heard Robert Johnson,
I was like,
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"Okay, that's what music is."
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And there's so much
we don't know about him,
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so I read everything
I could get my hands on.
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I became a scholar of Johnson
by reading everything I possibly could,
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by listening to all his music,
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00:03:49,604 --> 00:03:51,272
but also as a musician,
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I was trying to get inside and understand
what his state of mind was.
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When I heard Robert Johnson,
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I said, "This is the top of the tower,
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and I gotta figure out what that is."
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00:04:04,202 --> 00:04:05,787
But it wasn't a conscious decision,
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it was just like, that's what I knew
I wanted to do.
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I remember my grandfather saying,
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"That old boy from the Delta,
Robert Johnson,
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always hung out at the graveyard."
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And then he started talking about,
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"Him the devil, done this and done that."
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And it just brung a lot of curiousness
about this man.
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There was one cut by Robert Johnson
on this country blues record
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and it just stood out.
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So I made it a quest to find out
as much as I could about him.
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I made countless trips
to his hometown, Hazlehurst, Mississippi,
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talking to everyone that I could find
who knew him.
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I would just drive until I saw
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somebody sitting on their porch outside
and I'd just pull up.
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00:04:49,956 --> 00:04:53,418
And there'd just be so much information
that you could get
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just by cold calling people, you know?
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Did you and Robert go together
for a while?
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I guess about six or seven months,
something like that.
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00:05:02,051 --> 00:05:04,887
Before he left and went somewhere
to make records.
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00:05:04,971 --> 00:05:07,432
He said he's going to make...
make some records.
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It wasn't until 1967...
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that Robert's death certificate
was discovered.
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And with that discovery,
we learned who his mother was,
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we learned who is father was,
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00:05:20,611 --> 00:05:24,198
and we learned the first real facts
about Robert Johnson.
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So, little by little,
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using census records, city directories,
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death certificates, marriage licenses...
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More and more information came out,
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and each time a piece of information
would come out,
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it would be like a new key that would
open up yet another door.
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Look at this!
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They said you were wearin' some orange.
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Hey, Steve...
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♪ Down at the crossroads ♪
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♪ Dark gon' catch me here ♪
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My grandfather, Robert Johnson,
was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi.
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His mother was Julia Dodds
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and she was married to Charles Dodds.
95
00:06:13,998 --> 00:06:17,251
Charles Dodds was a wealthy
carpenter and farmer.
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00:06:18,127 --> 00:06:20,713
But some local white people
resented his success
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and he was forced to flee to Memphis
to escape a lynch mob.
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Julia was left destitute
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00:06:27,345 --> 00:06:29,889
and took up with a local
lumber camp worker,
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who would become Robert's
biological father.
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This was the home...
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in all probability,
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where Robert Johnson was actually born.
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Here it is,
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this beyond-modest place...
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...that somehow has persisted
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for more than a century.
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The fact that it survives...
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00:07:02,338 --> 00:07:04,507
it's kind of like a metaphor
for Robert's life.
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As far as my information goes,
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he was always pushed
from one house to another house,
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from Memphis to the Delta to Arkansas,
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and I think his mom even
walked out on him at one point.
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So he never had a stable home
and a stable environment.
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He never had a father figure
that accepted him for who he was.
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Years went by,
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until eventually Robert Johnson's
mother remarried.
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Robert moved in with his new stepfather,
a sharecropper.
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I heard his stepfather used to abuse him.
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Because he didn't want to go work
in the fields, he would beat him.
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Johnson looked at his stepfather,
who was a sharecropper,
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00:07:52,763 --> 00:07:54,390
and saw what a bad deal it was
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to get hooked up to a plow and a boss,
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and said, "I'm gonna be free.
I'm not gonna do that.
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I'm not gonna get ripped off that way."
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But as a race, we didn't have
much to choose from as far as work goes.
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It was the field
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00:08:08,529 --> 00:08:10,281
or basically nothing.
129
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So, he wanted to make his living
with the blues.
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Long fingers, playing the guitar,
he didn't want to mess his fingers up.
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He'd come to the field
and play for somebody
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to make a nickel or dime, you know.
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The big deal was
Will Dockery's plantation.
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Outside of Robinsonville.
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People worked there all week long.
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No radios,
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no music, no entertainment.
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But, on the weekend,
the musicians came out.
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It served as a balm
for people who were in bondage.
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And it gave you a way out.
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You play that music,
you could be outside of yourself.
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You know, you could
take everybody else out.
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You know, outside of their selves.
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00:09:06,837 --> 00:09:09,966
♪ I do believe, pretty baby ♪
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♪ Believe I'll dust my broom ♪
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Most all these church folk,
you say, "Where the blues come from?"
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"It came from the church."
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But that's a lie.
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It didn't come from the church,
it came from the field.
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Out there in the field,
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they was playing instruments.
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Harmonica.
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"Oh baby" this and "oh baby" that.
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♪ Somebody gonna hurt you, woman
Like you hurt me ♪
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Weren't even talking about the woman.
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Talking about the man he's working for.
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Nobody played the blues
like the Mississippi folks.
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Because it's something
that was in 'em already.
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The musicians would play
for the sharecroppers,
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but the sharecroppers
didn't have any money.
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But city folks did.
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00:10:02,101 --> 00:10:04,604
So if you were a black musician
at that time,
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you strap a guitar to your back,
you stick your thumb out,
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00:10:07,857 --> 00:10:10,192
and you just go from town to town.
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00:10:10,610 --> 00:10:13,821
You would travel by bus, train,
walking down the street.
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00:10:13,904 --> 00:10:16,782
However you could get there, and perform
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00:10:16,866 --> 00:10:17,908
anywhere you could.
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00:10:18,367 --> 00:10:20,328
On a street corner, in a juke joint.
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00:10:20,411 --> 00:10:22,330
Anywhere that there was an audience.
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If you're obsessed with remaining free
from the cotton fields,
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you gotta be able to play
what people want,
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00:10:27,877 --> 00:10:29,837
so they played polkas, country music,
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pop songs.
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00:10:31,631 --> 00:10:34,634
Also, by setting up
on the sidewalk, the word would get out
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that these musicians were in town.
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The owner of a juke would get in touch
with them and say, "Well, you know,
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can you come and play
at my place tonight?"
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The juke joint was in city limits,
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where black peoples could go
and have a good time in town.
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00:10:53,569 --> 00:10:56,697
They would dance, play music,
drink beer, gamble.
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Just together, you know,
for the community.
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Robert would work a town
until he had it worked out...
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00:11:07,541 --> 00:11:10,795
...and then just get back on the road
and go to the next town.
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00:11:11,837 --> 00:11:15,299
Robert Johnson on the road
in his 20s, it was dangerous.
185
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It was extremely dangerous.
186
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For a black man,
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Mississippi was one of the most
dangerous places in the world.
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00:11:26,143 --> 00:11:28,396
If you lived in the upper south
like the Virginias,
189
00:11:29,230 --> 00:11:30,398
even the Carolinas,
190
00:11:30,481 --> 00:11:31,982
the master would threaten you.
191
00:11:32,650 --> 00:11:35,528
"You don't act right,
I'm gonna send you down Mississippi.
192
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I'm gonna sell you."
193
00:11:36,862 --> 00:11:37,863
And people were like,
194
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"Whatever you do,
195
00:11:39,824 --> 00:11:41,742
please don't send me down there,"
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00:11:41,826 --> 00:11:44,370
'cause they knew how badly
they treated people.
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You're a black person,
then you could be
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00:11:47,456 --> 00:11:48,666
killed, lynched,
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00:11:49,417 --> 00:11:50,543
just on a whim.
200
00:11:51,293 --> 00:11:52,920
"Boy, I don't like you.
