CYHTWH: Can't You hear the Wind Howling

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RJ covers

 

The contrast between the footprint of Robert Johnson's life—two still images & twenty-nine 78rpm recordings—and his virtual presence more than 75 years after his death, could hardly be more extreme. Movies, websites, music albums, podcasts, stamps, and other memorial artifacts about the man and his music abound. It seems that less is more: the less is known about people, the more people want to talk about them. Is an artist successful if he has to wait until fifty years after his death to become a 'platinum' selling recording star?

There is such a preponderance of material that this article you are now reading might seem restricted in its scope. It is. A few interesting resources were located and a selection carefully chosen. You are invited to do your own research.

Firstly, the two images: more accurately, the two images and the search for a third or even the holy grail of a moving image as a historical record. The only two (Wikipedia says three: more on that later) authenticated images of Robert Johnson (RJ) are the copyright of the Delta Haze Corporation(it's Robert Johnson website section is linked later) and subject to the the following credit and copyright notices (the thumbnail images are used under the fair use terms of the United States copyright laws):

 

RJthumb1

Robert Johnson
photo-booth self-portrait, early 1930's [sic]
©1986 Delta Haze Corporation. All Rights Reserved

 

 

RJthumb2

Robert Johnson
Studio Portrait, Hooks Bros., Memphis, circa 1935
© 1989 Delta Haze Corporation. All Rights Reserved

 

Directly showing you anything larger seems to carry a high risk of litigation if you read the first 'Vanity Fair' article linked in the next paragraph. You may visit the Riverside Blues Society (RBS) article 'The Truth about Robert Johnson', which has larger [1] [2] versions of the images, for a discussion of RJ's 'peculiaritites' [sic] (why waste a beautiful typo?), his life and death. Fans of sim (simulation: sample at the link) and Second Life (a sim platform) will find much more to explore in that genre on the RBS website. Blues fans with less hip tastes may enjoy the Blues History archive.

Two or three known images? Perhaps even four? 'Vanity Fair' magazine recounts the discovery claim from Steven 'Zeke' Schein, who bought a photograph on eBay and believes it shows RJ with fellow bluesman Johnny Shines. Read a CSI Treatment (crime scene investigation) by the author of the first article as he attempts to determine the merits of Schein's claim. We don't have a pugilist in that fight.

Overviews of the body of RJ information can be read on Wikipedia and that Delta Haze presentation for RJ. mentioned earlier. The latter presentation is Flash driven, so your mileage may vary and sub-linking is not possible, but worth a visit. We almost passed over the 'Robert Johnson Notebooks' presentation from the American Studies at the University of Virginia, but the 'academic' structure interested us: you will have to overlook the surprising lack of copy editing (multiple examples of words run together), errors (the WWW link on the 'More on Robert Johnson' page is empty), and some unfinished business (the US Postal Service commemorative stamp honoring RJ was issued in 1994, not in 19XX). Nevertheless, well worth a visit for lyrics, critical papers on individual songs, and sources.

Finally, down to the last three links: listen to podcasts, purchase albums, or watch the movie 'Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? The Life and Music of Robert Johnson'. The covers for the standard and Centennial Special Edition are featured at the head of this post.

Can't You Hear the Wind Howl?

The Life and Music of Robert Johnson


Review:

A mix of new interviews with old footage and recordings, this documentary, narrated by Danny Glover, highlights legendary Mississippi blues guitarist-singer Robert Johnson (1911-38). Kevin Moore (who records as Keb Mo) appears as Johnson in narrated reenactment sequences, and producer Don Law is portrayed by Don Law Jr. With both color and black-and-white footage, the film traces the brief but extremely influential career of this near-mythic figure, generally regarded as the king of the Delta blues. Shown at the 1997 Boston Film Festival.

~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi 

 

Shown at the 1997 Boston Film Festival.

 

Chapters:

01 Play [4:56]

02 Back at the Delta [10:41]

03 Preachin' Blues [3:07]

04 ‘Cross Road Blues’ [10:41]

05 First Recording [5:59]

06 ‘Terraplane Blues’ [6:45]

07 Dallas 1937 [8:20]

08 ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ [7:56]

09 ‘Hellhound on My Trail’ [4:47]

10 Three Forks 1938 [12:14]


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