Customer Reviews

Robert Johnson: LOST AND FOUND (Music in American Life)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Robert Johnson might be the most famous of all country bluesman. But we actually know very little about the man himself and what we think we know (the selling his soul at the crossroads story and forever being demon haunted)was a late addition to the legend. Pearson and McCulloch peel back the layers of what commentators have said about Johnson to reveal what we can really know about him--and it is not very much. They then tackle the literature on Johnson and show how a legend is created through wishful thinking, academic desire, and faulty deconstruction of lyrics. This is a wonderfully written, intelligent book that exposes the flaws of some methods of interpreting entertainers and the danger of interpreting them outside of the artist's culture. Johnson emerges as a human not such much chased by demons, but who chases women and whiskey too much. A fantastic study that should serve as both a model and a warning for all who write about entertainers.

Do not be scared off by the naysayers and one star reviews. I can understand that people who worship at the altar of myth are dismayed by this strong factual account. This is a highly professional publication that is strictly based of veritable facts and not rumours and hearsay, even when said heresay could be the truth. Every single essay, story, blurb you ever read about Robert Johnson mentions his mythical pact with the devil. While it's fine to have romantic notions about an artist it is ridiculous, especially, in this case, to focus so exclusively on the myth when the facts are just as intruiging. That is what the authors are out to instill in our minds here. And yes they are occasionally repetitive but this is understandable when they are up against a half century's worth of material contending otherwise. The fact is that Robert Johnson was an amazing and talented musician who worked very, very hard to perfect his craft. This book asks the question "Why can he not be recognized for this fact?" Why is his prowess only explicable by referring to an ancient myth that he himself likely did not promote. The legends and myths are OK but they should not be the sole focus of conversation regarding this incredible artist. Read this book and you will come away with a new appreciation for this artist. I have been listening to Mr Johnson's recordings for over 20 years and that is the effect it had on me.

Pearson and McCulloch demythologize the stories about Robert Johnson in this well researched and fascinating study. The authors convincingly demonstrate that the story of Johnson's Faustian pact never appeared in print until decades after Johnson's death. They further debunk the legend by showing that even most of those who were closely associated with him also viewed the story with either a wry skepticism or total disdain. Although it's fun to talk about the legends that have been associated with this blues man, Pearson and McCulloch also argue that a gullible acceptance of the stories prevents blues fans from truly understanding the man and his music. I came away from reading this book with a better understanding of his life and a far greater appreciation for Johnson's abilities. In this respect, the book provides an excellent resource for learning to listen to blues music by clearing away the highly exoticized and even patronizing presuppositions that we may bring to the art form. In this fine study, a fine folklorist and journalist partner up to give us the real deal of Johnson.

This book does a wonderful job of looking at the man whose dark mythology often supercedes his deep music. Yes, some who want to believe in his devil might get a little ruffled by the actual journalism here but I'm, for one, just as interested in the reality as I am in the legend. I find the true story of the tales woven around him captivating and curious. A critic on this list said that one could have researched everything in this book and to that I say, "huh?" Any accurate history revisits the facts and the faces, hopefully gaining new insight and accounts. This book does both and is a great read to boot.

It never occurred to me that there were people who actually believed that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads. I had always thought the great bluesman's story to be a legend along the lines of Paul Bunyan and Babe Ruth's pointed shot. When I'd read Pete Welding, Samuel Charters, Greil Marcus, and Robert Palmer on Johnson, I assumed they were re-telling a fairy tale, or perhaps--at a stretch--writing metaphorically. For me, the legend was finally put to rest with the surfacing of the photographs of Johnson. (Oh, he's just a regular guy!) The rather kooky premise of this book by Pearson and McCulloch is that the writers/critics mentioned above (and others) were, in effect, part of a vast white-wing conspiracy to promote the devil myth. The smarmy viciousness of the author's attacks on these conspirators is completely unnecessary, sort of like beating a dead hellhound. That being said, this is about as good an overview of the Robert Johnson legend as you're ever gonna find.