201
00:11:53,003 --> 00:11:55,047
What do you say, fellas?
Come on, let's..."
202
00:11:55,589 --> 00:11:56,424
Yeah.
203
00:11:58,342 --> 00:12:01,387
There were more lynchings
in the Mississippi Delta
204
00:12:01,470 --> 00:12:02,888
than anyplace else.
205
00:12:04,348 --> 00:12:07,476
But it wasn't only the danger
that made life difficult.
206
00:12:12,064 --> 00:12:14,358
A life on the road
was even harder
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00:12:14,442 --> 00:12:18,112
because most of the people in the towns
were Christian,
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00:12:18,195 --> 00:12:21,615
and the blues to them
were considered the devil's music.
209
00:12:22,366 --> 00:12:23,743
Sunday morning come.
210
00:12:24,535 --> 00:12:25,661
You got the preacher.
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00:12:27,621 --> 00:12:28,706
He ain't making no money.
212
00:12:29,874 --> 00:12:33,335
All your men's mostly at the juke joint.
213
00:12:33,794 --> 00:12:35,588
Juke house been partying all night long.
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00:12:35,671 --> 00:12:38,299
People don't want me to tell it like this,
but that's the way it is.
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00:12:38,382 --> 00:12:40,259
The preacher,
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00:12:40,843 --> 00:12:42,553
he got a service going on.
217
00:12:43,429 --> 00:12:45,723
Nobody there but the womens.
218
00:12:45,806 --> 00:12:47,224
The juke joint and juke house.
219
00:12:47,975 --> 00:12:49,979
These people are making a little money.
220
00:12:50,436 --> 00:12:51,645
But Reverend ain't making none.
221
00:12:54,398 --> 00:12:57,276
"You're gonna go to hell
for listening to that devil music."
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00:12:58,194 --> 00:13:00,529
The Baptist preachers started that.
223
00:13:00,613 --> 00:13:03,741
Somebody get cut, somebody get in a fight,
224
00:13:04,116 --> 00:13:06,827
"that devil music is causing all this."
225
00:13:09,371 --> 00:13:11,123
When the preacher put that myth out there,
226
00:13:11,874 --> 00:13:13,167
these womens in church,
227
00:13:13,584 --> 00:13:15,544
they started telling some
of their husbands,
228
00:13:15,628 --> 00:13:17,880
"Look, y'all don't start coming to church,
229
00:13:17,963 --> 00:13:19,757
you can go to hell
listening to devil music."
230
00:13:34,814 --> 00:13:36,190
Local legend has it
231
00:13:37,566 --> 00:13:38,566
that...
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00:13:39,235 --> 00:13:41,320
when he was 18 years old,
233
00:13:42,988 --> 00:13:45,616
Robert Johnson fell in love
234
00:13:45,699 --> 00:13:48,953
with a 15-year-old named Virginia Travis.
235
00:13:50,329 --> 00:13:54,166
They lied about their ages
and got married.
236
00:13:56,335 --> 00:14:00,130
Her family were church people
and very religious,
237
00:14:00,214 --> 00:14:03,968
as were most people
in that community on a plantation.
238
00:14:04,677 --> 00:14:07,221
Robert made a pledge to Virginia
239
00:14:07,304 --> 00:14:09,640
that he would give up playing music
240
00:14:09,723 --> 00:14:12,852
and he would become a legitimate farmhand
241
00:14:12,935 --> 00:14:14,520
and he would be a good husband.
242
00:14:14,937 --> 00:14:17,606
So they moved to a plantation
243
00:14:18,357 --> 00:14:19,650
and lived there
244
00:14:20,150 --> 00:14:23,279
until Virginia was eight-and-a-half
months pregnant.
245
00:14:30,494 --> 00:14:35,791
Virginia left to be with her grandmother
to give birth to their baby,
246
00:14:36,417 --> 00:14:39,962
while Robert took advantage of the fact
that Virginia was gone
247
00:14:40,045 --> 00:14:41,547
to start playing the guitar again.
248
00:14:44,216 --> 00:14:47,928
He decided to work his way
through some of his old familiar haunts
249
00:14:48,012 --> 00:14:50,931
along the Mississippi River, up Highway 1,
250
00:14:51,015 --> 00:14:55,311
and arrive in time to see his wife
and their new baby.
251
00:14:58,939 --> 00:15:00,858
Well, Robert didn't make it in time.
252
00:15:06,572 --> 00:15:08,824
Virginia died in childbirth
253
00:15:09,658 --> 00:15:12,995
and was already dead and buried
with the baby.
254
00:15:13,370 --> 00:15:14,872
♪ And I followed her ♪
255
00:15:16,415 --> 00:15:17,875
♪ To the station ♪
256
00:15:21,253 --> 00:15:24,965
♪ Well, you know
I followed that girl down to the station ♪
257
00:15:26,842 --> 00:15:29,553
♪ With a suitcase in my hand ♪
258
00:15:32,932 --> 00:15:35,225
If you can just imagine this,
I mean, it must've been
259
00:15:35,309 --> 00:15:37,519
just such a tragic scene.
260
00:15:37,603 --> 00:15:38,854
Here he is,
261
00:15:39,355 --> 00:15:42,149
all excited to see his wife and new baby,
262
00:15:43,025 --> 00:15:45,778
carrying his guitar,
walking into this house,
263
00:15:46,362 --> 00:15:47,905
and the family said,
264
00:15:47,988 --> 00:15:49,281
"Where were you?
265
00:15:49,365 --> 00:15:51,200
You were out playing the devil's music."
266
00:15:51,283 --> 00:15:54,203
♪ Well, you know
It's hard to tell, it's hard to tell ♪
267
00:15:56,246 --> 00:15:58,958
♪ When all your love's in vain ♪
268
00:15:59,917 --> 00:16:02,795
♪ All my love's in vain ♪
269
00:16:03,837 --> 00:16:07,174
Her family blamed him
for her death.
270
00:16:07,383 --> 00:16:10,552
♪ You know, I felt so lonesome
I felt so lonesome ♪
271
00:16:12,262 --> 00:16:15,307
♪ All I could do was cry ♪
272
00:16:17,351 --> 00:16:19,728
♪ When all your love's in vain ♪
273
00:16:20,813 --> 00:16:23,649
♪ All my love's in vain ♪
274
00:16:32,950 --> 00:16:36,453
According to
contemporary scholars, it was after that
275
00:16:36,537 --> 00:16:40,374
that Robert's life really
seems to change considerably.
276
00:16:41,041 --> 00:16:43,377
He dedicates his life to his music.
277
00:16:44,545 --> 00:16:47,881
He wasn't satisfied just making a living.
278
00:16:48,799 --> 00:16:52,386
Robert Johnson wanted to be a big star.
279
00:16:55,139 --> 00:16:56,265
♪ You know ♪
280
00:16:57,725 --> 00:17:00,602
♪ If I don't never
No more see you, honey ♪
281
00:17:01,854 --> 00:17:04,690
And then in July of 1930,
282
00:17:04,773 --> 00:17:07,151
Son House moves to Robinsonville.
283
00:17:08,944 --> 00:17:12,281
Son House was older than Robert Johnson
and he was an established player.
284
00:17:12,990 --> 00:17:16,368
Son House told me, Robert Johnson,
as the new kid, goes,
285
00:17:16,452 --> 00:17:17,870
"I want to be like that guy."
286
00:17:19,663 --> 00:17:24,793
Robert was only making nickels and dimes
on the corner playing his music
287
00:17:24,877 --> 00:17:26,920
and he wanted to take it to another level.
288
00:17:27,004 --> 00:17:30,007
He wanted to go from the street corners
to the juke joints
289
00:17:30,090 --> 00:17:31,884
where that real money was.
