Dark Was the Night

Blind Willie Johnson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1998)
• Original Release Date: June 30, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000007T4R
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,846 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down

2. Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)

3. Lord, I Just Can't Keep from Crying

4. Church, I'm Fully Saved Today

5. Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed

6. Bye and Bye I'm Goin' to See the King

7. Let Your Light Shine on Me

8. John the Revelator

9. I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole

10. God Moves on the Water

11. Trouble Will Soon Be Over

12. Praise God I'm Satisfied

13. Mother's Children Have a Hard Time

14. It's Nobody's Fault But Mine

15. The Soul of a Man

16. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Along with Robert Johnson, Son House, Charley Patton, and others, Blind Willie Johnson was one of the founding fathers of the blues. This 16-song collection features some of his best, most classic work, a distillation of the 30 songs he recorded (all of which are available on Complete Recordings of Blind Willie Johnson). Unlike his peers, however, Johnson's focus was on spiritual music, which he performed in church and on street corners, his chilling, gravelly voice complemented by guitar work that is nothing short of exquisite. Many of the songs taken up and popularized by Johnson's contemporaries and successors were written by him, and they're all here: "John the Revelator," "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed," "If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down," "Lord I Just Can't Keep from Crying," "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine," and of course "Dark Was the Night--Cold Was the Ground." Dark Was the Night is a worthy introduction to this seminal artist's work. --Genevieve Williams

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best To Go To The Source, July 6, 2000

By 

Chuck Hicks (Concord, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Was the Night (Audio CD)

The study of classic acoustic slide guitar technique begins here. Blind Willie Johnson, a street preacher in Beaumont, Texas, was the unmatched practitioner with his pocket-knife slide and open tunings. That he incorporated the blues idiom into his gospel convictions was compelling in itself. Blind Willie sang with enormous angst, describing the Christian life as a struggle, and declaring himself to be an overcomer regardless of what others thought. There is nothing here that will satisfy the 'health & wealth' gospelers; Johnson's gritty, practical holiness condemns such extravagances. This particular issue, a 20-bit digital remapping of the old 78's, is exceptionally clear. While every track is potent, 'God Moves On The Water' (about the sinking of the Titanic) contains riffs and runs that are antecedent to today's rock guitar. Highly recommended for those interested in roots music and alternative gospel.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Praise Johnson, I'm satisfied!, February 15, 2000

By 

almosthappy (San Diego, CA, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dark Was the Night (Audio CD)

Blind Willie Johnson is different. You can actually detect his regret,his anguish, and his utmost yearning for salvation in hissandpaper-like voice, his superb slide-guitar playing and his songwriting. All the songs on this CD are great. They are, yes, very spiritual and religous. But they don't sound and feel like some religious nutcase preaching the end is coming and those who believe in God will be saved and be placed in somwhere up in the sky where everything is fine and jolly, yada, yada, yada... Johnson sounds REAL. He sounds like someone who doesn't really care about his audience. He would probably sing those songs of his even if there's no one around.

Johnson has a great voice(think along the lines of Howlin' Wolf and Tom Waits). You might not enjoy it on the first try, but it sort of stuck on your mind and won't let you go. I'm no expert in blues, but these songs sound very different from what you'd usually consider to be "blues"(I guess Muddy Water and his followers would fall into this realm). The female harmonic vocal is very powerful and moving, it gives Johnson's music a haunting and disquiet feel. I highly recommend you to try it, regardless of your view on religion.

One suggestion, you might want to go straightly to the Complete Recording of BWJ. I had the this first and then purchased the Complete set, now I don't know what to do with the this condensed version.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential, October 1, 2003

By 

Fred McGhee "fredmcghee" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Was the Night (Audio CD)

The PBS series "The Blues" will hopefully introduce the work of Blind Willie Johnson to a mass audience. Recognition of this man and his contribution to American culture is long overdue. "Dark Was The Night" is the best and most affordable introduction to Blind Willie Johnson. The complete collection two disc set is pretty much for completists only.

That said, if you have never heard this music before, be sure to prepare yourself, because the spiritual force and gravity of this music may leave you exhausted and perhaps even frightened. Johnson's voice is one of the most unique and haunting instruments to have ever been recorded. The man's singing bespeaks experiences and a life lived that is almost too painful to contemplate. The lyrics of these songs are almost transcendentally poetic...the religious imagery is used to ask the most fundamental of philosophical questions. The female accompaniment of these songs only makes them a more poignant commentary on the human condition. Johnson's guitar work is similar in nature. In combination, this music is about as raw and emotive as human musical production can get. I think Wim Wenders is correct when he says that this music will teach you more about the American experience than just any history book. And Ry Cooder is surely right in his observations about this music.

These songs strip it and you bare; you simply have no place to hide. You will get ripped to shreds, ponder the nature of existence, and then eventually get "healed" as John Lee Hooker famously sang not too long ago. This is "deep" blues, about as deep as the blues and gospel can get.