1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. Hey everybody, this 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: is a special episode of Disgraceland because I was able 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: to cast one of my favorite singers in soul music today, 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: Lee Fields. Lee Fields is an incredible vocalist, great artist. 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: You should check him out wherever you stream your music, 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,799 Speaker 1: Amazon Music, or wherever you listen. Lee Fields plays the 7 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: part of Sonhouse's head in this episode. He did an 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: amazing job. I just want to give a special thanks 9 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: to Lee and again, if you don't know his music, 10 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: go check it out. You won't be disappointed. All right, 11 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: mellow Tron. The stories about Robert Johnson are insane. He 12 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: drank and womanized his way through his gigs from the 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: South in the nineteen thirty all the way up to 14 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: New York and Chicago. He cursed the name of God 15 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: to any friend who would listen, often to the detriment 16 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: of those friendships. At the age of seventeen, he married 17 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: a fourteen year old, both flying about their ages on 18 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: their marriage license, a relationship that would end in tragedy 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: in Forever cast a dark shadow on his spirituality. He 20 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 1: worked out his original blues sound by practicing guitar in 21 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: the cemetery at night, and when nat didn't yield the 22 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: results he was looking for, he went further out of 23 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: town to the crossroads, where legend has it that he 24 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the 25 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,759 Speaker 1: lightning blues guitar talent that came to define the delta 26 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 1: blue genre for all time. And despite only living for 27 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: twenty seven years on this earth, with only the last 28 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: two of those years after his supposed deal with the Devil, 29 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson made great music, some of the most unique 30 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: and most influential music on this place, music that no 31 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: one has ever been able to imitate, Music that Robert 32 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: Johnson laid down in just two recording sessions. Again great music, 33 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 1: unlike that music I played for you at the top 34 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: of the show. That wasn't great music. That was a 35 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: preset loop for my melotron called thigh Bone Xylophone MK One. 36 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 37 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: rights to music Maestro Please by Tommy Dorsey. And why 38 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: would I play you that specific slice of toilet plunger 39 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: trumpet Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was the 40 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: number one song in America on August first, nineteen thirty eight, 41 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: and that was the day that Robert Johnson stepped off 42 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: the train for the last time in the Mississippi town 43 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: to perform a string of gigs that would end in 44 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: his murder. On this episode, Cemetery Blues deals with the 45 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:04,959 Speaker 1: devil curse and plunged trumpet, cheese and Robert Johnson. I'm 46 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan, and this this disgrace. The train left the station. 47 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: The Bluesman stood on the platform, pinstriped suit, guitar case 48 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: in his hand. He pushed the brim of his hat 49 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: up and away from his brow. He surveyed the town 50 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: before him, Greenwood, Mississippi, a town he knew well, a 51 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: town he would make famous or infamous. Rather, the town 52 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: looked back at him, and word began the spread. Immediately, 53 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: here comes a guitar man. I'll look out, he's back. 54 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: Lock your daughters. The man is back in town. Best 55 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: get your wives in line. It's Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson 56 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: strolled down the middle of the street in Greenwood's Baptist 57 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: Town neighborhood. Doors quietly locked, curtains closed. Men stared silently, 58 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: backing away off of their porches, back into whatever saloon 59 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: or a good time house. They were fronting women, gocked, 60 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: father's cringed husband, seethed, little girls saw their future. And 61 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:40,600 Speaker 1: it was dark. It was Saturday night. Church was tomorrow's business. 62 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:45,119 Speaker 1: Tonight was the devil's business, and the devil just walked 63 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: into town. And in nineteen thirty eight, in the American South, 64 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: blues music was indeed the work of the devil. God 65 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: fearing black folk, those who went to church each Sunday, 66 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: who kept to him in their heart on every other 67 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: other day, despised blues music as being the low down 68 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: work at the devil, with its innuendo and rabble rousing 69 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: jump bookie. Blues music meant one thing, sex, and sex 70 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: meant some sort of headache or another, unwanted pregnancies, jealous lovers, 71 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: burned lovers, violence, Blues music was nothing more than trouble. 