290
00:17:35,679 --> 00:17:40,100
Robert was said to have been
a novice guitar player
291
00:17:40,184 --> 00:17:43,896
who would go to see Son House
and Willie Brown perform.
292
00:17:44,521 --> 00:17:46,940
He'd follow me and Willie around.
293
00:17:49,526 --> 00:17:52,071
And every time we stopped to rest
294
00:17:52,154 --> 00:17:55,699
and set that ol' guitar
over in the corner or something,
295
00:17:55,783 --> 00:17:59,870
he trying to play it and be just noising
the people, you know.
296
00:18:00,204 --> 00:18:02,331
And the folks, they'd come out, say,
297
00:18:02,414 --> 00:18:04,917
"Why don't some of y'all go down
and make that boy
298
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,795
put that thing down,
he running us crazy."
299
00:18:10,964 --> 00:18:12,382
According to Son House,
300
00:18:12,466 --> 00:18:14,843
Robert would go to fooling around
with the guitars,
301
00:18:14,927 --> 00:18:16,887
and they didn't want him to fool
with the guitars
302
00:18:16,970 --> 00:18:18,263
because he might break a string.
303
00:18:20,432 --> 00:18:23,685
So they used to keep running.
"Boy, get away from around here."
304
00:18:23,936 --> 00:18:25,938
You know, he was, like, in the way.
305
00:18:27,523 --> 00:18:30,734
So Robert supposedly said,
"Well, you know, I'll show you."
306
00:18:31,944 --> 00:18:34,822
And then he disappears from the Delta.
307
00:18:37,157 --> 00:18:38,742
Nobody knows where he went
308
00:18:39,993 --> 00:18:41,495
for about a year.
309
00:18:48,710 --> 00:18:51,255
But then Son and Willie Brown
310
00:18:51,338 --> 00:18:53,841
were playing at a juke
in Banks, Mississippi.
311
00:18:54,842 --> 00:18:59,179
And in the door comes Robert Johnson
carrying a guitar.
312
00:18:59,555 --> 00:19:01,098
And Son says to Willie...
313
00:19:01,181 --> 00:19:03,559
Look who's coming in the door,
got a guitar on his back.
314
00:19:03,642 --> 00:19:06,854
He said, "Oh, that's little Robert."
I said, "Yeah, that's him."
315
00:19:06,937 --> 00:19:09,606
I said, "Boy, now where you going
with that thing?
316
00:19:09,690 --> 00:19:11,984
To noise somebody else to death again?"
317
00:19:12,192 --> 00:19:14,862
He said, "No, just give me a try."
I said, "Well, okay."
318
00:19:17,156 --> 00:19:19,491
He had an extra string he put on
319
00:19:19,575 --> 00:19:23,537
a six-string guitar, made him have--
it's a seven-string.
320
00:19:23,620 --> 00:19:26,039
Something I ain't never saw before,
none of us.
321
00:19:31,420 --> 00:19:33,380
♪ Hot tamales and they're red hot ♪
322
00:19:33,463 --> 00:19:35,132
♪ Yes, she got 'em for sale ♪
323
00:19:35,966 --> 00:19:37,926
♪ Hot tamales and they're red hot ♪
324
00:19:38,010 --> 00:19:39,678
♪ Yes, she got 'em for sale ♪
325
00:19:40,345 --> 00:19:42,306
♪ I got a girl, say she long and tall ♪
326
00:19:42,389 --> 00:19:44,641
♪ Sleeps in the kitchen
With her feets in the hall ♪
327
00:19:50,022 --> 00:19:52,941
And when that boy started playing,
328
00:19:53,025 --> 00:19:54,860
oh, he was gone!
329
00:19:54,943 --> 00:19:56,363
♪ Hot tamales and they're red hot ♪
330
00:19:56,403 --> 00:19:57,821
Robert's so good,
331
00:19:58,322 --> 00:20:00,532
everybody is just blown away.
332
00:20:00,616 --> 00:20:04,328
Son said, "We were just all standing there
with our mouths open,
333
00:20:04,411 --> 00:20:06,496
saying, 'Now, ain't that fast.'"
334
00:20:07,539 --> 00:20:10,626
He was playing in a way
that they'd never heard before.
335
00:20:10,709 --> 00:20:12,377
He was playing that same guitar
336
00:20:12,502 --> 00:20:14,338
they said he couldn't
hold a tune in a bucket.
337
00:20:14,421 --> 00:20:16,506
Now he's outplaying everybody.
338
00:20:17,424 --> 00:20:22,179
And one moment, Johnson
is the mediocre to a bad guitar player.
339
00:20:22,638 --> 00:20:25,807
A year and a half later,
he's an impresario.
340
00:20:26,391 --> 00:20:28,060
He's doing things with the guitar
341
00:20:28,143 --> 00:20:30,354
that even his mentors can't do.
342
00:20:39,905 --> 00:20:41,705
This begins the whole myth of...
343
00:20:42,115 --> 00:20:45,994
how could Robert possibly have gotten
that good that fast?
344
00:20:48,455 --> 00:20:49,456
He did something.
345
00:20:50,374 --> 00:20:52,668
You don't just go away and come back
playing like that.
346
00:20:53,543 --> 00:20:55,295
This man was a nobody.
347
00:20:55,629 --> 00:20:57,089
And all of a sudden,
348
00:20:57,547 --> 00:20:59,049
he's on top of the world.
349
00:20:59,132 --> 00:21:01,385
That put fear in people that...
350
00:21:01,843 --> 00:21:03,679
he been hangin' out at the crossroads.
351
00:21:03,762 --> 00:21:05,180
This man ain't nothing but a devil.
352
00:21:09,142 --> 00:21:10,185
The myth goes...
353
00:21:11,103 --> 00:21:13,730
Robert went to the crossroads.
354
00:21:19,152 --> 00:21:22,072
And he's supposed to have
gotten down on his knees...
355
00:21:23,615 --> 00:21:25,284
handed his guitar to the devil.
356
00:21:27,828 --> 00:21:29,913
And the devil's supposed to have
tuned his guitar.
357
00:21:32,374 --> 00:21:34,876
And before he got the guitar back,
358
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:37,838
the devil said,
"Once you receive the guitar,
359
00:21:37,921 --> 00:21:39,381
your soul is mine.
360
00:21:40,590 --> 00:21:41,633
Do you want it?"
361
00:21:42,759 --> 00:21:44,886
That's how he sold his soul to the devil.
362
00:21:51,435 --> 00:21:53,228
Some of the lyrics that he wrote,
363
00:21:53,603 --> 00:21:55,147
it would make one think,
364
00:21:55,897 --> 00:21:58,275
"Maybe he did sell his soul to the devil."
365
00:21:59,693 --> 00:22:01,611
Talking about hellhounds on his trail,
366
00:22:01,695 --> 00:22:04,948
and, "Me and the devil
was walking side-by-side."
367
00:22:06,366 --> 00:22:08,285
But if you believe the myth,
368
00:22:08,368 --> 00:22:11,246
it didn't just end with Robert Johnson
selling his soul.
369
00:22:12,706 --> 00:22:15,208
Because if you do make a deal
with the devil,
370
00:22:15,292 --> 00:22:16,960
you gonna have to pay the price.
371
00:22:25,052 --> 00:22:26,970
The story of Robert Johnson
372
00:22:27,346 --> 00:22:31,725
going down to the crossroads
and making a bargain with the devil,
373
00:22:32,267 --> 00:22:34,895
I think it's reflecting on a tradition
374
00:22:34,978 --> 00:22:37,773
in African American folklore
called "hoodoo."
375
00:22:40,275 --> 00:22:43,278
African American styles of magic.
