![]() Pack up your little suitcase, Papa’s going to KokomoĪlso, the geographic references are extremely puzzling, in particular “the land of California … Chicago” – huh? There has been much speculation as to Johnson’s meaning here. For example, the 1920s song Kokomo Blues includes the extremely similar refrain It refers to a journey far from the South, and in a later verse introduces a counting rhyme.įirst off, although the song is credited to Robert Johnson, it is clear that this song is simply a modification of earlier blues tunes. The song Sweet Home Chicago is a classic twelve-bar blues song. Here is the audio of Robert Johnson singing and playing guitar on Sweet Home Chicago. Robert Plant was also influenced by Johnson’s music, and his blues-rock group Led Zeppelin later issued a cover of Johnson’s Traveling Riverside Blues. Jones introduced his Rolling Stones bandmates to Johnson’s music and they subsequently recorded a couple of his songs. Johnson’s work was also noted by musicians like Eric Clapton and Brian Jones, who were leaders in a British blues revival movement. This was particularly true in Chicago, where musicians like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf had emigrated from the South. At this time his work became recognized by blues musicians around the world. In 1961 on the urging of the great popular music entrepreneur John Hammond, Jr., Columbia Records issued a compilation of his work titled King of the Delta Blues Singers. Robert Johnson Robert Johnson Studio Portrait Hooks Bros., Memphis, circa 1935 ©1989 Delta Haze Corporation Johnson would be completely unknown today were it not for the products of two recording sessions. But again, this story of his death could be completely false.ĭuring his lifetime Johnson was a rather minor figure, known primarily to a small group of musicians who frequented the Mississippi juke-joint scene. Apparently Johnson had a distinct fondness for both liquor and women. He is rumored to have been poisoned, perhaps by a jealous husband. He performed as an itinerant musician in the bar circuit in the Mississippi Delta, but during his career also traveled further afield to Chicago, New York and Canada. He is believed to have been born in Hazelhurst, MS in 1911. The fact is that we know very little for certain about Robert Johnson’s life. ![]() So here we will briefly review the details, such as are known or surmised, of Johnson’s life. We covered Robert Johnson in our blog post on the song Crossroads. We will start with the original version by the legendary blues artist Robert Johnson, and then discuss covers of that song by Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton. This is one of the classic ‘roots’ blues songs. ![]() Hello there! In this week’s blog we consider the song Sweet Home Chicago.
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