72 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: In twelve bars, blues music was not to be listened to. 73 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: Blues musicians were not to be messed with doors, locked, 74 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: windows shut, shotguns, cocks, except on Saturday nights. On Saturdays 75 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: for some anyway, exceptions were made out on the outskirts 76 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,359 Speaker 1: of town, not quite as far as the crossroads, but 77 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: just past the cemetery, Robert Johnson, the blues musician, along 78 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: with some of those Greenwood residents from the black section 79 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: of town from Baptist Town would get after it in 80 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: the devil's workshop, that is, inside whatever juke joint was 81 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,919 Speaker 1: set to jump. That evening. Jukes were rough. At the 82 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: duke joints in town, the doormen would collect the patrons 83 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: knives and guns at the door and return them at 84 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,479 Speaker 1: the end of the night, but such a practice didn't 85 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: exist out of town. In the country, dukes, which were 86 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: generally lawless, weapons were not only allowed, weapons were necessary 87 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 1: for survival musicians. The entertainment would usually perform as duos, 88 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 1: positioning themselves on stage on chairs with their backs to 89 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:28,840 Speaker 1: each other so that each could keep an eye out 90 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: for the other one and prevent any sort of drunken 91 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: violent ambush from discrumptled patrons. But Robert Johnson performed solo. 92 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: He was the only accompaniment he needed. It suited him. 93 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: It was worth the risk, more spoils, more money, and 94 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: more women. The duke opened to five pm. It was 95 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: twenty five cents to get in. Guests were encouraged to 96 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: stay all night, and the host kept the corn liquor flowing. 97 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 1: Robert played most of the evening straight through the brawling 98 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: and the bawling, and left with whichever woman he wants 99 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: it before sun was up, using the homes of these 100 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: women to briefly settle into before rambling on via rail 101 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: to his next stop. It was a loose, wayward, and 102 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: dangerous way of life, but that's what life had been 103 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: for Robert Johnson as far back as he could remember, 104 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: and before that the stories he heard from his family 105 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: about life in the South before he was born. Life 106 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: was rougher, roudier than even deadlier. The hounds were hot 107 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: on his trail, barking, mad salivating. He could hear them gaining. 108 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: If he were caught, it would be the rope. He 109 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: knew this, but that entitled motherfucker had it coming. It 110 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: wasn't much, just a couple of words at first, but 111 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: was enough enough to make the white man pull his knife. 112 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: He then pulled his straight racer, and the white man 113 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: got the better of him, a gash across his jaw, 114 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: but it wasn't enough to cut him down. He took 115 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: off out of town, out toward the plantation, and now 116 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: this hell hounds on his trail through the black Berry patch, 117 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: its brambles and briars, cutting at his skin, the blood 118 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: bread crumbs for the vicious hounds. But he knew these parts, 119 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: knew them better than the dogs, and he knew them 120 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 1: more than their racistoners, the white men on the horses 121 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: that followed them. He burrowed down in the briar and 122 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:22,239 Speaker 1: waited them out In the morning. He escaped by train. 123 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: He had to leave his wife behind, and after a 124 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: few years she took up with another man. On May As, 125 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: nineteen eleven, she gave birth to a boy, Robert Johnson, 126 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: born only because his mother's first husband was run out 127 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: of town and she was forced to remarry a man 128 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:44,599 Speaker 1: who would eventually become a father to him, a circumstance 129 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: that never would have come to be had not been 130 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: for the threat of violence. The thread of evil. Robert 131 00:08:52,040 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: Johnson from the jone born under a bad sigh. Young 132 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson didn't know what he was looking for, but 133 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: he'd know it when he saw it. Some sort of 134 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: hoodoo supplies, and there were plenty on the shelves of 135 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: a schwabs dry goods, mojo bags, hot foot powder, goofer dust. 136 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: He didn't want anything that would kill his stepfather. Heally 137 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: wanted to knock him down a bit, give him some 138 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: sort of sickness, cause him some pain his retaliation for 139 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: the plantation beatings he build out to Robert for no 140 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: good reason. Plantation life was hard, but made harder when 141 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: you were a teenage didn't have no mind for fieldwork. 142 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: You knew who you were good at. Manual labor was 143 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: not it. It was music. It had been music from 144 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: the beginning, since you strung that bailing wire to the 145 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 1: side of the shack with a glass bottle for a 146 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: bridge and started playing the diddly bow. Then when you 147 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: get your hands on that acoustic guitar and started trying 148 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: to strink together Jimmy Rogers tunes and then mimicking sounds 149 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 1: of those older local bluesmen, Charlie Patton and Sonhouse, you 150 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: got yourself some recognition. Girls noticed you, and there was 151 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,319 Speaker 1: money in it too, not much, but more than plantation 152 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 1: work where you sweated it out for your mother and 153 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: your stepfather and for barely a penny street work. Playing 154 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: your guitar and singing out on Beale Street. It brought 155 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: in some coin and unlocked the whole new world. Finally 156 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: you were somebody you didn't even know who that somebody was, 157 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: but you were determined to find out build out, then 158 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: bound to go. Unlike most in his community, Robert Johnson 159 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: never went to church for the self identifying so called 160 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: low down blues man. Church was the rails, hopping moving 161 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: froms to travel from one place to another. It was 162 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson's only mode of transportation. Who was necessary for 163 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: himed a travel as a working musician, honing his craft 164 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: and developing a reputation. Towards the end of booking a 165 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: recording engagement where a record would be made with his 166 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: voice and his guitar playing for commercial distribution, an effort that, 167 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: in Robert's mind, was the key to fame and unheard 168 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: of success. Robert would ride the rails nearly all the 169 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: way into town, pop off at the outskirts, and walk 170 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: the rest of the way. He'd trek down the railroad 171 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: track and keep an eye out for black children playing. 