376
00:22:44,154 --> 00:22:48,784
And hoodoo has these stories
of people going down to a crossroad
377
00:22:48,992 --> 00:22:53,872
and meeting up with an entity who offers
some sort of insight or knowledge,
378
00:22:53,955 --> 00:22:55,415
to learn all kinds of things.
379
00:22:55,832 --> 00:22:59,878
So hoodoo was seen as a way
of gaining control
380
00:22:59,961 --> 00:23:04,716
in a world that was suffused
by violence and limited options.
381
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:10,305
Hoodoo gave people other possibilities
for living in that world.
382
00:23:13,308 --> 00:23:17,771
Robert Johnson's lyrics are filled
with hoodoo references.
383
00:23:18,230 --> 00:23:20,273
In the song "Come on in My Kitchen,"
384
00:23:20,816 --> 00:23:22,150
he sings a line,
385
00:23:22,234 --> 00:23:25,904
"I've taken the last nickel
out of her nation sack."
386
00:23:25,987 --> 00:23:27,823
♪ Oh, she's gone ♪
387
00:23:28,907 --> 00:23:30,909
♪ I know she won't come back ♪
388
00:23:31,743 --> 00:23:33,745
♪ I've taken the last nickel ♪
389
00:23:34,246 --> 00:23:36,331
♪ Out of her nation sack ♪
390
00:23:36,581 --> 00:23:39,251
The "nation sack" or "mojo bag"
391
00:23:39,334 --> 00:23:42,671
was a luck charm that a woman
wore around her waist.
392
00:23:43,130 --> 00:23:45,006
This was a woman's sexual power.
393
00:23:45,298 --> 00:23:47,259
It's a way of keeping the man with her.
394
00:23:48,427 --> 00:23:52,556
So by removing the contents
of a woman's nation sack,
395
00:23:52,639 --> 00:23:54,933
this woman no longer
has the power over him,
396
00:23:55,016 --> 00:23:58,979
and now he can invite
whoever he wants to into his kitchen.
397
00:24:01,148 --> 00:24:05,527
We also have to think about
how we are only one generation
398
00:24:05,610 --> 00:24:07,195
removed from slavery.
399
00:24:07,821 --> 00:24:10,115
And so in "Hellhound on My Trail,"
400
00:24:10,198 --> 00:24:15,162
Johnson talks about sprinkling hot powder
at his door.
401
00:24:15,245 --> 00:24:18,039
♪ You sprinkled hot foot powder ♪
402
00:24:18,123 --> 00:24:19,958
♪ Mmm, around my door ♪
403
00:24:20,333 --> 00:24:23,587
African Americans
refer to "hot powder"
404
00:24:23,670 --> 00:24:26,548
as a means to evade bloodhounds.
405
00:24:26,631 --> 00:24:28,842
♪ A hellhound on my trail ♪
406
00:24:28,925 --> 00:24:30,719
♪ Still out on my trail ♪
407
00:24:31,052 --> 00:24:35,015
That would have been used
by someone fleeing a lynch mob.
408
00:24:35,098 --> 00:24:38,560
And so if we think about
Robert Johnson's stepfather,
409
00:24:38,643 --> 00:24:39,686
Charles Dodds,
410
00:24:39,769 --> 00:24:43,857
that's a reference to, perhaps,
how he evaded a near-lynching.
411
00:24:44,441 --> 00:24:47,777
So I think that that expresses
the psychological torment
412
00:24:47,861 --> 00:24:49,488
of feeling like
413
00:24:49,571 --> 00:24:51,031
lynching is always around the corner,
414
00:24:51,114 --> 00:24:52,282
it's always a possibility,
415
00:24:52,365 --> 00:24:54,618
you are never safe.
416
00:24:57,829 --> 00:25:00,707
At the time when Robert Johnson
was performing these songs
417
00:25:00,790 --> 00:25:02,125
that had hoodoo references,
418
00:25:02,209 --> 00:25:05,754
for African Americans,
and black men in particular.
419
00:25:05,837 --> 00:25:08,798
it is addressing the realities
of their world,
420
00:25:09,257 --> 00:25:12,052
and finding power in this magic.
421
00:25:14,346 --> 00:25:18,558
I believe Robert Johnson's
association with hoodoo
422
00:25:18,642 --> 00:25:22,896
and using the references in his lyrics
empowered him.
423
00:25:23,230 --> 00:25:25,857
It was, "Yeah, if you mess with me,
424
00:25:26,441 --> 00:25:30,320
something bad's gonna happen to you
because it's not just me,
425
00:25:30,403 --> 00:25:32,447
it's the power behind me."
426
00:25:34,449 --> 00:25:36,910
I don't know where
the crossroads story came from,
427
00:25:37,577 --> 00:25:39,871
but I believe to my core...
428
00:25:40,872 --> 00:25:44,292
even if Robert Johnson
actually met the devil,
429
00:25:44,918 --> 00:25:47,879
even if it really happened,
that it's a metaphor,
430
00:25:48,630 --> 00:25:49,714
a wake-up call
431
00:25:50,048 --> 00:25:52,676
for a person to go ahead
and become who they are.
432
00:26:01,017 --> 00:26:04,396
While the myth of the crossroads
has always intrigued people,
433
00:26:05,146 --> 00:26:08,275
there's some evidence that Robert's
incredible transformation
434
00:26:08,358 --> 00:26:11,069
can be traced back
to another story about his life.
435
00:26:11,736 --> 00:26:14,072
My grandfather, Robert Johnson,
left the Delta
436
00:26:14,948 --> 00:26:17,284
and he came back to his birth town,
437
00:26:17,742 --> 00:26:19,160
Hazlehurst, Mississippi,
438
00:26:19,244 --> 00:26:23,290
and he was looking for Noah Johnson
who was his biological father.
439
00:26:24,708 --> 00:26:28,753
In searching for Noah,
he found his mentor, Ike Zimmerman.
440
00:26:29,045 --> 00:26:32,299
Ike was known throughout
Southern Mississippi as being
441
00:26:32,382 --> 00:26:34,092
the best guitarist there was.
442
00:26:40,223 --> 00:26:41,349
Story has it that
443
00:26:41,433 --> 00:26:44,227
Ike Zimmerman and my granddad
444
00:26:44,311 --> 00:26:47,564
used to go in the cemetery
across from Ike's home,
445
00:26:47,647 --> 00:26:49,774
a few miles south of Hazlehurst,
446
00:26:49,858 --> 00:26:51,276
and they would practice there.
447
00:26:52,152 --> 00:26:54,446
Ike told my granddad, "Robert, look,
448
00:26:54,529 --> 00:26:56,823
I don't care how bad you sound out here.
449
00:26:56,906 --> 00:26:59,117
Nobody out here is gonna complain."
450
00:27:09,085 --> 00:27:12,088
♪ I got a kindhearted woman ♪
451
00:27:13,465 --> 00:27:15,550
♪ Do anything in this world for me ♪
452
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:18,470
♪ Anything in this world for me ♪
453
00:27:18,553 --> 00:27:21,264
He was actually
sharpening his craft
454
00:27:21,348 --> 00:27:23,725
with Ike Zimmerman as his mentor.
455
00:27:23,808 --> 00:27:26,102
♪ I got a kindhearted woman... ♪
456
00:27:26,186 --> 00:27:27,937
Ike always said
457
00:27:28,271 --> 00:27:31,358
that the only way to learn
how to play the blues
458
00:27:31,775 --> 00:27:34,194
was to sit on a gravestone
459
00:27:34,277 --> 00:27:36,529
at midnight in a cemetery.
460
00:27:36,946 --> 00:27:38,573
And then the "haints,"
461
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,868
which is a southern word
for "ghosts" or 'spirits,"
462
00:27:42,410 --> 00:27:43,495
would come out,
463
00:27:43,578 --> 00:27:46,331
and they would teach you
how to play the blues.
