Robert Johnson: A Biography
By Terry Johnson (SHS)
Robert Johnson, the songwriter, guitarist, and singer was known as "The King of the Delta Blues." Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, on May 8, 1911 to Julia Major Dobbs and Noah Johnson. There was another man by the name of Charles Dobbs, who was Robert's stepfather. Neither his natural father nor his stepfather wanted to help Robert in any way. One source says, "Until his late adolescence, his name was Robert Spencer after his stepfather, who had to change his name from Dobbs to Spencer when he ran from Mississippi after a personal vendetta with the Marchetti Brothers." According to Awmiller, "At different times he called himself R.L. Spencer as well as many other names. Once he adopted the name Johnson he falsely claimed to be a relative of Lonnie Johnson, a famous guitarist." It was almost as if he thought he could give himself the personal attention he did not receive in real life by using these false names and family.
When Robert was a teenager, he would grab older musicians' instruments and try to play them. Johnson was not gifted with a musician talent for guitar. According to Awmiller, the legendary Eddie "Son" House taught Johnson to play. House taught Robert the basics of blues guitar and more things, which he used throughout his life. House really encouraged Johnson to take his music seriously and to go for his goal and become a professional musician.
Johnson traveled throughout the South playing in small clubs, juke joints and gatherings. He was always on the move looking for his next gig. Johnny Shines, who is a musician, met Johnson in 1935 and traveled with him. Johnny says, "Robert Johnson was a rambling man who was ready to hop a freight at the drop of a hat." He continues, "He was a natural rambler." Johnson traveled to any place he could, from town to town playing the blues. He hitched rides on trains, rode on back of trucks, and sometimes he made enough money to buy a bus ticket. According to Bianco, "Robert was probably influenced by early artist Skip James who was recorded in 1931."
Many of Robert's songs help reveal the kind of life he led. There was a myth about Robert selling his soul to the devil in a crossroads bargain. People believed that Robert had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for learning how to play. On the other hand, Awmiller says that it was House who taught Robert to play so well. Although, according to Bianco, "Johnson never confirmed the story." Some referred to this rumor as the "Black Arts."
There are at least three versions explaining how and why Robert Johnson was killed. Robert became too close or too friendly with the companion of the man who hired him to play, and the man poisoned Johnson with whiskey. August of 1938, Robert Johnson and Honeyboy Edward were playing at a house party in Three Forks, Mississippi. One version says Johnson was "stabbed to death by a jealous husband. "Another version says he was "stabbed by a women or poisoned by parties unknown." Whatever the case, Johnson died three days later at the age of twenty-seven. According to Johnny Shine, "I heard that it was something to do with the Black Arts. Before he died, Robert was crawling along the ground on all fours; barking and snapping like a mad beast. That's what the poison done to him." Johnson was buried in a small cemetery on the edge of town. The "King of the Delta Blues" was gone, but today his music remains popular. "Love in Vain: A vision of Robert Johnson" by Alan Greenberg is a screenplay for an as yet unmade movie about him that dramatizes his life, music and legend. The movie Crossroads is about Robert Johnson and Willie Brown (Johnson sings about his 'friend-boy, Willie Brown in his Cross Roads Blues) and stars Joe Seneca and Ralph Machio Robert. Johnson is considered one of the greatest of the Mississippi Delta blues musicians.