172 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 1: Whichever side of the track the kids are hanging out 173 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: on was the side of town Robert wanted to be on. 174 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: Once he had determined that he'd head deeper into the 175 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,319 Speaker 1: segregated community, find the first popular street corner he could 176 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: PLoP down his guitar case, take his guitar out, and 177 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: begin playing and singing right there. If he was good, 178 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 1: he could make up to a quarter and one Saturday afternoon, 179 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: and if he was really good, he'd get invited to 180 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: come play at one of the jukes that night, and 181 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 1: if he was great, get to stay in town a 182 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: spell and keep on playing. At Robert's young age, that 183 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,679 Speaker 1: didn't happen often by all accounts. As a teenage bluesman, 184 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson wasn't that good, but he must have been 185 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: doing something right Intosto County, Mississippi, back in nineteen twenty eight, 186 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 1: because his afternoon spell on the corner turned into a 187 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: juke show that night out by the cotton plantations near 188 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,680 Speaker 1: the Mississippi River up on Highway sixty one in the 189 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: communities of Klack and Pennon. The sharecroppers needed entertainment that Saturday. 190 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: In the Clack grocery store, which doubled as a juke 191 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: joint on weekend nights, seventeen year old Robert Johnson would 192 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 1: do his country style blues wasn't yet earth shattering, but 193 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 1: it would work. It was plenty good enough to keep 194 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:49,719 Speaker 1: joint hopping. Then plenty, good enough to capture the eye 195 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: of a young, impressionable sharecropper's daughter who'd somehow managed to 196 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: find her way into the juke fourteen year old Virginia Travis. 197 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: Her beauty was beyond Robert was smitten. He laid it 198 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,199 Speaker 1: on thick, pouring his heart into his playing, exposing his 199 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: vulnerabilities in public in the way that only musicians can, 200 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,439 Speaker 1: and through his songs that internal pain he was grappling with, 201 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: the torment of his abusive stepfather, the ever present wickedness 202 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,680 Speaker 1: of the Jim Crow South, the teenage angst of not 203 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,320 Speaker 1: knowing exactly who you are, why you're here, or what 204 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,559 Speaker 1: you're meant to do. All of that tangled itself up 205 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: with the longing he now felt for this heaven sent 206 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: Mississippi Queen, and Robert Johnson was able to express it 207 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: with the dark brand of low down blues he had 208 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 1: been experimenting with. All of it came out in a 209 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: captivating mix of self expression that perfectly featured Robert Johnson's 210 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: devilish charm. In the end, Virginia Travis didn't stand a chance. She, 211 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:55,720 Speaker 1: like her musical suitor, was smitten, despite the protests of 212 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: her parents. Who worried about a blues man darkening their doorway. 213 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,079 Speaker 1: The fourteen year old Virginia Travis and the seventeen year 214 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: old Robert Johnson married two months later, each lying about 215 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 1: their ages on their marriage certificate. In no time, Virginia 216 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,880 Speaker 1: was pregnant. Robert was committed. He put down the guitar 217 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: and picked up the plow. The two set up home 218 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 1: in the all black Mississippi Delta community of New Africa. 219 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: Robert sharecropped. Virginia prepared for the baby, but New Africa 220 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: was no place for her to give birth. She wanted 221 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: to be closer to her immediate kin, so she headed 222 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 1: back to clacked, Mississippi. Robert stayed behind to keep working 223 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 1: and keep saving. He'd joined her shortly before the baby 224 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: was born. The screams were their own kind of hell fire. 225 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: The pain was all encompassing. Every inch of Virginia's pregnant 226 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: body hurt. There was a little progress, the baby was stuck, 227 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: and none of what was happening seemed natural. Virginia screamed 228 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: with the devil's tongue and the midwife her ears. Robert 229 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: Johnson's baby seem to be holding on for dear life, 230 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: not wanting to leave the comfort of the wound to 231 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: enter this world gone wrong. Hesitant for reasons that'll never 232 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: be known, to give in to this thing called life. 233 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: Virginia screamed some more. Her fourteen year old body was 234 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: ill equipped for the pain. She pushed, She screamed again, 235 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: pushed once more, screamed an earth shattering death rattle, and 236 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,040 Speaker 1: the baby gave in and finally exited, and the midwife 237 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: held it in her arms. She looked to Virginia, who 238 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: is now silent and still, and the midwife knew it 239 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: in an instant. She'd seen it before. Virginia Travis was dead, 240 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: so too was her baby. Robert Johnson was unaware. He 241 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: was using his new wife's absence to let us some 242 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: steam before taking on the immense responsibility of fatherhood. He 243 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: put down the plow, picked up his guitar, and hit 244 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: the jukes. But what was to be a one night's 245 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: stand stretched into a two week run, and by the 246 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: time he turned up on the doorstep of his wife's parents' 247 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: home to embrace Virginia and his new baby, both were 248 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: in the ground. Her parents were not surprised. The lowdown 249 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: blues men had delivered upon his reputation. Robert Johnson was devastated. 