464
00:27:47,248 --> 00:27:48,792
They chose this grave
465
00:27:49,834 --> 00:27:51,836
so that they could sit facing each other.
466
00:27:52,420 --> 00:27:55,882
And Ike would be able to teach Robert
everything that he knew
467
00:27:56,132 --> 00:27:57,592
about playing the guitar.
468
00:27:58,635 --> 00:28:01,638
♪ She's a kindhearted woman ♪
469
00:28:02,305 --> 00:28:04,182
♪ She studies evil all the time ♪
470
00:28:05,016 --> 00:28:09,729
Some people say that it was my
granddad's hard work and practice with Ike
471
00:28:09,813 --> 00:28:11,189
that transformed him.
472
00:28:12,482 --> 00:28:14,359
♪ She studies evil all the time ♪
473
00:28:15,318 --> 00:28:19,114
But it was his playing music
in the graveyard
474
00:28:19,197 --> 00:28:21,032
that perpetuated the myth
475
00:28:21,116 --> 00:28:23,284
that he actually sold his soul
to the devil.
476
00:28:23,410 --> 00:28:25,036
♪ To have it on your mind ♪
477
00:28:35,338 --> 00:28:37,841
♪ I got stones in my passway... ♪
478
00:28:38,299 --> 00:28:40,468
Robert Johnson
had this amazing technique.
479
00:28:40,802 --> 00:28:43,430
It's a contrast and a drama,
480
00:28:43,513 --> 00:28:46,433
from fluctuating rhythms
and tempos and volumes,
481
00:28:46,516 --> 00:28:47,976
and the breathing of the music.
482
00:28:48,059 --> 00:28:50,270
♪ ...tell my friend called Willie Brown ♪
483
00:28:50,937 --> 00:28:52,772
It's outside the box.
484
00:28:54,190 --> 00:28:56,401
Robert was a really smart person,
485
00:28:56,526 --> 00:29:00,363
and he was very protective
of how he was doing what he was doing.
486
00:29:00,947 --> 00:29:03,742
So if he saw you watching him play,
487
00:29:03,825 --> 00:29:07,078
he would either turn his back on you
or stop playing.
488
00:29:10,248 --> 00:29:13,960
Johnson was the first guy
you hear on record to do that sound,
489
00:29:14,043 --> 00:29:16,171
and he combined it with the slide,
490
00:29:16,337 --> 00:29:21,468
so it sounded like one guitar
playing up here, uh, melodies,
491
00:29:21,551 --> 00:29:23,094
while another was playing bass,
492
00:29:23,178 --> 00:29:25,054
which I believe he was doing
with his thumb,
493
00:29:25,138 --> 00:29:26,598
'cause he had large hands.
494
00:29:30,643 --> 00:29:33,438
My grandfather said,
"Oh boy, Robert,
495
00:29:33,521 --> 00:29:34,814
his fingers were so long
496
00:29:34,898 --> 00:29:37,358
and he could do stuff that
you would never be able to do."
497
00:29:37,442 --> 00:29:39,152
Can you imagine a guy playing,
498
00:29:39,235 --> 00:29:41,696
got these fingers doing one thing
499
00:29:41,780 --> 00:29:43,615
and these others doing some other stuff?
500
00:29:43,698 --> 00:29:45,742
Got two or three things going different,
you know?
501
00:29:45,825 --> 00:29:47,327
But he could do that.
502
00:29:50,163 --> 00:29:52,707
There's a sort of synchronization
about the way he plays,
503
00:29:52,791 --> 00:29:55,293
when he plays a little rhythm piece
and then...
504
00:29:55,668 --> 00:29:58,213
just one slide note can kill you, man.
505
00:29:58,296 --> 00:30:00,590
The big thing
about Robert Johnson,
506
00:30:00,673 --> 00:30:02,717
the piano sound that he had
507
00:30:03,051 --> 00:30:04,004
on the guitar.
508
00:30:04,010 --> 00:30:05,053
Nobody can do that.
509
00:30:05,136 --> 00:30:06,763
One part of what he's playing
510
00:30:06,846 --> 00:30:08,348
is talking to the other part,
511
00:30:08,431 --> 00:30:10,099
and he's the part in the middle.
512
00:30:12,227 --> 00:30:15,188
That doesn't sound like much to us
'cause we've heard it a million times.
513
00:30:15,271 --> 00:30:18,399
But when he did it,
no one else was yet doing that,
514
00:30:18,483 --> 00:30:21,402
and that becomes the building block
of electric blues,
515
00:30:21,486 --> 00:30:23,655
and if you change it into that,
516
00:30:23,738 --> 00:30:25,448
the building block of rock and roll.
517
00:30:25,532 --> 00:30:26,574
♪ Come on... ♪
518
00:30:26,866 --> 00:30:29,744
To me, the most fascinating thing
about playing guitar
519
00:30:29,828 --> 00:30:31,454
is playing with the other guy,
520
00:30:32,205 --> 00:30:34,205
and luckily Robert didn't have to worry
about that
521
00:30:34,207 --> 00:30:37,335
'cause he could do it all by himself, man,
you know.
522
00:30:37,418 --> 00:30:39,671
♪ Sweet home Chicago ♪
523
00:30:49,889 --> 00:30:53,226
♪ I woke up this morning ♪
524
00:30:53,685 --> 00:30:55,603
♪ Feelin' round for my shoes... ♪
525
00:30:56,563 --> 00:31:00,775
Robert recorded a total of 29
songs for the American Record Company.
526
00:31:01,609 --> 00:31:05,280
And in his Delta region,
his popularity took off.
527
00:31:09,951 --> 00:31:11,786
Although his success was great,
528
00:31:12,287 --> 00:31:14,581
I believe there was still a part of him
529
00:31:15,123 --> 00:31:17,500
that wanted a normal life with a family.
530
00:31:18,293 --> 00:31:21,004
♪ Some people say the low-down blues ♪
531
00:31:22,964 --> 00:31:24,549
♪ Whoa, they ain't so bad ♪
532
00:31:26,134 --> 00:31:28,177
♪ Worst ol' feeling, baby ♪
533
00:31:29,470 --> 00:31:30,889
♪ Most I ever had ♪
534
00:31:30,972 --> 00:31:32,891
♪ Some people say the low-down blues ♪
535
00:31:33,683 --> 00:31:37,270
He meets Virgie Cain
and she became pregnant.
536
00:31:38,021 --> 00:31:40,440
Virgie was a schoolgirl,
537
00:31:40,523 --> 00:31:46,696
and Robert made repeated attempts
to get Virgie to come away with him.
538
00:31:47,155 --> 00:31:50,283
But Virgie came from
a very strict, religious family
539
00:31:50,366 --> 00:31:53,578
and Virgie's family said,
"No, you're not going with that boy
540
00:31:53,661 --> 00:31:56,789
because that boy plays the blues,
that boy plays the devil's music."
541
00:31:56,915 --> 00:31:58,166
Here we go again.
542
00:31:58,249 --> 00:32:01,044
Yet another potential wife
543
00:32:01,252 --> 00:32:03,796
and child is taken away from him.
544
00:32:04,088 --> 00:32:06,215
Why? Because he played the blues.
545
00:32:06,299 --> 00:32:09,135
♪ Well, you know about that, I had ♪
546
00:32:11,721 --> 00:32:13,932
♪ Had them ol' walking blues ♪
547
00:32:19,938 --> 00:32:21,338
Who was your father?
548
00:32:21,356 --> 00:32:22,261
Robert...
549
00:32:23,274 --> 00:32:24,776
Lee Johnson.
550
00:32:26,945 --> 00:32:29,072
My father, Claude,
551
00:32:29,155 --> 00:32:30,823
didn't have a relationship
552
00:32:31,616 --> 00:32:32,909
with his father,
553
00:32:32,992 --> 00:32:34,077
Robert Johnson.
