Searching for Robert Johnson: The Life and Legend of the "King of the Delta Blues Singers" (Paperback)

~ (Author) "WHEN I WAS A FRESHMAN in college, in 1961-62, my most precious possessions were my blues records and a portable stereo phonograph which my mother..." (more)
Key Phrases: hell hound, Robert Johnson, Johnny Shines, Son House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Blues fans have long held up Robert Johnson's small but potent body of work as a slender pillar on which much modern blues and rock rest, and the songs themselves remain astonishing paradigms of the blues' most primordial style, the country blues of the Mississippi Delta. Yet, for decades after his murder in 1938, details of Johnson's life and clues into the genesis of his music consisted of little more than the evocative themes and settings of the songs themselves.

This brief but absorbing meditation on Johnson's life and art, originally published in 1989 in anticipation of the first release of his complete recordings, benefits from the detective work of earlier blues scholars, most notably Mack McCormick, who began piercing the veil surrounding Johnson's life in the '60s. By the '80s, reminiscences from the bluesman's contemporaries, more solid evidence of his shadowy lineage, and even the belated discovery of photographs added more dimension to McCormick's "phantom" Johnson. Yet, possibly by his own design, Robert Johnson remained more outline than flesh, still explained more lucidly in the fevered nightmares and earthy imagery of his songs than by the scattered details of his life.

Guralnick succeeds in conveying the power of Johnson's music and delineating both its origins and, ultimately, singular genius. His debts to delta blues avatars Charley Patton and Tommy Johnson are solidified, yet, more crucially, Guralnick roots Johnson's artistic growth in the specific context of this rural corner of Mississippi, at this particular moment between the world wars. He also frankly addresses the potency of Johnson's myth and an early death that only glorifies the brief, bright arc of his work. No less crucial is Guralnick's ability to convey the dark beauty of the music itself, giving Searching for Robert Johnson a broader sweep as an essential blues primer. --Sam Sutherland

Product Description

Robert Johnson, while probably the most influential of all blues guitarists, is also one of the most obscure. Recognized as an influence on musicians like Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, Johnson was poisoned by a jealous husband in 1938--at the age of twenty-seven. This untimely death, his supposed bargain with the devil that enabled him to play guitar, and the ferocity and tormented originality of his work have given rise to a legend that has inspired a Hollywood movie and numerous stories. Peter Guralnick's extended essay about the life of the man and the myth, and of the place and time that produced both, illuminates much of the obscurity around Johnson without forfeiting any of the mystery.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Plume (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452279496
• ISBN-13: 978-0452279490
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,119 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vivid description of the blues great, August 13, 1999

By A Customer

The 96 pages of this book are pack full of information about legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. Virtually everything that is known about Mr. Johnson is vividly detailed in this work. Makes for excellent reading.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars worth reading, January 9, 2007

By	J. Parks - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent book. Interesting prospective not only of Robert Johnson, but of his contemporaries.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too Short even for someone who died in their twenties., April 17, 2009

By	Bob Chorba "Bobbyc" (Milwaukee, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

At less than 100 pages I do not think I learned more about Robert Johnson than I did after eading the notes for his Boxed Set. If Sam Cooke deserved over 700 pages, from Guralnek, in his short life, Robert Johnson deserved more than a 100 .