250 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: There was no one or no thing that was going 251 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: to heal this immense heartbreak. Church wasn't an option. His 252 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: family was dead. The only thing that helped was music. 253 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: Robert hit the rails again. He turned up into town 254 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: called It's That's right, Its It's Mississippi, just south of Hazlehurst. 255 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 1: There he met an older player named Ike Zimmerman. Ike 256 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 1: played unlike anyone Robert had ever heard before, and unlike 257 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: the older players working their way around the delta. Ike 258 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: was settled, a family man, a father, and also unlike 259 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: any other seasoned musician and Robert had met by that point, 260 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: Ike seemed intent on helping Robert. Ike wasn't competitive, Ike 261 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: was generous. What his angle was, Robert didn't know. Robert 262 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 1: was happy to have a mentor. Ike listened, and Robert 263 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: had a lot to get off of his chest. He 264 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: was angry, disillusioned. While Ike rifted on guitar, Robert rift 265 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:26,200 Speaker 1: on life, how church was a scam, how everyone he 266 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: knew was a hypocrite whopping it up with him on 267 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,679 Speaker 1: Saturday night and then cursing the blues man every Sunday morning. 268 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: Religion was a joke. Why worship a god that didn't 269 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,399 Speaker 1: respect you, a God that forced you to live like 270 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: this under the threat of the rope from the white 271 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 1: man under Jim Crow, a god who was spiteful. Robert 272 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:45,880 Speaker 1: ran this wrap regularly, to the point where his friends 273 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: he'd made started to distance himselves from him, but not Ike. 274 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: Ike kept Robert close. Robert told Ike flat out he 275 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 1: hated God for as much as he knew he was 276 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: the devil. Ike paid Robert to anger no service. He 277 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: simply kept playing guitar. Robert Newyke's tutelage was the key, 278 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,639 Speaker 1: the key for him to get better, and getting better 279 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: was key to making a recording engagement. Ike was straight 280 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: as an arrow in most ways, with the exception of 281 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: one peculiar habit. He practiced out at the graveyard, so 282 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: that's where Robert Johnson practiced too. Robert set up on 283 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: one of the newer greystones and began to play. The 284 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: wind picked up on top of the time. Robert kept 285 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,680 Speaker 1: with his foot, his hand stretched effortlessly over the neck 286 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:39,119 Speaker 1: of his guitar, his voice spread out in a melodic wail, 287 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: and the moonlight painted shadows and small pools around Robert's feet. 288 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 1: He felt at peace, his inner turmoil momentarily quelled by song, 289 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:54,480 Speaker 1: his song, And then a hound in the distance broke 290 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,920 Speaker 1: Robert's concentration, a hell hound giving chase to some unlucky soul. 291 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,119 Speaker 1: Robert new where this would end. He'd heard this racist 292 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,680 Speaker 1: rift played before. It was a distraction at the exact 293 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 1: wrong time, just when he was getting somewhere. He could 294 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,640 Speaker 1: feel it, feel himself getting better. He needed to pull 295 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: on that thread, see where it led, see where it 296 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: would take him, and see what he would become. Robert 297 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,520 Speaker 1: needed privacy, a place where he could play uninterrupted. I 298 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: told him about a spot. It was way out of town, 299 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 1: but quiet. The moon flooded out this peculiar spot with 300 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,920 Speaker 1: just enough light, and there were no trees, most important, 301 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: no passengers, no parents, no God fearing judgment, and no hounds. 302 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,919 Speaker 1: But what there was plenty of was opportunity. On the 303 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: right night, on a night like this, under a full moon, 304 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 1: there was a bargain to be had. All Robert out 305 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: of do was head down to that spot and play 306 00:19:54,920 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: down to the crossroads. We'll be right back after this 307 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: word word were When Robert Johnson returned to Rambling after 308 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,959 Speaker 1: his stint with Ike Zimmerman, his tutelage at the Cemetery, 309 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: and his fabled visit to one of the Delta's many 310 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: outlying crossroads. He was, by all accounts from every musician 311 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: who knew him, and from anyone who'd ever heard him 312 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,640 Speaker 1: perform in one of the Mississippi or Memphis jukes before 313 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: a changed man. Just ask Sunhouse, that is, if you 314 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: could find him at one piece. His lifeless body was 315 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 1: prone on the juke's wide wooden floorboards, his severed head 316 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,920 Speaker 1: a few feet removed from the body, having rolled over 317 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: to the side of the room, but still with a 318 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: clear view of young Robert Johnson on the jukes makeshift stage, 319 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: making quick devastating work of the audience. Sonhouse's head blasted 320 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: a vicious trail of curses ending with Robert Johnson and 321 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:04,119 Speaker 1: his deal. Robert took that guitar with his massive hands 322 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:08,640 Speaker 1: and bent it to his will. He rocked, he rolled simultaneously. 