Well welcome back Blues fans, we had to skip the last couple of weeks to 1). attend the Dallas Guitar Show, 2). to write up the review of said Dallas Guitar Show. Now I am back in the control center to help you decide what to listen to this week. Alright! Here we go! This week we go way back in time to the earliest days of the blues, here is the mysterious, mythical, melancholy, spooky legend and all other assorted adjectives, Mr Robert Johnson The Complete Recordings. Let us get past the “crossroads” incident, the fact that Robert is the founding member of the famed “27 Club”, his unusual death. We are going to look at the meat of Mr Johnson, his music. If you have never looked at his recorded output, it is amazing how many of his 29 recorded songs are now considered blues standards, from “Dust My Broom”, “Love in Vain”, to “Hellhound on my Trail”, and of course “Sweet Home Chicago”. Robert only had two recording sessions, one in 1936 in San Antonio, the other in 1937 in Dallas. Yes the recording quality is bad at best, but these have been remastered in an effort to get the best results possible. This is his legacy on vinyl, and when finally released to a mass audience in 1961, “King of the Delta Blues Singers”. He went on to influence a world of musicians that yes, you know by name. Enjoy.