First, I should state my qualifications and prejudices. I am writing biographies of Robert Johnson's stepson Robert Lockwood Jr. and his best friend Alex "Rice' Miller AKA Sonny Boy Williamson II and I have done over 300 hours of original oral research interviews and many more hours of library research including collecting nearly every blues magazine and relevant liner notes on records from many countries to find the source interviews of many misunderstandings about the artists. Barrie Lee Pearson told me that Sonny Boy was the single blues musician mentioned more often in other blues musicians oral histories. So my expectations for this book were high and my first hand knowledge of the resources available for new insight into this subject were extensive. I could have written this book from my research.
Therein lies the rub. While a new Robert Johnson book was never on my agenda, I was anxious to read this book.
Sadly, this book never seeks to add to the original research on Robert Johnson that would have been available simply by asking the many researchers. It is largely a rehash of published resources. There is little evidence that these authors ever bothered to visit the Delta or talk to the many still living and very credible sources. They are suspect in the text of claims that were easilly researched favoring the legend over the reality. Older Delta residents are amazingly accurate reporters and when their stories are coordinated by a researcher their rememberences dovetail in great detail. This is not a recommended addition to the Robert Johnson legend or history. I was heartbroken to see such a minor volume be published and possibly preclude the publications of a substantive volume. This is the history of the soundtrack of the Baby Boom generations and as such requires greater respect. Visit www.sonnyboy.com for more information.
Fessor Mojo AKA William E. Donoghue
Host, www.sonnyboy.com

A truly terrible book, that treats the reader like a moron.
The blindingly obvious is explained over & over,& then again
in case you still don't get it.The entire premise of this book could have been distilled in two pages.
Don't bother ,play the music.

The writers of this book would have you believe that not only is it idiotic to have any sort of mythology surround an artist, but they also want us to ignore many of the real life experiences that Robert Johnson most likely faced. If they had just wanted to focus on the "real" story and downplay the urban legend style that Robert Johnson's life is usually told as, all they would have had to do was...focus on it. Instead, they not only pooh-pooh the myths, they disregard the entire lifestyle of African Americans in the early part of the 20th century. We are to believe that Johnson played with lots of people, but none of the people we have ever been told of. No one is telling the truth about anything regarding Johnson, except the authors themselves. They insist that Robert Johnson himself did not have fears for his soul, in spite of a slew of songs pertaining to the subject. They seem unaware that this theme had a basis in the African American community of true belief, and still does to this day in many areas. Apparantly, they have never heard the term "write what you know"(either for writing songs, or this book). It would appear mostly that a lack of people who actually wanted to discuss the subject with the authors may have contributed to the authors' explaining over and over the insignificance of the themes in Johnson's work. They seem to distrust absolutely everyone who ever had any story to tell about Johnson, so it would be no wonder. Whether you believe that Robert Johnson ever went down to the crossroads, or the Louisana swamps, or any other part of that story, the fact remains that his voice and playing is haunting and haunted. The authors speak as if they have some deep inner ability to see into Johnson's mind and soul, and found it somehow lacking and not at all as the story goes. In the end, I just felt sorry for them, because it appears that they do not have the hair-raising, spine tingling thrill when they listen to his music that most people do when they hear it. This music was not intended to be listened to by an impartial, unaffected, disinterested audience. Maybe it is just the authors showing a touch of sour grapes at missing out on the larger experience. Over all an arrogant, mind dulling, disappointing dry telling of an otherwise exciting topic. Want a more interesting, less blabby version that gets down to the facts and preserves some of the myth? Read Peter Guralnick's Searching For Robert Johnson instead. Read Robert Johnson Lost and Found only if you do not care one bit about Robert Johnson, his music or his life, and don't care if it is narrated with as much enthusiasm as a Mutual Of Omaha Wild Kingdom program about snails.