554
00:32:35,536 --> 00:32:37,705
My dad
only saw his father twice.
555
00:32:38,748 --> 00:32:41,876
Neither time did he get a chance
to really talk to his father.
556
00:32:44,045 --> 00:32:45,380
I remember him
557
00:32:45,463 --> 00:32:50,426
because the second time he came to
my grandfather and grandmother's home
558
00:32:50,510 --> 00:32:53,680
to visit me, I was near seven years old.
559
00:32:54,722 --> 00:32:56,891
And my dad was looking
out the window.
560
00:32:56,975 --> 00:32:58,893
My great-grandfather said, "Nope,
561
00:32:58,977 --> 00:33:01,312
I can't let my grandson
562
00:33:01,854 --> 00:33:05,525
be a part of the devil's music life."
563
00:33:06,693 --> 00:33:09,153
Claude told me
that he saw his dad saying,
564
00:33:09,237 --> 00:33:11,197
"Here's money for Claude."
565
00:33:11,531 --> 00:33:14,200
He gave money for Grandpa
to give to his child,
566
00:33:14,283 --> 00:33:15,868
he tried to do the right thing.
567
00:33:16,285 --> 00:33:18,871
And I remember him right now,
568
00:33:18,997 --> 00:33:20,289
just like it happened.
569
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,084
But I never seen him again.
570
00:33:27,255 --> 00:33:32,135
Robert's life was just one tragedy
built upon another tragedy.
571
00:33:32,218 --> 00:33:34,345
It just seems to never end for him.
572
00:33:35,722 --> 00:33:40,101
And so he devotes his life
to being a hard-drinking,
573
00:33:40,518 --> 00:33:41,728
womanizing,
574
00:33:41,853 --> 00:33:43,271
blaspheming,
575
00:33:43,563 --> 00:33:44,772
blues musician,
576
00:33:45,273 --> 00:33:47,984
who doesn't seem to really care much
577
00:33:48,067 --> 00:33:51,154
about anybody or anything
other than his music.
578
00:33:51,362 --> 00:33:53,156
♪ Yesterday ♪
579
00:33:56,284 --> 00:33:58,619
♪ Had to be the devil ♪
580
00:34:01,039 --> 00:34:03,082
♪ Changed my baby's mind ♪
581
00:34:03,958 --> 00:34:06,669
Now, Robert, he wanted to be
identified with the devil.
582
00:34:06,919 --> 00:34:08,963
He wanted you to think he was
the devilest person.
583
00:34:09,047 --> 00:34:11,924
Robert Johnson traveled from small town
to small town,
584
00:34:12,008 --> 00:34:14,677
juke joint, juke house, making a living.
585
00:34:17,055 --> 00:34:19,390
♪ Changed my baby's mind ♪
586
00:34:20,016 --> 00:34:21,976
He could do things and go places
587
00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:24,145
that maybe just an ordinary person
couldn't do.
588
00:34:24,437 --> 00:34:25,772
He wore that title.
589
00:34:26,814 --> 00:34:28,483
Man of Hell, Man of the Devil.
590
00:34:28,566 --> 00:34:32,570
♪ 'Cause I know it wasn't nothing
But the devil ♪
591
00:34:34,947 --> 00:34:37,200
♪ Made you change your mind ♪
592
00:34:38,618 --> 00:34:42,789
I really believe that, you know,
he was searching for a freedom within,
593
00:34:42,872 --> 00:34:44,832
he was searching for soul freedom.
594
00:34:46,042 --> 00:34:47,210
And in searching for that,
595
00:34:47,293 --> 00:34:51,130
it caused him to act in the way
that he did a lot of times,
596
00:34:51,214 --> 00:34:53,508
as far as the drinking and the women.
597
00:34:53,591 --> 00:34:55,593
Ol' Robert did like to drink
a lot of whiskey
598
00:34:55,676 --> 00:34:57,637
- and crazy 'bout his womens.
- Yeah.
599
00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:00,973
That's two things he was crazy about,
whiskey and womens.
600
00:35:02,517 --> 00:35:06,896
Honeyboy was another blues player
who had traveled with Robert Johnson
601
00:35:06,979 --> 00:35:08,189
and played with Robert
602
00:35:08,272 --> 00:35:09,982
on street corners, that kind of stuff.
603
00:35:10,650 --> 00:35:13,861
And they were actually
playing together the night
604
00:35:13,945 --> 00:35:17,198
that my granddad's lifestyle
caught up with him,
605
00:35:17,865 --> 00:35:20,493
at a blues juke joint outside
of Greenwood, Mississippi
606
00:35:20,576 --> 00:35:21,869
called Three Forks.
607
00:35:21,953 --> 00:35:23,871
Next to this highway over here,
608
00:35:23,955 --> 00:35:26,707
there was a big juke house,
but all this was flat in here.
609
00:35:26,791 --> 00:35:29,252
- Ahh.
- And the big archives, man, you should--
610
00:35:29,335 --> 00:35:33,131
right behind, betwixt this side and that,
right behind the store.
611
00:35:33,756 --> 00:35:34,882
This is the place.
612
00:35:39,303 --> 00:35:41,222
Robert had taken up
613
00:35:41,305 --> 00:35:44,058
with the wife of one of the people
614
00:35:44,142 --> 00:35:47,019
who worked at the Three Forks juke.
615
00:35:49,438 --> 00:35:51,357
One night at the club,
616
00:35:51,649 --> 00:35:53,860
he let his arrogance...
617
00:35:54,277 --> 00:35:55,444
go too far.
618
00:35:55,528 --> 00:35:57,446
Totally disrespecting,
619
00:35:57,530 --> 00:35:59,365
you know, the woman's husband.
620
00:36:01,367 --> 00:36:03,494
And they ordered a bottle of whiskey,
621
00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:06,455
and when they brought him the whiskey,
622
00:36:06,706 --> 00:36:08,082
the seal was broke,
623
00:36:08,541 --> 00:36:10,334
and I don't remember who it was,
624
00:36:10,459 --> 00:36:14,255
but he tried to slap the bottle
out of Robert's hands.
625
00:36:15,006 --> 00:36:18,176
He said, "Man, never drink out of a bottle
when the seal is broke."
626
00:36:18,843 --> 00:36:20,178
So Robert tells him,
627
00:36:20,261 --> 00:36:23,931
"And don't you ever slap another $7 bottle
of whiskey out of my hand."
628
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,398
My dad always said,
"Don't never drink nothing from nobody
629
00:36:28,436 --> 00:36:29,812
if he bring it to you open."
630
00:36:30,062 --> 00:36:32,565
But the man gave Robert the alcohol.
631
00:36:32,940 --> 00:36:34,275
There was poison in it.
632
00:36:34,525 --> 00:36:35,776
And he drank it that day.
633
00:36:37,904 --> 00:36:41,032
Some say the lady did it,
some say the lady's boyfriend did it,
634
00:36:41,115 --> 00:36:42,783
some of them said the house man did it.
635
00:36:42,992 --> 00:36:45,203
All they could say
is that he was poisoned.
636
00:36:46,245 --> 00:36:47,747
According to Honeyboy,
637
00:36:47,830 --> 00:36:49,707
Robert was kind of slumped over
in the chair,
638
00:36:50,082 --> 00:36:52,752
and people there were trying to get him
to take another drink
639
00:36:52,835 --> 00:36:55,630
so he'd keep playing,
and he just wasn't able to.
640
00:36:56,839 --> 00:37:00,968
That night, he was basically
on his hands and knees and stuff,
641
00:37:01,052 --> 00:37:03,888
you know, howling like a wolf
or something.
