Johnson was a musical genius - even if he reshaped Blues already circulating, it's for certain he could repeat on his guitar whatever he heard over the radio or off a phonograph record. His music speaks for itself. Lyrically, rhythmically, in the use of narrative voices (listen to how he used his guitar as a partner, and himself sings in different registers to create a conversation between characters in his songs. Easy to miss this, but it's an incredible performance device. Poet from reality - he brings images from life into his lyrics that will haunt the careful listener. Brave soul. Confronted the truth of his times like Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan. That major. Lived and died like a true artist - on the front foot - not copying - would not have a bar of the cut-and-paste product they call music in 2024. Long live the name of Robert Johnson, musician non pareil.
Johnson was a musical genius - even if he reshaped Blues already circulating, it's for certain he could repeat on his guitar whatever he heard over the radio or off a phonograph record. His music speaks for itself. Lyrically, rhythmically, in the use of narrative voices (listen to how he used his guitar as a partner, and himself sings in different registers to create a conversation between characters in his songs. Easy to miss this, but it's an incredible performance device. Poet from reality - he brings images from life into his lyrics that will haunt the careful listener. Brave soul. Confronted the truth of his times like Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan. That major. Lived and died like a true artist - on the front foot - not copying - would not have a bar of the cut-and-paste product they call music in 2024. Long live the name of Robert Johnson, musician non pareil.