323 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 1: He played the rhythm and the melody, both parts at 324 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: the same time, along with the bass part two. He 325 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 1: needed no accompaniment. Sonhouse's head was. 326 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 2: Livid, mandamn, my motherfucking ass. 327 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: Robert used the guitar to fashion the sound of Adelta 328 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: orchestra in his own two hands. His sound was fuller 329 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,199 Speaker 1: and more realized than anything Sunhouse or anyone in the 330 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:36,480 Speaker 1: room had heard before. Motherfuckers could played for this bullshit. 331 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:41,120 Speaker 1: Robert connected. He worked his own tunes with immediate effect, 332 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: creating what seemed to be instant hits. Come on in 333 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:49,680 Speaker 1: my Kitchen, traveling Riverside Blues and cross road Blues. Sonhouse's 334 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:54,879 Speaker 1: head thought that last one, rich Blues ain't the battle. 335 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:59,439 Speaker 1: Motherfucker went out, come back as a head cut. Robert 336 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:03,880 Speaker 1: sprinkled in audience favorites, and the place went wild. Songs 337 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 1: by blind Willie McTell, Lonnie Johnson, even by country singer 338 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: Jimmy Rodgers. Then standards in different styles, ragtime waltz, is 339 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: even a fucking polka, just to make them all fall out. 340 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,840 Speaker 1: Sonhouse's head couldn't believe what it was seeing Robert's style, 341 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,800 Speaker 1: his technique, his execution, all his shit and one bag. 342 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: His hands moved like lightning up and down the neck, 343 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: augmented seven nights, diminish and all with that steady rhythm 344 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 1: under everything, and stinging melody up on top. Robert Johnson's 345 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: playing was in a word everything. Sonhouse's head had seen enough. 346 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:42,920 Speaker 1: What was powerless to do anything. It's not like it 347 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: had legs. He could just walk away, nor could it 348 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,399 Speaker 1: just roll itself on out of the joint. All he 349 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: could do was squint it's eyes shut and protest and 350 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:53,440 Speaker 1: curse the devil as he saw him. Motherfucker, wasn't sho 351 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: roads shit, don't walker pus the first on his Lemont 352 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:06,680 Speaker 1: Johnson heard nothing, kept playing himself, possessed, the audience hypnotized. 353 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 1: He had the entire juke in his grasp. The dance 354 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: floor was full, men were in awe, women were enthralled. 355 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: Everyone drank more, Everyone got on their grind. Saturday night 356 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,119 Speaker 1: felt a little looser, the sweat tasted a little sweeter. 357 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 1: Sunday morning seemed a long ways off, and Sunhouse was fucked. 358 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:33,680 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson had cut his head off. Having one's head 359 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,240 Speaker 1: cut off, or more to the point, cutting one's head off, 360 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:40,639 Speaker 1: was a Delta blues tradition quote unquote. Cutting heads was 361 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,879 Speaker 1: the practice of one perpetrating blues man showing up at 362 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,880 Speaker 1: another blues man's gig, coming on all friendly, talking himself 363 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: onto the stage to give the other player whose gig 364 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 1: it was a much needed rest, and then playing so 365 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,360 Speaker 1: well that the audience then wanted to hear the perpetrating 366 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: blues man, and only the perpetrating blues man, rendering the 367 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: original bluesman whose gig it was in the first place, 368 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: out of a job wherein the headcutter would make the 369 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,360 Speaker 1: money the original performer was supposed to make. As an 370 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:14,720 Speaker 1: experienced bluesman. Sunhouse had done this many times, cut someone's 371 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 1: head as an inexperienced bluesman. Robert Johnson had this done 372 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: to him many times, had his head cut. But those 373 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: days were over. Tonight was a proclamation there was a 374 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: new player in town. Sunhouse learned the hard way. Sunhouse 375 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:35,360 Speaker 1: knew what was up. No one goes out of town 376 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 1: one day to fuck off in the country and comes 377 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: back the next as the greatest bluesman the Delta has 378 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:41,640 Speaker 1: ever seen without getting a leg out from mister Jake 379 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:45,160 Speaker 1: Legg himself, the devil. Sunhouse knew all about the myth 380 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,640 Speaker 1: of the Crossroads, that fabled Delta outpost where blues men 381 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,920 Speaker 1: would exchange their eternal souls with satan for earthly fame 382 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: and pleasures beyond one's imagination. But Sunhouse never believed it, 383 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: not until tonight, not until seeing what Robert Johnson had 384 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:04,479 Speaker 1: turned in to a beast. From on stage, Robert Johnson 385 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 1: could see son House looking on in disbelief. Fuck him, 386 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: serves him right to suffer. He never believed in Robert. 