| Robert Johnson (1911 - 1936)  United States (USA) Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 ? August 16,
1938) was an American blues singer and musician.
His landmark recordings from 1936?37 display a
combination of singing, guitar skills, and
songwriting talent that have influenced later
generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy,
poorly documented life and death at age 27 have
given rise to much legend, including a Faustian
myth. As an itinerant performer who played mostly
on street corners, in juke joints, and at Saturday
night dances, Johnson enjoyed little commercial
success or public recognition in his lifetime.
His records sold poorly during his lifetime, and
it was only after the first reissue of his
recordings on LP in 1961 that his work reached a
wider audience. Johnson is now recognized as a
master of the blues, particularly of the
Mississippi Delta blues style. He is credited by
many rock musicians as an important influence;
Eric Clapton has called Johnson 'the most
important blues singer that ever lived.' Johnson
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
as an 'Early Influence' in their first induction
ceremony in 1986. In 2003, David Fricke ranked
Johnson fifth in Rolling Stone 's list of 100
Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Rolling Stone's
2011 list ranks him at number seventy-one.
Robert Johnson is today considered a master of the
blues, particularly of the Delta blues style;
Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones said in 1990,
'You want to know how good the blues can get?
Well, this is it.' But according to Elijah Wald,
in his book Escaping the Delta, Johnson in his own
time was most respected for his ability to play in
such a wide variety of styles?from raw country
slide guitar to jazz and pop licks?and to pick up
guitar parts almost instantly upon hearing a song.
His first recorded song, 'Kind Hearted Woman
Blues,' in contrast to the prevailing Delta style
of the time, more resembled the style of Chicago
or St. Louis, with 'a full-fledged, abundantly
varied musical arrangement.' Unusual for a Delta
player of the time, a recording exhibits what
Johnson could do entirely outside of a blues
style. 'They're Red Hot,' from his first recording
session, shows that he was also comfortable with
an 'uptown' swing or ragtime sound similar to the
Harlem Hamfats but, as Wald remarks, 'no record
company was heading to Mississippi in search of a
down-home Ink Spots ... [H]e could undoubtedly
have come up with a lot more songs in this style
if the producers had wanted them.'
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