642
00:37:03,971 --> 00:37:05,431
He was hurting so bad.
643
00:37:06,057 --> 00:37:08,809
It took a long time for him to die,
like two or three days.
644
00:37:08,893 --> 00:37:10,186
He was real sick.
645
00:37:11,437 --> 00:37:13,522
What a hell of a way to go out,
646
00:37:13,731 --> 00:37:16,400
you know, because of his ego
647
00:37:17,109 --> 00:37:18,861
and his lust, you know.
648
00:37:18,945 --> 00:37:19,987
What a waste.
649
00:37:20,321 --> 00:37:21,530
That's the way I see it.
650
00:37:28,496 --> 00:37:30,790
But the man who gave Robert
this poison whiskey,
651
00:37:31,457 --> 00:37:32,625
the man got off free.
652
00:37:34,168 --> 00:37:36,879
They come to him,
but they didn't arrest him.
653
00:37:36,963 --> 00:37:38,130
They do nothing.
654
00:37:38,631 --> 00:37:41,217
And the black people didn't push it.
You know why?
655
00:37:41,425 --> 00:37:42,510
Robert Johnson...
656
00:37:43,177 --> 00:37:44,178
sang devil music.
657
00:37:50,559 --> 00:37:51,769
Robert Johnson,
658
00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,064
because he was this walking blues man,
659
00:37:55,147 --> 00:37:56,816
because he was sort of a rebel,
660
00:37:56,899 --> 00:37:59,694
because he played by his own rules,
661
00:37:59,777 --> 00:38:02,280
it ended up costing him.
662
00:38:04,031 --> 00:38:06,409
People who want to see Johnson's death
663
00:38:06,492 --> 00:38:10,329
as evidence of this deal with the devil,
664
00:38:11,330 --> 00:38:13,624
it is the bill coming due,
665
00:38:14,125 --> 00:38:17,586
and paying for this great musical ability
666
00:38:18,337 --> 00:38:19,505
with his life.
667
00:38:29,432 --> 00:38:33,769
♪ I feel like blowing my
Old lonesome home ♪
668
00:38:40,735 --> 00:38:43,654
I was at my father's place one day
669
00:38:43,738 --> 00:38:44,989
and he had told me,
670
00:38:45,072 --> 00:38:49,452
"In 1938, I put on a concert
at Carnegie Hall in New York
671
00:38:49,535 --> 00:38:51,412
called 'Spirituals to Swing, '
672
00:38:51,495 --> 00:38:53,914
and one of the artists
I was trying to find
673
00:38:53,998 --> 00:38:56,459
was Robert Johnson to put on the show."
674
00:39:02,048 --> 00:39:04,467
John Hammond had this idea
675
00:39:04,759 --> 00:39:08,304
that people should understand
where jazz came from,
676
00:39:08,387 --> 00:39:09,388
where swing came from,
677
00:39:10,014 --> 00:39:13,476
and the real roots
of the deep country blues.
678
00:39:14,018 --> 00:39:16,645
And so he put together this concert
679
00:39:17,021 --> 00:39:21,150
and he sent a scout to Mississippi
looking for Robert Johnson,
680
00:39:21,317 --> 00:39:24,945
and saying, you know, "Please bring him up
to play at Carnegie Hall."
681
00:39:25,321 --> 00:39:28,783
And the guy went down there
and found that Johnson had died.
682
00:39:31,410 --> 00:39:32,912
He had died like six months
683
00:39:32,995 --> 00:39:35,373
before this show was gonna be.
684
00:39:39,794 --> 00:39:43,047
So as the house lights
in Carnegie Hall went down...
685
00:39:46,050 --> 00:39:49,804
a spotlight was Illuminating a phonograph,
686
00:39:49,887 --> 00:39:52,056
a Victrola on the center stage.
687
00:39:53,015 --> 00:39:54,892
John Hammond came out of the wings.
688
00:39:58,187 --> 00:40:02,274
My father played a recording
of Robert's for the audience.
689
00:40:07,696 --> 00:40:08,948
♪ I's up this morning ♪
690
00:40:11,450 --> 00:40:13,744
♪ Blues walkin' like a man ♪
691
00:40:18,874 --> 00:40:20,292
♪ I's up this morning ♪
692
00:40:22,044 --> 00:40:24,880
The audience went crazy
when they heard Robert Johnson.
693
00:40:27,341 --> 00:40:30,344
They just thought that he was terrific.
694
00:40:38,144 --> 00:40:40,187
After the Carnegie Hall event,
695
00:40:40,271 --> 00:40:43,858
there was a brief flurry of interest
in Robert Johnson,
696
00:40:43,941 --> 00:40:47,611
but the general public still
remained largely unaware of Robert.
697
00:40:47,695 --> 00:40:49,655
His records were not being played
on the radio.
698
00:40:56,203 --> 00:41:00,291
After hearing Robert Johnson's
music a few years later,
699
00:41:00,624 --> 00:41:04,503
the great blues player, Muddy Waters,
went to Chicago
700
00:41:04,587 --> 00:41:09,133
and basically laid the groundwork
for what became modern blues.
701
00:41:15,181 --> 00:41:19,602
Robert Johnson affected
my guitar-playing via Muddy Waters.
702
00:41:19,685 --> 00:41:22,563
You can hear the Mississippi mud in there,
you know,
703
00:41:22,646 --> 00:41:24,565
and some of Johnson's phrasing.
704
00:41:24,648 --> 00:41:27,735
♪ Well now I woke up this morning, baby ♪
705
00:41:27,818 --> 00:41:30,070
♪ All I had was gone ♪
706
00:41:30,154 --> 00:41:32,615
Elmore James, B.B. King,
707
00:41:32,698 --> 00:41:34,867
there's a little bit of Johnson
in all of them.
708
00:41:35,826 --> 00:41:38,913
But the world wasn't listening
to Johnson directly.
709
00:41:38,996 --> 00:41:41,999
They were listening to other people
playing music
710
00:41:42,082 --> 00:41:44,126
influenced by Robert Johnson.
711
00:41:47,963 --> 00:41:50,549
It wasn't until the 1950s
712
00:41:50,633 --> 00:41:54,136
when you have the emergence
of what I like to call the "78 Geeks."
713
00:41:54,512 --> 00:41:57,806
These were young, white college students
714
00:41:57,890 --> 00:42:00,392
who would go to thrift shops
715
00:42:00,476 --> 00:42:03,437
and just buy boxes and boxes of 78s.
716
00:42:03,521 --> 00:42:07,441
Every once in a while,
they'd come across a Charley Patton 78,
717
00:42:07,525 --> 00:42:09,735
or they'd come across a Robert Johnson 78,
718
00:42:09,818 --> 00:42:13,572
and this is really how
the whole blues craze
719
00:42:13,656 --> 00:42:15,950
of the late '50s and early '60s began,
720
00:42:16,033 --> 00:42:18,285
by these people hearing this music
721
00:42:18,369 --> 00:42:22,039
that was unlike anything that anybody
had ever heard before...
722
00:42:24,124 --> 00:42:26,001
...and that's when John Hammond
723
00:42:26,085 --> 00:42:27,711
gets the idea that,
724
00:42:27,795 --> 00:42:31,674
"Hey, this would be a great time
for me to re-release
725
00:42:32,258 --> 00:42:34,093
Robert Johnson's recordings."
726
00:42:34,969 --> 00:42:37,388
When King of the Delta Blues
Singers came out,
727
00:42:37,555 --> 00:42:40,724
John Hammond would go on
to play that music
728
00:42:41,308 --> 00:42:44,728
for Bob Dylan
when Dylan got signed to Columbia,
729
00:42:44,812 --> 00:42:48,857
and Dylan says that had he not
heard Robert Johnson when he did,
730
00:42:48,941 --> 00:42:52,778
he would not have come up
with hundreds of lines for his songs.