387 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: No one did Son, not any of the other players, 388 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: his stepdad, Virginia's parents, none of them, and least of 389 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,880 Speaker 1: all God. God never offered him nothing. God cursed him, 390 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,960 Speaker 1: took his family, took his wife, his baby. Fuck God. 391 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,639 Speaker 1: Now it was Robert Johnson's time to take. Robert was 392 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: going to take why he was owed on stage, He 393 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,400 Speaker 1: basked in what was finally his greatness. No longer the meek, 394 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,399 Speaker 1: struggling musician at his young age and with little to 395 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,719 Speaker 1: no training, certainly no formal training, he had become a killer, 396 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:49,679 Speaker 1: vanquishing the blues master himself Son House from the stage. 397 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:55,679 Speaker 1: It felt good. Robert enjoyed the feeling. Being bad felt good. 398 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,119 Speaker 1: And now Robert needed to take his bad self nationwide, 399 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: a recording contract, a record, and then real fame and 400 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: real success. Robert Johnson woke up in a strange woman's bed, 401 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:14,879 Speaker 1: and the next day he did the same in a 402 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: different town. He woke up with a different woman a 403 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: day after that the same thing. And there were many towns, 404 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 1: over many days, and many women, and the women had 405 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:26,360 Speaker 1: one thing in common, and it was that they had 406 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:33,200 Speaker 1: nothing in common. Robert Johnson didn't discriminate beautiful, ugly, fat, skinny, young, old, married, single, 407 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:36,040 Speaker 1: None of it mattered. Robert worked women the way he 408 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:38,959 Speaker 1: worked the rails as a means to an end. In 409 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,080 Speaker 1: this case, it was sheltered from the storm, a place 410 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:44,399 Speaker 1: to lay his head while he traveled from Mississippi to 411 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: Texas for his first recording engagement. Robert Johnson arrived in 412 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 1: San Antonio, Texas on November twenty second, nineteen thirty six, 413 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,640 Speaker 1: and promptly got down to business, setting up shot by 414 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot to make a little extra coin. 415 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,919 Speaker 1: Playing on the street before hitting the studio, Robert quickly 416 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: drew a crowd. He lit them up with his brand 417 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:11,679 Speaker 1: of country blues, and then Robert's lights went out, a 418 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: sudden thlop to the back of his head in immediate darkness. 419 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: When Robert opened his eyes, he was in a San 420 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:23,960 Speaker 1: Antonio cell arrested on charges of vagrancy and judging from 421 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 1: the bump on his head and his sore ribs. He 422 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: must have caught a beating to boot. The vagrancy charge 423 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,440 Speaker 1: was bullshit. Some square jown, Texas good old boy cop 424 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 1: didn't like the cut of Robert's deablish jib and decided 425 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: to knock him down a peger two. Robert was released 426 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,440 Speaker 1: into the custody of a white man named Don Law, 427 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:45,160 Speaker 1: who was tasked by Vocalian Records with getting Robert's songs 428 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: down on record, and the two quickly headed to the 429 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,760 Speaker 1: Gunter Hotel, where Law had a makeshift recording studio set 430 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 1: up in two rooms on the fourth floor, one room 431 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,119 Speaker 1: for the musician in the microphone and the other for 432 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,920 Speaker 1: the engineers in the recording equipment. And there was a 433 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,359 Speaker 1: window on the door that separated both rooms where the 434 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,120 Speaker 1: engineers could look in on and communicate with the musician. 435 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,959 Speaker 1: Robert sat on a chair alone in the room, waiting 436 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 1: for the signal from the engineers to start playing. He 437 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:16,879 Speaker 1: got it, and then he did something neither engineer had 438 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:21,719 Speaker 1: ever seen before in all their combined experience. Robert Johnson stood, 439 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,199 Speaker 1: repositioned his microphone, and turned his chair around so that 440 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 1: it faced the wall, so that it faced the exact 441 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,160 Speaker 1: opposite direction of the engineers. He then sat and began 442 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:36,560 Speaker 1: to perform. Robert Johnson was no dummy. He knew that 443 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: his style was unique. He knew that the world was 444 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: full of headcutters and thieves, and he wasn't about to 445 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: let two white engineers he barely knew have a front 446 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 1: row lesson on how to play guitar Like Robert Johnson, 447 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: his highly effective and unique guitar playing technique would remain 448 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 1: a secret even if the white men were capturing his 449 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: music on record. The move had the added but unintended 450 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: benefit of altering Robert's saund facing away from the engineers 451 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: and directly toward the corner of the hotel room. The 452 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 1: sound he generated bounced off of the hotels two adjoining 453 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 1: hotel room walls to create a bigger, more dynamic sound. 454 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: The results speak for themselves. Robert Johnson's first recordings there 455 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 1: are some of the most compelling recordings of all time. 456 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 1: Kind Hearted Woman, Blues, Terra Play, Blues, Last Fair Deal, 457 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 1: Gone Down. These songs, along with all of Robert Johnson's songs, 458 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 1: defy logic. They drive, they groove, they hurt, they inspire, 459 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: and their construction is nearly impossible to visualize. How is 460 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: one man making all of that glorious sound at the 461 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,560 Speaker 1: same time, in one sitting with one instrument. You can't 462 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: understand it, but at the same time know it's the 463 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: coolest thing you've ever heard. Robert Johnson's songs deliver you 464 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 1: from wherever it is you're stuck. They unlock another place 465 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: in time to which you believe only you have entry. 