What do all this musicians have in common? Don't you know? They all died at the age of 27 years old, and nobody can give an explanation to their deaths. Roberth Johnson, Bryan Jones, Jimmi Hendryx, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse, they all were successful and iconic musicians who died in the top of their careers, many of them having the letter J ether in their first or last names, which makes this even more enigmatic. Doubtless, this fact totally changed blues and rock history. People even thought that it has something to do with the supernatural world, giving an interesting twist to the rock and blues culture.
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Let’s start talking about which I think is the most remarkable case concerning to this club. I have followed this musicians' story since I started listening to rock and blues and discovered about his music. Master Roberth Johnson is, beyond a shadow of doubt, the most enigmatic person along blues history. He was considered as poorly capable of playing guitar compared to other blues musicians. Due to this he decided, after many tries, to go back home. Suddenly, his music transcended as a legend. He had exceptional musical abilities, which musicians back then and also his friends attributed to a pact with the devil.
Robert's legend says that he found a crossroad while he was going back home. At this place, devil appeared before Roberth and this sold his soul to him in exchange for having outstanding musical abilities because he was desperate due to his lack of succeed. He waited till the midnight with his guitar. The devil then took it and gave it back to him. After this, Roberth just had to move his fingers and he would play the best blues ever. The master then played his guitar all along the south of the USA. Curiously, he was always in motion, he never stayed in a single place. His music had something that captivated the public. It versed about desperation, religion and inner demons. His two most popular songs ("Crossroad Blues" and "Me and the Devil Blues") made reference to the pact said before, and they had very enigmatic lyrics.
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Early this mornin'
When you knocked upon my door
Early this mornin',
ooh When you knocked upon my door
And I said, "Hello, Satan,"
I believe it's time to go."
Me and the Devil
Was walkin' side by side
Me and the Devil, ooh
Was walkin' side by side
And I'm goin' to beat my woman
Until I get satisfied....
Along his short career, he recorded 29 songs. It was said that all of them were recorded against the wall, with his old Gibson guitar from which he never stayed apart. To make the rumours bigger, the directors of the record company affirmed that he did it that way to avoid people from seeing his eyes turning white while he was singing (as a sign of being possessed), but Roberth said that this was done because the acoustic was better that way. His abilities were so impressive that, if he was talking and chilling with someone and they had a background song, he could perfectly play it note by note the next day without any fail.
People always went to all this shows attracted by his music and the morbidity that his personality caused on them. This personality was always more and more elusive. He played his guitar in the dark, so the people wouldn’t see him playing. Sometimes he just disappeared during the show.
One day, on august 13th, the devil claimed for his debt being paid.
Robert was an avid lover of women. He was looking for the love of a woman in every place where he played his music. That day, it was different, because he made a mistake and fell for the wrong woman. He tried to conquer the girlfriend of the boss of the bar where he made his shows back then. That night, he received a whiskey bottle that was already opened, and he was going to drink from it. Suddenly, one of his friends took it off from him and broke it, then told him to never drink from an open bottle ever. Roberth got angry and asked for another whiskey bottle, also opened, and drank from it.
That night, in the middle of the concert, Robert stopped playing, left his guitar aside and got out to the street. He spent three longs days in agony till he died, poisoned by the strychnine dissolved in the bottle of whiskey.
True or false? We won't know, but we can be sure that he is one of the best bluesman of story, and also one of the best 5 guitar players. The other four ones, like Eric Clapton or Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones, have made covers of his songs. This last one, after hearing Roberth's music for the first time, wanted to know who was the second guitar player in one of his songs, but felt overwhelmed when knew that it was only Johnson playing the guitar.
A posthumous re-edition of his album was made with a better quality. It won a Grammy and sold 50 million of CD. This is a dream that many musicians around the world would like to come true while being alive. This is proof that his virtuosity managed to Captivate everybody in the blues' world.
Many other tributes were made in honor to Roberth Johnson. "Supernatural" series made it once.
Also, the movie called "CrossRoads". In that movie, the former Daniel San from Karate Kid (the main character) has a duel against Steve Vai to fight for gaining the soul of Roberth Johnson.
BTW I'M 27 YEARS OLD!!
hahaha
What do you think about this story? Do you think it worths to live a short but successful life in exchange for your soul? Would you make this trade with the devil?
Thank you for reading my post, if you like upvote and response. See you in the next post.