731
00:42:53,070 --> 00:42:54,697
♪ Come on... ♪
732
00:42:55,030 --> 00:42:58,200
Robert Johnson just took a hold
right when those reissues came out
733
00:42:58,284 --> 00:43:01,370
and then I taught myself to play
a bunch of the songs on the record.
734
00:43:01,453 --> 00:43:03,664
♪ Sweet home Chicago ♪
735
00:43:03,747 --> 00:43:05,249
If you love the blues,
736
00:43:05,332 --> 00:43:08,335
you gotta just go back to the root
and Robert Johnson is
737
00:43:08,627 --> 00:43:11,005
always gonna be one of the greatest
that's ever lived.
738
00:43:11,088 --> 00:43:13,465
♪ I got a kind-hearted woman ♪
739
00:43:15,092 --> 00:43:17,136
♪ Studies evil all the time ♪
740
00:43:17,219 --> 00:43:19,763
Robert Johnson motivated me
to be a musician.
741
00:43:19,847 --> 00:43:21,765
♪ Ain't but the one thing ♪
742
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:24,435
♪ Makes Mr. Johnson drink ♪
743
00:43:25,144 --> 00:43:26,562
Robert Johnson's album
744
00:43:26,645 --> 00:43:29,857
had an incredibly powerful effect
on Eric Clapton,
745
00:43:29,940 --> 00:43:31,191
on Keith Richards,
746
00:43:31,275 --> 00:43:33,694
on other British blues rock guys
at the time.
747
00:43:33,777 --> 00:43:37,948
The first blues record that I ever bought
was Led Zeppelin II.
748
00:43:38,032 --> 00:43:39,867
♪ I need you to... ♪
749
00:43:39,950 --> 00:43:43,787
They do the line, "Squeeze my lemon
'til the juice runs down my leg."
750
00:43:43,871 --> 00:43:48,125
♪ Squeeze ♪
751
00:43:48,208 --> 00:43:50,044
♪ My lemon ♪
752
00:43:50,127 --> 00:43:51,837
Which is a Robert Johnson line
753
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:53,922
and it's a nod and a wink to Johnson.
754
00:43:54,632 --> 00:43:58,427
Brian Jones, the driving force
of the first wave of The Rolling Stones,
755
00:43:58,510 --> 00:44:00,846
was a huge Robert Johnson fan.
756
00:44:00,929 --> 00:44:02,348
♪ I followed her ♪
757
00:44:03,349 --> 00:44:05,768
♪ To the station ♪
758
00:44:06,352 --> 00:44:08,312
"Love in Vain"
is such a beautiful song,
759
00:44:08,395 --> 00:44:11,565
so we thought we're not gonna try
and copy Robert Johnson,
760
00:44:11,649 --> 00:44:13,484
especially with a band, you know.
761
00:44:14,234 --> 00:44:17,279
Let's just make it more country,
just to bring out the melody more
762
00:44:17,363 --> 00:44:20,699
than trying to play the blues on it,
you know.
763
00:44:20,783 --> 00:44:23,952
'Cause a great song can go through
any kinds of styles.
764
00:44:24,036 --> 00:44:26,538
♪ It's hard to tell
And it's hard to tell ♪
765
00:44:28,957 --> 00:44:34,129
♪ When all your love's in vain ♪
766
00:44:35,005 --> 00:44:38,926
Robert Johnson wakes up the genius
in everyone.
767
00:44:39,551 --> 00:44:41,387
And his music speaks to all of us.
768
00:44:42,221 --> 00:44:43,764
But with that genius
769
00:44:43,847 --> 00:44:45,224
also comes the devil.
770
00:44:48,018 --> 00:44:53,899
Selling your soul to the devil
is the basis of the "27 Club."
771
00:44:55,609 --> 00:44:58,028
The 27 Club are musicians
772
00:44:58,445 --> 00:45:00,823
who died at 27 years old.
773
00:45:01,365 --> 00:45:02,616
Janis Joplin,
774
00:45:02,700 --> 00:45:04,118
Jim Morrison,
775
00:45:04,451 --> 00:45:05,994
Amy Winehouse,
776
00:45:06,078 --> 00:45:07,663
Brian Jones,
777
00:45:07,746 --> 00:45:08,747
Jimi Hendrix,
778
00:45:09,415 --> 00:45:10,457
Kurt Cobain.
779
00:45:10,541 --> 00:45:14,753
Other musicians who died at the same age
as Robert Johnson
780
00:45:15,254 --> 00:45:17,506
were living recklessly.
781
00:45:18,132 --> 00:45:21,260
Some people feel that all of them
had done
782
00:45:21,343 --> 00:45:25,556
some sort of supernatural deal
to be so gifted,
783
00:45:25,639 --> 00:45:28,892
so young, and then be taken so quickly.
784
00:45:29,977 --> 00:45:34,231
A musician's life
is fraught with danger.
785
00:45:34,940 --> 00:45:37,818
It's a pretty dark road at times,
you know?
786
00:45:37,901 --> 00:45:41,321
No wonder some of the best
go far too early.
787
00:45:42,489 --> 00:45:44,825
But luckily I got through it.
788
00:45:44,908 --> 00:45:45,908
So far.
789
00:45:49,955 --> 00:45:51,665
We have a fascination
790
00:45:51,749 --> 00:45:54,877
with the person who holds great promise,
791
00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:58,964
but that promise seems to be
snuffed out prematurely.
792
00:45:59,673 --> 00:46:03,635
It has to do with us
trying to find something fantastic
793
00:46:03,719 --> 00:46:07,055
that makes our life
a little bit more interesting,
794
00:46:07,556 --> 00:46:10,434
and possibly, a little bit more dangerous.
795
00:46:11,059 --> 00:46:14,480
It allows us to think
that we're dancing on the edge.
796
00:46:14,855 --> 00:46:17,024
Myth is so powerful
797
00:46:17,149 --> 00:46:22,154
because people want to feel like
they have the reasoning behind things,
798
00:46:22,237 --> 00:46:24,615
to feel like they know.
799
00:46:25,949 --> 00:46:28,327
A lot of things are not for us
to understand.
800
00:46:29,119 --> 00:46:31,288
♪ Me and the devil ♪
801
00:46:31,955 --> 00:46:34,374
♪ Was walkin' side-by-side... ♪
802
00:46:34,750 --> 00:46:38,670
I believe Robert Johnson
was extremely talented,
803
00:46:38,754 --> 00:46:41,799
extremely gifted, and way off-balance.
804
00:46:41,882 --> 00:46:43,383
You can hear it in the music.
805
00:46:43,467 --> 00:46:45,594
♪ ...was walkin' side-by-side... ♪
806
00:46:46,637 --> 00:46:50,808
Something's spinning strangely
in that man's life,
807
00:46:50,891 --> 00:46:53,477
and it was with Jimi Hendrix,
808
00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:55,439
it was with Kurt Cobain,
809
00:46:55,521 --> 00:46:58,023
and the rest of the people in the 27 Club.
810
00:47:01,401 --> 00:47:05,322
I don't know about the 27 Club
and the deal with the devil,
811
00:47:05,823 --> 00:47:09,117
but I do know that at some point
in everyone's life,
812
00:47:09,868 --> 00:47:11,829
we come to a crossroads,
813
00:47:11,912 --> 00:47:15,874
and we all have to choose
how much we can sacrifice
814
00:47:16,333 --> 00:47:18,133
in order to achieve greatness.
815
00:47:18,168 --> 00:47:20,838
♪ Down by the highway side ♪
816
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:28,018
♪ So my old evil spirit ♪
817
00:47:29,221 --> 00:47:32,432
♪ Can get a Greyhound bus and ride ♪
64773
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