466 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: As a teenager, when I first heard Robert Johnson, I 467 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 1: felt like I was being let in on a secret, 468 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:08,080 Speaker 1: something dangerous, something no one else I knew could possibly understand. 469 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,719 Speaker 1: His music makes you feel singular. It's that same feeling 470 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: you get when you're being whisked backstage at a show 471 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: under the envious eyes of all the other concert cours. 472 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson's songs are a ticket in first class, an 473 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,080 Speaker 1: invitation to an unknown back room where only the most 474 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:27,960 Speaker 1: interesting people hang out and only the most exciting things happen. 475 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: This feeling of being let in on something special is 476 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: perhaps what contributed to the success of these songs. Maybe 477 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: I don't know. All I do know is that immediately 478 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 1: upon their release, Robert Johnson's music made an impact and 479 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,120 Speaker 1: in the pre pop star days of the music business. 480 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:50,840 Speaker 1: They made Robert Johnson a success. The relative fame suited him. 481 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:55,480 Speaker 1: The notoriety hardened him finally into the professional musician he 482 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 1: always knew he was destined to become. Any remaining ideas 483 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 1: about family or some other sort of more traditional life 484 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: involving someone else's crops and a plow were dead dead 485 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,040 Speaker 1: by the time Robert Johnson turned twenty five years old 486 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:13,840 Speaker 1: and released his first recordings in January of nineteen thirty seven, 487 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,720 Speaker 1: Robert traveled more beyond the South, all the way to 488 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:23,400 Speaker 1: Chicago and New York. His reputation preceded him everywhere he went. 489 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 1: He weaponized his music on stage, he killed off stage. 490 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,480 Speaker 1: He took whatever spoils, usually in the form of women, 491 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: that he could. Robert embraced the image of the bad man, 492 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:40,000 Speaker 1: the low down bluesman. Columbia Records John Hammon the Second 493 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: took an interest in Robert and wrote under a pseudonym 494 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 1: that he was more authentic than fame blues musician in 495 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 1: ex convict Leadbelly, who, in Hammon's estimation, was now nothing 496 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: more than a poser justin Alan Lomack's fabrication. Compared to 497 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 1: the authenticity of Robert Johnson. Robert could only grin the 498 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,360 Speaker 1: interest in Robert from Hammond in Columbia. The opportunity that 499 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 1: represented was almost to blur. Everything just seemed to be 500 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: moving so fast, and like the many trains he hawked, 501 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty seven, was full steam ahead for Robert Johnson, 502 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 1: doubling down on one guttun to this point himself, low down, crude, 503 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 1: increasingly drunk, and violent, Robert kept up his crusade against God, 504 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: cursing him out in the company of his friends, with 505 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:32,640 Speaker 1: or without the drink, so much so that acquaintances increasingly 506 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,480 Speaker 1: stopped hanging around with Robert for fear they'd be struck down. 507 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: And Robert also kept up his pursuit of women on 508 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: a nightly basis, and more often than not these days, 509 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,479 Speaker 1: with married women. Robert had no respect for the ring, 510 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 1: no respect for God's vows. God had given him nothing, 511 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson, Oh God, not a single thing. No. Robert 512 00:32:55,880 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: Johnson had another debt entirely for the upstanding citizens of 513 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:28,280 Speaker 1: Baptist Town in Greenwood, Mississippi. To even hear the blues 514 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: whistled was enough to make them shut their windows and 515 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: lock their doors. The sight of the notorious bluesman Robert 516 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,240 Speaker 1: Johnson strolling down their main street was enough to cause 517 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:42,480 Speaker 1: legitimate shock and some Robert knew what he was looking for, 518 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: the little girl, Tush Hogg's daughter. Robert tracked it down 519 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 1: at the Three Forks juke out by the crossing of 520 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:53,480 Speaker 1: Highways eighty two and forty nine, and when he did, 521 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: Robert learned that tush Hog's baby girl had nothing on 522 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: the older, more experienced Beatrice, the wife of a Three 523 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,480 Speaker 1: Forks bartender. The fact that Beatrice was married mattered none 524 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,680 Speaker 1: to Robert. He quickly turned on the charm, used all 525 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:12,640 Speaker 1: his powers to seduce Beatrice, and it worked. Robert set 526 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:15,640 Speaker 1: up shop in Greenwood, performing at the Three Forks in 527 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 1: the evening and stealing away to shack up with Beatrice 528 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:22,320 Speaker 1: during the day. Rumors spread, the bluesman is up to 529 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,319 Speaker 1: no good. Beatrice is shaming her husband. Robert Johnson got 530 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:28,239 Speaker 1: the devil in him. She ain't never going to show 531 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 1: her face in church again. Oh, Robert Johnson is a bad, 532 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 1: bad man. It wasn't long before the rumors reached Beatrice's husband, 533 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:41,120 Speaker 1: a man who went by the name r D. R 534 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,360 Speaker 1: D played it cool like a snake, lying in the cut, 535 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:48,240 Speaker 1: biting his time, ready to attack the most opportune moment 536 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 1: when his victim least expected it, when his victim was 537 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:55,960 Speaker 1: at his most comfortable. And that's precisely where Robert Johnson 538 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: was at the moment on August thirteenth, nineteen thirty eight, 539 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,440 Speaker 1: on stage, as comfortable a place for the musician as 540 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: anywhere else on God's Green Earth, made even more comfortable 541 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 1: by the steady flow of drinks Beatrice was bringing him 542 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: during his set. While Robert performed at the Duke and 543 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: the crowd jumped, r D slung drinks from behind the bar, 544 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,799 Speaker 1: including to his wife, Beatrice, who steadily served them to 545 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 1: her not so secret lover, the bluesman on stage, Robert Johnson. 