WALKING BLUES
Robert Johnson
SONGWRITER: SON HOUSE
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS
LABEL: PARAMOUNT RECORDS
GENRE: BLUES
YEAR: 1930
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16,
1938) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter.
His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing,
guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of
musicians. He is now recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta
blues style.
As a traveling performer who played mostly on
street corners, in juke
joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or
public recognition in his lifetime. He participated in only two recording
sessions, one in San
Antonio in 1936, and one in Dallas in 1937, that produced 29
distinct songs (with 13 surviving alternate takes) recorded by famed Country
Music Hall of Fame producer
Don Law. These songs, recorded at low
fidelity in improvised studios, were the totality of his
recorded output. Most were released as 10-inch, 78
rpm singles from 1937–1938, with a few
released after his death. Other than these recordings, very little was known of
him during his life outside of the small musical circuit in the Mississippi Delta where he spent most of his
life; much of his story has been reconstructed after his death by researchers.
Johnson's poorly documented life and death have given rise to much legend. The
one most closely associated with his life is that he sold his soul to the devil at a local crossroads to achieve musical success.
His music had a small, but influential,
following during his life and in the two decades after his death. In late 1938 John Hammond sought him out for a
concert at Carnegie
Hall, From Spirituals to Swing, only to discover that
Johnson had died. Brunswick
Records, which owned the original recordings, was bought by Columbia Records, where Hammond was
employed. Musicologist Alan
Lomax went to Mississippi in 1941 to record Johnson, also
not knowing of his death.
Law, who by then worked for Columbia Records, assembled a collection of Johnson's
recordings titled King of the Delta Blues
Singers that was released by Columbia in 1961. It is widely
credited with finally bringing Johnson's work to a wider audience. The album
would become influential, especially on the nascent British blues movement; Eric
Clapton has called Johnson "the most important blues
singer that ever lived." Musicians such as Bob
Dylan, Keith
Richards, and Robert
Plant have cited both Johnson's lyrics and musicianship as
key influences on their own work. Many of Johnson's songs have been covered
over the years, becoming hits for other artists, and his guitar
licks and lyrics have been borrowed by many later musicians.
Renewed interest in Johnson's work and life
led to a burst of scholarship starting in the 1960s. Much of what is known
about him was reconstructed by researchers such as Gayle Dean Wardlow and Bruce Conforth, especially in their 2019 award-winning biography
of Johnson: Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson (Chicago
Review Press). Two films, the 1991 documentary The Search for Robert Johnson by John Hammond Jr., and a 1997 documentary, Can't You
Hear the Wind Howl, the Life and Music of Robert Johnson, which included
reconstructed scenes with Keb'
Mo' as Johnson, were attempts to document his life, and
demonstrated the difficulties arising from the scant historical record and
conflicting oral accounts. Over the years, the significance of Johnson and his
music has been recognized by numerous organizations and publications, including
the Rock and Roll, Grammy, and Blues Halls of Fame; and the National
Recording Preservation Board.
"Walkin' Blues" or "Walking
Blues" is a blues standard written and recorded by American Delta blues musician Son House in 1930. Although unissued at the time, it was part of House's
repertoire and other musicians, including Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters,
adapted the song and recorded their own versions.
Besides "Walking Blues", Johnson's
1936 rendition incorporates melodic and rhythmic elements from House's "My
Black Mama" (which House also used for his "Death Letter")
and slide guitar techniques Johnson learned from House. In 1941, Waters recorded the
song with some different lyrics as "Country Blues" in his first field
recording session for Alan Lomax.
It served as the basis for his first charting song, "(I Feel Like) Going
Home", for Chess Records in 1948. He later recorded "Walkin' Blues" with lyrics closer to
House's and Johnson's for his first single, released by Chess in 1950. Various
musicians have recorded the song over the years, usually as an electric
ensemble piece.
Woke up this mornin
Feelin round for my shoes
Know bout at i got these
Old walkin blues
Woke up this mornin
Feelin round oh for my shoes
But you know bout at i got these
Old walkin blues
Lord i feel like blowin my
Woh-old lonesome home
Got up this mornin, my little
Bernice was gone , lord
I feel like blowoon my
Lonesome home
Well, i got up this mornin
Woh-all i had was gone
Well-ah leave this mornin if i have to
Woh ride the blind ah
I've feel mistreated and i
Don't mind dyin
Levin this mornin ah
I have to ride a blind
Babe, i been mistreated
Baby, i don't mind dyin
Well, some people tell em that the worried
Blues ain't bad
Worst old feelin i most
Ever had
Some people tell me that these
Old worried, old blues ain't bad
Its the worst old feelin,
I most ever had
She got a
Elgin movement from her head down
To her toes
Break in on a dollar most any-
Where she goes, ooo oooooooooo
To her head down to her toes
Spoken: oh honey
Lord, she break in on a dollar
Most anywhere she goes.
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