Robert Johnson was born 100 years ago, on May 8, 1911. He died in 1938, having only recorded 29 songs, but his guitar playing has had a major influence on both Rock 'n Roll and Blues music. He is also famous for the myth that he obtain his guitar playing skills by selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads. I have to admit that he has never been one of my favorite musicians to listen to. Still, you have to respect the influence he has had.
This video for the songs "Hell Hound on My Trail" and "Devil's Blues" has been created from a couple of the rare photographs that exist of Johnson. I find it a bit creepy, but it is the closest thing we have to live footage of him.
Johnson was a big influence on Eric Clapton. Here is Clapton's cover of Johnson's song "Crossroads".
"Milk Cow Blues" was the last song Johnson ever recorded. Here is Lee Roy Parnell's cover of the song.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Pete Seeger
Today is Pete Seeger's 92nd birthday. You can't let something like that pass without a video. Pete has also appeared in these two previous post's January 18, 2011 and July 4, 2010. Here is a clip of Seeger from the Smother's Brother Show, so this would have been in the late 60's.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Come Sunday
"Come Sunday" was written by Duke Ellington. There are some live performances of this song, but no one else can sing it like Mahalia Jackson, so I am just posting the audio from the 1958 album, Black, Brown & Beige.
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