546 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:29,719 Speaker 1: Brother Robert, nor Beatrice were wise to the vengeful intentions 547 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 1: of the man behind the bar. At around eleven PM, 548 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:35,880 Speaker 1: with Robert Johnson lit up in the head and lighting 549 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,160 Speaker 1: up the audience in the juke, r D gave Beatrice 550 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,960 Speaker 1: another jar of corn liquor to give to Robert, and 551 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:45,000 Speaker 1: prior to doing so, r D dissolved in the liquor 552 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:51,880 Speaker 1: numerous mothballs containing the tasteless, colorless and odorless poison. Naphthlene. 553 00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 1: Robert drank the poison concoction between sets and immediately felt 554 00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,640 Speaker 1: something go terribly wrong. He slouched in his chair, the 555 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:04,600 Speaker 1: room bent, the audience's pleased for him to continue to perform, 556 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: fell deaf on his ears, his stomach contorted with sharp pain, 557 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,880 Speaker 1: and the last thing he remembered was sliding out of 558 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:13,920 Speaker 1: his chair and on to the floor of the Duke. 559 00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:18,160 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson woke up in his hotel room and vomited violently, 560 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: howling like one of those furious hellhounds in pain, coughing 561 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:26,759 Speaker 1: up blood, spitting up bits of his tornesophagus, hemorrhaging over 562 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,640 Speaker 1: and over again, until finally giving into the pain and 563 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:36,600 Speaker 1: giving into this world completely. Robert Johnson died alone with himself, 564 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:41,200 Speaker 1: with the devil. Robert Johnson did not die because of 565 00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:44,960 Speaker 1: the devil. There was no fostering bargain that felled the Bluesman, 566 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:48,359 Speaker 1: as the famous myth goes that Robert Johnson died at 567 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:50,319 Speaker 1: the age of twenty seven because he made a deal 568 00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:53,680 Speaker 1: with the devil and that demonic debt had come due. No, 569 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:56,920 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson did not make a deal with the devil. 570 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:04,759 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson was the devil. Both options are equally ridiculous, 571 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:09,080 Speaker 1: and both options are equally unprovable. Sure, you could say 572 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,000 Speaker 1: that there was no way a blues player was evil 573 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:14,800 Speaker 1: incarnate Satan himself here on earth, but you can't actually 574 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,320 Speaker 1: prove that he wasn't either. From a young age, Robert 575 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:23,520 Speaker 1: Johnson's spurn church, hated religion, cursed god. He lived unscrupulously, 576 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:27,400 Speaker 1: coveted women regardless of their age or marital status, wrote 577 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:30,840 Speaker 1: and sang songs filled with voodoo imagery with particular homage 578 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:34,120 Speaker 1: paid to Satan, over and over again, and most famously, 579 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:38,920 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson had an unexplainable otherworldly talent that his mortal 580 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 1: contemporaries couldn't come close to replicating, a talent that to 581 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:47,200 Speaker 1: this day, nearly one hundred years later, is as spellbinding 582 00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:49,960 Speaker 1: as it was when it first came to be. On 583 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:53,520 Speaker 1: the other hand, maybe Robert Johnson wasn't the actual devil, 584 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,359 Speaker 1: but instead maybe the devil was just always there with 585 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:01,680 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson, there in the stories about his kin in 586 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,560 Speaker 1: the briar with his mother's first husband, on the end 587 00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:07,040 Speaker 1: of a blade, on the end of the hanging rope, 588 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 1: on the hot breath of the hell hounds. There in 589 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 1: the plantation feels writing hidemost on the sharecropper's plow. There 590 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:17,080 Speaker 1: in that little girl's smile, on the lips of her 591 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:21,759 Speaker 1: judgmental parents. There out in the cemetery wind, under the crossroads, 592 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,319 Speaker 1: moon out on the rails, and in the jukes on 593 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:26,719 Speaker 1: the face of Sunhouse's head, at the end of the 594 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:29,799 Speaker 1: Texas Cops billy Club, in the dark corner of a 595 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,640 Speaker 1: San Antonio hotel room, on the minds of opportunistic recordman 596 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:36,960 Speaker 1: in his lyrics, between the thighs of a married juke 597 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 1: joint bartender's woman, and finally at the bottom of a 598 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:46,360 Speaker 1: poisoned jar of corn liquor. As far as Robert Johnson's 599 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:50,520 Speaker 1: life was concerned, the Devil was everywhere, and myth or 600 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:54,959 Speaker 1: no myth, the devil's outsized influence most definitely brought upon 601 00:38:55,000 --> 00:39:01,000 Speaker 1: the immensely talented bluesman's early demise. And that is a disgrace. 602 00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is disgrace. 603 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:21,120 Speaker 2: Slam Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced 604 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:22,920 Speaker 2: in partnership with Double Elvis. 605 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:25,399 Speaker 1: Credits for this episode can be found on the show 606 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:29,200 Speaker 1: notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 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Visit disgracelampod dot com 614 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 1: slash Membership for details, rate and review the show, and 615 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:03,600 Speaker 1: follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at disgracelampod 616 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:07,640 Speaker 1: and on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at disgracelampod. 617 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:13,279 Speaker 1: Rock a Roller, He's a bad don man.